Month: April 2020

---

This post is by Konstantin Valchev from Openview Labs

Click here to view on the original site: Original Post

---

When we at OpenView consider a company for venture funding, the Gross Margin is an important indicator of how profitable and scalable the business is. When a company that looks to raise venture capital funding is a SaaS company, the criterion for the Gross Margin does change. Typically, a good SaaS business model should have a gross margin of about 80-90%. This means that the Cost of Goods Sold should be around 10-20% of the total Revenue. The product that the SaaS companies provide is a software enabled service, mainly delivered over the Internet. Therefore, the items that comprise the COGS for this business model are different from those found in the COGS of traditional Software businesses. This is a list of the general costs that comprise the COGS for a SaaS business and are not part of the Operating Expenses:

• Application hosting and monitoring costs
• Customer support and account
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Continue reading "Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Business"

---

This post is by Casey Renner from Openview Labs

Click here to view on the original site: Original Post

---

Leandra Fishman, VP of Growth Sales at Twilio, sat down with me (literally) to talk about what hasn’t changed when it comes to Twilio’s end user strategy despite the pandemic—and the steps you should be taking to effectively scale your sales strategy and team. Stick around until the end to find out where she’s most looking forward to going post-pandemic The post Weekly Walk with Twilio’s Leandra Fishman appeared first on OpenView.

---

This post is by George Roberts from Openview Labs

Click here to view on the original site: Original Post

---

“In this unprecedented time…” Are you sick of hearing that phrase yet? We are too, but the truth is times are unprecedented and people need advice on how to navigate this crisis. That’s why today we launched a new podcast mini-series called Building to Last. In this new series, we’ve connected with people who have built SaaS companies through the limitations and challenges of a crisis and we asked their advice on how they’d advise CEOs today. The first two episodes feature seasoned operators like Graham Smith (Former CFO, Salesforce) and Bill Conroy (Former CEO, Initiate Systems), who share their insights on how to build during a downturn and not only survive this crisis afloat, but thrive on the other side. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or down below, and let us know what you think. We hope this advice can help—and if you need anything, Continue reading "Binge-worthy: Building to Last, a New Podcast for CEOs"

---

This post is by Darren Chait from Openview Labs

Click here to view on the original site: Original Post

---

We’ve just hit the one monthiversary of remote work as the new normal. The how-to posts, downloadable Zoom backgrounds and virtual team building ideas have slowed down, and the world is settling into working from home. It hasn’t been easy juggling kids, co-working partners and concerns about health and job security, but it looks like we’re slowly figuring it out. Except for meetings, that is. The data we’re seeing from thousands of tech companies tells a different story. While we would have expected a reduction in meetings accounting for the environment, we’ve surprisingly seen meeting volume increase, if anything: This surprising metric is indicative of a larger problem but an even greater opportunity for remote teams.

Meeting culture: The silent assassin of team culture

Want to get a quick read on your company culture? Just look at your meetings. It’s all there: the interpersonal relationships, the power dynamics, the team Continue reading "How to Stop Having So Many Remote Meetings"