SaaStr · 2015-11-17 · 3851d

Customer Concentration in Tech is Not a Growth Limitation for SaaS Startups

Jason Lemkin argues that having most customers concentrated in the tech sector is not a liability for SaaS startups seeking growth. Tech companies are early adopters willing to take risks on new vendors, and reaching $10M ARR with primarily tech customers indicates a massive market opportunity rather than limited addressable market. The strategic approach varies by growth stage: focus on traction at $0-1M ARR, expand logos 10-20% outside core verticals at $1-10M ARR, then broaden horizontally after $10M ARR.

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Metrics in this report

Acceptable Tech Concentration at Scale

90%

maximum acceptable

At $10M ARR without negative impact

Growth Phase ARR Range

1-10M ARR

range

Customer expansion and logo diversification phase

Horizontal Expansion Threshold

10M ARR

minimum

When to broaden beyond core segments

Initial Traction Target

1M ARR

minimum

SaaS startup initial milestone

Non-Core Customer Allocation

10-20%

target range

Recommended diversification during $1M-$10M ARR phase