Long Dinh

I think I’m starting to see what the real moat for SaaS will be over the next few years. And it’s not what most people are obsessing over. I'm speaking to SO MANY Founders/Operators. Some early-stage. Some scaling fast. A few from companies most people here would recognize instantly. Like Fortune 500 founders... Different industries. Different products. Different stages. But almost everyone landed on the same point. Not features. Not even AI on its own. Data. And not in the way we usually talk about it. Not “owning user data.” Not “monetizing data.” Not building the next ad engine. Something much simpler. And much harder to replicate. Customer Context. Because here’s the reality now. Anyone can build features. Anyone can replicate a SaaS product faster than ever. AI has compressed the time it takes to go from idea to something usable. What used to take months now takes weeks. Sometimes days. So features are no longer a moat. They’re table stakes. Even AI, on its own, is becoming table stakes. The real question is: Why should a customer stay with you when someone else can rebuild what you have? That’s where data comes in. Not the data you sell. The data you learn from. The data that helps you understand: • how and WHY your customers actually use your product • what they care about • what “value” looks like for them specifically Most companies I talk to are already sitting on this. Quietly. Product usage. Workflows. Behavior patterns. Edge cases. Outcomes. Years of it. But it’s underutilized. Stored, not used. Collected, not activated. And this is where AI actually becomes powerful. Not as a feature layer. But as a way to make sense of that data. To turn raw information into something useful for the customer. Guidance. Personalization. Faster paths to value. Smarter defaults. Not in a creepy way. In a helpful way. Where the product starts to feel like it understands you. This is the shift I keep seeing. The moat isn’t: “we have more features” It’s: “we understand our customers better than anyone else and can help them get even more value out of it” And we use that understanding to make their experience simpler, faster, and more valuable over time. That’s hard to copy. Because even if someone rebuilds your product, they don’t have your context. They don’t have your learning. They don’t have your history. And that compounds. This is something we’re starting to lean into more with Mettara AI too. Not just helping teams add AI to their products but using our AI to let them use the data they already have to improve adoption, retention, and real customer outcomes. Because at the end of the day, that’s what this all comes back to. Not just building something impressive. But building something customers grow into. Something that gets better for them the longer they stay. In a world where everything is easier to replicate Understanding your customer deeply might be the only advantage that actually lasts.

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👉Founders can often fall into the trap of spending months perfecting features before knowing if the market actually wants them. At our upcoming AMA on Feb 20, J-SAS Inc. Co-Founder Ryan Devers, MBA Devers will dive into: ✅ Finding the balance between MVP and over-development. ✅ Identifying your "Anti-Persona" (who your customer is NOT). ✅ Crafting a message that actually sticks. If you’re building software or tech-enabled solutions, this is the peer-to-peer advice you’ve been looking for. 💡Sign-up for the session here: https://loom.ly/3A-vQjY #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Business #Startups #Networking #Events #Ontario #CDNtech

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SaaS stocks made a monster move upwards today. https://lnkd.in/g_h7_GpP shows high growth SaaS moving to ~5.8x LTM revenue and the broader SaaS market at 3.5x. Let's see if it continues

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At SAAS North, we bring together leaders who don’t just build SaaS companies; they build SaaS companies that last. In this must-read piece, Louis Tetu (CEO of Coveo) shares 6 rules for scaling with purpose and longevity. Whether you’re leading, scaling, or just starting out, these principles will push you to rethink where you’re putting your focus. Read the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/eg3Ecb4N #SaaS #Leadership #Growth #SAASNORTH

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In episode #298 of SaaS Metrics School, Ben Murray dives deep into one of his favorite metrics: ROSE – Return on SaaS Employees. If you’re aiming to build a durable SaaS business or position your company for a private equity exit, this episode is a must-listen. Ben explains why ROSE is far more insightful than traditional Revenue per FTE and how it helps evaluate organizational efficiency by factoring in the actual investment made in your people—including fully burdened employee and contractor costs. 🔍 What You'll Learn: 🔹What the ROSE metric is and how to calculate it 🔹Why ROSE is better than Revenue per FTE for SaaS businesses 🔹What a “good” ROSE looks like 🔹Real-world example of a SaaS company that exited to private equity 🔹How ROSE contributes to achieving the Rule of 40 🔹Why you need to track and forecast ROSE monthly Grab my ROSE Metric template and the high-performance example here: https://lnkd.in/gi_7PGud Listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/gqcFfySW #SaaS

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ServiceTitan just joined our State of SaaS metrics tracking - and their first numbers as a public company are worth noting: ARR: $930M, growing 26% YoY Net new ARR: +$191M CAC payback: 21 months Magic Number: 0.72 NRR: 110% Free cash flow margin: 14% Rule of 40: 40 Rule of X: 66 The watch-out? High G&A spend (26% of revenue) and operating margin of –14%. For context, GitLab is at 19%, Monday at 13%. Trading at ~11.5x ARR, ServiceTitan has strong growth but efficiency questions to answer. Watch the full episode for all the Q2 breakdowns linked in the comments below. #SaaS #ServiceTitan #Growth #Efficiency #Metrics

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🔥Hot take: Return fees belong at checkout, not post-purchase. Offering it as an option at checkout transforms it from a penalty into peace of mind. Marco De Paulis from Loop shared how smarter returns can actually boost revenue and customer confidence — if you rethink when and how you charge. His Checkout+ model moves the returns fee to checkout, so: - Customers pay a small fee upfront to unlock a free return later - Brands gain a new revenue stream + better cash flow - Conversion rates and AOV go up as shoppers feel more confident trying new items “We typically see 50–70% attach rates — and a lift in conversion, too.” 🎥 Watch the full session: https://lnkd.in/dXdgAZGt 🧠 Get more eCommerce ops insights at taxcloud.com/summer

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SaaS growth isn’t a roll of the dice. Too many founders rely on "luck" to get past the initial growth phase. But luck doesn't scale. Systems do. At Launch Flow Inc., we’ve developed a 5-step Growth Framework that moves the needle by focusing on engineering and operational excellence: Solve a Real Problem: Deep value for a specific audience. Build a Scalable Foundation: Clean data and automated workflows. Acquire with Focus: One channel, one message, compounding results. Convert & Retain: Onboarding systems that users love. Scale What Works: Doubling down on systems, not chaos. Stop guessing and start engineering your growth. We’ve packed this entire framework into our SaaS Scaling Blueprint. 👇 Comment "SCALE" and I’ll send you the free guide.

