Issue archive

Every Sunday. Six minutes. For operators of $1-30M ARR vertical SaaS companies.

H1 NRR data from public verticals (Toast, ServiceTitan, Procore). What it means for $1-10M ARR operators considering a price increase this summer.

Issue 2 · 2026-06-07

Draft

The CAC Payback Cliff at $5M ARR

Median new CAC ratio rose 14% to $2.00 (Benchmarkit 2025). Three operators who pulled payback under 12 months in 2025-2026 and what they did differently.

Issue 3 · 2026-06-14

Draft

Vertical SaaS Gross Margin Pressure: the AI compute hidden tax

Adding AI to a vertical SaaS product is compressing gross margin by 4-6 points. Three operators who priced it correctly.

Issue 4 · 2026-06-21

Draft

The Rule of 40 is lying to you in vertical SaaS

Public-SaaS median 28%; private 12%. Top-quartile vertical SaaS hits 50+ by being boring. Decomposing growth + margin separately.

Issue 5 · 2026-06-28

Draft

Implementation Revenue Is a Trap (and when it isn't)

If services + implementation is above 35%, you're not optically a SaaS company. Three vertical exceptions where it works.