7 Surprising SaaS Trends Every Founder Must Know in 2024

Summary

El video analiza el 'State of Independent SaaS Report', discutiendo métricas clave como la tasa de rechazo, tasa de crecimiento y valor de vida del cliente (LTV) en relación con diferentes modelos de prueba gratuita y planes premium. Se revela que los negocios con tres fundadores tienen un crecimiento mes a mes superior, y que el requerimiento de tarjeta de crédito en la prueba gratuita impacta en el crecimiento inicial pero no necesariamente en el LTV. Los canales de publicidad más efectivos para aumentar los ingresos son Google AdWords y los anuncios de Meta (Facebook), seguido por 'otros' y LinkedIn. El resumen destaca la importancia de entender el perfil del cliente ideal y las estrategias de monetización en el éxito de un SaaS independiente.

Takeaways

• 📊 La mayoría de las startups de SAS (Software como Servicio) son autofinanciadas, lo que indica una tendencia hacia el crecimiento sostenible sin depender de capital externo.
• 💡 El número de fundadores tiene un impacto significativo en el crecimiento de la empresa, con trios de fundadores mostrando un crecimiento 2 a 3 veces mayor que los fundadores solitarios o duos.
• 📈 Las empresas que ofrecen un plan gratuito sin necesidad de tarjeta de crédito tienen una tasa de churn (renuncia de clientes) similar a la de las que sí la solicitan, lo que sugiere que la estrategia de fremium puede ser efectiva.
• 🔒 Solicitar una tarjeta de crédito al inicio del periodo de prueba gratuita ha mostrado una disminución, lo que indica un cambio en las prácticas de marketing y en la percepción del valor propuesto por los clientes.
• 📈 El crecimiento mensual promedio de las empresas que no requieren tarjeta de crédito en la prueba gratuita es menor, pero su Valor de Vida del Cliente (LTV) es aproximadamente el doble en comparación con otras opciones de planes.
• 🎯 El mercado objetivo tiene un impacto significativo en las tasas de crecimiento, siendo el sector empresarial y el mercado no gubernamental (ONG) los que muestran tasas más altas.
• 🤔 La decisión de solicitar fondos externos disminuyó de un 30% en 2022 a un 23.5% en 2023, reflejando un mayor esfuerzo por parte de los emprendedores por crecer de manera autofinanciada.
• 📝 Las empresas que ofrecen un plan premium o fremium a menudo no entienden cómo hacer que funcione efectivamente, lo que puede llevar a problemas de monetización y estrategias de crecimiento poco eficientes.
• 📣 Los canales de publicidad más efectivos para el aumento de ingresos son Google AdWords y los anuncios de Meta (Facebook), seguidos por otros canales que podrían incluir publicidad en eventos o podcasts.
• 🔑 Los datos del informe muestran que no hay una fórmula única para el éxito en SAS; las decisiones sobre planes de precios, requerimientos de tarjeta de crédito y estrategias de marketing dependen de múltiples factores como el perfil del cliente y el mercado objetivo.

Q & A

¿Qué es el informe 'State of Independent SaaS' y qué revela sobre las empresas SaaS independientes?

El informe 'State of Independent SaaS' es un estudio que recopila datos de casi 700 fundadores de SaaS, principalmente bootstrapeados. Revela información sobre el crecimiento, la tasa de rebote, la valorización de la vida del cliente y cómo se comparan las empresas en diferentes métricas clave.

¿Por qué podría ser interesante para una empresa compararse con otras empresas SaaS más avanzadas?

Compararse con otras empresas SaaS más avanzadas puede brindar una perspectiva valiosa sobre el rendimiento de la propia empresa, permitiendo identificar áreas de mejora y estrategias efectivas que podrían aplicarse para incrementar el crecimiento y la rentabilidad.

¿Cuál fue el descubrimiento más sorprendente del informe sobre la relación entre el número de fundadores y el crecimiento de las empresas SaaS?

El descubrimiento más sorprendente fue que las empresas con tres cofundadores experimentaron un crecimiento promedio del 2 a 3 veces mayor que las empresas con un solo fundador o dos, y que al aumentar a cuatro o más fundadores, se observa un descenso en el crecimiento mensual promedio.

¿Qué impacto tiene solicitar una tarjeta de crédito al inicio de una prueba gratuita en las tasas de crecimiento y retención de clientes?

