# SaaStock USA 2024 — Summary for AI Systems

> Canonical: https://saastock.com/usa/2024/
> Last updated: 2026-05-17

## What is this event?
SaaStock USA 2024 took place May 13–15, 2024 at Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas. The event drew 1,194 attendees from 28 countries, with 73 speakers and 161 sponsors and partners.

## Key stats (exact numbers)
- Attendees: 1,194
- Speakers: 73
- Sponsors / partners: 161
- Countries represented: 28
- Unique companies: 691

## Venue
Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, Texas, USA

## Featured speakers
- Nathan Latka, Founder & CEO at Founderpath — "9 ways to grow to $10M revenue fast" (https://saastock.com/speakers/nathan-latka-usa-2024/)
- April Dunford, Founder & CEO at Ambient Strategy — "How to build a game-changing sales pitch" (https://saastock.com/speakers/april-dunford/)
- Marcelo Lebre, Co-founder & President at Remote — "From $0 to a $3B valuation" (https://saastock.com/speakers/marcelo-lebre/)
- Tomasz Tunguz, Founder & General Partner at Theory Ventures — "Every company is now an AI company: predicting the future of SaaS" (https://saastock.com/speakers/tomasz-tunguz/)
- Michelle Valentine, Co-founder & CEO at Anrok — "3 hidden AI levers your competitors aren't pulling" (https://saastock.com/speakers/michelle-valentine/)
- Steve Rowland, President at Klaviyo — "Scaling success: Insights from Klaviyo's journey" (https://saastock.com/speakers/steve-rowland/)

## Themes / tracks
- AI for SaaS: Tomasz Tunguz, Anrok, Theory Ventures, and the operators shipping AI into B2B SaaS in 2024 — whether the enterprise spend is paying back, what buyers say the real blocker is, and the three levers every founder needs.
- Scaling past $10M ARR: Remote ($0 to $3B in five years), Klaviyo (first tech IPO since 2021), Chargebee (unicorn lessons), LinkSquares ($50M ARR), and Optibus (35 countries, 6,000 cities) — operator stories at scale.
- Sales, positioning & GTM: April Dunford on building a game-changing sales pitch, Chris Walker (Refine Labs) on the new GTM playbook, and a Bessemer/Optibus session on building a global GTM unicorn.
- Fundraising & exits in 2024: Bessemer's Mary D'Onofrio on fundraising in H2 2024, Accel's Euroscape 2024 report, Teleport on executing a pivot, and Dixa on M&A strategy that actually succeeds.

## Full agenda
### Day 1 · Monday, May 13 (Investock + SaaS.City + Roundtables)
#### SaaS.City
- 12:30–13:30 · How to Stand Out in Noisy Markets - Strategic Positioning with April Dunford — April Dunford, Founder & CEO, Ambient Strategy
- 12:30–13:30 · How To Keep Selling Through the Tough Times — Kevin Dorsey, Sales Leadership Accelerator & Consultant
- 12:30–13:30 · How to Develop Your $0 CAC Strategy — Kyle Coleman, CMO, Copy.ai
- 14:15–15:45 · How to Effectively Manage a Growing Startup — Stefan Smulders, Founder & CSO, Expandi
- 14:15–15:45 · All Aboard the Retain Train - How To Keep Your Customers Coming Back — Rita Jhaveri, CEO, CX Growth Advisors
- 14:15–15:45 · How To Create Attention-Grabbing Content - A Content Marketing Masterclass — Chris Cunningham, Founding Member & Head of Social Marketing, ClickUp
- 16:00–17:00 · Fundraising for CEOs - The Myths, Methods and Metrics You Need to Know for a Successful Raise — Vishal Sunak, Co-founder & CEO, LinkSquares
- 16:00–17:00 · The Innovative Seller: Every Buyer Wants Speed & Customization - What Are You Going to Do About it? — Jake Dunlap, CEO, Skaled
- 16:00–17:00 · A Positioning & Messaging Masterclass: Leveling-Up Your Marketing ROI — Alison Murdock, Founder & Chief Marketer, Trusted CMO

#### Investock
- 16:00–17:00 · Roundtables - Solving Investment Challenges (Roundtables)
  Join one of four roundtable discussions to deep dive into a core challenge, defined by Investock attendees to hear peer responses and how it has impacted their decision making processes for their portfolios. Roundtable leaders will provide Investock attendees a one page summary write up per discussion following the event.
-  · 1. How should I deploy my capital over the next 5 - 10 years? — Paola Retes, Vice President, LiveOak Ventures
-  · 2. How to navigate the valuation gap? — Okan Inaltay, Director - Investment Banking, GP Bullhound
-  · 3. How can I be more efficient and data driven in conducting due diligence? — Brandon Gleklen, Principal, Battery Ventures

