Today's SaaS Pulse
OpenAI acquires Ona to embed secure workspaces for autonomous AI agents
OpenAI announced it will acquire Ona, a 79‑person cloud development environment provider, to embed secure, persistent workspaces for autonomous AI agents. Ona’s platform reported a 13‑fold rise in weekly agent sessions across banks, pharma firms, and sovereign wealth funds. Analysts estimate the deal could be valued between $450 million and $500 million.
Also developing:
- Fresho buys UK ERP specialist Nation Wilcox, creating the largest software suite for British food wholesalers
- Freshworks pivots to AI‑driven employee experience with new no‑code builder and experience‑level agreements
- Kraken launches utility‑specific autonomous AI agents to automate customer‑service workflows
By the numbers: NinjaOne raises $400M in Series C extension
Traditional SaaS May Be Dying. But It Might Also Be Your Fault.
Jason Lemkin argues that traditional SaaS models are collapsing because vendors are exploiting existing customers with aggressive price hikes, mandatory AI bundles, and hostile renewal tactics, turning customer success into a sales funnel. He illustrates the fallout—lost advocacy, higher churn, and talent attrition—showing that short‑term revenue gains sacrifice long‑term growth. Lemkin urges SaaS leaders to prioritize genuine product value, transparent pricing, and happy new customers over extracting more money from their installed base.
Incogni Vs. Privacy Bee: Which Data Removal Service Should Keep Your Info Off the Internet?
Incogni, launched by VPN provider Surfshark in 2022, automates removal requests for over 420 data‑broker sites and custom requests for more than 2,000, offering a hands‑off experience, detailed request‑by‑request transparency, and four pricing tiers ranging from $16 to $30 per...
How Context Engineering Can Save Your Company From AI Vibe Code Overload: Lessons From Qodo and Monday.com
Monday.com’s 500‑plus‑engineer organization integrated Qodo’s AI‑powered code‑review platform, which uses "context engineering" to ingest code diffs, prior discussions, documentation and test data, effectively acting as an additional developer. The tool learns from the company’s own repositories and Slack threads, surfacing...
Sir Tim Berners-Lee Doesn’t Think AI Will Destroy the Web
Sir Tim Berners‑Lee, the web’s inventor, talks about his new memoir “This Is For Everyone” and his work at Inrupt on the Solid decentralization standard, warning that the web has drifted toward closed, platform‑centric ecosystems. He argues that the original...
Longevity and Product-Launch Cadence Drive B2B Marketing Success
My former arch rival is my guest this week. Dun dun dunnnnnnnn. No just kidding. Trying to get a thirsty hook. That was 7-8 years ago and so much has happened since then. One of the best parts about running...
Google Issues Security Alert: Your VPN App Could Be Spyware in Disguise
Google’s November 2025 fraud and scams advisory warns that cyber‑criminals are distributing malicious applications disguised as legitimate VPN services, often via official app stores and even obtaining Google’s security badge. These fake VPNs can exfiltrate browsing history, credentials, financial data and...
AI Accelerates PLG Activation, Redefines Pricing Models
AI is changing PLG in ways most companies haven't figured out yet. Aakash Gupta and I just spent an hour mapping out the specifics - what's actually changing and what to do about it. Look, the PLG fundamentals haven't changed....
Baseten Takes on Hyperscalers with New AI Training Platform that Lets You Own Your Model Weights
Baseten, now valued at $2.15 billion, announced the general availability of Baseten Training, an AI model‑training platform that lets enterprises fine‑tune open‑source models while retaining full ownership of their weights. The service provides multi‑cloud GPU orchestration, sub‑minute job scheduling, automated checkpointing...
Microsoft Is Working on a "New Class” Of AI Agents that Could Change Everything in Your Workforce
Microsoft unveiled its upcoming "Agentic Users" – AI agents that will have distinct identities, dedicated access to Microsoft 365 and Azure Entra directories, and the ability to attend meetings, edit documents, and communicate via email and chat autonomously. The feature,...