Solicitar una tarjeta de crédito al inicio de una prueba gratuita parece tener un impacto significativo en el crecimiento inicial, con una tasa de crecimiento mensual del 14% en promedio para las que lo requieren. Sin embargo, esto puede llevar a una tasa de rebote más alta en el tiempo, ya que los clientes pueden olvidar cancelar sus suscripciones.

¿Cómo afecta ofrecer un plan gratuito en la valorización de la vida del cliente (LTV) y en la tasa de rebote?

Ofrecer un plan gratuito puede aumentar la LTV en promedio hasta el doble en comparación con otros planes, a pesar de tener una tasa de rebote ligeramente más alta. Esto sugiere que los negocios con planes gratuitos pueden estar cobrando más y retienen a los clientes por más tiempo.

¿Cuál es la relación entre el tipo de mercado objetivo y las tasas de crecimiento de las empresas SaaS?

El tipo de mercado objetivo tiene un impacto significativo en las tasas de crecimiento. Por ejemplo, las empresas que se enfocan en empresas (B2B) de tamaño empresarial experimentan tasas de crecimiento mensuales promedio del 26%, mientras que las que se enfocan en consumidores o gobierno tienen tasas mucho más bajas.

¿Por qué podría haber una disminución en el número de fundadores de SaaS que buscan financiamiento externo en los últimos años?

La disminución en el número de fundadores que buscan financiamiento externo puede ser atribuida al entorno de financiamiento más difícil y a los términos menos atractivos que se ofrecen actualmente, así como a una mayor resistencia mental y discernimiento sobre cuándo buscar financiamiento.

¿Cuáles son las tres principales fuentes de financiamiento que han aumentado significativamente los ingresos de las empresas SaaS según el informe?

Las tres principales fuentes de financiamiento que han aumentado los ingresos son Google AdWords con aproximadamente el 65%, seguidos por los anuncios de Meta (Facebook) con alrededor del 30%, y otros canales que incluyen una variedad de opciones que pueden ser tan efectivas como LinkedIn.

¿Qué desafíos enfrentan las empresas SaaS que ofrecen un modelo de suscripción premium frente a otros modelos como las pruebas gratuitas?

Las empresas que ofrecen un modelo de suscripción premium pueden enfrentar desafíos en términos de monetización y理解 del mercado, ya que a menudo no conocen cómo hacer funcionar el modelo de freemium y pueden tener planes de precios más bajos en comparación con otros modelos.

¿Por qué es importante para una empresa SaaS conocer su perfil de cliente ideal (ICP) y cómo afecta eso la estrategia de marketing y ventas?

Conocer el perfil de cliente ideal es crucial para una empresa SaaS, ya que permite enfocar sus esfuerzos de marketing y ventas en los segmentos de mercado que más probablemente comprarán sus productos o servicios, lo que puede resultar en un mayor crecimiento y una tasa de rebote más baja.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Análisis de crecimiento y estructura de equipos en SAS

El primer párrafo explora cómo las empresas SAS comparan entre sí y qué tan buenos son sus índices de rotación y tasas de crecimiento. Presenta hallazgos del 'State of Independent SAS Report', que recopiló datos de casi 700 fundadores de SAS, la mayoría con enfoque en el autofinanciamiento. Se destaca cómo la presencia de tres cofundadores parece triplicar el crecimiento promedio mensual en comparación con equipos de un solo fundador o duos. Se sugiere que un tercer fundador puede ser la clave para romper empates y tomar decisiones más eficientes, aunque hay una disminución de retornos cuando se tiene un equipo de cuatro o más fundadores.

05:00

💳 Cambios en las políticas de tarjeta de crédito para pruebas gratuitas

Este segmento del guion examina la tendencia de solicitar o no la tarjeta de crédito al comienzo de una prueba gratuita de SAS. Se observa una fluctuación en las últimas cuatro encuestas, pasando del 73% al 78% y luego disminuyendo al 71%. Se discuten las ventajas y desventajas de solicitar la tarjeta de crédito, como el filtrado de posibles clientes interesados y el aumento de la retroalimentación sin la necesidad de un compromiso financiero inmediato. Se plantea que la decisión puede variar según el conocimiento del perfil de cliente ideal y la madurez de la empresa.

