Thoughts on software, AI, and company building, with occasional sneak peeks at P9’s kitchen table.

Summary (80–120 words): Outlines a seed-stage investor checklist emphasizing break-out potential beyond static TAM via adjacent markets, moving upmarket, or new categories (e.g., Amazon, Zendesk, eBay, Alibaba Pay). Evaluation centers on founder-team fit and hiring signal; hands-on product use; and metric-driven analysis (cohort churn/retention, CLV/LTV, growth benchmarks, activity). It tests acquisition strategy and unit economics (scalable channels, CAC vs CLV), maps competition (direct rivals, indirect Excel substitutes, incumbents requiring a 10x wedge), and gathers customer and expert references. It validates runway and cost base (12–18 months), proceeds to a term sheet, then legal diligence (cap table, IP, employment). Core takeaway: no deal is perfect—optimize for compelling reasons to invest under uncertainty. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): seed investment due diligence, venture capital checklist, early-stage VC evaluation, startup due diligence framework, breakout potential, TAM vs market expansion, adjacent markets strategy, founder–market fit, team hiring signal, SaaS cohort analysis, churn and retention, LTV (CLV) vs CAC, unit economics and payback, scalable distribution channels, go-to-market (GTM) strategy, competitive analysis (direct, indirect, incumbents), customer reference calls, runway planning 12–18 months, cap table and IP assignment, term sheet and legal diligence

Summary (80–120 words): By 2015, the once-differentiating SaaS tactics from 2007–2009—inbound/content marketing, conversion optimization, lifecycle marketing, and consumerized self-serve sales—have become baseline table stakes. Knowledge is widely codified (e.g., SaaStr, David Skok, Tomasz Tunguz, Joel York), and specialized tools operationalize best practices across customer success, subscription billing/analytics, attribution, A/B testing, and lead scoring (e.g., Totango, Gainsight, Intercom, Zuora, ChartMogul, Optimizely, Infer). With ubiquitous playbooks and tooling, there is no excuse for poor metrics literacy or weak customer success; competitors have equal access. The piece stops short of proposing new sources of edge, framing the challenge of finding differentiation beyond the now-standard toolkit. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): SaaS table stakes, SaaS competitive advantage, inbound marketing for SaaS, content marketing for SaaS, conversion rate optimization (CRO), lifecycle marketing, consumerization of the enterprise, customer success management, SaaS metrics and analytics, subscription billing platforms, subscription analytics, multi-touch attribution, A/B testing tools, lead scoring models, SaaS growth playbook, product-led growth (PLG), self-serve SaaS sales, B2B SaaS go-to-market

Summary (80–120 words): Point Nine’s team offers 12 predictions for 2016 across European VC and startup themes. They foresee Berlin maturing into a seed/Series A hub, and a stronger, more competitive European early-stage funding market driven by new funds and partner moves. Marketplaces will unbundle into verticals, “own” transactions, and converge with SaaS; examples include Deskbookers, Eversport, and StarOfService. Security and developer tools gain focus; open-source monetization via APIs rises; Slack’s platform may spawn a major company. Consumer subscriptions expand; HR shifts to culture-led employer branding; AI assistants grow but need oversight. Messaging platforms enable mobile-first SaaS. Venture markets normalize post-bubble. Digital health advances as doctors begin prescribing reimbursable mobile apps. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): European seed funding, Series A Europe, Berlin VC hub, marketplace unbundling, on-demand marketplaces, transaction ownership, SaaS–marketplace convergence, developer tools (DevTools), SMB cybersecurity, open-source monetization, API-first products, Slack platform apps, consumer subscriptions (recurring revenue), employer branding (talent brand), AI personal assistants (virtual assistants, scheduling bots), messaging-first SaaS (chat-based SaaS), gig economy (freelance economy), autonomous driving (self-driving cars), digital therapeutics (prescribable apps), venture market normalization (valuation correction)