### Day 2 · Tuesday, May 14 (main conference)
#### Scale Stage
- 10:00–10:05 · SaaStock USA is Here! Official Welcome from Founder & CEO, Alex Theuma — Alex Theuma, Founder & CEO, SaaStock (SaaStock Welcome)
  We're back! SaaStock USA returns to Austin for another edition of the world's most impactful conference for the SaaS community. Join SaaStock's Founder & CEO, Alex Theuma, for the official opening for SaaStock USA 2024!
- 10:05–10:10 · The Scale Stage Opening from Stage MC, Matt Cretzman! — Matt Cretzman, Founder & CEO, Stormbreaker Digital (MC Address)
  Your Scale Stage MC, Matt Cretzman, Founder & CEO of Stormbreaker Digital opens the show for Day 1. Get involved by asking the questions you need answers to, make new connections for your network and soak up the must-see content delivered by our SaaS experts on the main stage!
- 10:10–10:40 · How to Build a Game-Changing Sales Pitch — April Dunford, Founder & CEO, Ambient Strategy (Keynote)
  Are your sales reps still using a lifeless, feature-oriented product walkthrough demo in their first sales call with a prospect? We can do much better. In this talk, positioning expert April Dunford will share the secrets to crafting a sales narrative that highlights your product's competitive strengths to win more deals.
- 10:40–11:00 · Scaling Success: Insights from Klaviyo's Journey — AJ Eckstein, Founder & Writer, Creator Match & Fast Company (Fireside)
  Steve Rowland, President at Klaviyo, takes the main stage to share practical tips drawn from his 25 years of experience in tech and SaaS. Gain valuable insights from Klaviyo's journey to IPO, learn how to generate a durable growth business, and learn what it takes to build a globally differentiated go-to-market function.
- 11:00–11:30 · The New GTM Playbook to Unify Your Business — Chris Walker, Executive Chairman, Refine Labs (Keynote)
  It's not 2013 anymore, companies are ditching the old waterfall operating model. The assumptions behind most marketing tactics are false. Attribution is a mess. Something new is driving buyers. The old frameworks are busted. This new model enables companies to operate as an Allbound Integrated Revenue Team without silos or fighting over credit. You'll learn about what this model is, and how it is deployed to monitor your sales funnel, align the teams, and understand what GTM motions are most effective.
- 12:00–12:20 · The Great Debate: What You Need to Know about AI in Sales — Kevin Dorsey, Sales Leadership Accelerator & Consultant (Debate)
  Ready for a debate? Join KD and Jake Dunlap for a special live debate to figure out what you NEED to know when it comes to AI and sales. The future of sales is human powered by AI, and these two renowned sales experts will arm and argue the knowledge and skills you need to thrive in this ever-evolving era. Through the lens of friendship, leadership and sales enablement, these two will debate it out together.
- 12:20–12:40 · 5 Key Moments to Drive Revenue Growth & Customer Retention — Alex Theuma, Founder & CEO, SaaStock (Fireside)
  While we're all familiar with sales cycles and customer life cycles, when you take a deeply customer-centric view, there are a few moments that really matter in revenue and retention, and it behooves you as a leader to think through how you handle each of them in order to turn them into force multipliers for your funnel and customer relationship. These moments include: First impressions, Conversion, Establishment, Growth (cross-sell and upsell), and When something goes wrong. Alex Theuma, Founder & CEO at SaaStock is joined by GTM expert Ashley Grech, CRO at Xero to discuss.
- 12:40–13:00 · From $0 to a $3B Valuation - Unconventional Secrets Behind Remote's Growth — Christine Esserman, Partner, Accel (Fireside)
  Discover the unconventional secrets behind Remote's growth from $0 to an incredible $3B valuation. Marcelo Lebre, Co-founder, CTO & President at Remote is joined by Christine Esserman, Partner at Accel to dive deep into the interesting stuff. Hear Marcelo's greatest beliefs, strategies and learnings as he built a company to the Unicorn club and beyond.
- 14:00–14:15 · 3 Hidden AI Levers That Your Competitors Aren't Pulling & Why You Should — Michelle Valentine, Co-founder & CEO, Anrok (Keynote)
  Generative AI was the generational meteorite that took 2023 by storm, it dominated every podcast, product strategy and company presentation. But, when we scratch beneath the surface, are we really pulling all the efficiency levers that AI has to offer in 2024? Michelle Valentine, investor-turned-founder, opens the stage with her superb insights on the deeper (and less-obvious) ways that AI agents can transform the way you run your company.
- 14:15–14:45 · What's The Real Impact of AI on Productivity Measurement? — AJ Eckstein, Founder & Writer, Creator Match & Fast Company (Fireside)
  GitLab's Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Ashley Kramer expects that in 2024, there will be a reckoning in how companies measure the impact of AI on efficiency — and if the productivity gains are worth the risk and expense. Forward-looking companies should shift away from simple output metrics to metrics focused on tangible business value. Such metrics could include improved software quality and consistent delivery, faster time-to-market, and the ultimate goal, increased customer satisfaction.
- 14:45–15:15 · Marketing Leaders: 5 Ways to Not Get Fired — Kyle Lacy, CMO, Jellyfish (Keynote)
  The average tenure of a marketing and sales leader at a high-growth startup is short, and it's short for a reason. How do you build staying power at any company as a marketing leader? It's important to build specific strategies to gain a seat at the proverbial table. Join Kyle as he walks you through the five ways to position yourself as a marketing leader, from revenue alignment to owning a pipeline/revenue number.
- 15:45–16:15 · How to Execute a Successful Pivot To Grow: Creating a New Product Category — Mary D'Onofrio, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners (Fireside)
  A start-up builds a product which is not an easy sell, but good enough to grow 2x year over year to about $3M ARR. Teleport let go of all of that revenue, took the 10% of the product that customers loved the most and repackaged it as a new offering, quickly rebuilding the ARR, accelerating growth, going from series-A to B and C in funding rounds and creating a new product category in the process.
- 16:15–16:50 · The Top 5 Rules for Founder-led Success: Survival Lessons from 20+ Years in SaaS — David Politis, Founder & Executive Chairman, BetterCloud (Keynote)
  Spanning a 20-year career as a founder, executive, operator and investor in enterprise SaaS companies, David has navigated his fair share of ups and downs. From macro downturns to company pivots, cash crunches to terrible hires, there are plenty of lessons to be learned when scaling a business from the ground up. Now Founder & Executive Chairman at BetterCloud, David takes the main stage to share his top 5 rules for startup survival and success.

