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SaaStr Annual has established itself as the must-attend event for all executives, founders, and VC’s looking to connect with the biggest SaaS community in the world. This year was no different, featuring more speakers, sponsor activations, and networking experiences than ever before. SaaStr stands out for its ability to create thought leadership through engaging content and unique networking opportunities. cred’s event management team began working with SaaStr in 2018, and conducts all elements of content management and curates the SaaStr experience for all speakers and VIPs. 

event goals.

The goal of SaaStr Annual is to bring together 12,500+ SaaS executives, founders, and VCs to cultivate community in SaaS and provide an opportunity to learn from leaders in the industry through 250+ speakers, 2,000+ networking meetings, workshops, and 1:1s, and 1,000+ VCs.

how we work with SaaStr.

  • Speaker Management and Recruitment: cred collaborates with SaaStr to recruit the most established and notable speakers in the SaaS ecosystem. The team helps assist in content ideation, stage logistics, and speaker coordination. We ensure that all speakers are well-established thought leaders from a diverse range of demographics and backgrounds and enforce SaaStr’s industry-leading content guidelines and inclusion standards. We provide detailed communication services for every speaker through calendar invites, newsletters, speaker briefs, emails, and webinars. 

  • Agenda Creation and Management: We build an event agenda alongside the internal SaaStr team spanning 5 stages and 5+ networking activations. We strive to provide a diverse offering of content options from deep dives presentations,  to panels, AMA’s, Braindates, and more.  We also focus on featuring a range of session topics geared toward Marketing, Sales, Product, and Founder personas so that every attendee has  options for content most relevant to their day-to-day. 

  • Content Management: SaaStr is known for having carefully crafted sessions, vetted for applicable takeaways that help attendees learn and grow.  We work closely with each speaker and their team to ensure that all content  follows conference guidelines, meets necessary deadlines, and is meaningful and actionable. This year, our team also ran the SaaStr Annual Twitter account. We created a content calendar to raise awareness around the event and also tweeted live on-site to promote the speakers and sponsors. 

  • AV and Run-of-Show Coordination: We work very closely with the AV team to ensure all speakers and stages are set up for success. Prior to the conference, we collaborate with the AV team for onstage specs, live stream plans, lighting, and tech necessities for slide decks, videos, introductions, and music. On-site, we oversee tech checks of each of these elements to make sure that everything works properly and is ready for show time. 

  • Sponsor Speaker Management: One of the main responsibilities of our team is making sure that all session content meets SaaStr’s guidelines. We help ideate with event sponsors to ensure that sponsored content meets all the necessary standards and that speakers have a seamless experience.

  • Braindate Management: SaaStr uses Braindate, a networking platform that allows individuals to meet in small groups or 1:1 with like-minded SaaS leaders, at Annual. These sessions are designed to spark meaningful conversation and facilitate connections. The cred team assists with Braindate speaker recruitment and also moderates all submitted topics on the platform, to ensure all content guidelines are upheld. 

  • Onsite Management: We loved being on-site for another Annual in San Mateo! Our team acts concierges for all speakers and manages their full onsite experience from welcoming them in the  speaker green room to providing curated swag, meals, networking space, and a glam station for quick touch-ups before they hit the stage. We escorted speakers to their stage and acted as stage managers to oversee all the onstage action and production. 

the results.

  • Location: San Mateo, California 

  • Venue: San Mateo Events Center

  • Event dates: September 10-12th 2024

  • Number of Attendees: 12,500 + at Annual

  • Number of Speakers: 160

  • Speaker Diversity: 57% of speakers were from under-represented groups, 45% of speakers were women

  • Number of Sponsors: 70

  • Number of Stages: 5 

  • Activities: Big Party with Tita Lau, VIP Getaway to Napa, CXO and CMO Summits, and CRO-CEO Poker NightSpecial Swag: sweatshirts, windbreakers, t-shirts, mugs, water bottles, watches, socks, stickers, fanny packs, sunglasses 

  • Speaker Survey Results Highlights: 

    • On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend speaking at SaaStr Annual to a friend or colleague? 

      • 85% of respondents said 9 or above 

    • How would you rate the ​communication and organization leading up to the event 1-5? 

      • 100% of respondents ranked it 4 or above

    • How would you rate your session experience 1-5? [My session experience was...]

      • 100% of respondents ranked it 4 or above 

    • Would you be interested in speaking at a future SaaStr event (other digital events, Workshop Wednesday, Europa, Annual, etc.)?

      • 100% of respondents said yes 

 speakers.

just a few of the outstanding speakers we worked with:

Andrew Bialecki, Co-founder and CEO @ Klaviyo

Jen Taylor, President @ Plaid

René Lacerte, CEO and Founder @ BILL

Matt Plank, CRO @ Rippling

Jason Boehmig, Co-founder and CEO @ Ironclad, Inc.

Amit Jhawar, CEO @ Attentive

Anneka Gupta, CPO @ Rubrik

Denise Persson, CMO @ Snowflake

Gail Moody-Byrd, VP, Marketing @ LinkedIn

Erica Anderson, CRO @ Notion

Nick Mehta, CEO @ Gainsight

Dan O'Connell, CEO @ Front

Jeanne DeWitt Grosser, CBO @ Stripe

Lindsey Scrase, COO @ Checkr

attendee feedback.

““We attended SaaStr Annual for the first time. Rubbing shoulders with fellow founders was awesome & the sessions were applicable not only for SaaS companies but for businesses in general.” - Attendee

“Just wrapped my first at SaaStr Annual. Certainly, one of the best organized events I have attended. ~3 days of talks and a party! What stood out for me: High quality talks with a serious amount of prep from the speakers.” - Attendee


“In a remote and digital-first work world, 3 days at SaaStr Annual confirmed the following: the IN-PERSON experience IS SO MUCH BETTER! What a treat to connect IRL with customers, partners, competitors, and new faces from around the world. Thank you@saastr for an awesome week!” - Attendee

what’s next.

We are excited to continue our work with SaaStr and have already started planning for Annual 2025. cred is proud to work with such incredible clients year-over-year to deliver stronger results for each event. If you would like help with speaker and content management, VIP event coordination, or onsite management, please reach out.