Fundraising

Fundraising for SaaS Startups

How SaaS founders raised capital and what they learned. Seed rounds, VC relationships, alternative funding, and why some founders chose not to raise at all.

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Pendo raised $479M over multiple rounds and built a category-defining product analytics company. Proof raised $260M by riding the timing wave of remote notarization. Fyxer closed a Series B in just nine days based on their AI performance data. And Todd Dickerson never raised a dollar and grew ClickFunnels to $140M ARR. These episodes cover the full spectrum of fundraising decisions — including the decision not to raise at all.

You'll hear the unfiltered version of what fundraising is actually like. Drata raised early and reached $100M ARR before their fourth birthday. Assembled raised $71M from NEA, Emergence, and Stripe. But at Livestorm raised a seed round and had no meaningful revenue for two years afterward. bootstrapped Planhat for six years before eventually raising, saying the discipline of bootstrapping forced them to create real value.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I raise funding for my SaaS startup?+

Kaveh Rostampor bootstrapped Planhat for six years before eventually raising, saying the discipline of bootstrapping forced them to create real value. Gilles Bertaux at Livestorm raised a seed round and had no meaningful revenue for two years afterward. Egnyte's founder started with $100 in his pocket and eventually raised $137.5M to reach $300M-plus in revenue. Todd Dickerson never raised a dollar and grew ClickFunnels to $140M ARR. The choice depends on whether you need capital for a time-sensitive opportunity or can grow profitably from revenue.

How much traction do I need to raise a seed round?+

It varies wildly. Livestorm raised a seed round with essentially no revenue and spent two years finding product-market fit. Drata raised early and grew to $100M ARR before their fourth birthday. Assembled raised $71M from NEA, Emergence, and Stripe with a strong team and clear enterprise traction. Fyxer closed a Series B in just nine days based on their AI performance data. The bar depends on the market and investors, but having paying customers, strong retention signals, and a clear path to scale dramatically strengthens your position. Most seed investors want to see at least $5K to $20K in MRR.

What do VCs look for in a SaaS startup?+

Pendo raised $479M over multiple rounds. Their metrics told a clear story: strong product usage data, rapid enterprise adoption, and expanding revenue per account. Proof (formerly Notarize) raised $260M by showing massive market timing with remote notarization. Drata reached $100M ARR before their fourth birthday, proving execution speed. Fyxer's data showing AI outperforming humans closed their Series B in nine days. VCs evaluate market size, team execution ability, product-market fit evidence, and the potential for rapid compounding growth. Retention metrics and a founding team with unique insight into the problem matter most.

What are alternatives to VC funding for SaaS?+

Egnyte's founder started with $100 in his pocket and built to revenue before raising. Kaveh Rostampor bootstrapped Planhat for six years using customer revenue. Todd Dickerson self-funded ClickFunnels entirely from savings and early revenue. Stuart Crane started with $200 each and built to a $43M exit without outside money. Alternatives include revenue-based financing, angel investors, SaaS-specific lenders, pre-selling annual contracts, and government grants. Each has different trade-offs in dilution, repayment, and control, but the founders who bootstrapped consistently say it forced better discipline.

Nik Mijic, Matik

From Zero Sales Skills to Founder-Led Sales Machine

Nik Mijic is the co-founder and CEO of Matik, a SaaS product that automates data-driven presentations in PowerPoint and Google Slides. Before starting Matik, Nik worked as a program manager at LinkedIn, where he built internal tools that helped sales and customer success teams create data-heavy decks. In 2018, Nik realized that many B2B companies were wasting hours manually pulling data from Salesforce, Tableau, and other sources just to build quarterly business reviews and ROI decks. He saw an opportunity to automate the entire process. But he wasn't ready to quit his job just yet. Nik met his co-founder Zach through a mutual friend. Zach was an early engineer at Box who had stayed through the IPO. The two spent five to six months researching the idea, validating the problem with potential customers, and making sure they were a good fit for each other before committing. When Nik finally decided to leave LinkedIn, the hardest part was telling his parents. As refugees from the Bosnian civil war, they had sacrificed everything to give their children opportunities in the US. But instead of pushing back, they told him to go for it - even offering to sell their house if he needed support. The co-founders started working out of Nik's apartment in early 2019. Building the product came together quickly, but selling it was a different story. Neither Nik nor Zach had any sales background. Nik's founder-led sales approach started at a dinner party, where a woman introduced him to her company's enablement team. They loved the prototype, asked where to sign, and Nik realized he didn't even have a purchase order or legal terms. He made up a price of $2,500 on the spot, and that became Matik's first paying customer. From there, Nik leaned heavily on his LinkedIn network and a clever tactic: reaching out to former LinkedIn employees who had moved to new companies and missed the internal tools Nik had built. That approach got Matik to its first 15 to 20 customers. When it came time to build a sales team, Nik learned a key lesson: hire in twos. Bringing on two account executives or two SDRs at the same time lets you benchmark performance and figure out whether issues are with the person or the process. He also discovered that founders never fully step away from selling - even after hiring a head of sales, Nik stayed involved in deals to keep a pulse on the market. Today, Matik's customers include B2B tech companies like Asana, Glassdoor, Greenhouse, and SalesLoft. The founders have raised $23 million, including a $20 million Series A from Andreessen Horowitz.