#### Growth Stage
- 10:30–10:35 · Growth Stage Opening from Stage MC, Alison Murdock! — Alison Murdock, Founder & Chief Marketer, Trusted CMO (MC Address)
  Your Growth Stage MC, Alison Murdock, Founder & Chief Marketer of Trusted CMO opens the show for Day 1. Get involved by asking the questions you need answers to, make new connections for your network and soak up the impactful content delivered by our SaaS experts on the Growth Stage!
- 10:35–10:55 · 3 Hidden AI Levers That Your Competitors Aren't Pulling & Why You Should — Michelle Valentine, Co-founder & CEO, Anrok (Keynote)
  Generative AI was the generational meteorite that took 2023 by storm, it dominated every podcast, product strategy and company presentation. But, when we scratch beneath the surface, are we really pulling all the efficiency levers that AI has to offer in 2024? Michelle Valentine, investor-turned-founder, opens the stage with her superb insights on the deeper (and less-obvious) ways that AI agents can transform the way you run your company.
- 10:55–11:25 · From Ground Up to $23M ARR: Flodesk's Blueprint for Explosive Growth — Greg Head, Founder, Practical Founders (Fireside)
  Born in 2019, Flodesk has quickly become the fastest growing digital marketing platform hitting $23M ARR in just three years. Launching with a small team, no funding, no big PR splash yet still achieving explosive growth as one of the hottest design-forward software platforms around. Here comes the big question, how? Co-founder & Chief Brand Officer, Rebecca Shostak, takes the stage alongside Greg Head to open the blueprint book and share how Flodesk emerged from a crowded marketplace and bootstrapped such an impressive trajectory.
- 11:25–11:45 · The Journey of Bootstrapping to $20M ARR in 3.5 Years — Adam Robinson, Founder & CEO, Retention.com (Keynote)
  Ready for the unconventional? Adam's journey of scaling from $0 - $20M ARR in 3.5 years without a dollar of funding is just that. Adam's well documented approach to innovation and transparency is just the tip of the iceberg, his persistence and passion for being a bootstrapped founder goes way deeper. Hear his proudest moments, biggest mistakes and lessons learned from his story scaling Retention.com.
- 12:15–12:35 · How to Scale Your Technical SaaS Startup Beyond $50M ARR — Casber Wang, Partner, Sapphire Ventures (Fireside)
  Less than 0.4% of SaaS startups will ever make it to the $50M ARR mark, but for those who do it's no overnight success. Scaling is about more than just growing your user base, it's the holistic strategy that helps you become a market leader - meaning it impacts every decision you make along the way. Casber Wang, Partner at Sapphire Ventures is joined by Kyle Hanslovan, Co-founder & CEO of Huntress as they unpack how Huntress managed to double their revenue in 2021 and 2022, secure an impressive $60M Series C round and continue to scale the company through the tough times.
- 12:35–13:00 · The Art of Zero-Click Content: Getting Customers Without Clicks — Amanda Natividad, VP Marketing, SparkToro (Keynote)
  Wait a minute, no clicks and more customers? What almost sounds too good to be true, is actually changing how businesses share content with their customers. Coined by Amanda herself, the term 'Zero-Click Content' is quickly becoming one of the hottest concepts within a modern marketing strategy. Amanda joins us to share how to transform your content marketing by beating the platforms at their own game.
- 14:15–14:45 · Lessons from over $50 Billion in Exits – What Makes a Business Worth More? — Thomas Smale, CEO, FE International (Keynote)
  Thomas Smale, Founder and CEO of global M&A advisory firm FE International, takes the stage to share what he's learned from more than $50 billion in closed deals. Listen in as he offers behind-the-scenes insights into which business models lead to the biggest exit prices, the business types that are most popular with buyers, and how you can build a high-value business poised for a smooth exit.
- 14:45–15:15 · Key Retention Tactics to Keep Your Customers Coming Back — Mark Organ, CEO, Categorynauts (Fireside)
  It tends to be customer acquisition that gets all the love, but with the recent market conditions it's actually customer retention that will better protect the health of your long-term revenue. Retaining your current customers is often cheaper, requires less legwork and can even lead to higher spending - so is your attention in the right place? This session unfolds the key retention tactics, tips and takeaways you need to keep your customers coming back to maintain your recurring revenue for the long run.
- 15:15–15:45 · Building Successful Products in the AI Era — SC Moatti, Managing Partner, Mighty Capital (Keynote)
  How do you go about creating AI-first products used broadly? In the realm of crafting AI-centric products for businesses, the key lies in adhering to a set of rules. What are the rules every business needs to know to build great products in the AI era? The more connected we are, the more we expect from technology so building successful products demands a strategic approach. Our phones and other tech gadgets have essentially become the new extension of ourselves. The challenge is to channel innovation in a way that makes us better humans. Product visionary, technology investor and award-winning author SC Moatti lays out the three rules every product needs to be successful in the AI era: the body rule, to create user delight; the spirit rule, to personalize while protecting privacy; and the mind rule, to effectively adapt to the ever-evolving landscape. Just as our interconnectedness shapes our expectations from technology, these principles shape the foundation for businesses venturing into the AI era.

