This overview is part of a series of track spotlights we are doing. You can read up on Rocket Fuel, our brand new track, SaaS.City, and Scale.

“Growth and comfort do not coexist.” – Ginni Rometty, President & CEO of IBM

It’s probable that comfort never exists for a SaaS startup. Not when bootstrapping or hustling for a seed round, not when fully at-scale and operating around the world – and certainly not in between, when every facet of the business is transforming (or breaking).

“Growing pains,” they call it. Yeah, that’s an apt phrase.

“Work hard” and “believe in yourself,” they say. Well, we’d like to add a maxim to the list:

“Learn from people who’ve done it before.”

While listening and learning may not bring you comfort, it will bring you insight, ideas, and strategies for reaching the next level of challenges.

That’s what the SaaStock Growth track provides. SaaS veterans and investors are here to counsel you on the uphill climb from $1M to $10M ARR: how to fix what’s broken, do more with less, and grow, grow, grow.

These are just a few of the must-see speakers this October. Grab your ticket to see them before October 1st.

Kieran Flanagan, VP Marketing at HubSpot

HubSpot needs no introduction. And while the company itself has long passed the growth stages, it is in a position to offer so much to companies at that stage. Kieran Flanagan can take some of the credit for that. As the VP of Growth at HubSpot, he’s helped make the marketing & sales software company a SaaS household name. Over the years, HubSpot has developed two very successful funnels, which generate hundreds of thousands of new leads and free users every month.

Specifically, Kieran manages the growth of HubSpot’s freemium products, the monetization of their freemium funnels, and the optimization of their global web strategy. Essentially, he knows how to spot a growth opportunity and pounce on it.

How to be a Marketing Opportunist

The gist: Learn from Kieran how to create scalable acquisition channels, as well as how to identify and capitalize on new trends before your competitors catch on.

Gideon Pridor, VP Marketing, TravelPerk

We have talked a lot about TravelPerk before. One of the fastest growing SaaS companies in Europe there is much to learn from their growth. Gideon is a self-described SaaS marketing veteran, startup aficionado, growth enthusiast and travel junky. Prior to TravelPerk, he drove go-to-market strategy and execution for Boston-based Perfecto Mobile from inception to $60M in ACV.

We loved having Gideon on the Expo floor last year (to be honest, there were some fun games at the TravelPerk booth). This year, after a year of massive growth for TravelPerk, we’re pleased to welcome him to the stage.

5 Key Reasons Why We Grew 1000% YoY

Indeed, since last year’s SaaStock, TravelPerk has grown their Gross Merchandise Volume by 1000% YoY, plus tripled their team from 50 to 150. Gideon will share 5 practical reasons for how the company has scaled so fast, and some mistakes they learned along the way.

Kyle Poyar, Senior Director Market Strategy, Openview Venture Partners

How about an investor’s point-of-view? For years, Kyle has been advising technology companies on their pricing and packaging – and he thinks you aren’t spending enough time optimizing your pricing.

Prior to joining OpenView, Kyle was a Director at Simon-Kucher and Partners, known as the world’s leading pricing strategy consultancy. At OpenView, he has first-hand experience leading 15+ pricing and packaging projects, mostly with expansion stage companies who then show a sizable increase in enterprise value. One of his portfolio companies recently increased ARPU by 70% through pricing optimization alone.

Yes, our jaws dropped, too.

How to fix your broken pricing model

In this session, you’ll learn how to price and package your product from MVP to IPO. Specifically, you’ll gain an understanding of the best monetization strategies for each stage of growth, learn a data-driven approach to pricing, and hear case studies of the dramatic impact of pricing and packaging from leading SaaS companies.

Carrie Osman, Founder and CEO, Cruxy and Company

Because we know how important pricing is, we are bringing in more experts to weigh in and give advice. Carrie is the Founder & CEO of Cruxy & Company, the London-based Strategy Consultancy working with complex, ambitious technology companies and their investors. Cruxy & Company was founded to “fight the status quo of consulting.” In her work, Carrie scrutinizes companies on behalf of a slew of investors, from Downing to Panoramic Growth Equity, both pre-investment and post to maximize return of the portfolio. She’s been instrumental for high-growth SaaS businesses – from growing a company’s sales rate by 260%, to a 13x increase in client base in six months.

Interrogating the Good and Bad when it comes to SaaS Pricing Strategy

How do firms challenge their approach to pricing as they scale? The optional changes are there, but what are the consequences? In this talk, you’ll learn about the new changes in pricing models, the issues these different models create, and which pricing trends to avoid.

Lew Moorman, Co-founder and GP, Scaleworks

On Day 2, a Texan investor will take the stage to share a rare, inspiring, and unconventional perspective: Less money may be the key to your growth in SaaS.

Lew Moorman is the co-founder and General Partner of Scaleworks, a SaaS-focused venture equity firm based in San Antonio. Prior to Scaleworks, Lew served as Rackspace’s President and Chief Strategy Officer, where he helped take the company from $3M to $1.5B in ARR.

The Secret Advantage of Too Little Capital

The gist: You need less money than you think. You have advantages in your back pocket that will help you grow right now. These are the understandings Lew will impart. He will share stories of taking Rackspace to nearly $2B in revenue with very little funding, plus several stories of smaller-scale companies he works with at Scaleworks.

Wolfgang Allisat, Chief Customer Officer, Unbabel

Wolfgang is the CCO of Unbabel, where he’s internationally expanding the company’s AI-enabled, crowdsourced translation technology. He has a successful history of developing companies from pioneers into global industry leaders. He drove Omniture’s European growth from 0 to 1,000+ customers, and managing global revenue for NASDAQ-listed comScore.

He knows a thing or two about going global.

In a world where geography is no longer a limiting factor, your business needs to understand how to navigate such expansion. Wolf is coming to SaaStock to share some of the insight he has picked up.

Going Global from Day One

For the past 6 months, Unbabel has been interviewing businesses of all sizes about the challenges of “going global” from the very early stages. On Day 2, Wolf will present some of the patterns and findings in this research. You’ll learn when, how and why should you enter new territories; how to balance the challenges of language, culture and other factors; how to use localization to find demand.

Steli Efti, CEO and Co-founder, Close.io

A list spotlighting the must-see talks wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t include Steli Efti, the sales thought leader (and cult personality) at the head of Close.io. He never fails to deliver a memorable presentation. Last year he taught the crowd how to do sales calls right, while this year at SaaStock Berlin and Helsinki, he told us what the 7 deadly sins of product demos are. We hear Steli is preparing something special for his talk at Saastock18 so hold on tight. In the meantime read up our longform post about the 7 essential customer conversations every SaaS company needs to be having.

BONUS

This year’s growth stage will also feature a live recording of The Top, Nathan Latka’s prolific podcast with over 1000 episodes and 3.5M listeners. Sitting across from him will be Adrien Menard, Founder and CEO of Botify.

Curious what else is in store? Check out the full SaaStock 2018 agenda and then grab your ticket before October 1st to save €200.