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🚀 Canadian SaaS founders & CTOs, this is big. SOC 2 is the key to landing enterprise deals, but it’s often a heavy hit to your runway. Good news: NRC-IRAP funding can cover your SOC 2 gap assessment costs. We’ve already helped SaaS companies secure this funding, turning compliance from a cost into a growth advantage. 💡 Don’t miss out — funding is limited. Let’s talk about getting your SOC 2 funded. #SaaS #SOC2 #IRAP #StartupFunding #CanadianTech #EnterpriseSales #Cybersecurity

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Why are so many vacation rental operators still managing without software? In this episode, Pierre-Camille Hamana, founder and CEO of Hospitable.com, shares why software adoption in the short-term rental industry still has a long way to go. Tools like CRMs, payroll systems, and accounting platforms are widely used by small and mid-sized businesses in other industries. Yet in short-term rentals, only 35% of listings in the U.S. are software connected, according to an AirDNA report. As both a founder and operator, PC understands why many hosts hesitate. Property management software can still feel too complicated, too expensive, or too time-consuming to adopt, especially for smaller operators who are already stretched thin. That is the gap Hospitable is working to close: making property management software more accessible for operators of all sizes. Listen to the full episode through the link in the comments 👇 #vacationrentals #shorttermrentals #Hospitable #vacationrentalsoftware #STRtechnology #hospitalitytech Alex O. Husner🌎 Annie Holcombe

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I spoke with dozens of PE operating partners and portfolio company leaders at recent PEI's Operating Partners Forum and privately outside of the conference. One theme kept emerging in those conversations: post-deal operational chaos. Here’s what it typically looks like: - Manual processes that barely worked for a standalone business collapse under post-deal complexity - Teams drowning in emails and note fields just to keep operations running - Basic changes (like updating a customer delivery date) triggering endless email chains across departments - Critical information scattered across multiple systems with no single source of truth The most telling moment? A COO at a PE-owned retail chain told me: “I don’t want our organization mining information from several systems. I want to serve them with one truth—reviewed by our financial team and tied to our strategic goals.” In 2024 alone, we helped clients save more than 250,000 hours of manual work. But the real value was reducing operational chaos during critical growth phases. That’s why automation in PE-backed companies isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about building scalable, reliable operations that can support aggressive growth plans. See our menu and choose how we can serve you! 🥤

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Most SaaS companies don't start with the exit in mind. But the ones that do? They build differently. The companies that command premium valuations aren't just the ones with the best metrics—they're the ones that intentionally built for transferability. They treat documentation as an asset, not a chore. They maintain clean financials that tell a clear story. They systematically reduce founder dependencies. And they structure their operations to be understood and valued by outsiders. At Thrive, we help founders make these moves early—because opportunity rarely announces itself with perfect timing. The groundwork you lay today determines your options tomorrow. #SaaS #ExitStrategy #AcquirableByDesign #ThriveAdvisors

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Soft declines are quietly draining millions from subscription businesses—and most teams don’t even realize it. Our Founder, Dan Nadeau, breaks down why this issue is still so persistent and what companies can do to fix it in his latest interview with MarTech Edge. He explains: -Why soft declines are often misunderstood -How outdated retry logic is costing companies real revenue -Why machine learning and issuer‑level intelligence are now essential -What high‑performing subscription brands are doing differently If your business relies on recurring revenue, this is a must‑read! https://hubs.li/Q04b3HHf0

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Category-defining companies are built with disciplined go-to-market strategy, not guesswork. That is why we are grateful to work with Lydia Flocchini as Go-to-Market Advisor to Querious. 🤔 Lydia is the CEO and Founder of Motion to Scale™, the first legal-tech category design and GTM advisory built exclusively for lawyer-founders. She brings rare depth at the intersection of legal practice, category creation, and revenue strategy. Before launching Motion to Scale, Lydia led go-to-market as an operator at category-leading legal technology companies including Thomson Reuters, Lex Machina, and SurePoint Technologies. She understands what it takes to move from product-market fit to repeatable revenue at scale, particularly in a conservative and highly regulated industry like law. ⚖️ At Querious, Lydia advises on GTM strategy and revenue architecture as we define and build an entirely new category: Legal Conversational Intelligence. Her guidance helps ensure that how we go to market is as intentional, credible, and differentiated as the product itself. 📈 We are fortunate to have Lydia’s perspective as we continue to scale with clarity, discipline, and purpose. 👏 #LegalTech #GoToMarket #CategoryDesign #RevenueStrategy #FounderAdvisors #LawyerFounders #Querious 

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Patreon's CFO Carlos Cabrera said lessons from earthquake risk modeling and guidance from former Shopify leaders informed Patreon’s approach to growth, payments and a creator-driven future. "I don’t think a CFO’s job is to minimize risk," said Cabrera. "It’s to manage and take the right risks. We have less than half a percent market share in a rapidly expanding space. We need to be bold. We have to be solid in how we handle payments and money, but aggressive in how we grow and evolve the product." https://lnkd.in/e8eX8M6Q

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