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Welcome to Volume 109
We hope you had a great week!
With layoffs dominating the news, we can only imagine how tough it must be for those affected. We hope you find an exciting new opportunity soon.
We have a few openings if you’re a marketer looking for a new opportunity. Be sure to check them out. We’re rooting for you.
Here’s what’s to come:
- Winter is here for SaaS
- 1Password acquires Passage
- And more…
Let’s jump right in.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Drive more content ROI, even in a recession
Many content teams pump resources into creating the perfect piece but invest little or nothing in distribution. As a result, the content performs poorly.
With a solid distribution and promotion strategy, you gain many relationship- and revenue-generating opportunities. You promote your content to new audiences daily so more people can see how your product solves their problems. That means adding another relevant channel to your marketing arsenal.
Converge is a marketing channel that lets you:
- Get more eyes on your content pieces
- Boost brand awareness
- Boost your organic reach at an affordable rate
- Build trust with more people as you show expertise and authority
This ultimately results in repeat sales, revenue growth, and overall business growth. With a recession looming, expanding your organic reach can attract prospects who fall in love with your solution and become repeat customers. That’s why you should leverage Converge to start building new audiences outside your regular channels. It never hurts to have a backup channel to move you closer to your goals.
You can sign up for free and use the code ‘FOUND15’ to get 15% off any tier for life when you upgrade to a paid account—after your 30-day free trial expires.
SAAS NEWS
Winter is here for SaaS
Layoffs. Hiring Freezes. Quiet Quitting. Stock market slide. Revenue churn.
These are no longer buzzwords but a reality for many SaaS and cloud companies as the industry braces for an economic crisis. Many software categories that boomed during and post-pandemic are trying to stay afloat.
For example, Datadog grew during and after the pandemic, recording its highest growth in July 2021. The share price has experienced more than a 50% loss since then.
A SaaStr report revealed that even though Datadog had a great quarter with a 61% growth at $1.8 Billion in ARR, its bookings were lower than the previous quarter, earning $121m in new ARR this quarter over $172m in Q2, and $146m in Q1. Atlassian also suffered a decline in its free-to-paid conversions in Q3 and a falling share price.
Some companies have proactively reduced their workforce to increase runway. For example, Meta laid off 11,000 employees this week. Many SaaS companies have also laid off tons of employees within the past few weeks.
The numbers aren’t looking so good right now, and many experts say it’s likely to worsen in the coming months. It Makes me wonder if winter is coming or if it’s here already, and this is just the beginning.
Despite the gloom and doom, there’s some light in the tunnel. SaaS companies can still succeed by:
- Studying changes in customer behavior, reviewing customer segments, and diversifying product offerings to serve customers better.
- Analyzing customer feedback to identify ways to improve product experience
- Investing in content marketing—educating prospects and customers about their problems and how the product can help them.
- Updating old content pieces with more relevant insights
- Follow up on opportunities that went cold
- Turn winter into a learning experience
- Build a referral engine
There’s so much that SaaS companies can do to ensure the odds are in their favor.
This Twitter thread from Patrick Campbell of Profitwell will give you some actionable insights on your next steps amidst the chaos, as well as this timely advice from Ross.
SAAS ACQUISITION
1Password acquires Passage
The industry has seen some wins this week as well.
Late last week, LastPass competitor 1Password acquired Passage, a passwordless authentication provider, for an undisclosed amount. The goal is to help bring passwordless authentication to its users. This acquisition came almost a year after its series C funding round in January, which boosted its valuation to $6.8 billion.
1Password announced its plans to roll out a new passwordless authentication platform early next year, and Passage’s biometric authentication features will drive this.
Investing in passwordless authentication only means one thing—the anti-password movement is gaining ground, and leading password managers are falling in line. BigTech companies are already working hard to kill traditional passwords and replace them with passkeys, so 1Password joining the train is no surprise.
Passwordless authentication is the future for the industry, and it’s no surprise that 1Password is jumping in to give users a more seamless login experience while securing their data. Users love safe, secure, and seamless product experiences, so if 1Password pulls this off and keeps improving on the feature based on user feedback, they’ll stay ahead of the competition and ultimately gain more market share.
B2B NEWS OF THE WEEK YOU SHOULD KNOW:
🟥 Meta lays off 11,000 employees to become a leaner and more efficient company.
🚀 Reddit rolls out an advertising API and improves onboarding flow to shore up its ad offering for small to mid-size businesses (SMBs) and mid-market clients.
🎤Elon Musk joined Twitter Spaces to address advertisers’ concerns, including questions about the blue check subscription. Listen here if you missed it.
BRAIN FOOD OF THE WEEK:
This is a reminder to set proper boundaries.
Boundaries are super important for healthy professional and personal relationships. That’s because they define how people perceive and treat you.
A proper boundary ensures people respect and treats you the right way, while a weak boundary allows people to get away with bad behavior. That’s what happens when you either don’t set boundaries or you set them but don’t communicate or enforce them.
At work, proper boundaries affect your productivity and ultimately improve your contributions’ impact on your company’s bottom line. They also prevent burnout. That’s why you should set them from the get-go.
If you missed doing this, you could do so now. Here are five ways to get started:
- Don’t feel obligated to say yes to every request, especially when you are at full capacity. You can land in real trouble if you ignore your gut to please others.
- Use the primary boundary word “NO” when you know you can’t meet a request. You can also give helpful suggestions on how to get it done if you can.
- Clearly communicate your boundaries. People need to know you exist apart from them. You can be kind and assertive at the same time.
- Ensure people are aware that their actions have consequences. If they knowingly disrespect you, call them out on it. It doesn’t make you mean. It teaches people how to interact with you respectfully.
- If someone says something you feel is disrespectful, ask questions to clarify. Don’t assume and obsess about it. It could harm collaboration with that person and affect productivity.
- Focus less on what you don’t have in comparison to what others do have. Instead of letting their achievements intimidate you, let them inspire you.
Setting boundaries will help you connect and collaborate better with your team and get your best work done on time. But don’t stop at setting them. Communicate and enforce them every step of the way if you want to see some real progress.
TWITTER THREAD OF THE WEEK:
How bad will the recession be, and what you should you do by Patrick Campbell
NICE FINDS YOU SHOULD BINGE
- Your Pricing Project Starts Here
- Inside Hotjar’s Bootstrapped PLG Strategy
- What Is The ‘For You Page’ (FYP) & Why It Matters
- Why Now’s the Perfect Time to Retool Your Hiring Process and Get Creative
WHAT WE’RE WIRED INTO THIS WEEK 🎧:
This charcuterie board of insights is brought to you by me, Jessica Tee O. ✌🏾!
