Software Platform Consulting

MAY 6, 2019

There are many great articles about SaaS metrics on the web (e.g., see here , here and here.) There are also great resources for metrics specific to marketplaces (see here ). But much of my work is with a special kind of network, where one side of the platform is an enterprise buyer (or supplier) and on the other side is their supply base (or customers). Typically one side’s enterprises tend to be much larger than the other side’s. That’s why I call them enterprise-driven.

Metrics 53

Metrics Compensation Enterprise B2B 53

Software Platform Consulting

JUNE 25, 2019

Change Healthcare is going public (again). The IPO provides another opportunity to examine a massive B2B inter-enterprise network, Change Healthcare’s Intelligent Healthcare Network. I previously wrote about this network when it was called Emdeon ( see here ). It’s a story of how a small EDI player became an impressive company through acquisition and organic growth. Every network entrepreneur should know this great story.

Healthcare 50

Healthcare Government Scaling Consulting 50

Software Platform Consulting

MAY 28, 2019

Source: [link]. This is the third in my series on SaaS Metrics for Enterprise-Driven B2B Networks. I spend very little time on issues of compensation on this blog. But it turns out, this is a really important issue for Enterprise-Driven B2B Networks. As discussed in the prior post , many networks of this type, subsidize one side of the network, to make money from the other side.

Enterprise 50

Enterprise Compensation B2B Metrics 50

Software Platform Consulting

OCTOBER 9, 2019

As taxpayers, we should want to know how well our dollars are spent. At the Federal level, most of these dollars are spent on social security, healthcare, and defense (see below). Articles about spending in these areas are easy to find, but the price of F-35s or my dad’s medicare is too complex for this blog. Instead, let’s focus on the prices paid for common commercial catalog items that we can all relate to. Government Catalog Spend.

Government 46

Government Healthcare AI Education 46

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Business

Software Platform Consulting

MAY 8, 2019

Fleetcor (FLT) closed on its acquisition of privately-held nvoicepay on April 1, 2019. Fleetcor’s first quarterly earnings report since the acquisition provides insight into the economics of the B2B payments space. Nvoicepay. Nvoicepay is interesting, in part, because it is a pure-play payments provider. The company takes a payment file from a buyer. It then disburses the funds to the buyer’s suppliers in a manner nvoicepay has determined in negotiation with the supplier.

B2B 50

B2B Acquisition Banking Consulting 50

Software Platform Consulting

AUGUST 5, 2019

Gartner recently published its 2019 Magic Quadrant for Procure-to-Pay Suites. Once again , I have superimposed valuation information onto the Magic Quadrant. (I I still don’t understand why Gartner has not varied the size of the “dots” to add more information to the charts. For instance, each vendor’s dot could be sized in proportion to their NPS scores, revenue, or valuation. See Spend Matters’ Solution Maps.).

Machine Learning 40

Machine Learning AI Revenue Consulting 40

Software Platform Consulting

JULY 1, 2019

My last post was partly about healthcare payments in the form of Change Healthcare’s Intelligent Healthcare Network. I did not set out to write another post about healthcare payments, but reading Phreesia’s S-1 compels me to. Phreesia has three “businesses” in one: SaaS applications, payments, and life sciences advertising. Phreesia Threat #1: SaaS Applications. If you have been to a doctor you have some idea of what Phreesia’s SaaS applications do!

Advertising 40

Advertising Consulting Subscription SaaS 40

Software Platform Consulting

JUNE 3, 2019

Welcome to the last, and most important, in my series of posts on metrics unique to Enterprise-Driven B2B Networks. The last metric, buyers per supplier, is easy to calculate if your platform is architected as a network. (If If you did not architect your platform so suppliers have one account for all buyers, shame on you.). Suppliers Per Buyer. Every enterprise-driven B2B network proudly tells you they are great at enabling your enterprise’s suppliers.

Enterprise 40

Enterprise B2B Metrics Consulting 40

Software Platform Consulting

MAY 20, 2019

Fiverr, a marketplace for freelancers just joined the parade of software companies going public. The Fiverr filing sets up a comparison of Fiverr versus Upwork, the grand-daddy of freelancer marketplaces. Upwork went public last year.) (See See here and here ). Upwork Versus Fiverr: A Different Approach to Services. The most basic difference between Upwork versus Fiverr is fascinating. On the Upwork platform, buyers issue RFQs for projects and invite freelancers to bid on those projects.

