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Hello to Canada’s SaaS Community,
So, you’ve raised a round of seed funding – congratulations! But now what? This phase of growth is all about defining, refining, and systematizing. In the words of Janet Bannister, who’s been a seed-stage investor for over a decade, “I’m a big believer in running a tight ship… and it’s easier to put those things in place when you’re a small startup.” We spoke with Janet and also Kaylee Lieffer, founder of private labelling beauty SaaS platform Blanka about what to focus on at this stage.
Key takeaways:
- It might sound obvious, but you need the right people in place to drive the company forward. Hiring and organizing them is another matter – we share some tips below.
- Gathering data about customer engagement and product-market fit should be another priority.
- It’s never too soon to start thinking about the next stage of funding—and creating a plan to work towards it.
Co-Founder/Producer, SAAS NORTH Conference Editor, SAAS NORTH NOW
Raising a seed round is a major milestone, but the post-seed stage is what separates startups that scale from those that stagnate. Truly capitalizing on this capital calls for a new level of strategy, execution, and adaptability, and to do so, founders should focus on building the right foundations across key areas of the business.
Today, we’re breaking down some post-seed strategies to help founders navigate the next phase of growth, drawing on insights from a successful seed-raising SaaS founder, Kaylee Lieffers (Blanka), and a seed-stage investor with over a decade of experience, Janet Bannister (Staircase Ventures).
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Five Key Elements For Growth
Once seed funding is secured, building a sustainable foundation for growth requires focusing on five key elements: data, people, go-to-market plan, operational structure, and the next round of funding. Getting these things right is easier said than done, but according to Janet Bannister, Founder and Managing Partner of Staircase Ventures, they are crucial to breaking into the expansion stage.
1. Data
Janet recommends immediately implementing dashboards to track company-specific metrics, specifically ones that measure product-market fit and KPIs like customer engagement and churn. Ultimately, the goal is to understand whether the customer is getting value from your solution.
“It’s [more] important to have a fewer number of customers with high engagement than a lot of customers that are not very engaged,” said Janet. “Once you have high engagement, you have —or are getting close to having—product-market fit. And then you can focus on getting more customers of the same profile that are engaging heavily with your product. Without high engagement, if you are getting more customers, you are just pouring water into a leaking bucket.”
2. People
Hiring the right team to scale is key in the post-seed phase. After raising a $2.7M seed round, the team at private labelling beauty SaaS platform Blanka designed their hiring process specifically to attract candidates who were a good fit for the startup environment. Founder Kaylee Lieffers outlined the her secret sauce as follows:
- Prioritizing candidates with startup experience
- An hour-long “Who” interview, which is conducted in the final stages of the interview process and focuses on the candidate’s core tasks and responsibilities, previous colleagues’ feedback, and their reason for leaving the role
- A half-day session with the team for final-stage candidates
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3. Go-To-Market (GTM) Plan
Refining the go-to-market strategy is another crucial area to invest time and energy into post-raise. Kaylee joked that, in the early days, the Blanka team would happily take “whatever we can get” in terms of initial users; but after the funding round, the priority was to solidify their core customer segments and redesign their go-to-market function to reach and support those buyers.
Similarly, Janet recommends that post-seed companies focus on validating product-market fit and accelerating sales. She breaks down three areas for founders to think about:
- Go-to-market mix: Decide whether the company will lead more with marketing or sales, and what makes the most sense for your space and ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) at this time.
- Accelerating sales: Look at your pipeline and identify improvement opportunities at every stage, from getting more prospects to increasing the conversion rate. Is there an opportunity to cross-sell, upsell, or increase the average contract value for new customers?
- Sales team: Do you have a sales playbook with relevant metrics, and who might you need to bring onto your sales team to support your GTM strategy?
“There are multiple levers you can pull as you accelerate your go-to-market,” said Janet. “You need to be thoughtful about how to execute and be data-driven so you can adjust based upon what is working and what is not.” Again, this comes back to tracking the right data and metrics to refine the strategy.
4. Operational Structure
With more hiring and growth comes the need for scalable systems of communication and organization, especially when teams are working remotely or on a hybrid model.
Maintaining the right lines of communication and information flow is all about balance. “There’s so much going on and we have to make sure that the right stakeholders are involved,” said Kaylee. “But at the same time, we have to not information-overload people. We’re not perfect at it, but we’re always improving.”
The Blanka team has a three-pronged approach to support this:
- Write it down: Documentation is key; after meetings and calls, they send out debrief messages with core points and action items.
- Red/yellow/green system for tasks: This highlights when things are going well or amiss; meanwhile, status commentary preserves context and helps the team identify what’s needed or next.
- Daily standups: Every day, teams talk about their three key priorities as well as challenges or roadblocks.
Janet also highlights the importance of maturing from an organizational perspective. “A lot of founders do not put in efficient operations at the beginning,” she said. “That can catch up to them very quickly.” Her recommendations? Ensure the following are in place:
- The to-do list: Every employee—from Sales to Engineering—should know their core tasks and outcomes.
- The roll-up: Clarify lines of responsibility (both overall and on a project-specific – basis).
- The cadence: Open up lines of communication between team members (and between project leaders and individual contributors).
5. The Next Round Of Funding
It’s not too early at this point to ask yourself, “What is my next fundraising milestone?” Janet recommends working back from this and planning around three key questions:
- Who are my target investors and what outcomes or metrics will they want to see before they invest?
- What do we need to do to hit those outcomes or metrics?
- How can I manage cash flow to hit those metrics at least six months before I run out of money (giving me time to run a fundraising process)?
“Generally, it is difficult to get to cash flow positive on a Seed round,” said Janet. “Companies need to develop their strategy and budget based on a deep understanding of who their target investors are for their next round and what they will be looking for.”
Mastering The Post-Seed Phase
Startups that succeed beyond the seed round are those that think long-term while executing in the short term. By refining their strategy across five core areas – data, people, go-to-market, operations, and future funding – founders can lay the groundwork for sustainable, scalable growth.
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