10:00

🎯 Impacto del mercado objetivo en las tasas de crecimiento

El tercer párrafo destaca cómo el mercado objetivo de una empresa SAS afecta directamente su tasa de crecimiento. Se revela que las empresas enfocadas en el sector empresarial (Empresas) y en el mercado de mediano tamaño tienen tasas de crecimiento mensuales promedios del 26%, lo que indica un potencial de duplicación de tamaño anual. Por otro lado, el mercado del consumidor y el sector gubernamental muestran tasas de crecimiento más bajas, con un 5% y un 1.75% respectivamente. La elección del mercado objetivo es crucial y establece expectativas de crecimiento para la empresa.

15:01

💼 Perspectivas de financiamiento externo en SAS

Este apartado del guion explora la intención de las empresas SAS de buscar financiamiento externo en un plazo de 12 meses. Se observa una disminución de la intención de buscar financiamiento externo de un 30% en 2022 a un 23.5% en el presente año. Se sugiere que este cambio puede ser atribuido al entorno de financiamiento menos propicio y a una mayor reticencia a comprometerse con términos menos atractivos. Además, se señala que la cultura del autofinanciamiento parece estar ganando terreno en el ecosistema de SAS.

20:03

🛍️ Comparación de modelos de prueba gratuita y sus impactos

El penúltimo párrafo analiza diferentes modelos de prueba gratuita y sus efectos en el crecimiento, la rotación y el valor de vida del cliente (LTV). Se descubre que, aunque las pruebas gratuitas que requieren tarjeta de crédito tienen un crecimiento inicial más rápido, las que no lo requieren tienen un LTV significativamente mayor, lo que indica que pueden estar cobrando más por sus servicios. Esto plantea la idea de que el modelo de prueba gratuita puede influir en la monetización y estrategias de precios de la empresa.

📈 Canales de publicidad más efectivos para SAS

El último párrafo del guion se enfoca en los canales de publicidad que han aumentado significativamente los ingresos de las empresas SAS. Google AdWords es el canal más efectivo con el 65% de las respuestas, seguido por los anuncios de Meta (Facebook) con alrededor del 30%. Se menciona la poca efectividad de Twitter en comparación con estos canales y se plantea la posibilidad de que 'otros' canales de publicidad, que incluyen una variedad de opciones, sean tan efectivos como LinkedIn, que generalmente se considera uno de los tres canales principales para los fundadores de SAS B2B.

Keywords

💡SAS

SAS (Software as a Service) se refiere a un modelo de negocio en el que el software se alquila a los clientes a través de Internet. En el video, se discute cómo las empresas SAS independientes pueden compararse y evaluar su desempeño a través de informes y datos compilados, y cómo diferentes estrategias de SAS pueden afectar el crecimiento y la retención de clientes.

💡Churn

El término 'churn' hace referencia a la tasa de rotación de clientes, es decir, cuántos clientes abandonan el servicio. En el video, se cuestiona si un 'churn' del 6% es bueno, malo o desastroso, y se sugiere que los datos del informe pueden ayudar a las empresas a entender y mejorar esta métrica clave.

💡Growth Rate

La 'tasa de crecimiento' mide el ritmo a que una empresa aumenta su tamaño, ingresos o usuarios. El video analiza cómo diferentes factores, como la política de tarjeta de crédito y los planes gratuitos, pueden afectar la tasa de crecimiento de una empresa SAS.

💡Free Plan

Un 'plan gratuito' es una oferta de servicio sin costo que las empresas pueden utilizar para atraer a nuevos clientes. En el video, se debate cómo ofrecer un plan gratuito puede afectar el valor de vida útil (LTV) de los clientes y se exploran las implicaciones de su implementación.

💡Lifetime Value (LTV)

El 'valor de vida útil' (LTV) es la cantidad total de ingresos que se espera que una empresa gane de un cliente a lo largo de toda su relación. El video muestra que el LTV puede variar según el tipo de plan de servicio que se ofrezca, con planes gratuitos que no requieren tarjeta de crédito tiendo a tener un LTV más alto.

💡Bootstrapped

Una empresa 'bootstrapped' es aquella que se autofinanancia y no recibe capital de inversionistas externos. En el video, se destaca que la mayoría de las empresas SAS son bootstrapped y se discuten las ventajas y desafíos de este enfoque de financiamiento.

