Edited excerpt from The Right Sales Metrics For Your SaaS Startup, an interview with Jason Lemkin:
Q: You share a lot of advice about business growth on your blog, Saastr.com, taken from your own experiences. What was the most important lesson you took away from growing EchoSign or NanoGram?
A: The most important lesson, especially for earlier-stage entrepreneurs, is don’t quit. What I’ve learned from both my startups is if you have anything at all, build on it. Every SaaS company has a different story of how they got to initial traction, that $1 million to $1.5 million run rate. Some got there in 2 months, others took 4 years to get to a million in revenue. It may seem bleak if you’re doing just $10,000 or $5,000 a month, but it’s almost impossible to get anyone to buy anything. They don’t need any more business web services. So if you have something, even if it that doesn’t pay everyone’s salaries, don’t quit.
Notes:
(1) Cf. Why SaaS and subscription businesses often take longer than B2C.
(2) Cf. For SaaS startups — how to avoid increasing costs inefficiently and prematurely.
A Founder's Notebook 