SMB 40

SMB Business Model Consulting Pricing 40

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SaaS

Software Platform Consulting

MAY 14, 2019

Last week I wrote a post about Fleetcor’s acquisition of Nvoicepay. The acquisition represented an opportunity to learn more about the economics of B2B payments. The acquisition also prompted me to review Bottomline’s financial reports. Bottomline owns Paymode-X, the largest B2B payment network in the US. Paymode-X boasts payments of more than $200 billion annually and over 400,000 payees. Nvoicepay, by contrast, processed payments of approximately $20 billion annually.).

Technology 40

Technology B2B Acquisition Banking 40

Software Platform Consulting

JUNE 26, 2018

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of American Express (Amex) in an antitrust case 11 states had brought against Amex (see here ). If you are interested in two-sided markets, platforms, and pricing you will want to read the Supreme Court’s decision written by Justice Thomas and the dissent written by Justice Breyer (see here ). Full disclosure: There’s a fair bit of legalese, so I skimmed it. But, it sounds cool to say I read a Supreme Court opinion.)

Business Model 43

Business Model Consulting Branding Business 43

Software Platform Consulting

MAY 9, 2017

Established in 1995, Angie’s List was the pioneer in the home services marketplace. Home Advisor (IAC) announced last week it is acquiring Angie’s List (ANGI) for more than $500 million. This price represents a 44% premium over Angie’s List’s depleted closing stock price (see below)). I am sad to see Angie’s List go. Triumph of the One-Sided Pricing Plan. Angie’s business model was a prominent differentiator from its competition in the home services market.

Business Model 48

Business Model Advertising Consulting Business 48

Software Platform Consulting

MAY 16, 2017

I love the word “oligoply” It’s a fancy word for a market structure in which a few companies have the large majority of market share. The recent news reminds me just how many markets are becoming oligopolistic–especially those dominated by platform software. Before We Get to Software… Warren Buffett recently announced that he was buying airline stocks. This is a man whose greatest quotes include many disparaging remarks about the airline industry (see here ).

Wireless 40

Wireless Software Healthcare Airlines 40

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Consulting

Software Platform Consulting

SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

Early (and Fuzzy) Saas Metrics From B2B Networks. Until a B2B Network catches on, the metrics can be gloomy. (The The first few years of the Ariba Network were pretty dismal, for instance.) The result is that for the first few years of a B2B network’s life you tend to see silly press releases from these networks touting their growth in all manner of odd metrics: percentage growth versus growth in absolute numbers (always huge when you start from zero). new partnerships. awards.

Metrics 40

Metrics Consulting Enterprise Finance 40

Software Platform Consulting

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

Sunday’s Business Insider had a great article on, Cargomatic, a company promising (as do many others) to be the “Uber for Truckers” By that, Cargomatic means it will match shippers with goods to ship with truckers with excess capacity. On paper it is a great idea in a huge market: less than truckload (LTL) shipping.

B2B 40

B2B Consulting Marketing Technology 40

Software Platform Consulting

MARCH 23, 2016

Three separate events last week reminded me that every spend category has its “dirty little secrets” Suppliers can exploit these “dirty little secrets” to squeeze a little more from buyers than buyers bargained for. Not all of these secrets are nefarious, but all reflect the inherently deeper category knowledge suppliers have and the limited resources buyers have to “sweat the details” in every category.

Airlines 40

Airlines Transportation Travel Machine Learning 40

Software Platform Consulting

MARCH 7, 2016

For those of us who follow pricing strategy in two-sided markets, last week was a milestone. Angie’s List, which invented the home services marketplace (in 1995) announced it would drop its “paywall” The paywall charged buyers to search its directory and reviews before communicating with contractors. Angie’s List will now offer a freemium model for homeowners (buyers) and will continue to offer a freemium model to contractors/service providers.

Pricing 40

Pricing Business Model Advertising Consulting 40

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Innovation

Software Platform Consulting

AUGUST 6, 2015

The two questions I’m most often asked are: 1. How do you keep your hair looking so lush and luxurious? How much can a B2B Marketplace or Multi-Sided Platform charge for its services? Some folks call this the platform’s “take rate” ). The answer to the former question will need to remain a mystery, but the answer to the latter follows. B2B Marketplace Services.

