How SaaStr Built an Energized Community of Evangelists From Scratch

G R E T C H E N D E K N I K K E R , C O O / S A A S T R

WHAT IS

SaaStr is definitely the largest community of people who like enterprise software on the planet. It’s a great community of people trying to build companies and learn from one another. It’s pretty amazing to see.”

AARON LEVIECEO, COFOUNDER & CHAIRMAN / BOX

“@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

VPS

EXECS

VCS

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

FOUNDERS

WE ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE

About us

FOUNDER / ADVISOR

Jason is a 2x founder, 1x VC, and constant SaaS enthusiast

Started SaaStr as a simple blog in 2012

Jason Lemkin

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

COO

Startup junkie, 1x founder, 5x early employee

Joined SaaStr in 2014

Gretchen DeKnikker

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

TWO YEARS OF

GROWTH

2014

2016 10,0003MVIEWS/MONTH

1MVIEWS/ MONTH

TRAFFIC

25 ,000

500

SUBSCRIBERS

30,000

5,000

FOLLOWERS

2 ,000

SAASTR ANNUAL

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

WHAT IS SAASTR ANNUAL?

2015 2016 201710,000 attendees

3 days, 4 stages

200+ speakers

5,000 attendees

3 days, 2 stages

100+ speakers

- and a dance crew

WHAT IS SAASTR ANNUAL?

2,000 attendees

1 day, 1 stage

20 speakers

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

Learning via blog - but one voice, one direction 1

Gathering in person - more voices, connecting with others 2

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

3 Education platform - packaging lessons for every stage of journey

HOW THE CONFERENCE INTEGRATES

HOW DID WE DO IT?

Measure E V E R Y T H I N G

HOW DO WE DO IT?

We have no idea what we’re doing1

2

3

4

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

Most importantly…

The community

HOW DO WE DO IT?

Pick an outcome and work backwards

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

4

WHAT WE’VE LEARNED… SO FAR

Single owner/single metric - or disaster

The details really matter

It ain’t software

Process, but not for process sake

WHAT WE’VE LEARNED, SO FAR…

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

1

2

3

4

HOW DOUBLEDUTCH

HELPS

HOW DOUBLEDUTCH HELPS

We can’t trust our opinions…

1

2

3

4

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

There’s soooo much more we can do

We need to do speaker prep

…but we can’t necessarily trust theirs either

HOW WE MEASURE

EVERYTHING

METRICS

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

A good metric…

A GREAT metric also… 3

4

Has an object basis attendees per company, returning attendees by month

Aligns individual goals with overall plan single owner, everyone has a number

1

2

Begins with a number # of ticket sold, % of speakers confirmed

Has a time basis per week, by October 10th

*adapted from LUXr Lean Startup Workshop

HOW WE USE THE DATA

WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE DATA? HOW DOES IT SHAPE DECISIONS?

Agenda - attendee profiles shape content

Expenses - what we can add and when

Revenue - scenario planning, fixed vs variable costs

Attendee Experience - managing venue constraints

Hiring - who we’ll need when

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS

HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS AND ROI

A mix of quantitive…

• Sponsor renewals - closed $1m in sponsors within 60 days of the event - but also new 40% were new logos

• Return attendees - 1000 tickets within 90 days - but also new, 35% return/65% new (only 50% can be return)

… and qualitative feedback

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

…AND QUALITATIVE FEEDBACK

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

WHERE DO WE STILL NEED TO

IMPROVE?

WHAT CAN WE STILL DO BETTER?

Diversity - have to be committed.

Processes - the right-sized tools that scale

Advisory council - speakers and sponsors

Editing ourselves – a year to plan is a long time

@saastr #liveMKTG@gretchende

SAASTRWHAT’S NEXT FOR

WHAT’S NEXT?

Academy

WE’RE HIRING!jobs@saastrinc.com