Hey Reader,

Welcome to The Middle, your midweek rundown of the most interesting things we've read this week.

Is summer officially over now? That’s sad, but it’s Football season (Go Cornhuskers and Go Bills). Plus, the weather down here in Charleston has changed (for the better).

Enough small talk, let’s get into it.

Jeff

Best In Class

Sammy’s an investor and just met with a top-performing SaaS business. He shared insights into what they’re doing well.

This stood out to me:

All you hear about is the need for a bigger market (or TAM). But why have we accepted the spreadsheet funnel reality?

Narrow the focus, hone the message and build for a single ICP. That sounds like the dream. But it’s merely an outlier in today’s world.

It takes how much to win a customer?

SaaS companies spend ~$1.71 to acquire $1 in ARR. Yes, they spend more than the first year ARR.

The subscription model has become so sexy, but it still ultimately relies on proper unit economics.

TLDR: Subscriptions businesses start making money on a customer in month 18. So better hope you get that first year renewal.

Founder Mode

Paul Graham, the famed Y-Combinator leader, wrote an essay that has taken the tech world by storm the last few days.

His whole thesis states that Founders shouldn’t listen to Professional Managers when scaling their companies. (You know: Founders are special, etc.)

An example quote:

As I read the piece, I reiterated the same question softly “why do they keep listening to other people then?”

But, alas, I guess that’s Graham’s point - Founder Mode isn’t well documented and polished. It doesn’t have a branding firm behind it, so it’s ideas are more underground.

Maybe his essay is just the start it needs to become more mainstream.