B2B 40

B2B Consulting Communication Finance 40

Software Platform Consulting

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

The vast majority of tech press is about B2C software companies or software for IT department (e.g., databases, security, performance monitoring and other stuff) that does not excite me. But, there are a few good b2b blogs and newsletters those of you interested in enterprise cloud business applications should follow for inspiration. My nominations, in no particular order, are as follows: Price intelligently.

B2B 40

B2B B2C Software Consulting 40

The Daily Egg

APRIL 1, 2021

There are many businesses that implement CRM solutions with the belief that they will magically solve all of their problems. But adoption does not necessarily guarantee success. It’s not even just about investing in the right software; your CRM efforts could still fail for a number of reasons.

Strategy 285

Strategy Investment Software Business 285

SaaStr

APRIL 10, 2021

Your API. If you are a B2D company, it’s your product itself, your API. But for most B2B companies, your API, your partner programs, and the like are extensions. Not your core product, but an important layer for improving customer experience.

SaaS 224

SaaS Cloud B2B Enterprise 224

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Onboarding

SaaStr

MARCH 30, 2021

“I don’t want to meet [That VC]. I don’t need money now and it’s distracting.” ” — most founders, post Seed round. …… There’s a superpower some founders have.

Leadership 285

Leadership Sales Funnel Metrics Investment 285

SaaStr

APRIL 2, 2021

We’ve hit some of these points before, but what are the Top 10 things I’d tell myself to do better, if I could go back in time? My top list: Slow down big decisions — when you aren’t sure.

Leadership 260

Leadership Investment SaaS Marketing 260

SaaStr

APRIL 5, 2021

A few years back, a very wise VC asked me what I thought about a small but scrappy competitor in the space of my last company, Adobe Sign / EchoSign. I told him I didn’t know the company that well, but from what I’d seen, some things might seem appealing.

Pricing 221

Pricing Banking Innovation Cloud 221

SaaStr

MARCH 20, 2021

Strong salespeople fail all the time in new roles. Good reps, that could otherwise do well, and have in the past. And it feels like it’s happening more often these days, when in tech at least, frictional unemployment approaches 0%. Why do good reps fail at a new role?

Branding 263

Branding Pricing Development Management 263

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Revenue

SaaStr

MARCH 31, 2021

UiPath is one of the most amazing not-really-an-overnight success stories in Cloud, SaaS and software.

Cloud 237

Cloud Revenue Scaling Retention 237

SaaStr

MARCH 19, 2021

Recently, I met with a great SaaS founder doing about $1.5m in ARR. She was telling me about her VP of Marketing who, in the Bay Area, she was paying $95,000. I was a bit skeptical. Because that’s rather low for a true VP out here in the Bay Area (see typical VP Marketing comp packages here ).

SMB 262

SMB Leadership Engineering Retention 262

SaaStr

APRIL 9, 2021

Q: Can the majority of a SaaS company’s revenues come from existing customers? Yes, especially once you are at scale. In fact, as you get bigger, it gets pretty common with bigger deals and in the enterprise. Let’s take some examples: #1.

Scaling 193

Scaling Revenue Customer Success Enterprise 193

SaaStr

MARCH 27, 2021

There can be nothing more frustrating in the middle-early days than when sales closes some great deal for say $125,000 a year … but you “knew” they could have gotten $200,000 if they just held the line on discounting.

Pricing 243

Pricing Enterprise Sales Management 243

Advertiser: Data Robot

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Machine Learning

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2021

When you go to raise venture capital, if you are in the fortunate group of start-ups with access to venture capital, you’ll either have options (more than one VC wants to fund you), or you won’t.

Venture Capital 279

Venture Capital Branding Pricing Investment 279

SaaStr

MARCH 6, 2021

One privilege I get as part of mentoring and investing in a few dozen startups is a chance to work with first-time managers. The reality is, most start-ups are better off with a Stretch VP than a Never Did It But Has a Great LinkedIn VP. More on that here.

Management 275

Management Leadership Scaling Engineering 275

SaaStr

MARCH 25, 2021

The other day, a sales leader working asked me how I got to be “so good at sales.” ” I’m not. You might think so that after almost 3,000 answers on Quora, 300 blog posts, and 35,000 tweets. But I’m pretty bad at it.

Sales 243

Sales Leadership Pricing Revenue 243

SaaStr

MARCH 3, 2021

Zoom even at $100m ARR still felt like it was in a crowded market. So that’s not really an excuse pic.twitter.com/rUyeUzMKC6. — Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) December 22, 2020.

Marketing 277

Marketing Branding Leadership Innovation 277

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