#### Podcast & Pitch Stage
- 11:00–11:30 · Live Podcast: The SaaS Revolution Show with Kyle Hanslovan, CEO at Huntress — Alex Theuma (with Kyle Hanslovan), Founder & CEO, SaaStock
  A live recording of The SaaS Revolution Show podcast as Founder & Host, Alex Theuma, is joined by special guest Kyle Hanslovan, Co-founder & CEO of Huntress. Huntress are a leader in the cybersecurity space and doubled their annual revenue in 2021 and 2022 which saw their customer count almost quadruple to 100,000, leading to an impressive $60M Series C round.
- 11:45–12:30 · Live Podcast: Misfit Founders Episode with Kevin Indig — Biro Florin (with Kevin Indig), Podcast Host, Misfit Founders
  A live recording of the Misfit Founders Podcast as Host, Biro Florin, is joined by special guest Kevin Indig. Kevin is a growth advisor to some of the world's fastest growing companies and formerly led SEO and Growth at Shopify, G2 and Atlassian.
- 12:45–13:15 · Live Podcast: The A2B Series with Kyle Lacy, CMO at Jellyfish — Isaiah Studivent (with Kyle Lacy), CEO, Evron
  A live recording of The A2B Series podcast as Host, Isaiah Studivent is joined by special guest Kyle Lacy, CMO at Jellyfish. Kyle has spent the last 17 years building, scaling, failing and winning in high growth software and has previously held senior roles at Lessonly, Seismic, OpenView, Salesforce and ExactTarget.
- 13:30–14:00 · Live Podcast: The SaaS Revolution Show with Amanda Natividad, VP Marketing at SparkToro — Alex Theuma (with Amanda Natividad), Founder & CEO, SaaStock
  A live recording of The SaaS Revolution Show podcast as Founder & Host, Alex Theuma, is joined by special guest Amanda Natividad, VP Marketing at SparkToro!
- 14:30–14:35 · The Semi-Final of the SaaStock USA Pitch Competition Gets Underway!
  It's time for the Semi-Final! A series of the most exciting SaaS startups around will be taking the stage to pitch their company to you and the judges. Grab a seat, watch the pitches and see which three make it to tomorrow's final!
- 15:35–15:45 · Who's Made it to The Final? Our 2024 Finallists are Announced!
  Find out which three startups have made it to the final of the SaaStock USA Pitch Competition 2024!

