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The Vertical SaaS Bible
A collection of vertical SaaS case studies, industry breakdowns, scorecards, analysis, and operating learnings. Jam packed with content, it's my hope that it will help one of you build, operate, or invest in the next great vertical SaaS business!
What's Included?
- 🏭 1,000+ Industries ranked by revenue, number of companies, and overall fragmentation
- 📗 ~50 vSaaS Operating Playbooks & Lessons distilled down into bitesize learnings on the ins and outs of founding and operating a vSaaS company
- 🔍 ~50 vSaaS Company Case Studies that walkthrough different flavors of successful vertical SaaS businesses
- 🚦 5+ Industry Scorecards with rankings on GTM, size, bootstrap vs. VC-backed and more with new ones getting added every month
- 📈 500+ SaaS Investors database of active VC's looking for pre-seed, seed, series A, B, C, and growth equity deals
& much more...
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A Preview Of What's Inside...
- Theres A Better Way To Start A vSaaS Company…
- The 4 Types Of Vertical SaaS Companies
- The Classic vSaaS Playbook
- The Digital Franchise vSaaS Playbook
- The Hybrid vSaaS + M&A Playbook
- The Full Stack Playbook
- NEW: Vertical AI Co-Pilots
- Step By Step Guide To Building A Vertical SaaS Business
- Picking The Right Market
- How To Size Your Market Opportunity
- Unbundling Massive Horizontal Companies
- Slicing Pie: An Incredible Value Driver For Brand New Companies
- Ideal Founding Team Characteristics
- What Does A Founder Actually Do?
- Create Your Value Prop: A Fill-In-The-Blanks Guide
- Building Wedge Products
- 11 Wedge Product Ideas
- Usage/Performance Based > SaaS Based For Your Initial Product
- How To Raise Your First Round Of Capital
- Vertical SaaS = Small TAM. Exposing the Vertical SaaS Myth
- How To Build A Big Business In One Industry
- Key Focus Areas At Each Revenue Stage Of Your vSaaS Business
- What Will Kill Your Startup & What Won't
- 5 Common Characteristics of Successful Venture-Scale vSaaS Companies
- 9 SaaS Metrics To Orient Your Business Around
- Vertical SaaS Benchmarks & Playbook Overview
- Land & Expand Strategy
- How To Identify Outlier Talent
- Essential Interview Questions
- B2B Product Development Philosophies
- Build A Triple Threat vSaaS
- Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Build Products
- All B2B Products Eventually Converge
- Vertical Specific App Stores
- Embedded FinTech Is Moving Software into a Vertical Era
- The Verticalization of Payroll
- The AI Opportunity in vSaaS
- Embedded Insurance
- Embedded Lending
- Managing Risk With Embedded Payments
- Psychology Backed Pricing Strategies
- Moving From Founder Led Sales To Employee Led Sales
- Self Interest Selling
- The Power Of Roadshows & How You Can Add Milllons In ARR With Them
- A Simple Software Sales Framework
- 5 Actionable Sales Hacks To Win More Customers Immediately
- How To Win $100K+ Deals With Account Based Marketing (ABM)
- Time To Value: The Key "Input" of Customer Retention
- Structuring Incentive Plans For Success
- How To Compete W/ Big & Legacy Industry ERP's
- Understanding VC Economics
- How To Raise Money Through Cold Emails
- Round By Round VC Benchmarks for SaaS Companies
- Market Dynamics VC's Want To See
- How To Structure Your Investor Updates
- How To Structure/Run Your Board Meetings
- How To Sell Your vSaaS Business
- BONUS LIST: 500+ SaaS Investors & VC Funds
- BONUS LIST: 70+ Vertical SaaS Growth Equity Investors
- Constellation Software: vSaaS Holding Company
- The King of M&A + vSaaS: Brad Jacobs
- How Brad Jacobs Thinks About Industry Selection
- Tribute Technology: vSaaS for Funeral Homes
- Teamshares: M&A + SMB SaaS
- Squire: vSaaS for Barber Shops
- Service Titan: vSaaS for Field Services
- nCino: vSaaS for Banks
- Dutchie: vSaaS for Dispensaries
- Veeva: vSaaS for Life Sciences
- Metropolis: vSaaS + M&A for Parking Lots
- Slice: vSaaS for Pizza Shops
- OpenGov: vSaaS for Local Governments
- Procore: vSaaS for Construction
- Wrapbook: vSaaS for Media Companies
- Toast: vSaaS for Restaurants
- Palantir: vSaaS for Defense
- Weave: vSaaS for Dental Practices
- Clever: IaaS for Schools
- Roofer.com: vSaaS + M&A for Roofing Companies
- Cloudbeds: vSaaS for Hotels
- DISCO: vSaaS for Law Firms
- Blackboard: vSaaS for Colleges
- Check: Embedded Payroll for vSaaS Companies
- Lula: Embedded Insurance for vSaaS Companies
- FareHarbor: vSaaS for Tourism Companies
- MindBody: vSaaS for Wellness
- Shopify: vSaaS for eCommerce
- EquipmentShare: vSaaS for Construction Rental
- Appfolio: vSaaS for Property Managers
- Epicor: vSaaS for Manufacturing
- Tithely: vSaaS for Churches
- Odeko: vSaaS for Coffee Shops
- Storable: vSaaS for Storage Units
- Cents: vSaaS for Laundromats
- Classy: vSaaS for Non Profits
- Guidewire: vSaaS for P&C Insurance
- LeagueApps: vSaaS for Youth Sports
- Monograph: vSaaS for Architecture Firms
- AtoB: Financial vSaaS for Trucking
- Shopmonkey: vSaaS for Automotive Shops
- Swiftly: vSaaS for Public Transporation
- Eren Bali: Founder of Udemy & Carbon Health
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A Few Kind Words From Folks I Respect Greatly...
