Today's SaaS Pulse
OpenAI acquires Ona to embed secure workspaces for autonomous AI agents
OpenAI announced the acquisition of Ona, a 79‑person cloud development environment provider, to embed secure, persistent workspaces for autonomous AI agents. Ona’s platform has seen a 13‑fold rise in weekly agent sessions across banks, pharma firms, and sovereign wealth funds. Analysts estimate the deal value between $450 million and $500 million.
Also developing:
By the numbers: NinjaOne raises $400M Series C extension
AI Deals Are Scaling to Massive Valuations. But In Many Cases—Also Massive Dilution. See E.g., OpenAI
So there has never been a “start-up” like OpenAI. Already with 800,000,000+ users and a breathtaking $500 Billion (!) valuation. But it’s also raised and spent epic amounts. So as the chart from FT below shows — all the historic investors together, as a group, will likely own 10% after the company converts to a... Continue Reading
500K AI Startup Valuations Hit on SaaStr AI
Holy Cow!! We crossed 500,000 AI Startup Valuations on new SaaStr Ai!! (Thx @Replit!) https://t.co/i1bef0zpBU
Sidekick Turns Any Business Question Into ShopifyQL Report
Shopify's analytics are amazing. You can do queries across your entire org by just asking Sidekick and it will get you the unique report and teach you ShopifyQL along the way
Gmail Now Uses AI to Help You Find Meeting Times
Google has introduced a new AI-powered feature in Gmail called "Help me schedule," which streamlines the process of finding and suggesting meeting times based on users' Google Calendar availability and the context of email exchanges. By utilizing the Gemini AI,...
From SaaS to AI: Keynote Tour & Meetups
Just finished keynoting at Canvas by Miro . My talk was all about transforming your company from SaaS to AI, and what a great crowd both IRL and online. Thanks to Andrey for the invite My next few events (if...
Production Apps Demand Ongoing Maintenance, Not Just Launch
Now that I have 8+ apps in production from vibe coding, it's great. But every day I have some maintenance to do now. It might be 10 minutes, it might be much more. Like today. Now it's my "during coffee"...
If You Ever Think “Should I Fire This Person?” Even Once … Well, Then It’s Time
A new article emphasizes that managers should act decisively when doubts about an employee's performance arise, suggesting that if a leader contemplates firing someone even once, they should proceed with the termination. The piece argues that extending additional chances may...
Fivetran‑dbt Merger: A Natural Evolution of Data Stack
Why was the Fivetran-dbt merger all but inevitable? Fivetran & dbt Labs announced their merger yesterday. The all-stock deal combines two companies into an entity approaching $600 million in ARR. The beauty of the modern data stack was the explosion...
Delayed Vendor Response Cost Me a Deployment Window
I had a window to deploy a new app a few weeks ago. A few days of time to dedicate to it. I reached out to the vendor and I even told them I’d be a halo customer for them...
Everyone Should Be Using Claude Code More
In a recent discussion, Lenny highlighted the transformative potential of Claude Code, an AI tool that operates locally on users' devices, significantly enhancing productivity for non-technical individuals. Unlike cloud-based solutions, Claude Code boasts capabilities such as file organization, image enhancement,...
App Development Is Now Essential for Career Growth
A few years ago, if someone said your career growth might soon depend on whether you can build an app, you’d probably laugh. Yet that’s exactly where we are. People from all kinds of jobs, teachers, marketers, accountants, and HR...
RB2B Fuels Growth Amid Core Business Stagnation
Retention.com & RB2B grew 1.2% in Sep ‘25 to $25.6m ARR. RB2B grew 5.6% to $6.3m ARR and Retention shrank 0.7% to $19.5m ARR. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly that happened last month: GOOD: - RB2B hit $6m ARR...
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In this solo episode, Rob Walling tackles listener questions about SaaS growth, explaining how to respond when marketing channels stop scaling and offering strategies for promoting a product still seeking product‑market fit. He advises founders to publish early‑stage content on...
AI Builders Draft Fast, but Miss Core Details
AI website builders are like interns on caffeine. Fast, but forgetful. We tested 19 AI website builders. Generated 51 landing pages. Scored them across 60 UX, CRO, and SEO criteria. Most skipped basics like testimonials, pricing clarity, and brand identity. The best ones (Base44,...
ChatGPT Lifts Limits, Adds Personality and Adult Content
We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we...
Everyone Should Be Using Claude Code More
How to get started, and 50 ways non-technical people are using Claude Code in their work and life
Greeting the Community with a Friendly Hello
Hi everyone, In this lesson, I dive into the world of venture capital, growth funding and the intricate process of securing investments for high-growth technology companies. I share insights on the importance of capital infusion for high-growth firms in highly...
