This week, I hosted 40 SaaS CEOs at our second annual Practical Founders Summit, which took place over two days in Phoenix.
It was awesome to meet in person with Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups members after meeting monthly on Zoom to work on their businesses.
In-person time with people you care about is still important.
It is just as important to build deeper relationships with trusted peers who are experiencing similar things at the same time.
This event wasn’t about delivering more content that you can get in books, blogs, podcasts, and other events. We can already get that.
It was about building relationships and creating more CONTEXT for our decisions.
What works for me, in my situation, in my industry, for what I’m trying to create? Everyone is different.
There was plenty of AI discussion.
- How exactly are you using AI tools to improve productivity and move faster?
- How are you using AI in your products and creating new products?
- Where is this going in the next 6-12 months that we can see?
We saw many ways founders are growing their businesses — and themselves.
We gained insights from folks who get to know you, your specific vision, your market, and your stage. That makes all the difference.
Everyone shared their visions, traded tactical tips, and made deep connections.
These founders are amazing entrepreneurs and leaders who are changing their industries.
They are all Practical Founders building valuable software companies without big outside funding.
The combined value of all the companies at the Summit is around $1 billion, estimated at very practical multiples of revenue.
Most have between $2M-$10M ARR with several well above that.
That’s right. These 37 founders are worth about ONE BILLION in founder equity value when you add up their revenue with a mid-range 6X revenue multiple.
That will grow as their companies grow, and they may sell their businesses for a big founder prize someday.
Many founders own 100% of their very large SaaS companies. They can do what works for them.
I’m honored to work with these founders in our monthly peer group meetings, 1-1 as a coach, and as host of our annual event.
Thanks to our AI speaker, Vincent Serpico, who shared his in-depth knowledge of AI technologies and tools to improve productivity and create amazing products.
Thanks to our growth speaker, Anthony Pierri of FletchPMM, for sharing his positioning framework and clearly showing how everyone in the room can improve their homepage and drive leverage with clear focus.
Thanks to Practical Founders sponsors Vincent Hsieh of Cypress Growth Capital, Matt Watson of Full Scale, and Praveen Ghanta of Fraction. These great entrepreneurs shared their front-line experience with fellow founders.
Thanks to Donna Hacker on my team for helping to create a four-star event for these special people!
Check out the Practical Founders Peer Groups, the weekly Practical Founders Podcast, and my weekly blog at practicalfounders.com.