Christoph Janz

In this engaging discussion, Christoph Janz, Co-founder and General Partner at Point Nine, shares his journey in venture capital and the pivotal cold email that led to their investment in Contentful. He emphasizes the importance of crafting compelling outreach to VCs. Janz dives into market analysis, debating the significance of team versus market size in investment decisions. He also offers invaluable advice on innovative pricing strategies for SaaS founders and reflects on the shifting landscape of fundraising, guiding startups through the complexities of early-stage funding.

Erik is joined by his co-host for this episode, Brianne Kimmel (@briannekimmel), investor, advisor and Village Global network leader. They talk to Christoph Janz (@chrija), investor at Point Nine Capital, a Berlin-based early stage venture capital firm focused on SaaS and digital marketplaces. Christoph lays out their investing thesis at Point Nine and talks about why they are geography-agnostic when it comes to potential deals. He explains at which stage they like to invest and some of the difficulties in evaluating early-stage SaaS companies. The three delve into some of the more successful SaaS companies from the past few years and use them as case studies to talk about how to evaluate an early-stage product, team and sales strategy. He discusses why they invested in Zendesk and Typeform, and why he sees product and branding as very important at an early stage. They discuss some of the merits of SaaS companies that are working in specific verticals and in the enterprise, as well as why being a “SaaS company” is no longer as significant a distinction as it once was. They also talk about when a startup should be focusing on sales and whether it’s even possible to hire the VP of sales that a founder dreams of in a small SaaS company.Articles Mentioned In This EpisodeJason Lemkin: The 48 Types of VP, Sales: https://www.saastr.com/the-48-types-of-vp-sales-make-deadly-sure-you-hire-the-right-one/Christoph Janz: There’s More Than One Path To $100 Million: https://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2018/12/theres-more-than-one-path-to-100-million.htmlThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Christoph Janz, a Partner at Point Nine Capital and a SaaS investment expert, shares crucial insights for founders seeking Series A and B funding. He highlights five metrics that can make or break an investor's decision. Janz emphasizes the importance of clear, self-explanatory data to avoid lengthy discussions. This clarity not only boosts confidence among investors but also allows founders to engage with more potential backers simultaneously. It's all about showing growth, efficiency, and retention while having robust financial models in place.