"Luke is a rare gem of Vertical SaaS knowledge. He combines founder experience, an amazing network of vSaaS operators, a student of the game mindset, and a willingness to help others. Where many claim to be experts, he's a true tought leader in the space. Luke is the first person I turn to when I need to tap into the vSaaS startup community. I'll continue to eagerly follow along all the content he creates and shares. "
Brian Litvack
Founder & CEO @ LeagueApps
"Luke is an expert in all things Vertical SaaS. His case studies and breakdowns of the top Vertical SaaS companies have been instrumental in shaping how I think about building Roofer.com. His insights are a must-read for anyone building or investing in Vertical SaaS."
Nathan Matthews
Founder & CEO @ Roofer.com
"Vertical-specific software companies will create billions of dollars of opportunities across every industry. Luke is a must follow - he shares the most helpful Vertical SaaS content, insights and deep dives."
Alex Shipillo
VP Growth Marketing @ Clio
"Luke is one of the sharpest minds in Vertical SaaS. I often return to his newsletter for insights, playbooks, dynamics, and stories across hundreds of verticals. His grasp of new TAM expansion strategies and GTM tactics is exceptional. I'd encourage others looking to invest or build in software to check it out."
Evan Lyseng
Senior Analyst @ AltaML
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Thanks For Being Here.
A Bit More About Me...
I’m Luke.
I'm a Vertical Software Founder, Operator, and Investor.
I currently serve as the CEO of CourseKey, one of the largest vertical software businesses for Trade Schools in the U.S. We are an operating system for the space that 300+ enterprises like Paul Mitchell and Lincoln Tech (NASDAQ: LINC), use to run their business. I’m also a vertical SaaS Advisor at Atomic.vc - the pioneer of the venture studio model and creators of HIMS & HERS (NASDAQ: HIMS) as well as OpenStore, among many others. I support talented folks at Atomic in creating and scaling new vSaaS companies. I'm an early-stage investor in 15+ software companies including Joy (vSaaS for weddings), Gemist (vSaaS for jewelry stores), Supermove (vSaaS for moving companies) and Betr, to name a few. I'm also an aging Thiel Fellow, class of 2016 :-)!
But enough of the credibility stuff! Most importantly, I’ve built my vertical SaaS business brick by brick over the last decade and have the scars to prove it.
From our founding in my college dorm room, to a high-flying Series B stage vc-backed company with nearly 100 employees, to enduring the SaaS Crash of 2021 and cutting 50% of headcount, and now focusing on profitable / efficent growth to own the Trade School Software vertical.
I’ve seen a lot on this journey. I’ve had <1 week of cash. I’ve done big layoffs, I’ve made multiple phone calls to make payroll, I’ve walked into meetings where the outcome was life or death. Quite frankly, I’ve made every mistake in the book over the last decade.
But through the help of so many others, the team and I persevered to build something special.
The Vertical SaaS Bible is my collection of vertical SaaS case studies, industry breakdowns, scorecards, analysis, and operating learnings. It's jam packed with the stuff they don't teach you in school. The things that I've learned the hard way so (hopefully) you don't have to.
It’s a library for you to enjoy. And maybe, just maybe, it will help you build, operate, or invest in the next great Vertical Software company.
Thanks for checking it out. I hope you enjoy it.
With gratitude,