💡Credit Card Upfront

Solicitar una 'tarjeta de crédito al inicio' significa pedir a los clientes que proporcionen su información de tarjeta de crédito para iniciar una prueba gratuita. El video analiza cómo esta práctica ha cambiado en popularidad y cómo puede afectar tanto el crecimiento inicial como la retención de clientes.

💡Founder Trio

Un 'founder trio' se refiere a una empresa con tres cofundadores. El video destaca que, en promedio, las empresas con un founder trio experimentan un crecimiento mes a mes significativamente más alto que las con un solo fundador o un par de fundadores.

💡Opt-Out Free Trial

Una 'prueba gratuita de opt-out' es una oferta donde los clientes deben tomar acción para cancelar si no desean continuar después de la prueba. En el video, se menciona que esta es una estrategia que puede tener un impacto en el crecimiento inicial de la empresa.

💡Advertising Channels

Los 'canales publicitarios' son los medios a través de los cuales las empresas promocionan sus productos o servicios. El video destaca que Google AdWords y los anuncios de Meta (Facebook) son los canales que más han aumentado los ingresos de las empresas SAS, seguido por 'otros' que podrían incluir publicidad en podcasts o eventos patrocinados.

Highlights

Comparing company performance with industry benchmarks can provide insights into areas for improvement.

The report surveyed nearly 700 bootstrapped SaaS founders for data-driven insights.

Solo founders experienced an average of 177% month-over-month growth.

Founder trios showed 2 to 3 times the average growth compared to solo founders or duos.

There's a slight decrease in average growth with four or more founders.

The trend of three founders outperforming others has been consistent over the years.

70% of SaaS companies are single-founder businesses, with 15% having two founders.

The requirement of a credit card upfront for free trials has fluctuated over the years.

A communal shift is happening towards opt-out credit card requirements and free trials.

Targeting Enterprise companies can lead to higher month-over-month growth rates.

Consumer and government sectors tend to have slower growth rates compared to Enterprise.

Focusing on the right target market is crucial for expected growth rates.

A decrease in respondents planning to seek outside funding reflects the current funding environment.

Free trials requiring a credit card upfront show higher initial growth but lower lifetime value.

Free trials not requiring a credit card have higher churn but double the lifetime value.

The 'premium' model may indicate a lack of understanding of how to effectively implement freemium.

Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are the top advertising channels for revenue growth.

LinkedIn ads are not as effective due to poor ad technology, despite the platform's potential.

The 'other' advertising category suggests a variety of effective channels beyond traditional ones.

