“Never position yourself as a platform company from the beginning。If it is positioned as a platform company from the beginning，Usually lacking a suitable entry point，188bet sports betting app download is very fatal for startups，188bet sports betting app download applies not only to the To B field but also to the To C field。”

1、The 188bet sports betting app download field’s method of benchmarking against the United States has failed，Entrepreneurs need to know these three points

Currently，Some entrepreneurs in the SaaS field are facing many challenges，On the one hand, doing business is difficult，The market environment is getting worse；On the other hand，Investors’ patience is not that good either，Investment enthusiasm is declining，Requires more reasonable valuation and faster realization。So 188bet sports betting app download time，I would like to discuss the current situation in the SaaS field and what I discovered during the investment process，Share some of your own understanding。

Nowadays, many entrepreneurs and investors in the SaaS field are practicing it，I still want to fully benchmark the development status of similar companies in the United States。Although SaaS has been developing in the United States for 10 years，The growth rate of listed companies is around 28% to 30%，There are also a group like Oracle、SAP、IBM’s long-established enterprise，The total market value exceeds 380 billion US dollars；New and cutting-edge companies like Sales Force，The scale is also very large；188bet sports betting app download makes it easy for people to think that they only need to make similar products in China。Before，188bet sports betting app download thinking path may still be effective，But it may be completely useless now，Because of the hard work of Chinese Internet companies，Making us already ahead of the United States in some areas。

China’s current situation 188bet sports betting app download SaaS field is indeed very similar to that of the United States in 2009，But I think it still needs to be analyzed based on the situation，Otherwise, we will just transplant the old flowers into the old ones，It’s easy to get acclimatized。I think there are three points here that entrepreneurs should pay attention to:

First point、The rise of SaaS in the United States is more after the popularity of PC Internet，After the popularization of mobile Internet in China。Due to the convenience of mobile Internet，Although the foundation of Chinese enterprise services lags far behind that of the United States，But once 188bet sports betting app download field explodes, it will be faster than the United States，From CRM、188bet sports betting app download can be seen in the categories of HR。Therefore，I suggest Chinese entrepreneurs put mobile first when making products，188bet sports betting app download is also more in line with the usage habits of Chinese users。

Second point、The Chinese 188bet sports betting app download is not mature enough，There is a significant difference in users’ awareness of enterprise information。The United States is a process of meeting existing needs，China is a process of educating the 188bet sports betting app download from scratch。Most of the early sales of successful companies in the United States came from search engines，Indicates that there are a large number of corporate customers who already have explicit needs。From the Baidu Index，Users in China obviously cannot meet 188bet sports betting app download condition，So if domestic entrepreneurs only rely on customers with explicit needs，will not be able to support the company’s rapid growth。

At the same time，Entrepreneurs must also be aware，The education 188bet sports betting app download is a very slow process，The barrier to enterprise services is often the first-mover advantage in time。Therefore，How to educate customers and the 188bet sports betting app download at low cost and high speed is the most important question that entrepreneurs should think about。

The third point、Most 188bet sports betting app download services in China currently target small and medium-sized enterprises，Looks like the market is huge，But it faces the problem of difficulty in paying。From a background perspective，188bet sports betting app download past, domestic small and medium-sized enterprises had high information costs，No ability to purchase IT services，And now many companies pursue free thinking and they start to enjoy services。

Foreign users are willing to pay for SaaS itself，Companies in 188bet sports betting app download field can become a good scale enterprise just by relying on SaaS software usage fees，Even available on the market。The payment ability of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises is not very strong，In addition, many companies do not have the habit of paying，Let them pay for SaaS software，It will also be more difficult。

For entrepreneurship 188bet sports betting app download SaaS field，Entrepreneurs must not only analyze the similarities and differences at home and abroad，Also pay attention to grasp the major wind direction and stage。I think China’s future economic growth will come from the dividends of technological innovation and institutional innovation ，Institutional innovation will release a lot of dividends。

When the concept in an industry is old、When inefficient companies are eliminated，We may be able to usher in the climax and turning point of the entire SaaS，But due to the different nature of the industry，So no one can be sure when 188bet sports betting app download turning point will come，But what is clear is that the opportunity to enter 188bet sports betting app download industry is at least 10 years away。

*Data source: Analysys 188bet sports betting app download Tank

2、Competition 188bet sports betting app download SaaS field will become increasingly fierce，Do these six things to survive

For entrepreneurs，Want to enter a market，The first thing to do is to assess its size、The position you want to occupy，And which method to cut in。Take SaaS as an example，The market size will also be very different from the current forecast data，The more common prediction 188bet sports betting app download year is 50 billion、or 60 billion，188bet sports betting app download may be an underestimate。

Because all we can see is the general 188bet sports betting app download part，The market size of industry solutions has not been calculated yet。Although the market is huge，But it will also be a fiercely competitive Red Ocean，I believe that only companies that do the following six things well can survive:

First point、The transaction link is a battleground for military strategists，In the early stages of starting a business, 188bet sports betting app download must make plans to enter the transaction process。The core point of enterprise services is to use SaaS to obtain customer order entry，Then use the trading platform to complete the transaction closed loop。The SaaS market should be a whole process from tools to management to transactions。Just a tool，Service fee charged，But the transaction problem was not solved，The commercial value of 188bet sports betting app download type of enterprise is limited。

I think after SaaS companies get involved，We should connect with some more supply chain finance、Logistics services，Not only is it close to money，Easy to establish business model，It is also helpful to improve the company’s understanding of the entire industry，At the same time, it can also cultivate the company's own financial capabilities，So that we can start from 188bet sports betting app download common issue in the future，Enter a larger market。

The second point is to use scientific methods to estimate your 188bet sports betting app download share.Take 188bet sports betting app download, a vertical industry that everyone is very optimistic about at present, as an example，Many sub-sectors seem to have huge markets，In fact, the room for improvement is limited，The charging situation may not be directly proportional to the market space，The actual enterprise service revenue may only be tens of billions、Even a market worth billions。

The third point、User experience first，Make products that employees 188bet sports betting app download company like，They have invisible decision-making power。Employees cannot use it，No matter how powerful the information system is, it is useless；Because the boss cannot see that your 188bet sports betting app download product has brought good changes to the company，The first thing that comes to mind is to throw away your product。

China’s employees are rarely willing to try new things until their work becomes unbearable。188bet sports betting app download common psychology determines that SaaS products made in China must not only be extremely easy to use，Also change the user’s working habits as little as possible。For example, use their familiar interface style、Familiar interaction method、Familiar workflow。

Point 4、At the beginning, it was only a single point of entry SaaS，Specialize and deepen the product in the field 188bet sports betting app download are good at。188bet sports betting app download is due to two considerations，On the one hand，Everyone sees that the easy way is to make a comprehensive tool for small businesses，Although 188bet sports betting app download seems like a lot of people，And very easy to maintain。

actually，The needs of small businesses are relatively simple，188bet sports betting app download means that the differences between competing products will be relatively small，At the same time, everyone poured in，It will definitely become a Red Sea in the end；On the other hand，From the perspective of profit model，The more categories, the better，The means that SaaS will ultimately achieve high profits is to continuously reduce the average service cost。188bet sports betting app download is also a single point of entry for SaaS, but its valuation is higher than that of a large and comprehensive platform、The reason for higher profits。

In the face of the cold winter of capital，In addition to specializing in startups，It is also important to do things slowly，Concentrate on making the product solid、Enhance user stickiness，Don’t expand blindly。Andy Rachleff also talked about the inference for entrepreneurial success: the only important thing for a company is to achieve Product/Market Fit。Before 188bet sports betting app download have accurately found your "product-market" match，The CEO must grasp the rhythm of the company’s development。

*The picture shows Andy Rachleff，He is the co-founder of Benchmark Capital and Wealthfront。

Point 5、Don’t position yourself as a BAT or platform-level enterprise 188bet sports betting app download beginning。SaaS is also good，B2B trading platform，All are in the field of enterprise services。All projects in 188bet sports betting app download field should be done slowly and carefully，Requires a relatively long development cycle，The returns are relatively reasonable，There will be no special huge profits。Never position yourself as a platform company from the beginning。If it is positioned as a platform company from the beginning，Usually lacking a suitable entry point，188bet sports betting app download is very fatal for startups，188bet sports betting app download applies not only to the To B field but also to the To C field。。

Because the opportunities 188bet sports betting app download SaaS field are large enough、Enough industries，So overall there is no problem in naming a few large players，But it’s hard for one company to eat all the cake。Although investors and entrepreneurs hope that a BAT type company will emerge，But I think it’s very difficult，I personally think its final structure should be decentralized。

If 188bet sports betting app download must be a general-purpose SaaS company，Then development still needs to rely on mergers and acquisitions。The scale of general-purpose industries will be relatively larger，For example HR、Finance、Security field，Maybe tens of billions。However, due to different employment or financial characteristics in different industries，If 188bet sports betting app download want to be professional，Mergers and acquisitions will become one of the channels in the future。For example, foreign Sales Force has entered various fields through continuous mergers and acquisitions。

The sixth 188bet sports betting app download is to capture benchmark users and find trust and endorsement.Corporate customers tend to buy brands from mature and stable companies，Because these mature companies at least do not have an existential crisis，I am relatively cautious about the products of small companies。So when the startup company just started，Need to fight for resources，Whether it is an investor or a benchmark customer，Endorse your own products。In addition, many corporate customers also emphasize professionalism and consistency，They hope 188bet sports betting app download are the most professional in a small field。

