Taiwanese SaaS Startups Often Stall at the Next Tripling: US$1 Million, US$3 Million, US$9 Million

Originally published 2023-10-24Robin’s commentary (personal impression, not statistics)

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Collected in Robin Shen’s Field Notes · Content type and attribution are shown above

English translation of the Chinese post originally published 2023-10-24. Translated 2026-10-30 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文

Reading guide

Robin offers a personal impression: US$1 million is the starting point for a SaaS company, and tripling to US$3 million seems broadly achievable within a few years. Taiwanese SaaS startups stall at the next tripling, to US$9 million; exceeding NT$300 million in revenue is quite difficult. Non-SaaS businesses may reach more than NT$1 billion in revenue, but growing another two- or threefold also faces a hurdle. Do not stay confined to local or regional markets: software and the internet have no borders. (The reference chart mentioned in the post is not available.)

Key points

US$1 million is a SaaS company’s starting point; tripling to US$3 million seems broadly achievable.
Taiwanese SaaS companies often stall at US$9 million, roughly NT$300 million.
Do not remain confined to regional markets; software and the internet have no borders.

One clear path continues into the distance among several branching routes, suggesting choice and focus. — Entrepreneurship & strategyThematic illustration · AI generated

Full text — English translation

For reference~ US$1 million is the starting point for a SaaS company. Next comes tripling to US$3 million (which seems broadly achievable within a few years). My personal impression is that Taiwanese SaaS startups stall at the next tripling, to US$9 million. It is quite difficult for them to exceed NT$300 million in revenue. Other, non-SaaS businesses may reach more than NT$1 billion in revenue, but growing another two- or threefold seems to present a substantial hurdle too. Do not remain confined to local or regional markets: software and the internet have no borders.

These articles are personal notes, book excerpts, and collected reprints. Figures and events reflect the time of the original publication, are not current information, and do not constitute investment advice.

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