Transcripts

wouldn't it be nice to take a peek

behind the scenes at SAS businesses just

like yours or even better businesses

that are just a bit ahead of you so that

you could see how your company Compares

is your 6% churn good bad catastrophic

could your growth rate be better if you

didn't require a credit card upfront how

might offering a free plan affect your

lifetime value the answers to those

questions are exactly what you'll find

in this year's state of independent ass

report we surveyed and compiled data

from almost 700 bootstrapped and most

mostly bootstrap SAS Founders and in

this video I bring in Asia arangio

founder of demand Maven who helped us

create the report to go over a handful

of the surprising results and if you

stick around to the end I'll let you

know where you can get your free copy of

the full report since there was way too

much to include in this video let's get

into it Asia Rano thanks so much for

joining me back on the channel thanks

again for having me super pumped to dig

into all this data I am too let's dig in

to your first finding we we're going to

each have four that we're sharing today

but talk to us about founder count first

and foremost solo founders of course you

guys you know out there you're already

making growth waves like you're already

doing the thing and uh on average and

also the median we typically saw on

average it was around like 177%

month-over-month growth uh when it came

to the median I think most so just for

context too median represents more of

like the this is what most people are

probably experiencing and the average of

course is the number that you get after

looking at the entire data set but even

still month of month growth still

looking pretty good uh what I think is

interesting though is there's a little

bit of like a very slight diminishing

return on the average when you look at

founder Duos meaning like there are two

Founders but what I think is fascinating

is once you get to founder trios meaning

there are three co-founders this is when

you start to see around 2 to 3x average

growth month over month and I think that

this is so interesting because the I

think the connotation of of a trio is

that maybe it goes a little bit slower

but actually I think having the third

person probably like my hypothesis is

that the third person probably uh breaks

a lot of ties so to speak uh however

there are diminishing returns once you

get to four or more we start to see a

dramatic uh drop off when it comes to

average month-over-month growth not that

it's like terrible or poor or anything

it's just not maybe as efficient as some

of the other uh growth rates month over

month but I still think it's really

interesting this has been relatively

consistent since we started asking this

question over the P because this is the

fourth report that we've done uh over

five years I think and I've noticed this

pattern in each of them we could go back

through the others but I believe for

some reason that and I've never been

able to explain it that why three

founders perform significantly better

than one two and certainly than four

I've always been with with bootstrappers

like

we have the numbers in the report I

forget if it's like 70% of mostly

bootstrap SAS are single Founders it's

like a huge chunk and then another like

15 plus percent is two founder companies

and that's just the most common I mean

that's like the 85 that's a line share

right 85% and the more you get like I've

seen four co-founder bootstrap companies

usually there's a weak link is what it

is usually there's someone who shouldn't

you know by my judgment shouldn't really

be part of it and you get too many cooks

in the kitchen and people can't like you

said can't break the ties decision by

committee you there's all kinds of stuff

so it makes sense to me that at four

it's too many but I've always thought

like well three is probably too many as

well but that's not what our numbers

have shown us each year my first finding

we asked when a potential customer

registers for a free trial does your

company request a credit card number to

start the trial and what we looked at in

this case is over the course of the four

surveys we did from 2020 to this year's

2024 and the findings are that the

asking for a credit card upfront has

increased and then decreased again so

the first year it was 73% asked for

credit card upfront then it went up to

78% 78% in the next one and it's down

this year to

71% so about a 10% drop so it's not

precipitous

but I am curious Asia to hear your

thoughts on in the space especially like

with bootstrap Founders that you talk to

do you feel like the goalposts are

moving for a free trials B freemium and

and C you know uh credit card up front

maybe start with credit card up front

because that that's what this slide is

about but do have you seen that goalpost

moving over the past several years yes

uh with the founders and the companies

that I work with absolutely it feels

like there's a communal aha moment

happening around

the opt out credit card requirement or

the opt out free trial which basically

means like you you're requiring the

credit card I think there's a lot more

movement towards opin free trial and I

think we'll probably also discuss a

little bit about freemium as well but

definitely I'm absolutely seeing this I

have some hypothesis about why but we'll

we'll get into that in I think in one of

the future slides that we're going to

cover yeah my default has tended to be

if if I don't have any other information

I ask for credit card up front because

usually I want I want to narrow the

people who are going to try the software

to folks who are actually interested and

I think might pay now it depends though

it depends on the space like if you're

if you're the person who's going to use

the software is different than who's

going to pay for it probably not the

best idea because they don't have a

credit card right if a software

developer at a certain company is going

to use it but doesn't have a credit card

then obviously um you might need to

allow free trial without a credit card

the thing the mistake that I've seen

folks do is either enact fremium where

they then have you know they

