Has SaaS Lost Go To Market Fit? And What to Do About It

This research paper examines systemic GTM degradation across public and private SaaS companies since late 2021, using growth rate, cost of acquiring net new ARR, and NRR as leading indicators. The authors argue that SaaS has lost GTM Fit—the alignment between product, customer, and scalable acquisition, retention, and expansion motions—after years of premature scaling under Growth-At-All-Costs. Drawing on industry benchmarks, case studies, and unit-economics analysis, the paper explains why these challenges are structural rather than cyclical and presents a three-step playbook for restoring GTM Fit through cost discipline, unit-economics clarity, and iterative process improvement before applying AI.

Best For

• CEOs & Founders navigating stalled growth and rising GTM costs

• CROs & Revenue Leaders accountable for declining efficiency and NRR

• CFOs & Finance leaders focused on unit economics, FCF, and runway

• RevOps & Strategy teams redesigning GTM motions and diagnostics

• Boards & Investors assessing whether GTM challenges are structural

Key Takeaways

• SaaS growth rates have halved while acquisition costs increased from 150% to 264% of net new ARR

• Net Revenue Retention declined from 123% to 113%, even among top SaaS performers

• The industry prematurely scaled GTM motions before achieving true GTM Fit

• These trends indicate a structural loss of GTM Fit, not a temporary market cycle

• Cost-cutting, when done deliberately, is a growth enabler, not a retreat

• GTM motions must be evaluated independently using unit economics (CAC Payback)

• Many Enterprise GTM motions destroy value despite large deal sizes

• Sustainable recovery requires process optimization first, AI second