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz outlines why Point Nine Capital led ChartMogul’s seed round: founder-market fit, the severity of the SaaS metrics problem, and market breadth. Founder Nick Franklin (Zendesk employee #6) scaled EMEA and Asia at Zendesk, bringing strong operational and domain experience. Point Nine repeatedly sees SaaS startups struggle to assemble accurate subscription KPIs due to fragmented data sources, complex billing, and exceptions—even with templates like Janz’s SaaS KPI dashboard. ChartMogul integrates directly with billing providers (Stripe, Braintree, Chargify, Recurly) to deliver standardized, sliceable subscription metrics out of the box. Initially targeting B2B SaaS, the solution generalizes to any subscription business, expanding TAM as subscriptions proliferate. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): ChartMogul, subscription analytics, SaaS metrics, SaaS KPI dashboard, MRR analytics, ARR reporting, churn analysis, net revenue retention (NRR), subscription revenue metrics, subscription KPIs, billing integration, Stripe integration, Braintree integration, Chargify integration, Recurly integration, cohort analysis, retention metrics, Point Nine Capital seed investment, Nick Franklin Zendesk

Summary (80–120 words): The post argues that early-stage venture investing benefits from an international approach. Falling startup costs mean promising companies emerge everywhere, so European investors should source across countries rather than rely on hubs. Point Nine’s 2014 portfolio included 29 companies across nine countries; the firm “eats its own dog food” by backing SaaS and marketplaces that can scale globally and by operating remotely. It outlines challenges—local dealflow access, due diligence, post-investment support, legal complexity, and travel—and countermeasures: a business-model focus enabling faster, contrarian decisions; accumulated expertise valued by founders; remote collaboration tools for governance; trusted legal networks keeping seed-stage processes efficient; and an international team to sustain perspective. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): international early-stage VC, cross-border venture capital, European venture capital, pan-European seed investing, Point Nine Capital, Pawel Chudzinski, SaaS investing, marketplace venture investing, business-model driven investing, global vs multi-local strategy, US market entry for SaaS, long-distance due diligence, remote board governance, seed-stage legal complexity, cross-border dealflow sourcing, transatlantic startup investing

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz reflects on the inevitability of a VC’s “anti-portfolio”—the great companies an investor passed on—and argues for transparency about such misses. Using Bessemer Venture Partners’ anti-portfolio as context, he shares his own most regretted passes: SoundCloud, TransferWise (Wise), and FanDuel, plus other strong performers like Intercom, OneLogin, Wanelo, EyeEm, Simply Measured, and NewsCred. He notes common pass rationales—market size, competition, defensibility, valuation—often look misguided in hindsight. Key takeaway: accept that an anti-portfolio will keep growing despite learning; maintain humility, and evaluate success by the core portfolio rather than the sting of missed winners. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): anti-portfolio, anti portfolio, venture capital antiportfolio, venture capital misses, missed unicorns, passed on investments, investing mistakes, investor regret, Bessemer anti-portfolio, Christoph Janz, Point Nine Capital, SoundCloud investment pass, TransferWise (Wise) missed investment, FanDuel VC pass, early-stage investing lessons, deal flow evaluation, hindsight bias in VC, portfolio construction in venture capital

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz publishes a year-end retrospective highlighting 2014 statistics from Point Nine Capital’s portfolio (#P9Family). Rather than making predictions, he frames the post as a data-focused look back, aggregating both core KPIs and “fun/vanity” metrics into an infographic. The piece emphasizes portfolio-wide activity and growth indicators drawn from Point Nine-backed startups, offering a compact snapshot of the year’s progress and milestones. It underscores the distinction between performance metrics and lighter vanity stats, and credits founders and teams for results. The content primarily serves as a portfolio summary artifact and reference point for the fund’s 2014 outcomes, delivered via a linked infographic. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): Point Nine Capital 2014 stats, P9Family statistics, Point Nine portfolio metrics, SaaS VC year in review, venture capital portfolio KPIs, vanity metrics vs KPIs, startup metrics infographic, Christoph Janz year-end stats, Point Nine annual highlights, portfolio performance 2014, VC portfolio infographic, SaaS startup growth metrics, Point Nine Capital blog, investor year-end review, #P9Family 2014, Point Nine portfolio 2014 infographic

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz recounts Zendesk’s difficult Series A process after a $500k seed: European VCs passed due to limited Series A capacity, the 2008 financial crisis, and skepticism about help desk software being “small, fragmented” with weak differentiation. He rejects blaming European investors—great outcomes aren’t obvious early. After an almost-deal on the US West Coast fell through, CRV in Boston offered a lower-than-hoped valuation. The founders debated VC funding versus the “37signals” bootstrapped path; ultimately they accepted CRV’s offer, taking a smaller amount to reduce dilution. The post highlights trade-offs between dilution and momentum, the importance of timing and narrative, and how the right investor can open crucial doors. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): Zendesk fundraising, early-stage SaaS financing, Series A in Europe, European venture capital landscape, 2008 financial crisis impact on VC, help desk software market size, SaaS differentiation, bootstrapping vs venture capital, 37signals approach, CRV investment, dilution trade-offs, low-valuation round, pulled term sheet, US vs Europe VC perspectives, seed round $500k, pitch deck and financial plan, Lehman Brothers collapse startup fundraising, Startupland book, go-to-market defensibility, fragmented markets in SaaS

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz reviews Mikkel Svane’s book Startupland, describing a candid narrative of Zendesk’s trajectory from a Copenhagen loft to a U.S. IPO that blends founder anecdotes with practical guidance for entrepreneurs. He emphasizes the dual nature—autobiography plus hands-on advice—covering the volatility of building a SaaS company and lessons relevant to funding, growth, and relocating to the U.S., particularly for European founders. Janz notes the authenticity of Svane’s reflections and cites episodes (e.g., a Michael Arrington conversation) that illustrate early-stage challenges. The post positions the book as a primer for aspiring SaaS founders considering international expansion. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): Startupland book review, Mikkel Svane book, Zendesk founder story, Zendesk IPO, SaaS founder lessons, startup autobiography, founder tips and tricks, European startups moving to US, Copenhagen to Silicon Valley, customer support software, help desk SaaS, angel investor perspective, Christoph Janz review, Point Nine Capital Zendesk, Michael Arrington anecdote, early-stage SaaS growth, startup journey to IPO, US expansion for European founders

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz recounts his first angel investment in Zendesk (2008), coming from a consumer internet background and being drawn by the product’s consumer-grade design, easy trial, and brand—an early case of “consumerization of the enterprise.” He initially doubted the scalability of inbound marketing and customer success (“customer advocacy”), but Zendesk reached 10,000 paying customers before building a sales team, with most acquisition organic. Janz’s main contributions were early business planning and the first financial model. The initial seed totaled about $500k (friends & family plus his check), enabling modest hiring but setting up a difficult Series A due to Zendesk’s atypical positioning between consumer and enterprise, continued in part two. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): Zendesk early days, Christoph Janz angel investing, early-stage SaaS investing, inbound marketing for SaaS, content marketing for SaaS, customer success, customer advocacy, organic customer acquisition, self-serve SaaS onboarding, product-led growth, PLG, consumerization of the enterprise, SaaS financial model, seed round financing, Series A fundraising challenges, B2B SaaS go-to-market, outbound sales vs inbound, Point Nine Capital, Startupland Mikkel Svane

Summary (80–120 words): The post explains how “land and expand” drives SaaS growth by turning small initial wins into large accounts via account expansion. Examples include Yammer’s team-level adoption converting to enterprise contracts, Dropbox’s single-user entry with organic seat and usage growth, and EchoSign’s departmental deployments becoming six‑figure deals; Zendesk also grew by acquiring startups early and scaling with them. When expansion exceeds downgrades and cancellations, MRR churn turns negative, so revenue rises even without new customers. Investors emphasize this effect; New Relic reported roughly −14% annual MRR churn pre‑IPO, helping explain aggressive acquisition spend at companies like Box. Reporting standards for churn and retention remain inconsistent across firms. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): land and expand, land-and-expand strategy, seed and grow, bottom-up SaaS adoption, product-led growth (PLG), account expansion, upsell, cross-sell, seat expansion, usage expansion, negative churn, negative MRR churn, net revenue retention (NRR), dollar-based net retention (DBNR), ACV expansion, departmental to enterprise rollout, monthly recurring revenue (MRR), annual contract value (ACV)

Summary (80–120 words): The post extends a prior framework on reaching $100M in annual revenue by adding three extremes based on ARPA/ACV. Brontosaurus: ~100 customers paying ~$1M ACV each; exemplified by Veeva and Workday, and suited to founders with decades of enterprise experience and deep industry networks. Whale: ~10 customers at ~$10M ACV; extraordinarily rare, with Palantir cited as a possible example, implying an elite founder and sales profile. Microbes: ~$1 ARPU per active user; requires ~100M active users and exceptional virality, making it hard to plan. An updated logarithmic chart maps customers needed vs. ARPA, emphasizing aligning founder background and go-to-market with deal size; Salesforce’s largest deals arrived post-scale. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): SaaS growth strategies, $100M ARR, average revenue per account (ARPA), annual contract value (ACV), enterprise SaaS sales, seven-figure ACV deals, whale hunting sales, brontosaurus customers, vertical SaaS, Veeva enterprise deals, Workday deal sizes, Palantir contracts, consumer app monetization, $1 ARPU, viral growth coefficient, founder-market fit, complex B2B sales cycle, SaaS unit economics

Summary (80–120 words): Europe’s fragmented markets force startups to build “multi-local” marketplaces with country-by-country operations, field sales, and localization—creating defensible leadership across many local markets. Booking.com exemplifies this path: formed from Active Hotels (UK, 1998) and Booking.com (NL, 1996), both acquired by Priceline in 2004–05; it amassed 456k accommodation listings in 190+ countries and generated $4.1B from its Netherlands unit (60% of Priceline), outpacing Skype’s revenues; Airbnb is a rare U.S. exception. U.S. players often expand abroad via acquisitions (eBay). Open verticals include healthcare and beauty; examples: Just Eat, Delivery Hero, Docplanner, StyleSeat. Founders should decide early: global vs multi-local, and align internationalization accordingly. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): multi-local marketplaces, international marketplace expansion, country-by-country rollout, local network effects, marketplace defensibility, Europe vs US marketplaces, Booking.com case study, Priceline acquisition of Booking.com, eBay international acquisitions, Just Eat marketplace, Delivery Hero marketplace, healthcare appointment platforms, beauty booking platforms, Docplanner, StyleSeat, on-the-ground sales strategy, fragmented European markets, global vs local startups

Summary (80–120 words): The post argues that M&A is a practical, often tactical tool for startups, not just large corporations. For young companies, acquisitions can accelerate time to market, enable cross-border expansion, consolidate fragmented markets, or extend product range. Examples include buying an underdeveloped product to leapfrog early traction, acquiring peers in other countries (e.g., Delivery Hero in Sweden), consolidation (SponsorPay + GratisPay), and product expansion (Brainly investing in mailgrupowy). Deals need not be cash-heavy: structures can include equity consideration, performance-based earnouts, installments, and financing contingencies. Key risks mirror big-company M&A—overpaying and integration challenges—so CEOs should evaluate fit and price rigorously while keeping M&A in their strategic toolkit. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): startup M&A, mergers and acquisitions for startups, startup acquisitions, buy vs build, cross-border M&A, international expansion via acquisition, market consolidation, tuck-in acquisition, bolt-on acquisition, product-line expansion, asset purchase vs share purchase, equity consideration, stock-for-stock deal, earnout / performance-based payments, deferred consideration / installments, acquisition financing contingency, post-merger integration, overpaying risk / valuation discipline, SaaS acquisitions

Summary (80–120 words): The post argues that SaaS differs from other categories: despite the US having ~5% of global population and ~20% of GDP, it represents roughly 40–50% of global software spend and about 60% of SaaS, making US market success critical for building a large SaaS company. Multi-local strategies can work in ecommerce (e.g., Rocket Internet), but software products are global from day one and face US-driven demand and competition. Founders should plan early for US entry, sales, and relationship-building; only highly localized software is an exception. The author references market-structure reports and notes Point Nine’s focus on helping portfolio companies expand to North America. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): US market entry for SaaS, SaaS go-to-market United States, North America expansion strategy, global vs multi-local software strategy, software spend share by country, SaaS market share 60% US, enterprise software sales US, B2B SaaS internationalization, Europe-to-US scaling, Rocket Internet multi-local model, US customer acquisition for SaaS, market prioritization for SaaS startups, product-market fit in the US, selling SaaS in the US, venture support for US expansion, localization vs standardization in SaaS, software spend 40–50% US, SaaS US market dominance

Summary (80–120 words): The post distinguishes two internationalization archetypes: global startups that serve an international audience from day one (often English-first) versus (multi-)local startups that expand country by country. For global models—common in SaaS like Contentful, infogr.am, Algolia—going international is straightforward but competition is intense; winning the US is pivotal; focus first on mastering the US/English GTM; outcomes skew binary. For multi-local models—ecommerce/marketplaces like Delivery Hero, Kreditech, Docplanner—each new country brings operational and localization challenges; competition is uneven; accumulated multi-country know-how compounds; the US is optional and US-centric incumbents often don’t expand (e.g., GrubHub Seamless, Zocdoc, Amazon); scale requires many-country wins; outcomes are less binary. Hybrids exist (e.g., Spotify). Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): global startup model, multi-local (multilocal) model, startup internationalisation (internationalization), country-by-country rollout, product localization, US market expansion, SaaS go-to-market abroad, marketplace expansion strategy, English-first product launch, local operations and logistics, market-by-market competition, cross-border scaling, roll-out playbook, glocalization strategy, European startup expansion, localization vs standardization, winner-take-all vs non-binary outcomes

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz outlines five routes to $100M annual revenue by matching customer count to ARPA: 1k at $100k (enterprise), 10k at $10k (mid‑market), 100k at $1k (SMB), 1M at $100 (consumer/prosumer or $100 contribution margin in e‑commerce), or 10M ad‑monetized at $10. Tactics differ by segment: “flies” require virality or UGC/SEO (e.g., Instagram/Snapchat/WhatsApp; Yelp/Brainly); “mice” need some virality or heavy paid; “rabbits” rely on inbound, high NPS, and funnel optimization, supported by unit‑economics (e.g., LTV $2,700, 4x LTV/CAC, 10% trial‑to‑paid → $67.50 per signup). “Deers” add inside sales and possibly channels. “Elephants” hinge on establishing product/market fit and funding long enterprise sales cycles. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): SaaS growth strategies, go-to-market strategy, ARPA (average revenue per account), ACV (annual contract value), LTV:CAC ratio, customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV), inbound marketing, viral coefficient, user-generated content (UGC), SEO-driven growth, inside sales, enterprise field sales, mid-market SaaS, SMB SaaS, consumer subscription monetization, ad monetization, contribution margin (ecommerce), trial-to-paid conversion, net promoter score (NPS)

Summary (80–120 words): The post assesses Bill Gurley’s warning and concludes the Bay Area shows bubble traits while the wider market does not. Signs of a bubble: unicorns and would‑be unicorns raising large sums at lofty valuations; seed and early-stage rounds at escalating caps (YC norms from $4M to $8M to ~$12M); and costly talent tactics such as prime SF offices for mindshare. Counterpoints: venture funding into internet startups remains well below 1999–2000 ($23.8B/$41.8B then vs. $7B in 2013 and $4.9B in H1 2014); no IPO frenzy—listings are mature, revenue‑scale firms; and Europe shows few bubble indicators due to limited capital. Net: localized bubble risk, not a 1999‑style mania. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): tech bubble, startup bubble, Silicon Valley bubble, venture capital exuberance, unicorn valuations, late-stage private rounds, seed round valuation caps, Y Combinator seed valuations, deal speed, talent war in tech, San Francisco startup ecosystem, IPO window for tech, dot-com bubble comparison, NVCA PwC MoneyTree data, European venture capital, Bay Area valuations, Benchmark Bill Gurley interview, internet startup funding trends

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz argues many teams talk about A/B testing but few do it rigorously. He outlines four failure mindsets: Procrastinative (using “we’ll A/B test” to defer improvements), Naive (drawing conclusions from non-significant or methodologically flawed tests), Opinionated (claiming A/B only finds local maxima; he counters that radical designs can be tested, but limited traffic demands prioritizing a few high-quality hypotheses), and Disillusioned (abandoning testing due to complexity). He emphasizes measuring full-funnel impact—not just visitor-to-signup but through paying conversion and subsequent churn—since superficially better signup rates can reduce downstream quality. Recommendation: use split tests diligently, understand limitations, and ensure sound methodology and prioritization. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): A/B testing, split testing, conversion rate optimization, CRO, statistical significance, sample size and power, simultaneous vs sequential tests, SaaS conversion funnel, funnel analysis, visitor-to-signup conversion, signup-to-paying conversion, churn cohort analysis, landing page optimization, pricing page experiments, signup flow testing, local vs global maxima, experimentation culture, marketing attribution analysis

Summary (80–120 words): The post details Point Nine Capital’s cloud-based stack for operating a small VC firm across seven tools. Zendesk functions as the deal flow system: each company becomes a ticket with customizable stages/tags, cc-based collaboration, email integration, and follow-up reminders; over 6,400 tickets since mid-2011 (~2,000/year). Basecamp organizes portfolio communications and internal projects (75+ projects) including founder/tech circles. Mention provides media monitoring for portfolio coverage that informs their newsletter. Mailchimp runs a monthly newsletter and integrates with Contactually. Contactually supports relationship management and auto-adds new contacts to Mailchimp. Google Docs is used for collaborative work (KPI reports, drafts, cap tables). Skype (and sometimes Hangouts) covers calls due to ubiquity. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): VC tech stack, micro VC tools, venture capital operations, deal flow management, Zendesk as CRM, ticket-based CRM, portfolio monitoring, Basecamp project management, media monitoring alerts, social listening for startups, Mailchimp newsletter, email marketing for VCs, Contactually CRM, relationship management for investors, deal pipeline tracking, Google Docs collaboration, cloud SaaS stack, video conferencing for VC, Skype vs Hangouts, KPI reporting and cap tables

