A breakdown of the SaaS growth stages, execution gaps, and leadership shifts that determine whether companies scale or stall

Guest: Mark Abbott, Founder & CEO at Ninety

Why do so many SaaS companies plateau after early success?

In this episode of SaaS Backwards, Mark Abbott, Founder and CEO of ninety.io, shares a framework built from decades of operating and investing experience to explain why growth slows — even when product-market fit is strong. Mark outlines the five stages every company must pass through and explains why founders often misjudge where to focus their time, hires, and resources as complexity increases.

The conversation digs into execution gaps, leadership evolution, and the role culture plays in sustaining performance as teams scale. Rather than treating operations as overhead, Mark reframes execution discipline as a strategic capability that separates enduring SaaS companies from those that stall.

This episode is a must-listen for SaaS founders, CEOs, and go-to-market leaders navigating scale, team complexity, and long-term execution.

Prefer to watch the episode? Check out this episode's video here. 

Other resources to check out:

Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publishes a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing.

The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer.

And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting