If I Started a SaaS Business in 2026, I'd Do This First

Here’s the truth most founders learn too late:
Getting to your first million is about effort.
Scaling past $10M is about systems, numbers, and discipline.

And the blueprint for that system hasn’t changed — it’s just become more unforgiving.

Let me walk you through exactly what I’d do first, what I’d ignore, and how I’d build a SaaS business designed to scale in 2026 and beyond

Why Most SaaS Companies Get Stuck

After working with hundreds of SaaS founders between $1M and $100M ARR, one pattern shows up over and over again.

Most SaaS companies don’t fail.

They stall.

They hit $3M, maybe $5M, sometimes $10M in ARR — and then growth slows to a crawl.

At that point, founders usually try a little bit of everything:

• Some outbound
• Some paid ads
• Occasional content
• A few experiments here and there

It feels like progress, but it’s random.

And random marketing doesn’t scale.

The real reason companies get stuck isn’t traffic, leads, or even competition.

It’s that they don’t understand their unit economics well enough to make confident decisions.

You can’t scale what you don’t understand.

The First Thing I’d Do in 2026: Master My Unit Economics

Before I hired a growth marketer.
Before I ran ads.
Before I sent a single cold email.

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I’d get absolute clarity on my numbers.

There are five SaaS metrics I’d know better than my product roadmap.

1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

How much does it cost to acquire one new customer?

Take your total sales and marketing spend from last month and divide it by the number of new customers added.

That’s your CAC.

2. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA)

How much revenue does the average customer generate per month?

This determines how aggressive — or conservative — you can be with acquisition.

3. Monthly Churn Rate

What percentage of customers leave each month?

Churn quietly determines everything about your long-term growth.

4. Customer Lifespan

How long does the average customer stay?

Lifespan = 1 ÷ monthly churn rate.
A 2% monthly churn = ~50-month lifespan.

5. Lifetime Value (LTV)

What is a customer worth over their entire relationship with you?

LTV = ARPA × Customer Lifespan.

If a customer pays $200/month for 50 months, that’s a $10,000 LTV.

These numbers are not independent. They are a system.

Setting a Target CAC (This Unlocks Scale)

Once I know my LTV, I can set a Target CAC.

For a healthy SaaS business in 2026:

• Aim for at least a 6:1 LTV-to-CAC ratio
• Or a 6-month CAC payback period

That means:

• ARPA × 6 = Target CAC
• Or ACV ÷ 2 = Target CAC

Once you know this number, everything changes.

You’re no longer guessing how much you can spend to grow.

You now have permission to scale — with discipline.

This is the science behind SaaS growth.

With the Foundation Set, I’d Build the Growth System

Once the economics are clear, I’d move immediately into system-building.

Not hacks. Not channels.

A system with three pillars.

Pillar 1: Build a Complete ABM Market Map

The first operational pillar is Account-Based Marketing (ABM).

This is not a list of a few hundred leads.

This is a database of every relevant company and buyer in your total addressable market.

You define:

• Job titles
• Company size
• Industry
• Geography
• Tech stack (when relevant)

Then you build the list using modern tools like Apollo, Instantly, ListKit, Clay, or LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

At SaasRise, our ICP is SaaS founders and CEOs between $1M and $100M ARR — which results in a market of hundreds of thousands of buyers worldwide.

This list becomes the fuel for everything:

• Outbound
• LinkedIn
• Ads
• Retargeting
• Lookalikes

You stop marketing blindly and start marketing with intent.

Pillar 2: Multichannel Outbound + Content for Omnipresence

With your ABM list built, distribution becomes systematic.

First, outbound.

In 2026, outbound only works when it’s:

• Personalized
• Relevant
• Value-driven

AI-assisted personalization allows you to tailor subject lines and opening lines at scale — without losing quality.

Outbound is no longer just about replies.

It’s about:

• Creating engagement
• Driving clicks
• Feeding retargeting
• Warming accounts for sales

Then comes content.

Every serious SaaS company needs a weekly content machine.

That content might be:

• A blog post
• A founder video
• A webinar
• A case study
• A report

The format matters less than the consistency and value.

The goal is omnipresence.

Your ideal customer should see your brand 10+ times per month, across:

• LinkedIn
• Email
• Google
• YouTube
• Meta
• Retargeting ads

This is how trust is built before the sales conversation even starts.

Pillar 3: Paid Ads as an Accelerant — Not a Crutch

Paid advertising is not the foundation.

It’s the accelerator.

Once outbound and content are working, paid ads pour fuel on the system.

In 2026, I’d run five core ad types:

1. Retargeting ads
   For site visitors and engaged users
2. Matched-audience ads
   Upload your ABM list and target exact buyers
3. Lookalike audiences
   Modeled from customers and high-intent leads
4. Paid search
   Brand, competitor, and category keywords
5. Thought-leader ads & sponsored messages
   Promoting your best founder-led content on LinkedIn

Every campaign is judged by:

• CPL
• CAC
• Payback period

Only what hits Target CAC gets scaled.

The Flywheel Effect (This Is Where Scale Happens)

When done correctly, this system compounds.

Your ABM list fuels outbound and content.
Outbound and content build audience and brand.
Brand makes ads cheaper and more effective.
Ads drive revenue.
Revenue funds better people, tools, and execution.

That’s the flywheel.

But here’s the part most founders underestimate:

This requires systems thinking.
It requires numbers discipline.
And it requires a team.

SDRs, AEs, CSMs — each role matters.

There are no shortcuts here.

The Real Goal for SaaS Founders in 2026

Your goal shouldn’t be to find a growth hack.

It should be to build a predictable, data-driven growth engine that works quarter after quarter.

If you’re serious about building a SaaS company that scales — not randomly, but deliberately — this is the blueprint.

Stop experimenting in isolation.
Start building systems.

That’s how real SaaS businesses are built.