Major Privacy Laws - Including GDPR - Could Be Downgraded to Try and Boost AI Growth and Cut Red Tape
New European documents indicate a forthcoming "digital omnibus" package, slated for a 19 November 2025 proposal, that could relax key GDPR provisions to accelerate AI development. The draft would permit AI firms to train models on categories of data now protected—such as...
How This CEO Turned 25,000 Hours of Sales Calls Into a Self-Learning Go-to-Market Engine | Matt Britton (Suzy)
In this episode, Suzy CEO Matt Britton explains how he transformed 25,000 hours of sales call data into a self‑learning go‑to‑market engine using trigger‑based Zapier automations, LLM‑generated summaries, sentiment scores, and keyword extraction. He demonstrates practical techniques for quantifying sentiment...
Reach SaaS Critical Mass: Small Wins Fuel Explosive Momentum
Critical mass in a SaaS is very real. It's like pushing a boulder uphill for years - and then one day, all those small efforts start to compound: - late-night features you shipped for customers (like in this pic) -...
Celosphere 2025: Where Enterprise AI Moved From Experiment to Execution
Celonis used its Celosphere 2025 event to declare that enterprise AI is moving from experimental pilots to measurable execution, noting that only 11% of firms currently see AI benefits because of a context problem. The company showcased a "living digital...
Free FP&A Masterclass: 30+ Excel Templates & Intangibles
Climbing the ranks of FP&A? I have 30+ Excel formula templates for download, explainer videos, and the intangibles you must master to climb the ranks. I started my FP&A career in the airline industry and then continued in FP&A in...
AI Agents Deliver 24/7 Multilingual Product Demos
Primer (@startprimer) is building AI agents to redefine how millions of companies demo, onboard, and support their users. Their agents are experts on your product and give live, personalized walkthroughs like your best salesperson, but in any language, 24/7. https://t.co/LJCcKnWg5B
Better Object Removal, Improved Lighting and More - These "Sneaks" Could Be Adobe's Next Big Leap Forward
Adobe unveiled a slate of experimental AI‑driven tools during the MAX 2025 "Sneaks" showcase, including Project Light Touch for post‑capture lighting adjustments, Project Trace Erase that removes objects along with shadows and reflections, Project Frame Forward that propagates edits across...
Design SaaS for Human Managers of Massive AI Agents
SaaS + AI Agents are the best combination for the future of software. You need deterministic systems for handling workflows, security, governance, data management, and providing consistent end-user interfaces that users interact with. But Agents will be doing most of...
Free AI Reviews 2,000+ VC Pitch Decks Instantly
This week we’ll cross 2,000 (!) VC Pitch Decks reviewed for FREE on SaaStr AI Try it here -> https://t.co/hVolcGvbUt - Real time scoring - Real time valuation based on 5,000+ rounds - Exact odds of funding based on top VC rounds this...
What Is iCloud+? And Is It Worth the Money?
Apple’s iCloud+ is the premium, subscription‑based tier of its cloud service, offering expanded storage options ranging from 50 GB to 12 TB and a suite of privacy‑focused tools such as Private Relay, Hide My Email, custom email domains, HomeKit Secure Video, and...
SaaS Achieves 90% Profit Margin with Minimal Overhead
A margin this high for a task and workflow SaaS is insane. Live on @acquiredotcom: > $423k TTM revenue > $384k TTM profit > 5,000+ paying customers 20+ years in the market. Near zero overhead. Full listing here: https://t.co/Bu8ma6ccSD https://t.co/Y2sadhLoRe
Prioritize User Feedback; Your Opinion Is Just Noise
People often ask for my opinion on their product as if I’m the target user. I always ask them the same question: What do your users think? Your users’ opinions are data. Mine is a distraction.
"Sell the Alpha, Not the Feature": The Enterprise Sales Playbook for $1M to $10M ARR | Jen Abel
In this episode, Jen Abel—GM of Enterprise at State Affairs and co‑founder of the Jellyfish consultancy—shares the playbook for scaling a SaaS business from $1M to $10M ARR by focusing on "selling the alpha" rather than individual features. She debunks...