Blueprint Hub Delivers Proven
It’s one thing to put a tool in people’s hands. It’s another to show them exactly how to use it to achieve the results they need. That’s why I’m SO excited about the new Blueprints hub our team just launched!...
The B2B SaaS Growth System: How to Build a Predictable Engine for Scaling
The post presents the B2B SaaS Growth System, a step‑by‑step framework designed to help mid‑market and enterprise SaaS firms break the $3‑10M ARR ceiling by creating a predictable, data‑driven customer‑acquisition engine. It centers on four pillars—account‑based marketing list building, a...
Master Venture Capital to Accelerate SaaS Growth
Lesson 19 of 30 SaaS Growth System: How to Raise Venture Capital 🪙 In this lesson, I dive into the world of venture capital, growth funding and the intricate process of securing investments for high-growth technology companies. I share insights...
Founder Q&A: Prioritize Exit Strategies, Marketing, and Product Fit
You’re working hard, but are you focused on what really matters? In this solo episode, I answer founder questions about: → Management buyouts vs traditional exits → Marketing that’s not scaling → How to find product-market fit with a product...
This Week in SaaS Oct 6 - 13, 2025
The post recaps the week’s major SaaS activity, highlighting ten large VC rounds (including EvenUp’s $150M Series E and several AI‑focused raises) and a wave of strategic M&A deals such as Itron’s $325M acquisition of Urbint and Caterpillar’s $728M purchase of...
Interactive Demos Unlock Real User Insights Beyond Video
What does it mean to be a Navattic Fanatic? 🥁 🥁 🥁 I've been a huge fan of Navattic before interactive demos were even a big deal. (Now they are bc they're amazing at letting ppl test drive your product...
Connecting with Product‑led Founders at SaaStock Dublin
We're live from SaaStock Dublin 🇮🇪 If you're a product-led founder here, let's connect!
From One Email to a Global SaaS: Sam Spencer on Product-Market Fit, Team Building, and the Power of Process
Sam Spencer, CEO of Aristotle Metadata, explains how a single urgent email sparked product‑market fit and set the stage for a decade of SaaS scaling driven by process and incremental steps. He emphasizes building a scrappy prototype over perfect plans,...
SaaS & AI Landscape Shifts: Funding, M&A, IPO Surge
Major SaaS and AI funding rounds, notable acquisitions, and big moves from Salesforce and Google. It also highlights new IPOs and key takeaways on consolidation, M&A readiness, and the shifting SaaS market landscape. 💸 SaaS VC Rounds Above $15M This...
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This Week in SaaS | Oct 6 – 13, 2025 SaaS VC Rounds >$15M💸 EvenUp (AI legal & insurance claims): $150M Series E, $2B+ valuation; fuels product scale & global expansion. DUOS (AI + digital health): $130M growth equity; expands...
Know Buyers' Past Valuations to Set Realistic Expectations
In terms of valuation, it's important to consider a buyer's historical track record. Understanding how buyers have valued businesses in the past will give you clues to whether they're a value buyer or premium buyer. Also, in the event that...
FleetWorks Secures $15M Series A, Accelerates Trucking Matchmaking
Congrats to @fleetworksai on their $15M Series A! FleetWorks matches truckers with cargo faster, automating the manual coordination that bogs down small carriers. They've onboarded 10k+ carriers & dozens of brokers (incl. Uber Freight) in just 6 months. https://t.co/t2YmM7YPrM
New Benchmarks Test Agents on Real-World Tasks
Most benchmarks test agents on short-horizon reasoning, not real-world, long-running tasks with stateful environments. To solve this, @agenthublabs is launching Benchmarks: one-click testing for your agents on realistic, economically valuable tasks, starting with E-Commerce and CRM automations. No infra setup needed. Try...
AI-Driven Launch Videos Go Viral with Autonomous Creativity
Absurd (@trydune) makes absurd AI launch videos — turning raw authenticity into absurdity that actually spreads. Their autonomous agents plan, generate, and edit every scene for clients in a live Figma-like canvas. Their first launch video hit 450K+ views on X....
Validate Fit First, Then Hire Agencies
I've seen too many founders spend $100K with an agency only to learn they didn't have product-market fit. There are cheaper ways to learn this. Before you hire the big agency, make sure you have: 80%+ NRR at 12 months Clear channel hypotheses >6 months...
Dreamforce Live: Three Days to Transform Your Business
Dreamforce is live. Stream three days that will change everything for your business. Watch the keynote now: https://t.co/vWKJ84fiFM https://t.co/o6WUHPkAjH
Zavo Launches First AI‑Powered POS for Restaurants
Zavo (@zavopay) is building the first agentic point of sale for restaurants and retail. Payments, POS, and AI agents in one platform to build the future of autonomous commerce. Over 400 businesses already use Zavo to accept payments and manage operations. https://t.co/17M89V566A Congrats...