bootstrapping and using fremium where

they push Revenue down the line and

maybe they don't have the the criteria

place to do it but also then they get a

lot of noise especially in the early

days and similar with removing credit

card you can get more people and you can

get more feedback and that's the pro the

con is you get more people in and you

get more feedback and depending on how

well you are at dealing with that like

if you're a first-timer that can be

completely overwhelming and so when I

say I default to it I mean it's like a

6040 for me you know it's not an always

and never but it's like with no other

information that's what I do however I

think there there's a lot of leeway here

for it to go up and down that's so

interesting I'm the because I'm the

total opposite is it to get more data

what's the reason that you would go with

not having a credit card Upfront for a

free trial if you already have a really

dialed in sense of who your customer is

then I think like why why put the limits

on on the free trial um and and also I

find that when you are able to get a

little bit more information uh I don't I

just feel like assuming that you have

help and that you have like experience

in this um i' I'm actually very

confident in uh my ability to detect

like okay who's who's actually qualified

what do we what do we got to do to

activate people um I think to your point

if you're less confident in your ability

to that then yeah require credit card up

front but once you once you get to like

10 20 50 paying custom customers I think

that you can take the credit card

requirement off and create more of a

pipeline for yourself but again the

assumption is that you've got a pretty

dialed in understanding of the customer

considering that's literally what I do

um I'm I'm I'm pretty confident in like

okay yeah like we don't we don't have to

require the credit card up front but um

yes I I do think it makes sense though

if you're very very early maybe very new

first-time founder uh also New to SAS

then requiring the credit card up front

will be a really good litmus test so I

do I see a lot of value for sure in that

yeah that's the key is I was referring

to if you don't really know your ICP yet

and you're still trying to figure it out

so that's the difference yeah once you

know your ICP you're driving traffic

your ideal customer profile for those

listening or watching um that that makes

sense I think I think we're on the same

page all right Asia let's talk about

target

market yeah this might sound really

obvious but I think that this this this

slide just illustrates it I and makes it

visual for people because the market

that you ultimately decide to focus on

is going to have a huge impact on your

growth rates this also might not be that

surprising when I say but if you are

targeting Enterprise companies

traditionally speaking your average

month of month month-over-month growth

rate was probably like in the 26 or so

percent that's that's pretty high

actually for uh for a company that

essentially means that you potentially

more than double year over-ear um but

there there are some tradeoffs depending

of course on who you Target so for

example if I uh if I look in this chart

here um towards the end we see consumers

so on average month over month growth

rate looked closer to 5% for consumers

uh government was pretty pretty slow

1.75 now to keep in mind this is the

average the medians reflected something

very similar um but what was also

interesting was depending on just how

people respond to the survey if they

selected other which to be honest I was

kind of having a hard time of like what

would other be but um but if you were

not really targeting any of these uh

ideal customer types then you probably

saw contractions and growth this could

actually be due to a lack of focus um

this could also just be maybe there are

some consumer customer categories that

just don't fit within this model but at

the end of the day who you target from a

business perspective is going to have a

lot to do with how you grow that should

be both uh I think it should be seen a

little bit as I don't want to say like

blessing and curse but almost like uh

setting expectations for yourself so if

you're if you're targeting if you're

going B Toc if you're going consumer

just have a expectation that growth

might look a little bit different than

if you're B2B targeting Enterprise or

even midmarket uh smbs fell right in the

middle which probably not surprising so

if you were targeting small businesses

your average growth growth rate probably

looked around like 12% month over month

um but overall though something to keep

in mind but yeah Rob I'm curious how how

you see this and uh how this reflects

for you yeah so for context the top

three fastest growing Market Target

markets are Enterprise and midmarket

which is slightly smaller than

Enterprise and NOS or non-government

organizations I'm a little surprised the

NGS are there but I you know it it is

what it is so those are the top three

which the first two certainly line up

with you know my experience of at least

having a dual funnel with Enterprise and

mid Market plus SMB but with the tiny C

companies we see the ones with the

bigger acvs the ones with you know the

bigger um average revenue per account

per month or per year are do tend to be

the ones that grow faster on the bottom

end the bottom four are totally in line

with what I would think aspiring

entrepreneurs education so it's selling

into schools and academics uh consumers

and then government

and yeah that none of those are really

surprising to

me yeah yeah NOS though that makes me

think

that those those software companies are

solving a very big problem for them

that's what makes me think that NGO is

doing so well I think the NGS are

probably Enterprise or mid-market

companies is is my guess you know we've

broken them out because people we we

used to have well we do have other and

people would write in NOS that's our

target market and so we included it but

if you think about it a lot lot of

non-government organizations are

actually large businesses and I I think

kind of you the first three all all line

up so for our next one we asked do you

plan to seek outside funding for your