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz analyzes why Uber’s 2014 $1.2B funding round at a $17B valuation could be justified by product and marketplace mechanics. Uber’s value stems from driver density that compresses wait times (sometimes under a minute), ETA transparency via live maps, lower-cost UberX, and cashless, no-tip payments with automatic receipts—creating habit loops. He argues that delivering strong value to both riders and drivers enables profitable take rates, while two-sided network effects and brand create a moat competitors struggle to match. With capital and execution, density improves UX, reinforcing growth. He sees potential beyond taxis—eroding car ownership and moving into last‑mile delivery. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): two-sided network effects, two-sided marketplace, marketplace liquidity, driver density, pickup wait times, ETA tracking, live map tracking, UberX pricing, cashless payments, no tipping policy, take rate, rider acquisition, driver acquisition, brand moat, on-demand transportation, ride-hailing app, taxi industry disruption, car ownership decline, last-mile delivery, habit-forming product

Summary (80–120 words): Advocates multi-touch attribution in B2B SaaS to avoid misleading first/last‑touch CAC. Illustrates a realistic path (organic content → retargeting → newsletter → webinar → trial → sales call → paid search) to show assisted conversions. Urges integrating analytics, CRM, and support data; highlights cross‑device gaps until registration. Contrasts rules-based models (linear, time decay, position-based) with algorithmic, data‑driven attribution that learns from converters and non‑converters. Recommends doing cohort analysis early and postponing complex attribution until product complexity, long cycles, many campaigns, and larger budgets warrant it; treat single‑touch CAC skeptically. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): multi-touch attribution, multi-channel attribution, assisted conversions, attribution modeling, first touch vs last touch, position-based attribution, time decay attribution, linear attribution, data-driven attribution, Markov chain attribution, Shapley value attribution, B2B SaaS marketing, customer journey analysis, cross-device tracking, conversion path analysis, CRM-integrated attribution, cohort analysis, CAC attribution

Summary (80–120 words): The post argues that B2B SaaS teams underuse two measurement techniques—cohort analysis and multi-touch attribution—and focuses here on cohort analysis. Cohorts group users by a common characteristic (typically signup month) to avoid misleading blended metrics, such as aggregate churn that rises with faster growth due to a higher share of new, high-churn customers. Reading cohorts horizontally shows retention over customer lifetime (product quality, support), while vertical reads show performance at a given lifetime month across cohorts (onboarding, customer success). Cohorts enable better estimates of customer lifetime (CLT) and lifetime value (CLTV), informing allowable acquisition spend, and revenue cohorts reveal churn, downgrades, expansions, and negative churn dynamics. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): cohort analysis, SaaS cohort analysis, retention cohorts, churn analysis, blended churn rate, customer lifetime value, CLTV, LTV, customer lifetime (CLT), MRR cohort analysis, revenue retention cohorts, negative churn, expansion revenue, net revenue retention, net dollar retention, onboarding cohorts, customer success metrics, multi-touch attribution, multi-channel attribution, fractional attribution

Summary (80–120 words): Christoph Janz marks Zendesk’s debut on the NYSE, reflecting on a six‑year relationship as an investor and supporter. He contrasts this IPO with Shopping.com’s listing nearly a decade earlier, which followed its acquisition of his startup DealPilot.com. Brief Q&A in comments surfaces two takeaways: rapid follow‑on funding can occur when a small Series A is followed by strong traction, enabling a larger, fast Series B from a top Silicon Valley firm; and overcoming “drama gap” and differentiation skepticism hinges on gaining customers who love the product. The post is a concise milestone note linking founder and investor perspectives to SaaS growth dynamics. Search Terms & Synonyms (10–20 total): Zendesk IPO, Zendesk NYSE debut, Zendesk public listing, initial public offering, SaaS IPO, help desk software, customer support platform, ticketing system, Point Nine Capital, Christoph Janz, angel VC, early-stage SaaS investing, Series A to Series B, follow-on financing, venture funding momentum, product-market fit, customer traction, Silicon Valley VC, Shopping.com IPO, DealPilot.com