#### Roundtables
- 11:30–12:15 · How to Win Your End Game as a SaaS Founder — Greg Head, Founder, Practical Founders
  There are many ways to win the game as a SaaS founder, but most founders don't clearly understand all their potential success path options. They are hidden from view and obscured by funding focus. Greg's live session helps founders to understand their likely success paths, covering the following: - What are SaaS founders' most common success paths, whether funded or bootstrapped?, How have end-game options changed for SaaS founders in the last five years?, How can founders determine their own best success path and ignore the hype?, What can founders do to increase their odds of winning, and do it their way?
- 12:30–13:15 · How To Build Habit-Forming Product-Led Experiences — Ramli John, Content Director, Appcues
  For most PLG tools, up to 80% of users sign up once and never come back. If you don't fix that problem, driving sustainable and efficient growth will be nearly impossible. The solution is to create a seamless, habit-forming, product-led experience that includes in-product nudges, messaging prompts, and human touches from sales and CS. In this interactive workshop, Ramli John—Growth Advisor, Content Director at Appcues, and author of "Product-Led Onboarding"—shows you how to apply a simple but powerful framework created by Stanford behavior scientist Dr. BJ Fogg to influence user behavior, increase engagement, and boost product adoption. You'll learn: Why building user habits is a huge competitive advantage for PLG companies, the common design, messaging, and human tactics of habit-forming experiences and when the best moments are for sales and customer success to reach out to users.
- 13:30–14:15 · The Exit Playbook - How To Cash Out on Your Success — SC Moatti, Managing Partner, Mighty Capital
  Exit is the dream on the horizon for every founder and the most successful ones are often baked in from day one. Whether it's a merger, acquisition or IPO, this playbook extends beyond financial maneuvers, encompassing stakeholder management, working capital oversight, and staff transition finesse. Navigating the nuances of exits requires foresight, avoiding missteps, and preserving the core essence of your company. From strategic rollups to decisive buy-outs, not all exits are created equal. Success hinges on the art of understanding what suits your vision and business, creating a narrative of strategic decisions and adaptability in the dynamic business landscape.
- 14:30–15:15 · How to Master Monetization and Craft Seamless Payment Experiences for Your SaaS Business — Ella Aguirre, Director - Solution Consulting, Worldpay
  From discussing customer payment behaviors to exploring options for managing payments, join this session to gain actionable strategies that will elevate your payment game and drive revenue growth in the competitive SaaS landscape. In this interactive session, B2B SaaS founders, investors, and executives will delve into how to build the right monetization strategy and optimize the payment experience within your software ecosystem. Additionally, the session will offer a comprehensive overview of payment software models, empowering participants to make informed decisions tailored to their business needs. Key takeaways include: Understanding customer payment use cases and designing tailored experiences, Exploring payment handling options: outsource vs. in-house, partner selection, revenue modeling, Evaluating payment software models: Integrated payments, PayFac as a service, and PayFac.