Growth Scaling Is a Science, Not Guesswork
If you’ve built an incredible product. And you’ve got some revenue. Then you’ve started to see some product market fit. But now comes the harder question. How do we scale this? What if I told you there is a science to driving growth?
Kestrel Automates Kubernetes Ops and Security with One-Click Fixes
Kestrel (@kestrel__ai) is the agentic platform that unifies Kubernetes ops & security, replacing manual triage and on-call firefighting with autonomous investigations and one-click fixes. https://t.co/rcusxrmmmP Congrats on the launch, @ramanv_ & @Evanj80! https://t.co/i8lW9R9nAj
Huawei Is Back in Europe - and It Wants to Help Take Your Small Business to the Next Level, with...
Huawei unveiled its eKit 4+10+N SME intelligence structure at the Connect 2025 event in Madrid, introducing a portfolio of 26 devices and ten pre‑configured solution packages aimed at European small‑ and medium‑size businesses. The offering bundles routers, switches, wireless and AI‑enhanced collaboration...
Articulate Their Pain Better, Earn Their Trust
Copywriting pro tip: If you can articulate someone's pain better than they can, they will believe you have the ability to solve it. Focus on their pain, not your pitch.
Customer Success Shouldn't Report to Sales: Future at Stake
My least favorite idea of all is to have customer success report to sales It's trading off the future for the present
Interview: Freepik Boss Tells Us the Limits of AI, Why Storytelling Matters, and How Not to Tangle Yourself up in...
At Freepik’s Upscale event in Malaga, CEO Joaquín Cuenca outlined how the company is positioning AI as a collaborative tool for a new class of "creative engineers," supported by the Freepik Spaces platform that blends workflow, feedback and storytelling. He...
Sell the Person, Not the Product, to Win
Sales is a lot like poker. You don't play your hand, you play the man in front of you. You don't sell the product, you sell the prospect. If you can learn someone's why, you can sell them almost any...
AI-Powered Real-Time Tracking Cuts Nursing Facility Costs
Norra combines real-time tracking and AI to give nursing facilities the operational intelligence they've never had. No more overpurchasing or scavenger hunts, just instant answers, streamlined operations, and lower rental spend. https://t.co/lVxWk71pgk https://t.co/yNQSy8ERfV
When Competitors Come Calling: 6 Questions That Will Help You Make the Right M&A Decision
Jason Lemkin outlines a six‑question framework for founders to objectively assess acquisition offers, emphasizing gut instinct validation, understanding the acquirer's strategic motives, honest economic analysis, and the founder's own growth trajectory. He stresses timing, opportunity cost, and the importance of...
Finding the ‘Just Right’ Balance Creates Effortless Harmony
One of my greatest pleasures at work is trying to find that point where the work feels just right. Nothing more, nothing less, but right there in the pocket. It's there in every component, in every feature, in every flow, in...
Nice CTOs Stifle Innovation and Halt Growth
A VP mis-hire is always tough. A VP Sales mis-hire can set you back a year in sales. A VP Marketing mis-hire can lead you down massive time and money ratholes that don’t get you any more customers. But,...
SaaStr AI App of the Week: Dust – Build Custom AI Agents That Actually Know Your Company’s Data
Jason Lemkin highlights Dust, a no‑code platform that lets any employee build specialized AI agents tightly integrated with a company’s own tools and data, achieving remarkable 70%+ weekly adoption at firms like Doctolib and Qonto. The key differentiators are its...
Enterprise AI Agents Must Be Domain Specialists, Not Generalists
Despite some of the popular fears that all AI agent use-cases could get sucked into a single platform, I'd argue the other side of this for the enterprise. AI agents, possibly more than any prior era of tech, need to...
Free 90‑Minute Bootstrapping Blueprint: $0‑10M ARR
Yesterday I dropped a free 90-minute course on how to bootstrap your startup from $0-10M ARR. We got 1,000 views the first 24 hours. Here's the course lesson breakdown (and where to watch it): PART ONE: $0-1M ARR Secrets Lesson...
