Grow Smarter Together at the Lighter Summit | Annual Founders Retreat
Join like-minded founders, CEOs, and leaders from SaaS and technology startups across the U.S. and Australia for Lighter Capital’s two-day Summit.| Lighter Capital
Join like-minded founders, CEOs, and leaders from SaaS and technology startups across the U.S. and Australia for Lighter Capital’s two-day Summit.| Lighter Capital
Join like-minded founders, CEOs, and leaders from SaaS and technology startups across Australia for Lighter Capital's annual full-day retreat. An event to connect, collaborate, and expand your knowledge as leaders together. Thanks to our sponsor, Macquarie Group.| Lighter Capital
Join like-minded founders, CEOs, and leaders from SaaS and technology startups across the U.S. for Lighter Capital's annual two-day retreat. An event to connect, collaborate, and expand your knowledge as leaders together. Thanks to sponsors: SPZ Legal, Allied Advisers, and Mod4Finance.| Lighter Capital
Explore 2025 SaaS benchmarks and see how they compare to 2024. We analyze private B2B SaaS startup revenue growth rates, salary costs, churn, and more. We also break down the data by ARR and vertical.| Lighter Capital
Convertible notes are a popular funding tool because they’re fast, flexible, and keep your startup moving when traction is building but valuation debates feel premature. Here’s a founder-friendly guide to the most common questions about convertible notes.| Lighter Capital
We field a lot of questions from SaaS founders about raising convertible and priced equity rounds in their early stages. We’re here to help you answer the most frequently asked question.| Lighter Capital
When your startup is fresh out of the garage with little more than a pitch deck and a dream, valuing your company can feel like signing up to run a marathon without any preparation. That’s why convertible debt remains popular among early-stage startups and investors| Lighter Capital
The SaaS market in 2025 is a different beast than it was even three years ago, and it’s raised the bar significantly for SaaS entrepreneurs. Capital is more expensive, investors are more selective, fundraising rounds are smaller, AI can’t be an afterthought, and proof of capital efficiency is required.| Lighter Capital
SaaS isn't dead; it's evolving, supercharged by AI. To thrive, businesses must embrace four key principles.| Lighter Capital
For SaaS founders, especially those balancing growth and capital efficiency, VC 3.0 presents both challenges and abundant opportunities. Find out what VC 3.0 is, how fundraising has changed, and what founders need to know to adapt and succeed.| Lighter Capital
Like financial nitroglycerin—powerful, fast, and volatile—short-term financing solutions may get your startup through a cash crunch, but they can easily trap you in a cycle of expensive debt. A recent SBA rule change (effective June 2025) closes off a major escape route startups once had for MCA loans and factoring debt. What can founders do now to offload expensive debt and keep growing?| Lighter Capital
"Growth at all costs" is no longer the mantra in tech. Today, the real winners achieve sustainable growth. If you're running a SaaS or subscription-based business, you live and die by retaining and expanding customer accounts. Without a good measure of how your core business is expanding and contracting, your startup could find itself in serious financial trouble you didn't expect.| Lighter Capital
2024 marked a record-breaking year for U.S. venture debt deals, which reached $53.3 billion in investments. According to PitchBook’s NVCA Venture Monitor, the dramatic increase in venture debt funding—up 94% from 2023—was driven by evolving venture capital (VC) dynamics.| Lighter Capital
Short-term financing—a loan that's paid back in 12 months or less—often attracts startup founders looking for lower capital costs and quick access to cash, but those benefits can fade quickly if the loan terms don’t line up with what the business needs. How do you know if short-term debt can help your SaaS business grow without adding unnecessary risk and costs? Start here.| Lighter Capital
Startup capital doesn't have to cost you equity. Get up to $4 million in upfront capital for your startup to accelerate growth, on your terms.| Lighter Capital
How can non-dilutive funding help your startup? Just look at our clients' many successes - see how they benefited and learn more about their experiences working with Lighter Capital.| Lighter Capital
What is ACV and what's a typical ACV for a SaaS business? We explain annual contract value, how to calculate it, and more.| Lighter Capital
Our free interactive benchmark report makes it easy to explore how B2B SaaS startups are performing based on a variety of financial metrics.| Lighter Capital
Two of entrepreneurs’ favorite topics are growing and scaling a business. The words are thrown around a lot, and the enthusiasm with which they’re used often exceeds the accuracy. Many people use the words growth and scaling in business interchangeably, but there's a crucial difference. We explain.| Lighter Capital
Websites are tricky things to get right, especially SaaS websites in which the primary goal is to convert visitors into customers. And the worst thing is: there’s no such thing as “perfect” when it comes to your SaaS website. Your business will grow and change. Your market and customers will evolve. As a result, your website needs to be able to adapt to reflect all of these things.Keeping up to date with what’s working in the world of optimization, together with looking at your own an...| Lighter Capital
Is reducing your CAC the best way to increase your startup's profitability and likelihood of success? Not necessarily.| Lighter Capital
The LTV to CAC Ratio shows how efficiently you're spending money to acquire and retain customers. Learn to calculate this key SaaS metric.| Lighter Capital
With non-dilutive startup funding from Lighter Capital, Numeracle accelerated growth and drove more value. Read their story.| Lighter Capital