### Day 3 · Wednesday, May 15 (main conference)
#### Scale Stage
- 10:00–10:05 · The Scale Stage is Back for Day 2! — Matt Cretzman, Founder & CEO, Stormbreaker Digital (MC Address)
  The Scale Stage reopens for Day 2, ahead of an agenda packed with world-class content and speakers followed by the final of the SaaStock USA Pitch Competition!
- 10:05–11:05 · Decisions from The Gut with Jason Fried, Co-founder & CEO, 37signals — Alex Theuma, Founder & CEO, SaaStock (Fireside)
  A company is essentially two things: a group of people and a collection of decisions. How those people make these decisions is the art of running a business (37signals). We make decisions every single day, it's what often dictates the direction of a business. Some decisions work out and some don't. Some are quick to make and some tough to call. You'll never be able to consider every single piece of data, analysis or consequence when making a decision - sometimes a decision has to be made from the gut. Legendary founder, Jason Fried is joined by SaaStock's CEO, Alex Theuma, to share his decision making philosophy and answer some of the biggest questions founders face today.
- 11:05–11:30 · How 9 SaaS Companies Doubled Revenue in Q1 using New Growth Tactics — Nathan Latka, Founder & CEO, Founderpath (Keynote)
  You'll learn how to scale from $1-$3m ARR using growth tactics that cost nothing. You'll see how 2 founders doubled from $3m to $10m in ARR using a new ChatGPT playbook. I'll show you 2 other case studies of founders who doubled from $10m to $20m in ARR by leveraging AI in their new SaaS product lines.
- 11:40–12:00 · From Underdog to the Top: 4 Competitive Growth Hacks to Boost Your Market Share — Mary Sibley, North America RVP - Center of Excellence, SAP (Keynote)
  SaaS and SAP? You may think it's an oxymoron. However, 50 years of experience running enterprises of all sizes has led SAP to a level of expertise on business process and expansion that shed an interesting perspective on building a scaleup today. SAP take the stage to share their perspective on how startups can differentiate, target new markets effectively, and gain competitive market share. We can't underestimate the role streamlined operations, accurate reporting, and scalable systems play in growth in your competitive market.
- 12:00–12:30 · Become the Obvious Choice in Your Market — Wes Bush, CEO, ProductLed (Keynote)
  Stop guessing how to scale your product-led business. Discover the simplicity of the ProductLed System to build and scale your go-to-market motion past 8-figures. This session is a must-attend for CEOs and founders looking to build and scale a product-led business.
- 12:30–13:00 · You've Reached PMF, Now Scale - Insights From a $5M - $100M ARR Journey with Jason Cohen — AJ Eckstein, Founder & Writer, Creator Match & Fast Company (Fireside)
  It's tempting to think of a startup scaling journey as a continuum, yet the reality is quite the opposite. Scaling a business is more a stage-driven process rather than smoothly moving through the revenue gears. Over a 27 year career, Jason has built four different tech startups to more than $1M ARR, with two businesses surpassing $100M ARR. Jason takes the main stage to share how SaaS companies should be navigating the scale phase, unveiling how to keep hitting the next milestone and building on your current success.
- 14:15–14:45 · Lessons From The LinkSquares Journey to $50M ARR — Vishal Sunak, Co-founder & CEO, LinkSquares (Keynote)
  We all know hitting $50M ARR is no overnight success. A milestone of that magnitude brings along years of ups and downs, pivots and lessons learned. Vishal co-founded LinkSquares back in 2015 and has been leading the frontline ever since. He joins us to share his biggest lessons learned, what he should've done differently and how persistence and innovation can take you to the very top.
- 14:45–15:05 · 5 Must-Haves When Building a World-Class Product — Laura Lorek, Founder & Publisher, Silicon Hills News (Fireside)
  A world-class product isn't built overnight. From features to feedback, strategies to solutions, building a great product is more a continuum for most SaaS businesses. In today's world, most of us are competing in saturated markets, constantly trying to level up our offering, launch that new feature and remove all bottlenecks along the way. They say a great product should grow alongside a great company, so how do you build, scale and communicate a world-class product? Barrow Hamilton, Chief Product Officer at Maxio is joined by Laura Lorek of Silicon Hills News to highlight 5 must-haves to take your product to the next level.
- 15:05–15:35 · From Burnout to Bliss: Strategies for Sustainable Success in Startups — Mark MacLeod, CEO Coach (Keynote)
  Startups are rollercoasters. CEOs and leaders face extreme highs and lows. Mark MacLeod, a veteran CFO, VC, and coach, has seen it all. Failure is expected, but personal failure shouldn't be. Happy, healthy leaders build lasting companies. Mark shares strategic insights and practical habits for sustainable success in this talk.
- 15:45–15:50 · Time for the Final of The SaaStock USA Pitch Competition 2024! — Alex Theuma, Founder & CEO, SaaStock (Intro)
  Three finallists battle it out to be crowned the 2024 winner of The SaaStock USA Pitch Competition! Grab a seat, watch the three pitches, make your verdict and see who comes out on top!
- 16:20–16:30 · Winner Announcement - The SaaStock USA Pitch Competition 2024! — Alex Theuma, Founder & CEO, SaaStock (Announcement)
  Find out which startup has pitched their way to first place as the winner of the SaaStock USA Pitch Competition 2024 is announced!