Customers Reveal Priorities by Avoiding Time‑Wasting Tasks
Customers won’t tell you what to build. They’ll just show you what they hate wasting time on.
Pre‑Seed Vs. Seed: Are the Boundaries Blurring?
Is Pre-Seed still a thing? Or have lines blurred with Seed? Doing research for Sunday’s episode. Will quote you for your insights.
Reducto AI Secures $75M Series B Funding
Congrats to @reductoai on their $75M Series B! Reducto is the leading AI document intelligence platform, and has now processed over a billion pages for leading startups and global enterprises. Startups can get started with 15k in free credits at https://t.co/88zX5ajAId. https://t.co/DE51kgRs6w
Profitable Open‑Source App Platform Generates $70K Profit
Awesome open source drop on @acquiredotcom. One codebase for building modern apps that feel native. > $72K TTM revenue > $70K TTM profit > Near zero overhead Full listing: https://t.co/4roZtQrct3 https://t.co/aCGM3Leu5v
Mod AI Slashes Invoice Processing Time by 83%
Mod AI (@usemodai) automates the manual work of processing invoices for growing enterprises. They've already helped accounting teams of 1-20+ streamline and cut invoice processing time by 83%. https://t.co/jabxZXj7kM https://t.co/wXpEWZwxa8
Proof Over Potential: Deliver, Learn, or Be Replaced
The market doesn’t care about your potential. It rewards proof. Every demo, every launch, every interaction is just a test of whether you can translate conviction into clarity. You either learn faster than the world changes or you get replaced...
Ergo Adds AI Layer to Transform Messy CRMs
Ergo (@joinergo) is building the AI layer Salesforce forgot to ship. They turn messy CRMs into reliable revenue engines for companies like @rhobusiness, @getdelve, and @WhopIO - updating data, surfacing at-risk deals, and delivering the insights GTM teams actually need. https://t.co/6sgtv7jZ8d
Trust Your Vision Over VCs After Market Shifts
💡 “Even the smartest VCs can be wrong — you need conviction.” Brett Carlson, CEO @ServiceUp, shares how market shifts after Facebook’s IPO taught him to trust his vision over investor noise. 🎥 Watch here: https://t.co/Oal69L1wsJ #SaaS https://t.co/DU8heVIQ6y
AI-Driven Digitization Boosts Infrastructure Safety and Efficiency
"We're excited to see this level of investment and focus placed on the safety, efficiency, and security of these industries. Digitizing the world's infrastructure unlocks real-world value, and Al is improving the resiliency of these operations," Sanjit Biswas, CEO @Samsara...
Early ICP Focus Drives Faster, More Efficient Growth
"The sooner you focus on that ICP, the more efficient you can be." -- Every Founder I work with after we do an ICP exercise and growth ensues. https://t.co/fGNWM6wYxM
AI Assistants Boost Leads and Jobs for Home Services
Bravi (@BraviApp) is building AI voice & chat assistants for home service companies. Their platform helps installers & manufacturers capture every lead, respond instantly, and close more jobs. https://t.co/wwixfsipaX https://t.co/uIbSlD0B4W
Designers Coding Their Own UI Speeds Product Cycles
3 big AI improvements to quality & quantity of design at @intercom, @Fin_ai 1. All designers ship code - fixing not filing bugs, improving product UX 2. Vibe coding the roadmap - see the future and accelerate design cycles 3. Owning the frontend...
Benchmark Your SaaS Marketing with 2025 Survey
You should fill out The 2025 State of SaaS Marketing Survey, hosted by @coreyhainesco. It’s short, just a few minutes, and will help you + other founders and marketers understand how you stack up against the rest of the industry. https://t.co/Z83nhGRe5L
2000+ Public Agents, 54k Citizen‑Built Private Agents
Woo hoo! There are now 2,000+ public agents on Agent.ai and we've made it easier to search/discover them. And, if you can't quite find what you're looking for, you can use our Agent Builder to create your own. 54,000+ private...
Legal Micro‑dramas Surge when Success Finally Arrives
The Problem Folks Don’t Talk About Enough: The Stressful Legal Micro-Dramas That Come Just as Thing Start Getting Good When you’re building your B2B startup, you’re laser-focused on product-market fit, customer acquisition, and scaling your team. But there’s a hidden...
Interview with Canva's Most
I’ve got @MelanieCanva, CEO of Canva, coming on the podcast this week. She’s the most successful female tech founder in history. And one of the most successful founders in history, period. What would you love to learn from her?