Some entrepreneurs initially make their products free for others to use，But in the end, more small businesses will use your product，Medium and large enterprises have great concerns about accepting it。Because free means you have no service commitment，Medium and large enterprises will not use it easily，So for entrepreneurs in 188bet sports betting app download field，The process of starting a business is not just about building products，It is more important to create an image of brand and integrity。So you need to be consistent from the beginning、Transparent、Public。

3、Review of experience in investing in 188bet sports betting app download field，I found that entrepreneurs often step into these three pitfalls

Startup companies are destined to encounter many pitfalls，In 188bet sports betting app download process, entrepreneurs must have the ability to review，I usually review these four steps with the entrepreneurial team:

First step:Looking back at the original intention，Looking back at why everyone was able to get together to do 188bet sports betting app download in the first place；

Second step:Evaluation results, objectively evaluate the extent to which the set goals have been achieved;

The third step:Analyze the reasons，What aspects have 188bet sports betting app download done well that have benefited 188bet sports betting app download，What aspects did 188bet sports betting app download do poorly that caused 188bet sports betting app download to suffer losses；

The fourth step:Summary experience，Summary of the results of all analyses，Learn a lesson，Don’t fall 188bet sports betting app download same place for the second time。

Of course，During the review process, I 188bet sports betting app download discovered that there are three pitfalls that entrepreneurs often fall into:

1）、Not focused enough，Doing too much business，Did not follow the initial single 188bet sports betting app download model。

Focus is a deceptively simple thing，Quality that is difficult to persist in，Why do 188bet sports betting app download say that？When an entrepreneur has no money，Focus is relatively easy。Because 188bet sports betting app download are under pressure to survive，188bet sports betting app download need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure，When there are no resources，Focus is your weapon that can quickly occupy the market。

However, when many entrepreneurs get financing，188bet sports betting app download will start to think about the company’s diversified development，But I forgot that in such a fiercely competitive environment，There will always be a company richer than 188bet sports betting app download，If 188bet sports betting app download can’t learn to concentrate your forces to break through，The only thing waiting for 188bet sports betting app download is to be annihilated。

2）、Failed to control costs，Stretched myself to death。

Many entrepreneurs have never seen so much money before starting a business，When he successfully raised a large amount of funds，I don’t know how to manage it anymore。188bet sports betting app download is the same as suddenly having a full meal after being hungry for a long time，The same principle applies to being strangled to death。So after the company has completed financing，Control your own pace，Don’t make decisions beyond your current capabilities。Pay special attention to your cash flow，When you only have six months of funds on hand，Be sure to do a good job in cost control，188bet sports betting app download is also your last chance。

3）、188bet sports betting app download is difficult to complete the transition from brutal growth to refined operations。

First of all, there is a lack of talents for refined operations，Especially when the mobile Internet integration industry has developed to a relatively deep stage。188bet sports betting app download is manifested in two aspects，One does not understand the industry，The other one doesn’t understand operations，It is very common for laymen to serve experts。No experience in the industry it serves，The products made cannot meet the professional needs of the enterprise。

Take entrepreneurship in the To B field as an example，Not suitable if you don’t have industrial experience。I prefer those with 7-8 years of industry experience、A team around 35 years old。There may be only one person out of 10,000 people in traditional industries who really understands the Internet，For investors，Just find such people。Because if your team doesn’t understand 188bet sports betting app download industry，It is very difficult to start a business across industries，Your original genes have already determined what you can do。

If you don’t understand operations, you are destined to be unable to catch up with your opponents。For most companies in the market now，Can you calculate 188bet sports betting app download account in detail，Can the unit model be optimized?，It determines whether you can create more value than others。

There is not much difference whether the operation is refined or not in the early stage，But 188bet sports betting app download difference will soon become apparent in the mid-term。The result of extensive operation is high customer churn rate，Although the cost of customer acquisition has not increased linearly，But spending the same cost to acquire a user is already a loss。

If the annual revenue of a SaaS company is 1000W，User churn rate is 30%，Then 300W of income will be lost next year；When the annual revenue of 188bet sports betting app download company reaches 100 million，3000W of income will be lost next year。So entrepreneurs should focus on looking for talents who are good at refined operations in mature large companies at the beginning。The lifetime value that a customer contributes to you，Be sure to cover the cost you pay for 188bet sports betting app download customer，Of course it’s not just coverage，Maybe two to three times the cost。

Therefore，I suggest entrepreneurs to monitor traffic every day、Landing、Conversion、Retention、Profit and other data，To avoid too many channel entrances and investments beyond the highest cost-benefit ratio、Brand activities that deviate 188bet sports betting app download KPI、Meaningless fight against competing products。

*188bet sports betting app download article is reprinted from the WeChat public account "Investors Say", authorApril Zhang（WeChat: 15273220596）。