When your company is poised for exponential growth, you may have a shot at convincing venture capitalists to take a gamble on you, your team, and your product.But should you go down a VC-backed path if offered the opportunity? What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking venture capital? Some entrepreneurs take the VC plunge and others are nervous about sharks in the water — loss of control and significant startup equity dilution are two elements that scare away many entrepreneurs.Th...| Lighter Capital
Calculate your tech company's valuation today and find out what your startup could be worth after scaling it using equity-free growth capital.| Lighter Capital
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Venture capital isn’t the only way to grow a startup. Our Startup Funding Playbook is a practical guide to raising capital the right way, at the right time for you.| Lighter Capital
When you’re setting up a new business, it’s one thing to have a good elevator pitch or a convincing story to tell at a “speed-dating for business funders” event. Yet when people want to get serious about investing in your idea, they need something more concrete. Your business plan is what you prepare to explain what your business hopes to achieve and how you plan to accomplish your goals. Business plans don’t need to be long; back in the day, it was recommended to have a 20 to 40-pa...| Lighter Capital
When it's time to get serious and raise seed money for your startup, start here. Learn what it is and how to prepare for a seed round.| Lighter Capital
For SaaS startups, the question is should be targeting enterprises or not? Learn the risks, rewards, and what's necessary for success.| Lighter Capital
Who are angel investors? How do you find them? We explain how angel investments work and offer tips to help pre-revenue startups get funded.| Lighter Capital
You’re a tech entrepreneur at an emerging startup. To date, you’ve bootstrapped your company, but now you’re at the stage where you’re preparing to take on outside capital. You’ve just had your first meeting with a VC and it went well enough that the potential investor asks you for background documents, including financial projections, product information and an investor deck. Before you hand over the information, your co-founder demands that the VC sign an NDA. What should you do?H...| Lighter Capital
With non-dilutive startup funding from Lighter Capital, SteelBrick accelerated growth and drove more value. Read their story.| Lighter Capital
Bootstrapping a startup and building a sustainable business not only requires disciplined cash flow management but also careful management of expenses—you have to be laser-focused on where every dollar goes. Financial flexibility is a luxury that bootstrappers often don’t have. A little extra cash can go a long way. Is debt right for you?| Lighter Capital
Our team just got back from Dreamforce 15 in San Francisco. At the conference, our CEO BJ Lackland participated in a session with Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross. Jason is the Partner of Storm Ventures, and founder of SaaStr. Aaron Ross is the author and Co-Founder of Predictable Revenue. Their discussion focused around funding and scaling SaaS businesses, and how to successfully transition from a service company to a product company.In the past five years or so, the funding landscape has shifted dr| Lighter Capital
Startup founders are some of the hardest-working people on the planet. But even hyper-caffeinated bootstrappers trying to eke out every bit of growth from every dollar earned need a break. So why aren't more founders taking much-needed time off?| Lighter Capital
Tech entrepreneurs get more than funding from Lighter Capital – learn about the exclusive startup community benefits you get just for being our client.| Lighter Capital
With non-dilutive startup funding from Lighter Capital, Flip accelerated growth and drove more value. Read their story.| Lighter Capital
Total Addressable Market (TAM) is an excellent metric to look at when trying to gauge your startup’s growth potential. Here's how to use it.| Lighter Capital
Explore the latest AI startup funding and investment trends, and learn alternative capital raising strategies for early-stage startups.| Lighter Capital
We walk you through everything you need to know to grow your SaaS business from idea to $50 million in annual revenue. Between building your product, your internal processes and your startup team, there are a lot of moving parts to manage to keep the business moving in the right direction. Here's what to do to complete the journey in 3 stages.| Lighter Capital
Why is Lighter Capital the leading choice for non-dilutive funding among today's fastest growing tech startups? We help you grow smarter. See how.| Lighter Capital
There are good reasons to increase your SaaS startup's valuation! Learn different ways to drive a higher valuation for your business.| Lighter Capital
Our founder-friendly startup funding won't dilute your equity or your focus on growing your early-stage tech business. Get up to $4M of upfront capital to scale.| Lighter Capital
When you’re just beginning to build your startup, funding options are limited. Traditional banks won’t talk to you. VCs want to see traction; and angels want to see a great MVP. Debt financing isn't an option yet, because you don’t have revenue. And on the off chance that you can pique the interest of investors at this early stage, you’ll give up a large chunk of equity for their money. So what are your options?| Lighter Capital
3rd annual Australian Lighter Summit, a full-day gathering for CEOs, founders, startup leaders to connect, learn and collaborate.| Lighter Capital
We hosted our 4th annual Lighter Summit in Boulder, CO. We brought together CEOs, founders, startup leaders to connect, learn, & collaborate| Lighter Capital
Lighter Capital’s Equity Dilution Calculator shows you the cost of selling your startup's equity to raise capital vs. non-dilutive funding alternatives.| Lighter Capital
