SaasRise Mastermind Recap - Jan 7, 2026

Come join us next Wednesday at 8am PT and 12pm PT on Zoom for the type of peer advice you can only get from other SaaS CEOs who are in the trenches.

Topic 1: Cold Email Funnel Metrics & Benchmarks

Challenges:
Setting realistic conversion targets for each stage of cold email funnel (email engagement, call booking, show rate, qualification, closing); determining what success looks like when starting cold outreach campaigns; understanding industry benchmarks vs. company-specific performance

Advice:
Target 0.5–1.5% positive reply rate for cold emails (industry average ~0.5%); verify email lists thoroughly to improve engagement; personalize emails using AI or target very specific niches; expect higher “no” responses than positive replies; conversion rates vary significantly by industry, price point, and demand; test and iterate based on actual performance data; one customer per 2,500–10,000 emails is reasonable for $10K ACV

Topic 2: Channel Partner Manager Compensation

Challenges:
Structuring compensation for new channel partner manager role; balancing base salary with variable component; determining how to compensate for partner-sourced deals vs. customer expansion; 60–70% of deals come from partners but relationships aren’t optimized

Advice:
Variable comp should be ~10% of new ARR brought in through partners; reset quota quarterly based on recent performance; target total comp of $175K–$250K depending on performance; consider hiring someone with existing relationships in target verticals; for account managers: 20% commission on first month, 10% perpetuity for white-label partners; 15% and 7.5% for affiliates

Topic 3: Affiliate & Referral Programs

Challenges:
Understanding differences between channel partners, affiliates, and customer referrals; recruiting affiliates effectively; determining appropriate commission structures; deciding whether to invest in affiliate programs

Advice:
Most B2B SaaS companies past $1–2M ARR launch affiliate programs; use platforms like PartnerStack, Reditus, or Rewardful for tracking; recruit affiliates through cold email and calling (not just platform networks); typical commission is 20–25% of first-year revenue or lifetime revenue; customer referral programs can generate 20–25% of customers with simple structures ($1,000 per referral); tier commissions to incentivize volume (20% → 25% → 30–35% based on customer count)

Topic 4: Free Trial Strategy & Credit Card Requirements

Challenges:
Determining optimal trial length; deciding whether to require credit card upfront; dealing with failed payments and insufficient funds; balancing trial signups vs. quality conversions; competitive pressure when competitors don’t require cards

Advice:
For products under $500/month, requiring credit card typically increases revenue despite reducing trial volume; 14-day trial with required card works well for lower ACVs; 30-day trial for higher ACVs or annual commitments; credit card requirement filters out non-serious users; expect ~45% of SMB churn from failed billing; offer longer trials (30 days) to qualified prospects who don’t take initial 14-day trial; test both approaches to find optimal conversion

Topic 5: Pricing Page Strategy & Experimentation

Challenges:
Transitioning from agency + SaaS model to pure self-serve SaaS; determining whether to show pricing publicly or hide it; balancing transparency with ability to test different price points; making product self-serve after previously requiring sales involvement

Advice:
For products under $500/month, make pricing transparent and public; for $600+/month with sales demos, pricing can be private; hybrid PLG–enterprise model shows low-end pricing publicly, hides enterprise pricing; can still experiment through add-ons and upsells even with public base pricing; focus on making baseline pricing clear while upselling additional functionality

Topic 6: Business Growth Strategy

Challenges:
Operating in a niche market with limited opportunities (clients only need the product at specific moments); heavy reliance on word-of-mouth growth

Advice:
Transition to product-led growth by making part of the solution open source; use BLS licensing to allow free use while requiring commercial licenses; build community through open source to increase visibility

Topic 7: Customer Acquisition & Marketing

Challenges:
Need to expand beyond organic growth; limited experience with paid advertising; unclear on best channels for targeting technical audiences; difficulty reaching potential clients at the right time

Advice:
Build targeted audience lists using data tools (Apollo, Clay, ListKit, Seamless); target specific industries (insurance, e-commerce) and tech teams; use data brokers on Fiverr/Upwork for cost-effective list building; implement retargeting campaigns across LinkedIn, Meta, and Google at low budgets ($5–10/day); upload contact lists to Meta and LinkedIn for targeted advertising (Meta matches 40–60% of contacts at lower cost than LinkedIn)

Best Advice

Install tracking pixels (Meta, LinkedIn, Google) on the website immediately, even before running ads. This allows data collection to begin right away, enabling retargeting of past visitors when campaigns launch months later. The pixel collects visitor data only from the moment it’s installed, so early implementation is critical.

Here are the tools recommended during the meeting:

Cold Email & List Building Tools

• ListKit – for sourcing cold email lists
• Instantly – for cold email sending
• Apollo – contact database and list building
• ZoomInfo – contact database
• Seamless – contact sourcing
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator – prospecting and filtering
• Clay – for building ABM lists

Scheduling

• Calendly – for scheduling meetings and automated reminders

Email Verification & Sending

• Email verification tools (unspecified) – for verifying lists after extraction to improve engagement rates

AI Tools

• Claude Code – for writing 100% of code
• Google AI Studio – for UI development and improvement
• ChatGPT / OpenAI – for data deduplication and personalization

Affiliate & Partner Program Platforms

• PartnerStack – affiliate and partner tracking
• Reditus – affiliate tracking platform
• Rewardful – affiliate tracking platform
• Impact.com – affiliate network with marketplace features
• Commission Junction – affiliate network

Customer Referral Programs

• FriendBuy – customer referral program platform

Advertising & Analytics

• Google Ads – paid acquisition
• Meta (Facebook) – paid acquisition and retargeting
• LinkedIn – paid acquisition
• Google Tag Manager – analytics and tracking
• Website pixels – visitor tracking

Freelance & Data Sourcing

• Fiverr – data brokers and list building
• Upwork – data brokers and list building