company within the next 12 months and I

I'm glad we started asking this I think

we've only asked it for two years but it

was insightful for me the first year to

realize you know this really gets sent

out to the microc conf Tiny Seed starts

the rest of us ecosystem which is

frankly it's just mostly bootstrappers

like it's overwhelmingly folks who want

a bootstrap and and that's fine that's

okay um what I was surprised by was in

2022

30% of respondents said they plan to

seek outside funding within the next 12

months and then in this year's report

it's down to

23.5% now a couple thoughts on that

number one it's interesting that across

all the tiny seed companies that we

funded somewhere around a third of them

wind up seeking or raising additional

funding so that a third onethird number

seems to be it seems to be something you

know this is even for for companies

who've taken an accelerate around from

Chinese seed the other takeaways from

year to year if you heard me say 2022 is

30% and 2023 was about just under 24% so

there's a decrease right of you know 20

20 something per. I think that's due to

the funding environment I'll say this

the 2022 results were actually surveyed

in Fall of 21 when things were still

gangb ERS it was so easy to raise

funding everyone was thinking about it

everyone was doing it the valuations

were high there were all the there were

spacks going on there was crowdfunding

going out you know all kinds of stuff so

I do think there was more of an appetite

because it was just easier money was

cheaper and this year's survey you know

taken what uh a couple years later

because we we skipped the year in

between is down to about 24% and I'll

admit that's just not that surprising I

think with funding being harder to raise

kind of makes sense you bootstrap until

the money's available and If the money's

never available you just keep

bootstrapping funding being harder to

raise but then also terms not nearly as

appealing as maybe they once were there

you go uh and then also I think there's

just like

a what was the quote from microcom most

recently the exit strategy is death yeah

yeah I think I think the culture is

culturing when it comes to when it comes

to bootstrap in general so uh yeah I but

I also think it speaks maybe a little

bit to the mental resilience of

bootstrappers I think a lot of people

are learning about how to how to grow

sustain

uh and also being maybe a lot more

Discerning about like when does it make

sense to get funding and Asia for your

next slide we have a battle of the

models talk us through this oh yes okay

it is the it is one of my absolute

favorite debates and it's just because

there isn't really like a right or a

wrong answer but the data is going to

show us a couple of really interesting

Trends so basically there's of course

offering premium then there's the free

trial you can do opt-in free trial which

which basically means that you don't

require a credit card UPF front and then

there's the opt out free trial which

means that you do require require a

credit card up front you have to opt out

of it so when it comes to growth churn

and LTV which we're going to look at in

here in a second when it comes to growth

overall so what we find is uh free plans

and free trials that do require a credit

card we're going to see on average at

least 10% and for free trial credit card

required uh it actually is the highest

so 14% month over Monon average growth

for companies that do that uh so

requiring the credit card up front does

have a pretty big impact when it comes

to um initial you know upfront growth

and then not requiring the credit card

it had the least amount of

month-over-month growth this is about

7.6 we'll call it 8% on average um and

at first blush that may seem like oh CC

required for the free trial is the

obvious answer and then maybe after that

premium but not necessarily because now

we have to look at churn so for churn

for the free plan this was absolutely

fascinating but basically your month

over month growth average while it might

have been

10.45% um churn was about the same it

was almost 11% month-over-month

uh average for turn so basically premium

tended to see if you offered a free plan

uh you probably saw a little bit higher

turn as well um when it comes to the

free trial credit card required the

average for the month-over-month turn

was 5.5% now this was actually shocking

to me because traditionally speaking we

tend to see really high turn numbers

when you require the credit card up

front because people forget to cancel

and they you know they email you and

they're like oh I forgot to cancel can

you cancel my thing and then um profit

well and a lot of other subscription

metrics will actually count that as turn

um even though they might have just

forgotten so I was actually shocked to

see that the average was about 5 .5% on

credit card required and then finally

not requiring the credit card on the

free trial 6.34 so a little bit higher

um now again that might make you think

oh wow not requiring the credit card on

the free trial is the worst one um but

then we're going to look at

LTV uh but first I'll pause here I'm so

curious Rob like your gut reactions to

this it's tough because it is averages

um but my gut feel is typically that

folks who are asking for credit card up

front I I would think that the the churn

for the first 30 or 60 days would be

higher but if they have their stuff

dialed in then beyond that as long as

they're getting ICP their ideal customer

profile in because they are gating it

with a credit card kind of makes sense

right that's why I say it's my default

again it's a default it's a rule of

thumb it's a just a thing that I lean

towards so it it does kind of make sense

it really makes sense to me that free

plan meaning freemium has you know I'd

say lower growth but that that the churn

is high which I guess is this this isn't

churn from the free plan this is churn

from the paid plans which almost tells

me like the business is broken and

that's the thing just bootstrappers

using premium in general usually means

they don't know what they're doing like

that's been my experience you know what

I mean and it's like I and I don't mean