#### Growth Stage
- 10:30–10:35 · The Growth Stage Opening Ahead of Day 2! — Alison Murdock, Founder & Chief Marketer, Trusted CMO (MC Address)
  The Growth Stage reopens for Day 2, ahead of an agenda packed with world-class content and speakers!
- 10:35–11:00 · From Underdog to the Top: 4 Competitive Growth Hacks to Boost Your Market Share — Mary Sibley, North America RVP - Center of Excellence, SAP (Keynote)
  SaaS and SAP? You may think it's an oxymoron. However, 50 years of experience running enterprises of all sizes has led SAP to a level of expertise on business process and expansion that shed an interesting perspective on building a scaleup today. SAP take the stage to share their perspective on how startups can differentiate, target new markets effectively, and gain competitive market share. We can't underestimate the role streamlined operations, accurate reporting, and scalable systems play in growth in your competitive market.
- 11:00–11:25 · Inside a Multi-Million Acquisition - Backstory on How Beamer and Userflow Joined Hands — Alison Murdock, Founder & Chief Marketer, Trusted CMO (Fireside)
  What goes on behind the scenes during an acquisition? Let's find out. Beamer's recent multi-million-dollar acquisition of Userflow, has shaken up the product management landscape. A journey which began at SaaStock USA 2023, where the connection was established between Satya Ganni (CEO of Beamer) and Esben Friis-Jensen (Co-founder, Userflow) resulted in a deal that sees them join forces to solidify their position as a leading provider in the no-code product engagement market. With bullish sentiment for this space and market growth forecasted to reach $29B by 2030 [Gartner], join us to hear the ins and outs of the acquisition and why the best is still to come.
- 11:25–11:45 · Live Debate: Predicting The Future of Sales Performance & Efficiency — Alison Murdock, Founder & Chief Marketer, Trusted CMO (Live Debate)
  Is your sales performance and efficiency up to scratch? The future of selling has changed but there's one thing we know for certain, an average sales cycle garners average results. So, how should you be levelling up your approach, activity and automation? To hear the answers, join this live debate as we uncover what changes you could need to make today to land bigger deals and better results in the near future.
- 12:15–12:40 · A Comedy of ARRs: How to Approach Fundraising in the Profitability-Over-Growth Era — Brandon Gleklen, Principal, Battery Ventures (Keynote)
  In the heyday of the "growth-at-all-costs" era, many startups could simply drop metrics in a deck to raise new investor funding. But as the market has changed, so too have the qualifiers for what piques the attention of technology venture investors. These days, demonstrating sustainable growth, unique insight and dynamic leadership requires more than percentage points and bar graphs. Drawing from his experience in technology investing – and in comedy – Battery Ventures Principal Brandon Gleklen reveals how today's founders can deliver a pitch that stands out, through defining how your team problem-solves, demonstrating an ability to iterate and showcasing a unique perspective.
- 12:40–13:00 · The Art of the Possible in GTM AI — Kyle Coleman, CMO, Copy.ai (Keynote)
  You've gotten the mandate to "use AI!" but don't quite know where to start. You're not alone! Join this session to demystify the art of the possible and learn practical, tactical use cases you can implement immediately to drive results across your go-to-market engine.
- 14:15–14:40 · What The Best SaaS Companies Do Best in SEO — Kevin Indig, Growth Advisor (Keynote)
  Kevin shares hard-won lessons about what actually works in SaaS SEO. No theory, just practical examples and results. Drawing on his experience as an SEO and Growth Lead at Shopify, G2 and Atlassian, Kevin's tacitcal keynote will only share the tried and tested truth about how you can boost your SEO results.
- 14:40–14:50 · Five Ways to Help Your Sales Team Close More Deals This Year — Richard Smith, Head of Growth, MySalesCoach (Lightning)
  In today's turbulent economy, selling can sometimes feel tougher than ever. Only 40% of sales reps hit quota last year, and 2024 still looks to be a precarious time for many SaaS sales teams . This talk will give five tactical tips that can be utilised to help your sales team get more success this year, based on my experiences of leading sales teams through the good times, but also during big downturns.
- 14:50–15:00 · The Top 5 KPIs You Should be Tracking to Scale in 2024 — Mustafa Sakalsiz, CEO, Peaka (Lightning)
  There are tens of SaaS growth metrics you could track, but very few can provide you with the kind of powerful insights you actually need. Mustafa Sakalsiz, CEO at Peaka takes the stage to share which FIVE metrics you need to track to scale your business in 2024.
- 15:00–15:10 · The Top 4 Strategies for Post-Sale Success: Onboarding to Advocacy — Bret Siers, Co-founder & CEO, AdoptIQ (Lightning)
  In this talk, we'll dive into the four cornerstone strategies that transform the post-sale journey from a mere transaction to a thriving partnership. Discover how to effectively onboard new users, foster deep product adoption, support users meaningfully, and turn satisfied users into vocal advocates. We'll explore actionable tactics and data-driven insights that ensure your post-sale process contributes directly to recurring value, driving both customer satisfaction and business growth. Join us to unlock the full potential of your post-sale strategy, from initial onboarding all the way to advocacy.
- 15:15–15:35 · Are You Really Optimizing Your Operating Margins? Strategies to Enhance Your Bottom Line — Ben Murray, Founder, The SaaS CFO (Fireside)
  For most SaaS companies, the recent market conditions have been tough to deal with. The adage of 'do more, with less' was brought to everyone's table as most operational priorities were forced to become more efficient. So, what dials should you be turning to improve your operating margins and boost your bottom line? Ben Murray, Founder of The SaaS CFO is joined on stage by Philip Watson, CFO at Paddle to share where your attention should be to optimize your margins.
- 15:35–15:55 · How NOT to Build a Startup - 5 Mistakes to Avoid — Alison Murdock, Founder & Chief Marketer, Trusted CMO (Fireside)
  We all hear of the pitfalls, common mistakes and warning signs as a startup grows - some are trivial and some can save the painful hindsight. Hear from founders themselves as they share key mistakes to actually avoid and the traps you definitely don't want to fall into when building a startup.

