      SaaStr · 2015-05-01
      · 4051d
    

Focus on High-Affinity Customers: Why Most SaaS Startups Fail at Go-to-Market

Jason Lemkin argues that early-stage SaaS companies waste resources assuming their product is universally needed, when in reality they should focus exclusively on high-affinity prospects who can achieve 10x ROI overnight. The key to early success is identifying customers with extreme pain points and dramatic cost-saving opportunities rather than pursuing broad market appeal.

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Metrics in this report

Minimum ROI Multiple for Early Sales

10xmultiplier

minimum

cost savings or efficiency improvement required for early-stage customers

Minimum Sales Team Size for Medium/Low Affinity

3-4people

threshold

sales team size before pursuing lower-affinity customers

U.S. Addressable Businesses

6,000,000companies

approximately

U.S. market size reference