Does having paid customers prior to a seed round hurt valuations?


1

We run a SaaS product which, until recently, was completely free to use. We're just starting to roll out a premium paid version and there are very few paid accounts.

Would having this paid account right now hurt us in raising a seed round from angels and early-stage VCs? Since they'll likely get distracted by our "revenue" figures from those new paid accounts.

Saas Seed Funding Angel Investors

asked Mar 24 '14 at 22:43
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Leslie Parker
80 points

2 Answers


2

They're only going to get distracted, if you paint the numbers/proposition in such a way that they can get distracted.

Having paying customers is never a downside - but be sure to make potential investors understand that you have only just switched to a monetisation model, and that there will be many experiments before you understand the right model and pricing.

answered Mar 25 '14 at 08:04
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Nick Stevens
4,436 points

2
answered Mar 25 '14 at 12:59
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Bruce Schwartz
767 points

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Saas Seed Funding Angel Investors