SoloRiff

How to sell to CTOs at SaaS companies in Sweden

CTOs at SaaS companies in Sweden are primarily measured on system uptime and performance metrics. They respond to outreach when it demonstrates a clear understanding of their current tech stack and operational challenges, particularly around scaling and integration. Highlighting specific pain points, such as system outages or integration bottlenecks, can prompt a response.

Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 559 saas company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.

What actually hurts

  • system outages
  • integration bottlenecks
  • scalability issues
  • performance monitoring

The playbook

  1. 01

    Identify recent funding rounds

    Filter your list to include SaaS companies in Sweden that have secured funding within the last six months. These companies are likely to be scaling, which means their CTOs will be focused on improving system architecture and performance.

  2. 02

    Research tech stack changes

    Look for announcements or news articles indicating that a company has recently changed their technology stack or adopted new tools. CTOs are often open to discussions about optimization when they are in the process of upgrading or integrating new systems.

  3. 03

    Craft a message about integration challenges

    When reaching out, specifically mention common integration challenges faced by SaaS companies, such as API management or data migration. This shows you understand their current operational hurdles and can provide relevant insights.

  4. 04

    Follow up on performance issues

    If you receive a response but not a meeting, ask about their current performance metrics and any recent system outages. This can help you position your expertise in addressing their immediate concerns.

  5. 05

    Suggest a call after a product launch

    Timing your outreach around a recent product launch can be effective. CTOs are often focused on ensuring the success of new features and may be more receptive to discussing how to enhance their infrastructure to support this.

Can saas companies even receive your mail?

We measured the DNS of 559 saas companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.

1–10 employees
16.7%
11–50
42.1%
51–200
57.1%
201–1,000
72.2%
1,000+
80.9%

Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.

The gap is the finding: 16.7% of 1–10-person companies against 80.9% of the largest — 64 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.

Where does your domain sit?

Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.

How this was measured

Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.

DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.

Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.

Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.

Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.

The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

Subject lines that fit

  • Scaling your SaaS infrastructure
  • Addressing integration challenges
  • Improving system performance

Questions

Why do CTOs at SaaS companies ignore emails about new tools?
CTOs often receive numerous emails daily and may ignore those that don't immediately address their specific pain points or current projects. If the email doesn't resonate with their immediate needs, such as improving uptime or integrating new features, it is likely to be overlooked.
What common challenges do CTOs face in SaaS?
CTOs in SaaS frequently deal with challenges related to system scalability, integration of multiple services, and ensuring high availability. They are also focused on optimizing performance and managing technical debt, which can complicate decision-making processes.
How can I get a CTO's attention in a crowded inbox?
To capture a CTO's attention, tailor your subject line to reflect a specific challenge they might be facing, such as 'Reducing downtime during peak loads.' Providing immediate value in the opening lines about their tech stack can also help your email stand out.
What are common objections to meeting requests from CTOs?
CTOs might object to meeting requests by stating they are too busy or not interested in new tools at the moment. They may also express skepticism about the relevance of your solution to their specific technical challenges, particularly if they are currently satisfied with their existing setup.

Or have it run itself

SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.

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