that I I use that bad word only to imply

that I just see it too often it's the

same thing people want to do BDC they

want to bootstrap at two-sided

Marketplace and they want to have

premium I don't know why they're drawn

to this like moobs to a bug zapper but

it really is the most common questions

that I get I've just stopped taking

these questions on the podcast so the

premium part kind of being a train wreck

and the business being on fire that

makes a little more sense the fact that

free trial with credit card require

performs better at least with these

averages um I think it's in line with my

experience but it doesn't you know more

more questions to be asked is how I feel

about it this is where I would

say uh the story flips a little bit so

LTV

ultimately what that kpi speaks to is

the lifetime value of the customer so

for as long as they spend with you how

much how much like actual money do they

do they spend on average uh across their

entire experience um with your product

and what we found was while the free

trial credit card not required certainly

did not look as appealing

month-over-month growth wise or even

turn wise what we found was it actually

would have on average two times the LTV

versus other plans so for context free

plan and premium we saw an average of 3K

LTV when we looked at credit card

required on the free trial it was about

3.6k LTV free trial credit card not

required 6.5k so easily 2x over premium

or free plans and then a of course a

slight bump over the over the free trial

credit card required what this tells me

is that while businesses might choose

you know the free trial where the credit

card is not required um what they're

basically trading off is faster maybe

upfront month-over-month growth for

basically more money in the pocket which

I don't think you can be mad about

however that's not to say though that

requiring the credit card UPF front is

not a good option if anything this makes

me think that maybe monetization is a

little bit broken for companies that

tend to do the credit card required up

front um and then for premium it's

exactly what you said before I think a

lot of Founders just don't really

understand how to make fremium work like

how do you make it do the thing but it

also could speak to lower pricing plans

and uh charging Less in general because

you've got freemium as your starting

point so it could also speak to that as

well so maybe monetization is a little

bit broken here as well yeah this one's

interesting for me because in our last

slide we looked at growth rate and free

trial with credit card acquire was

growing significantly faster month over

month than the others but free trial

credit card not required has

significantly higher lifetime value

even though the turn is higher so it

implies that without credit card

required the basically the they're

charging more right I mean because for

the LTV to be higher with higher turn

means they have to be charging more

charging more keeping more I think too

potentially this is where like data can

be made to tell a story because Asia and

I could go on Twitter X and we could say

well obviously based on this slide you

should not ask for a credit card and we

have data for it and we could flip to

the slide before we could say Obviously

by this slide we you know a free child

credit card require allows you to grow

faster and it's I won't say it's apples

and oranges cuz they're related but it's

it's unclear and honestly this is why

the answer is it depends it really does

depend on your space it depends on your

customer type your ICP it depends on

your stage and for our last slide this

one will be quick I just like looking at

it because the question we ask is please

select up to three advertising channels

that have most significantly increased

your revenue and the number one is with

what 65 percenti is is Google AdWords

number two with about half that so

around 30ish is uh meta or Facebook ads

and then next is other and fourth is

LinkedIn and I every year I'm always

like I think Twitter ads are going to do

something so at some point they're gonna

and they never do they're all they're

always so far to the right it's like

that Twitter ad ecosystem is terrible

usually though I would expect LinkedIn

to be third it just in broader

experience it's like ADW it's Google

AdWords it's it's Facebook and it's

LinkedIn would be my top three that I

would recommend to um you know to

Founders B2B SAS Founders the issue

though is the LinkedIn ad tools are not

great and that's what I've heard and so

we've actually tiny seeds invested in

link low which is a SAS that it sits on

top it's like it's it helps you manage

and and deal basically get around

linkedin's crappy ad interface you heard

me say that's not their marketing that's

me just saying it's pretty rough um the

ad Tech of LinkedIn is significantly

behind meta and AdWords the thing that I

want to dig into and I wish I had this

data with me today is other advertising

I don't exactly know what that is and I

bet we had a text field that people

entered stuff I I'm curious if other

advertising is like advertising on

podcast advertising or sponsoring events

or display advertis like I can imagine

those being an other and so the fact

that it's ahead of LinkedIn might be

just that it's so varied you know

there's so many different options that

people kind of bucket it all in one

yeah the the LinkedIn thing is also not

surprising to me I I think um in order

for LinkedIn to work you've got to be

targeting audience that just actually

lives on LinkedIn like I live on

LinkedIn that's where I hang out now

Asia thanks again so much for joining me

here in this video today folks want to

keep up with you you are Asia arangio on

Twitter and demand

maven.com into the state of independent

SAS report you can head over to stateof

IND sas.com if you want to get your

hands on the rest of the report in it we

walk through dozens of SAS metric

benchmarks we talk a little bit about

our methodology and comment on the most

surprising findings and I also cover the

content about hiring that was on my eth

slide that we didn't quite have time for

in this video if you found this video

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