The Loneliness of SaaS Startups
The silent struggle of Founders, VPs of Sales and AEs
If you read the headlines, youâd be forgiven for thinking that SaaS startups are glamourous rocket ships, where once youâve âgot into SaaSâ all you need to do is turn up each day, slouch on a bean bag, play video games, drink endless supplies of La Croix, get fed for free until you burst, before rolling home bloated in your Uber, safe in the knowledge a bag full of Benjaminâs will present itself in a year or 2 at IPO or trade sale.
If thatâs your experience of any startup, honestly, good for you! Make the most of it, itâs likely your last.
Itâs likely your last because this is so rare, much less than 1% of the startup world, but of course, itâs those startups that make the headlines. In early-stage startups what I just described could not be further from the truth, and itâs especially wide of the mark if youâre the first in.
Being first in
Being the first in at a startup is often brutal, and is rarely spoken about.
Now imagine being a first-time founder, a first-time VP of Sales or a first-time solo AE at an early-stage startup where everything is new and there is no path to follow. You have to make that path.
Thereâs no room for slouching there.
Now imagine what itâs like when you have venture capitalists breathing down your neck, baying for growth at all costs, putting you and your team under pressure to instantly gratify their desire to vicariously live through your startupâs success.
Playing video games wonât cut it then.
Now imagine what itâs like when things donât go to plan, where you thought youâd got product-market-fit, but the signal from the market suggests otherwise, and now you have to extend your runway by reducing burn and go back to square one.
Youâre not getting fed for free now.
The loneliness is real
As a âfirst inâ where do you turn for help? Where are those safe havens, those people you can trust to have your back and pay forward their experience in a humble and practical fashion?
Founders might turn to their investors once, but the smart ones will soon realise that in 90% of cases theyâre either dealing with someone who has no operational experience, or someone who isnât in this deal to offer solutions to your challenges. You will scare the hell out of them if you ask them how to run your business - thatâs not their job and nor should it be.
VPs of Sales might turn to their founders when theyâre stuck, but theyâve also not done it before and depending on the environment this might be taken as the first signal that youâve reached your limit and itâs time to be layered.
The safe spaces are limited, and so are the people that can genuinely offer help.
Iâve been there - more than once
My own experience of this has spanned more than a decade, and whilst Iâve delivered 3x back-to-back success for my founders, CEOs and investors it came with incredible sacrifice manifested by lots of stress and deep periods of loneliness because I knew I wasnât in a particularly safe space (transparent investors will not hide this) and I didnât have enough people around me that I trusted that had done my journey before to offer guide rails.
The toll on both my mental and physical health was real. I got through it, but by the skin of my teeth.
Solving this
So how do we solve this? Well, my LinkedIn posts were my first iteration but they are superficial in nature and itâs just my perspective. This newsletter was my second iteration and whilst these articles go deeper itâs still just my opinion and they are in written form and therefore not dynamic. The third iteration goes to a new level.
The third iteration is Zero to 20 LIVE. A private community of early-stage GTM leaders, vetted by me that meet weekly on Thursday 8a PT/11a ET/4p GMT.
Weâve completed the alpha phase, now weâre opening it up to my newsletter subscribers and LinkedIn followers and anyone you recommend to apply to be part of the beta phase.
I encourage you to forward this to those you think will be interested and both bring and derive value from the community, more on that below.
So what is it?
Private Community:
In this private community, you will get rich perspectives, not just from me, that is grounded in shared values that provide access to knowledge and opportunities from fellow members dedicated to helping each other.
Group coaching:
Our weekly meetups empower a diverse group of peers to develop an inner circle of trusted contemporaries in the tech industry - not just SaaS.
Tailored Resources:
We use our community to source content that addresses challenges members face, ultimately helping them shortcut their way to results.
Co-works:
We run multiple co-works throughout the week, that offer group accountability and focus at key inflexion points in the working week.
Coming Soon: Exclusive events
I have been tapping up world-class operators and investors who have unparalleled experience that spans the full spectrum of GTM. Iâm excited to run fireside chats with them.
Who is it for?
Your Personal Values:Â
Freedom, community, humility, empathy, curiosity and see to foster inclusive and thriving work cultures
Your Impact:
Holds GTM leadership position that will have an outsized impact on the future. Current or future executive team leader.
Your Experience:
Leads or has led high impact teams, teams of teams or had broad influence as top-tier IC
Your Functional Expertise:
Works directly or indirectly on go-to-market, across Sales, Customer Success, Marketing, RevOps and related functions.
Applying to be a part of this
If this sounds like you, and feels like something youâd like to be a part of, the free beta runs for at least a few more weeks. This is the perfect opportunity to apply, be first in, and if you like it youâll get access to preferential rates when we do a full public launch, slated for May/June.
To apply, please complete this short application form, and I will be in touch soon after.
No excuse to go it alone anymore
For all the joys that building something brings, it is lonely and stressful but it doesnât need to be this way. Safe spaces are rare, but the intention is that Zero to 20 LIVE helps to solve this for early-stage startup operators. We want to remove the excuse to go it alone once and for all.
I hope to see you in the community soon.
Weâve got you đđŒ đ
Wayne
Advising: WayneMorris.co
LinkedIn: WayneMorris
Twitter: @waynegmorris
Newsletter sign-up: WayneMorris.me