The Vertical SaaS Bible
A collection of vertical SaaS case studies, industry breakdowns, scorecards, analysis, and operating learnings. Jam packed with content, it's my hope that it will help one of you build, operate, or invest in the next great vertical SaaS business!
Purchase Digital Edition for $200What's Included?
1,000+ Industries ranked by revenue, number of companies, and overall fragmentation
~50 vSaaS Operating Playbooks & Lessons distilled down into bitesize learnings on the ins and outs of founding and operating a vSaaS company
~50 vSaaS Company Case Studies that walkthrough different flavors of successful vertical SaaS businesses
5+ Industry Scorecards with rankings on GTM, size, bootstrap vs. VC-backed and more with new ones getting added every month
500+ SaaS Investors database of active VC's looking for pre-seed, seed, series A, B, C, and growth equity deals
& much more...
A Preview Of What's Inside...
Theres A Better Way To Start A vSaaS Company…
The 4 Types Of Vertical SaaS Companies
The Classic vSaaS Playbook
The Digital Franchise vSaaS Playbook
The Hybrid vSaaS + M&A Playbook
The Full Stack Playbook
NEW: Vertical AI Co-Pilots
NEW: Venture Buy Outs
In The Research Phase of vSaaS Company Formation? Use This Checklist
Step By Step Guide To Building A Vertical SaaS Business
Picking The Right Market
How To Size Your Market Opportunity
Unbundling Massive Horizontal Companies
Free Start-Up Idea: AI Agent App Stores
Slicing Pie: An Incredible Value Driver For Brand New Companies
Ideal Founding Team Characteristics
What Does A Founder Actually Do?
Create Your Value Prop: A Fill-In-The-Blanks Guide
Building Wedge Products
11 Wedge Product Ideas
Usage/Performance Based > SaaS Based For Your Initial Product
How To Raise Your First Round Of Capital
1000+ Industries Ranked By Size, Companies, & Fragmentation
Futher cuts of 1000+ industry data
My Exact Exercise For Industry Selection
Industry Scorecard #1: Residential Treatment Centers
Industry Scorecard #2: HVAC
Industry Scorecard #3: Car Dealerships
Industry Scorecard #4: Law Firms
Industry Scorecard #5: Machine Shops
Vertical SaaS = Small TAM. Exposing the Vertical SaaS Myth
Vertical SaaS + Embedded Payments Playbook
The Bundle / Platform Law Of Software
How To Build A Big Business In One Industry
Key Focus Areas At Each Revenue Stage Of Your vSaaS Business
What Will Kill Your Startup & What Won't
Industry Engineer
5 Common Characteristics of Successful Venture-Scale vSaaS Companies
9 SaaS Metrics To Orient Your Business Around
Vertical SaaS Benchmarks & Playbook Overview
Have A Plan B / Escape Pod
Land & Expand Strategy
How To Identify Outlier Talent
GTM Motion Greatly Impacts The Size of Business You Can Build
Essential Interview Questions
B2B Product Development Philosophies
Build A Triple Threat vSaaS
Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Build Products
All B2B Products Eventually Converge
Vertical Specific App Stores
Embedded FinTech Is Moving Software into a Vertical Era
The Verticalization of Payroll
The AI Opportunity in vSaaS
Embedded Insurance
Embedded Lending
Managing Risk With Embedded Payments
Psychology Backed Pricing Strategies
Moving From Founder Led Sales To Employee Led Sales
Self Interest Selling
The Power Of Roadshows & How You Can Add Milllons In ARR With Them
A Simple Software Sales Framework
5 Actionable Sales Hacks To Win More Customers Immediately
How To Win $100K+ Deals With Account Based Marketing (ABM)
Time To Value: The Key "Input" of Customer Retention
Structuring Incentive Plans For Success
How To Compete W/ Big & Legacy Industry ERP's
Understanding VC Economics
How To Raise Money Through Cold Emails
Round By Round VC Benchmarks for SaaS Companies
Market Dynamics VC's Want To See
How To Structure Your Investor Updates
How To Structure/Run Your Board Meetings
How To Sell Your vSaaS Business
BONUS LIST: 500+ SaaS Investors & VC Funds
BONUS LIST: 70+ Vertical SaaS Growth Equity Investors
VC's Interested In Venture Buyouts
Constellation Software: vSaaS Holding Company
The King of M&A + vSaaS: Brad Jacobs
How Brad Jacobs Thinks About Industry Selection
Other Resources on Brad Jacobs
Tribute Technology: vSaaS for Funeral Homes
Teamshares: M&A + SMB SaaS
Squire: vSaaS for Barber Shops
Service Titan: vSaaS for Field Services
nCino: vSaaS for Banks
Dutchie: vSaaS for Dispensaries
Veeva: vSaaS for Life Sciences
Metropolis: vSaaS + M&A for Parking Lots
Slice: vSaaS for Pizza Shops
EvenUp: Vertical AI for Personal Injury Law