How are gross profit margin and net profit margin different? Learn how to calculate each of them and why healthy margins are important.| Lighter Capital
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Explore the most salient factors for demonstrating revenue potential to investors. You’ll learn how to calculate each metric and gain insight into why these indicators are crucial.| Lighter Capital
Once you’ve got a solid SaaS product to bring to market, it’s time for the next big step–choosing your optimal SaaS pricing model.| Lighter Capital
Do more with less. Follow these simple steps to create great content that actually helps grow your SaaS startup and achieve your goals.| Lighter Capital
Everything you need to know about customer research and the methods for conducting it at a SaaS startup.| Lighter Capital
The most important thing you can do for your SaaS company when you’re starting out is to lay down solid foundations for success. This means not only having a thorough understanding of SaaS sales cycles, models, and metrics, but also knowing how to apply that knowledge in a manner that fosters a state of growth for your startup. It can be time-consuming and confusing – but having a detailed roadmap to follow can save a ton of headaches further down the track.You’ll never have as much tim...| Lighter Capital
Customer lifetime value (CLV) can tell you a lot about your SaaS business. Learn how to calculate and analyze this important metric.| Lighter Capital
Your initial SaaS pricing strategy can lead to a bright future or a failed startup. But like a product, pricing should get better with time.| Lighter Capital
Customer churn is a key metric for assessing the health of a SaaS business. Theses strategies can help you reduce and minimize churn.| Lighter Capital
Our founder-friendly startup financing won't dilute your equity or slow your growth. Get up to $4M of upfront capital to scale your SaaS startup.| Lighter Capital
What's a good gross margin for SaaS startups? Compare yours to SaaS industry benchmarks and learn how to increase your profit margin.| Lighter Capital
What to impact your SaaS startup's profitability? Increase customer acquisition cost (CAC) efficiency. Here's how to do it.| Lighter Capital
Customers are the lifeblood of every SaaS business. Customer acquisition, monetization, customer lifetime value…these are the things that tech entrepreneurs wake up thinking about and obsess over until they go to sleep at night.Customer retention, on the other hand, tends to get lost in the startup shuffle. But this shouldn’t be the case. Retaining customers is equally, if not more, important than customer acquisition, especially when you don't have many to lose!Business revenue streams f...| Lighter Capital
Your burn rate, or how fast you spend your cash, requires a balanced approach to risk. Here's how to calculate your burn rate and manage it.| Lighter Capital
If you’re looking for an alternative to venture capital to grow your startup, our debt financing guide is a great place to start!| Lighter Capital
Lighter's more than money benefits include access to discounts on products and services, including AWS, Carta, legal, and financial services.| Lighter Capital
Our guide to revenue-based financing explores pros, cons, use cases, funding requirements & more. Find out if RBF is right for your startup.| Lighter Capital
Learn how to manage cash flow for your SaaS startup with our comprehensive guide that covers all the cash flow fundamentals.| Lighter Capital
Learn strategies for improving cash flow in your growing SaaS business and circumnavigate the challenges of startup funding.| Lighter Capital
Raising SaaS prices is the most effective way to increase revenue. When do you raise them and how do you do it? We've got answers.| Lighter Capital
We explain SaaS CAC and how you can optimize it to grow a healthy, sustainable startup that's ready to scale.| Lighter Capital
If you’re considering raising equity at some point, learn what defines each startup funding round and how they work.| Lighter Capital
Follow these principles for building aggressive, yet realistic financial projections for your startup when raising capital from investors.| Lighter Capital
Learn how to measure product-market fit and why it matters in this comprehensive guide. Discover the key SaaS metrics to show investors.| Lighter Capital
Learn all about diversification strategy, including why companies diversify, types of diversification, and real-world examples.| Lighter Capital
Explore non-dilutive funding for your startup, find out how to get it, and learn to evaluate its cost and value.| Lighter Capital
Learn to navigate startup equity dilution with our easy-to-follow guide. We show you how equity dilution works and how to assess its costs.| Lighter Capital
There comes a time in a startup's journey to success when entrepreneurs need to raise their first round of growth capital.When you first had that great idea, you may have raised money from friends and family or seed capital from angel investors to get your startup off the ground. What's next? Well, of course, it depends.Let’s make some assumptions on where you might be at this point, and then think about when and how you might want to raise a series A round to really grow your business.What...| Lighter Capital
Learn how to calculate your customer acquisition cost (CAC) ratio so you can measure the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts.| Lighter Capital
Don't let opportunities pass you by! Check out these SaaS-friendly funding solutions to extend your runway and help your startup grow.| Lighter Capital
We’ve seen how debt can help and hurt a young startup. Learn how to recognize and avoid bad debt that could sink your startup.| Lighter Capital
SaaS startup financials often report cost of goods sold wrong, or don't account for it at all! Here's how to get it right.| Lighter Capital
Though VC funding can be the right fit for some startups, it’s important to ask yourself whether it’s the right fit for your startup.| Lighter Capital