#### Podcast Stage
- 11:00–11:30 · Live Podcast: Build In Public with Jason Cohen, Founder of WP Engine — Karthik Puvvada (with Jason Cohen), Founder Relations, Paddle
  A live recording of the Build In Public Podcast as Host Karthik Puvvada is joined by special guest Jason Cohen, Founder & Chief Innovation Officer at WP Engine.
- 11:45–12:15 · Live Podcast: Build In Public with Chris Cunningham, Head of Social Marketing at ClickUp — Karthik Puvvada (with Chris Cunningham), Founder Relations, Paddle
  A live recording of the Build In Public Podcast as Host Karthik Puvvada is joined by special guest Chris Cunningham, Founding Member & Head of Social Marketing at ClickUp.
- 12:30–13:15 · Live Podcast: Misfit Founders with Adam Robinson, CEO at Retention.com — Biro Florin (with Adam Robinson), Podcast Host, Misfit Founders
  A live recording of the Misfit Founders Podcast as Host, Biro Florin, is joined by special guest Adam Robinson, Founder & CEO at Retention.com.
- 13:30–14:00 · Live Podcast: How to Build a Meaningful Partnership Between Founders & Investors — Biro Florin (with Philip Braddock), Podcast Host, Misfit Founders
  A live recording of the Misfit Founders Podcast as Founder & Host, Biro Florin, is joined by special guest Philip W. Braddock, Portfolio Management Lead at Atlassian Ventures. Listen in to find out how Philip's passion to fund the future of the cloud is changing the lives of SaaS founders.

#### Roundtables
- 12:30–13:15 · Expanding Overseas? The Payment Pitfalls That Could Stop You Scaling Successfully — Chris McCracken, Regional VP, Flywire
  Entering new markets and acquiring international customers are must-win moments for any scaling business. In the SaaS world, opportunities can come fast and efficiency is key for both customer experience and cost control. Global application spending is expected to hit $232M in 2024, is your business ready to efficiently capture any of that? From collecting cross-border payments to owning a system that scales with your company, this live roundtable led by payment experts Flywire has been curated to help you: Better understand the common pitfalls with collecting cross-border B2B payments, Benefit from leading advice on country-specific payment trends and methods, Take the steps you need to localize your payment experiences and Minimize the impact of FX, card and banking fees for your business.
- 13:30–14:15 · How to Make Paid Social Work for B2B SaaS — Steve Gottlieb, Director - Demand Generation & Tony Orelli, Digital Strategy, Directive
  Advertising on social media is expensive and most SaaS companies struggle to turn their leads into revenue. Fortunately, it does not have to be that way. In this session, you will learn how to use social media advertising to turn your dream accounts into sales ready leads that not only result in pipeline growth; but also, millions of dollars in revenue. Key takeaways include: How to identify and advertise to every target account in your total addressable market, Tips and tactics for getting your ideal customer persona to convert directly into a sales meeting from paid social campaigns, Proprietary industry benchmark data across cost per conversion, cost per lead, cost per opportunity, cost per customer and the exact copy, creative, offers and call to actions we use across millions of dollars of spend to drive tens of millions in revenue. You will not want to miss this session!
- 14:30–15:15 · Optimizing SaaS Impact - Unleashing Software Development Potential from Inception to Maturity — Pratik Mistry, EVP - Technology Consulting, Radix Software Services
  Unlocking the Power of Code: Navigating the SaaS Journey from Conception to Brilliance. Join Pratik Mistry, EVP of Technology Consulting and Director at Radix Software Inc., with over 18 years of experience advising SaaS startups, as he shares invaluable insights on harnessing your tech team for growth. Explore with us in this roundtable discussion how to optimize your software team's potential across every phase of the SaaS lifecycle – from Ideation to Maturity. Discover actionable insights and takeaways, including: Strategies for effective resource allocation during the ideation phase, techniques to streamline development processes for rapid growth and approaches to sustain innovation and quality as your SaaS product matures. Come and be a part of decoding the SaaS journey – where innovation meets execution, and take away actionable insights to propel your software development forward!

## Top countries represented
- United States: 867
- United Kingdom: 120
- Canada: 36
- India: 16
- Ireland: 16

## Sponsors
### Silver
- FE International

### Partners
- Accoil Pty
- Appier US
- Auditwerx
- BILL Holdings
- Bleach Corporation
- Bright Market
- Brilli Global
- Cahoot
- ClientSuccess
- Deel
- Deeto
- Deskfactors
- Directive Consulting
- Enji CO
- Establish
- Exact Payments
- Explo
- FindThatLead
- FlareAI
- Flywire Corporation
- Fuelfinance Corp
- Go Nimbly
- LOGO INFOSOFT BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY PVT
- Mei AI
- Ordway Labs
- OVERW8 Agentur & Medien K. Reinbach
- Remote Europe Holding B.V
- SaaShop
- SaaSMQL
- Truvle
- Worldpay
- Younium AB
- Zift

## How to reference
- Standard name: SaaStock USA 2024
- Short name: Austin 2024
- URL: https://saastock.com/usa/2024/

## Related
- Previous edition: SaaStock USA 2023 — https://saastock.com/usa/2023/
- Next edition: SaaStock USA 2025 — https://saastock.com/usa/2025/
- All talks: https://saastock.com/usa/2024/talks/
- All speakers: https://saastock.com/usa/2024/speakers/