OpenGov: vSaaS for Local Governments
Procore: vSaaS for Construction
Wrapbook: vSaaS for Media Companies
Toast: vSaaS for Restaurants
Palantir: vSaaS for Defense
Weave: vSaaS for Dental Practices
Clever: IaaS for Schools
Roofer.com: vSaaS + M&A for Roofing Companies
Cloudbeds: vSaaS for Hotels
DISCO: vSaaS for Law Firms
Blackboard: vSaaS for Colleges
Check: Embedded Payroll for vSaaS Companies
Lula: Embedded Insurance for vSaaS Companies
FareHarbor: vSaaS for Tourism Companies
MindBody: vSaaS for Wellness
Shopify: vSaaS for eCommerce
EquipmentShare: vSaaS for Construction Rental
Appfolio: vSaaS for Property Managers
Epicor: vSaaS for Manufacturing
Tithely: vSaaS for Churches
Odeko: vSaaS for Coffee Shops
Storable: vSaaS for Storage Units
Cents: vSaaS for Laundromats
Classy: vSaaS for Non Profits
Guidewire: vSaaS for P&C Insurance
LeagueApps: vSaaS for Youth Sports
Monograph: vSaaS for Architecture Firms
AtoB: Financial vSaaS for Trucking
Shopmonkey: vSaaS for Automotive Shops
Swiftly: vSaaS for Public Transporation
Hebbia AI: GenAI for Research Heavy Industries
Eren Bali: Founder of Udemy & Carbon Health
What Others Are Saying —
“The Vertical SaaS Bible has been instrumental in helping us shape our go-to-market strategy. The industry analysis and case studies provided invaluable insights that we've directly applied to our business.”
Brian Litvack
Founder & CEO @ LeagueApps
“Luke is an expert in all things Vertical SaaS. His case studies and breakdowns of the top Vertical SaaS companies have been instrumental in shaping how I think about building Roofer.com. His insights are a must-read for anyone building or investing in Vertical SaaS.”
Nathan Matthews
Founder & CEO @ Roofer.com
“Vertical-specific software companies will create billions of dollars of opportunities across every industry. Luke is a must follow - he shares the most helpful Vertical SaaS content, insights and deep dives.”
Alex Shipillo
VP Growth Marketing @ Clio
“Luke is one of the sharpest minds in Vertical SaaS. I often return to his newsletter for insights, playbooks, dynamics, and stories across hundreds of verticals. His grasp of new TAM expansion strategies and GTM tactics is exceptional. I'd encourage others looking to invest or build in software to check it out.”
Evan Lyseng
Senior Analyst @ AltaML
Thanks For Being Here.
A Bit More About Me...
I'm Luke.
I'm a Vertical Software Founder, Operator, and Investor.
I currently serve as the CEO of CourseKey, one of the largest vertical software businesses for Trade Schools in the U.S. We are an operating system for the space that 300+ enterprises like Paul Mitchell and Lincoln Tech (NASDAQ: LINC), use to run their business. I'm also a vertical SaaS Advisor at Atomic.vc - the pioneer of the venture studio model and creators of HIMS & HERS (NASDAQ: HIMS) as well as OpenStore, among many others. I support talented folks at Atomic in creating and scaling new vSaaS companies. I'm an early-stage investor in 15+ software companies including Joy (vSaaS for weddings), Gemist (vSaaS for jewelry stores), Supermove (vSaaS for moving companies) and Betr, to name a few. I'm also an aging Thiel Fellow, class of 2016 :-)!
But enough of the credibility stuff! Most importantly, I've built my vertical SaaS business brick by brick over the last decade and have the scars to prove it.
From our founding in my college dorm room, to a high-flying Series B stage vc-backed company with nearly 100 employees, to enduring the SaaS Crash of 2021 and cutting 50% of headcount, and now focusing on profitable / efficent growth to own the Trade School Software vertical.
I've seen a lot on this journey. I've had <1 week of cash. I've done big layoffs, I've made multiple phone calls to make payroll, I've walked into meetings where the outcome was life or death. Quite frankly, I've made every mistake in the book over the last decade.
But through the help of so many others, the team and I persevered to build something special.
The Vertical SaaS Bible is my collection of vertical SaaS case studies, industry breakdowns, scorecards, analysis, and operating learnings. It's jam packed with the stuff they don't teach you in school. The things that I've learned the hard way so (hopefully) you don't have to.
It's a library for you to enjoy. And maybe, just maybe, it will help you build, operate, or invest in the next great Vertical Software company.
Thanks for checking it out. I hope you enjoy it.
With gratitude,
Luke Sophinos
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