How to sell to Founders at SaaS companies in Germany
Founders at SaaS companies in Germany are primarily measured on their monthly recurring revenue (MRR). They respond to outreach when it highlights solutions that can directly improve customer retention or streamline operational efficiency. Understanding their need for scalability and the challenges of managing a growing customer base will make your communication relevant and compelling.
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
- high customer churn
- inefficient onboarding processes
- limited operational scalability
The playbook
- 01
Identify churn rates in recent reports
Start by researching your target companies' recent performance reports or customer feedback surveys. Look specifically for mentions of churn rates or customer dissatisfaction. This indicates a potential pain point where your solution can help improve retention.
- 02
Analyze funding announcements for growth
Filter for SaaS companies in Germany that have recently secured funding. This often signals a desire for growth and scalability. Use platforms like Crunchbase to find this information, which can help tailor your outreach to their current priorities.
- 03
Craft messaging around operational efficiency
When reaching out, focus on how your solution can simplify their operations or reduce costs. Mention specific challenges they may face, such as managing customer onboarding or support, to resonate with their daily struggles.
- 04
Prepare for objections about budget constraints
Anticipate that budget will be a common objection, especially for startups. Be ready to discuss ROI and how your solution can lead to cost savings over time. Providing a clear financial benefit will address their concerns directly.
- 05
Follow up after key industry events
Monitor industry events or webinars that your target founders are likely to attend. Following up shortly after these events can increase your chances of engagement, as they may be more open to discussions about new solutions.
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.
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
- Improving your customer retention
- Streamlining your SaaS operations
- Scaling your growth effectively
Questions
- Why do founders at SaaS companies ignore cold outreach?
- Founders often receive numerous unsolicited messages and may prioritize their time on immediate operational issues. If your outreach doesn't clearly address a pressing need or pain point, it risks being overlooked in favor of more relevant communications.
- What are common challenges faced by SaaS founders?
- SaaS founders frequently struggle with customer retention, managing cash flow, and scaling their operations effectively. Balancing innovation with day-to-day management can also be a challenge, leading to a focus on immediate tasks over long-term strategies.
- How can I effectively engage with SaaS founders?
- Engaging with SaaS founders requires a clear understanding of their specific challenges and goals. Tailoring your communication to highlight solutions that address their pain points, such as improving customer onboarding or reducing churn, will make your message more appealing.
- What role does funding play in outreach to SaaS founders?
- Funding often indicates a company's growth phase and can be a critical factor in outreach. Founders may be more receptive to solutions that promise scalability or efficiency improvements, especially after securing investment aimed at expansion.
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.
Try it on your site