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，This is very fatal for startups，This applies not only to the To B field but also to the To C field。

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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 this 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；This makes it easy for people to think that they only need to make similar products in China。Before，This 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 in the 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 service is much behind that of the United States，But once 188bet online sports betting this field explodes, it will be faster than the United States，From CRM、This can be seen in the categories of HR。Therefore，I suggest Chinese entrepreneurs put mobile first when making products，This is also more in line with the usage habits of Chinese users。
Second point、The Chinese market 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 market 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 this condition，So if domestic entrepreneurs only rely on customers with explicit needs，Will be unable to support the company’s rapid growth。
At the same time，Entrepreneurs must also be aware，The education market 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 market at low cost and high speed is the most important question that entrepreneurs should think about。
The third point、Most SaaS 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 the background reasons，In the 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 this 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 in the 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，It may be possible 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 this turning point will come，But what is clear is that the opportunity to enter this industry is at least 10 years away。

Competition in the 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 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino forecast data，The more common prediction this year is 50 billion、or 60 billion，This may be an underestimate。
Because all we can see is the general SaaS 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, you must make plans to enter the transaction process。The core point of enterprise services is to use SaaS to obtain customer order entry，Then complete the transaction closed loop using the trading platform。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 this type of enterprise is limited。
I think after SaaS companies enter，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 this common issue in the future，Enter a larger market。
Second point、Use scientific methods to estimate your market share。Take SaaS, a vertical industry that everyone is very optimistic about at present, as an example，Many sub-industries 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 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 SaaS 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。This 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 you are good at。This 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 this seems like a lot，And very easy to maintain。
Actually，The needs of small businesses are relatively simple，This means that the differences between competing products will be relatively small，At the same time, everyone poured in，It will eventually become a Red Sea；On the 188bet online sports betting 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。This 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 you have accurately found your "product-market" match，The CEO must grasp the rhythm of the company’s development。

Point 5、Don’t position yourself as a BAT or platform-level enterprise from the beginning。SaaS is also good，B2B trading platform，They are all in the field of enterprise services。All projects in this 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，This is very fatal for startups，This applies not only to the To B field but also to the To C field。
Because the opportunities in the SaaS field are large enough、Enough industries，So overall there is no problem in naming a few large players，But it is difficult for any company to eat all the cakes。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 you 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 you 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。
Point 6、Benchmarking users，Looking for trust 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 you 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，188bet online sports betting Medium and large enterprises have very big 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 this 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。

Review of experience in investing in SaaS field
I found that entrepreneurs often step into these three pitfalls

Startup companies are destined to encounter many pitfalls，In this process, entrepreneurs must have the ability to review，I usually review these four steps with the entrepreneurial team:
The first step: look back at the original intention，Looking back at why everyone was able to get together to do this in the first place；
Second step: Evaluate the results，Objectively evaluate the extent to which the set goals have been achieved；
The third step: analyze the reasons，What aspects have you done well that have benefited you，What aspects did you do poorly that caused you to suffer losses；
The fourth step: sum up experience，Summary of the results of all analyses，Learn a lesson，Don’t fall in the same place for the second time。
Of course，During the review process, I also 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 point model。
Focus is a deceptively simple thing，Quality that is difficult to persist in，Why do you say that？When an entrepreneur has no money，Focus is relatively easy。Because you are under pressure to survive，You 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，You 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 you，If you can’t learn to concentrate your forces to break through，The only thing waiting for you 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。This 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 in reserve，Be sure to do a good job in cost control，This is also your last chance。

3）、It 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。This is manifested in two aspects，One does not understand the industry，The other one doesn’t understand operations，188bet sports betting app download 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 this 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 this 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 in the early stage，But this difference will soon become apparent in the mid-term。The result of extensive operation is high customer churn rate，Although the customer acquisition cost 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 this 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 paid for this 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 from KPIs、Meaningless fight against competing products。

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