VDI, SaaS, and DaaS Uncovered: What Businesses Need to Know
The article outlines four primary application delivery models—local applications, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), software‑as‑a‑service (SaaS), and desktop‑as‑a‑service (DaaS)—and explains their strengths, trade‑offs, and typical use cases. It highlights that most enterprises now employ a hybrid mix, with 85% using SaaS...
New “Just the News” AI Newsletter Cuts Through Overload
Ever feel like it's just too hard to keep up with all the AI news every week? As part of our mission to find, share and provide insight into companies driving real ROI from AI - we recently introduced the...
AI Fuels B2B Growth: Salesforce Ac
📰 Top AI+B2B News - Sat, Nov 8 https://t.co/MWFHfEuzpm Top Stories: 1. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Spindle AI 2. 1Password Surpasses $400M ARR and Expands Executive Team 3. 'Vibe Coding' Named Word of the Year By Collins Dictionary Top SaaStr Articles: 1. When...
Perplexity Upgrades Comet to Multitask Across Your Tabs
Perplexity has upgraded its Comet Assistant AI to operate across multiple browser tabs, giving it a longer attention span and the ability to multitask on complex, multi‑step tasks such as simultaneous price comparisons or data extraction. The new version adds...
Bootstrapped SaaS Grew via SEO, Sold for Right Price
Christopher Lier built LeadGen App as an internal tool. Turned it into a SaaS, grew it with SEO, and never raised a dollar. When he sold on @acquiredotcom, he knew what his startup was worth and waited for the right buyer...
Growth Stalls Beyond Pipeline: Uncover Deeper Business Bottlenecks
Why your pipeline isn’t the problem. 4 deeper issues sabotaging your growth. Most AI and SaaS Founders obsess over pipeline metrics, but that’s rarely the real bottleneck. It’s so easy to blame a dry pipeline when the real issues live deeper inside...
Build Site APIs 100× Cheaper and Faster with Parse
Parse lets you build APIs for any website— 100x cheaper and faster than browser automation. Parse makes deterministic APIs that use direct network requests that cost fractions of a cent and return in milliseconds. https://t.co/3KZqJuHUhg Congrats on the launch, @alexscraping! https://t.co/msFhWUFwxr
Completed 33 Tasks Using Unstoppable Flow
Knocked 33 tasks off my hit list this week thanks to Unstoppable Flow ✨ ✨ Try it here 👇 https://t.co/2GyyHn2yKD
AI Desktop Copilot Suggests Emails, Tasks, Meetings
Logical (@trylogical) is a proactive AI copilot for the desktop. It’s like Clippy, but actually good. Logical lives on your desktop, watches what you do, and proactively suggests email drafts, tracks to-do items, provides meeting insights, and much more. https://t.co/vReZpDmrYS
Trust Trumps Quality: Customers Choose Familiar Ideas
People don’t buy the best solution. They buy the idea they trust most.
Agentic Fabriq Secures Agent Permissions Like Okta
Agentic Fabriq (@agenticfabriq) ensures that human employees can’t access data or take actions with agents that they themselves would not have permission to do. It’s like Okta for agents. https://t.co/GOfpPNxzSF
Serverless API Turns Real-Time Streams Into Simple Storage
https://t.co/wJCDi1KWOl (@s2_streamstore) is the serverless API for unlimited, durable, real-time streams. Streams are now a dead-simple cloud storage primitive. Congrats on the launch, @shikhrr, @sgbalogh0, and @quettabitxyz! https://t.co/2JXcYtSXvb https://t.co/xQoRfmprtG
Ask “What Must Be True?”—Transforms Possibilities
Switching from "it won’t happen" to "what would need to be true for this to happen?" changes everything.
SaaStr AI VC Matchmaking Delivers 183 Intros in Two Weeks
The new SaaStr AI VC Matchmaking tool has already made 183 VC intros in its first 2 weeks Try it here -> https://t.co/ZbU9L2c0td https://t.co/HXWF2pE3Gx