#109: Helping SaaS Startups Grow with Practical Funding and Operational Services – Kyle York

Kyle York was the Chief Revenue Officer of Dyn, a bootstrapped cloud infrastructure that he helped grow and sell to Oracle for over $600 million. He then led product strategy and acquisitions in Oracle’s cloud infrastructure group before going out on his own to invest in SaaS startups and help them grow.  York IE is both an advisory firm with tech-enabled services to help early-stage B2B SaaS companies grow  and an investment firm that has invested in over 60 practical SaaS companies.   In this expert session, Kyle discusses why his efficient funding approach appeals to practical SaaS founders and why it is different than traditional VC funding. We discuss the current environment for funding, growth, and exits for practical founders. We also dive into what’s working and not working in 2024 to drive growth in capital-efficient SaaS businesses.  Quote from Kyle York, Founder of York IE “It’s gonna sound so simple, but founders need to set the long-term vision of what they want to be and what they want to build. Then make sure that every decision you make backward to today is working towards fulfilling that vision. “What I see too often is companies pigeonholing themselves down a certain trajectory or path that isn’t even aligned exactly with what they wanted. This can create problems when you’re raising money from outside investors if what investors want is not the same as your vision and timeline Links Kyle York on LinkedIn York IE on LinkedIn York IE website Sponsor This week’s podcast is sponsored by my friends at Cypress Growth Capital. For 15 years, Cypress has provided non-dilutive growth funding to bootstrapped SaaS founders, including many successful founders I’ve interviewed here on this podcast. Connect with Cliff Sentell at cypressgrowthcapital.com/practical to find out how they can help with your practical growth plans.  The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com.