SaaStr

MARCH 28, 2023

They act as trusted outsourced finance teams for 100s of startups, including some of my investments. November 23, 2008 I’m at a conference in Half Moon Bay I get a phone call from my banker at Citibank “Jason, pull all your money out. Kruze Consulting has some great data. The winner by a large margin appears to be JP Morgan Chase.

Startup 242

Startup Banking Finance Consulting 242

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

In the mid-2000s, many startups invested their excess cash reserves in instruments called Auction Rate Securities. In February 2008, the ARS market seized. VC investment fell 40%, nearly halving another source of oxygen. ARS produced a steady stream of interest payments, like savings accounts, with a higher return.

Venture Capital 180

Venture Capital Banking Startup Investment 180

SaaStr

JANUARY 17, 2023

I sold a sales tool in 2008-2009 when the global economy was in total meltdown, and I’ll tell you, we sure didn’t stop selling. So are a number of my top VC investments. We had a great conversation on how much harder it is now with Gong’s incredible CRO here: But is that an excuse to sort of quiet quit? I say No.

Sales Hiring 199

Sales Hiring Sales Startup Investment 199

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

The US venture capital ecosystem has grown 40x in dollars from $8b to $320b invested in 10 years. I remember joining in 2008, a green product manager out of Google who had just landed his dream job. After more than 14 years at Redpoint, I’m starting a new chapter. I’m filled with optimism for the future.

Venture Capital 177

Venture Capital Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Innovation 177

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 5, 2023

What You Will Learn: May’s perspective on the economy now compared to that of 2008/2009. Highlights: (6:12) May’s learnings from Lehman Brothers and the economic crisis of 2008/2009. (14:11) Writer’s decision to make PLG table stakes and how they leverage their motion to secure enterprise customers.

Sales Recruiting 93

Sales Recruiting Enterprise AI Banking 93

OPEXEngine

JULY 1, 2022

The companies that successfully navigated through various market disruptions, including the recession in 2008, continued growing by diagnosing whether their acquisition and retention investments were efficient. Typically, higher-priced subscription products are more sticky and require less investment in the renewal process.

Acquisition 59

Acquisition Scale Retention Investment 59

Tom Tunguz

MAY 10, 2022

AAA gaming titles arrive two to three years later because of their development lifecycles and studio risk aversion to invest tens of millions into a new platform. Each Basel Accord was authored in response to a crisis Basel I - the crash of 1989; Basel II - the dotcom crash, and Basel III - the GFC of 2008. Money pours into web3.

Banking 233

Banking Government Construction Startup 233

Tom Tunguz

MAY 5, 2020

In March, I published analysis of the fundraising market in 2008. Second, investors are learning how to diligence investments without human contact. It showed that the later rounds, the series B and series C were the most impacted. The early data from March 2020 shows a different pattern. Later rounds are unblemished.

Marketing 247

Marketing Trends Startup Investment 247

SaaStr

MAY 20, 2020

Started Twilio in January 2008, just as the last downturn happened. They wanted to invest in apps, not APIs. And they had to go months with no money at all. “If you are in survival mode, you need to think through ever investments you make now, weighted toward survival first, but the best outcome after the crisis is over second.”

CTO Hire 328

CTO Hire New CTO CTO Airlines 328

SaaStock

JANUARY 30, 2019

One of those was 2008/2009 when 5 funds were started. Its partners boast diverse venture experience and have previously invested in more than 70 companies. SaaS Investments: Pipefy, HeyDoctor. SaaS Investments: Gupy, idwall, meetime, Qulture rocks, Social Miner, and Teravoz. Founded: 2017. Size of fund: $20M. Stage: Seed.

Venture Capital 155

Venture Capital SaaS Healthcare Finance 155

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

David Sacks: SaaS Background and Investments. In 2008, he founded Yammer, an enterprise software company that David grew to 500 employees and $60 million in sales. In 2008, he founded Yammer, an enterprise software company that David grew to 500 employees and $60 million in sales. Subscribe Please do not fill in this field.

CTO Hire 227

CTO Hire Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting CTO 227

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Christoph Janz, General Partner of Point Nine Capital, shares what it takes to raise capital in SaaS, overall investment activity in 2023, and how to develop a convincing AI strategy. Overall Investment Activity in 2023 We all know there has been a massive shift in the number of rounds and capital raised.

AI 191

AI Underperforming Technical Team Cloud Strategy 191

Tom Tunguz

APRIL 1, 2019

In the analysis, I created a metric, the return on invested capital (ROIC). The era after 2006 and through the 2008 financial crisis was a different time to raise capital. In 2014, I published a post called Do Startup Require Less Capital to Succeed than 10 Years Ago ? It’s been five years and time to see how things have changed.

Startup 267

Startup Software Review SaaS Acquisition 267

Tom Tunguz

JULY 19, 2019

The same dynamic is occuring at most stages of venture investing. The previously fixed financial products that existed in 2008 of a $4-6M Series A and a $10-12M Series B are gone. Series A investors must choose to move earlier into the new seed rounds, or play later in bigger Series As (the Series Bs of yore).

Finance 223

Finance Innovation Startup Investment 223

Tom Tunguz

MAY 5, 2020

In March, I published analysis of the fundraising market in 2008. Second, investors are learning how to diligence investments without human contact. It showed that the later rounds, the series B and series C were the most impacted. The early data from March 2020 shows a different pattern. Later rounds are unblemished.

Marketing 148

Marketing Trends Startup Investment 148

Panintelligence

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Ask anyone in Fintech SaaS about the shifts of the last 18 months and you’ll hear stories about investment shortages, rising churn rates, and market consolidation. But a key challenge impacting the Fintech scene is investment—or lack of. That’s a CAGR of around 17%* from 2021, despite the current dip in investment in the sector.

SaaS Payments 75

SaaS Payments Payments Technical Review Payment Services 75

Andreessen Horowitz

MARCH 1, 2024

While funding is just a small part of the value we aim to provide our founders, we’re thrilled to share today that we’re dialing up our investment in the Spring 2024 and subsequent cohorts to $175,000 per team, up from $100,000. His career began in advertising, but the 2008 recession prompted him to shift to radiology.

Technical Cofounder 68

Technical Cofounder Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 68

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

They were aware of it, but startups that I work with closely or invested in, if they got all the way to 25 million with 75% NRR, I would tell them to quit today. VCs can only invest in outliers. I want to invest in her.” Because the YC companies I’ve invested in, it… Look, YC’s expensive.

Outsourcing Services 172

Outsourcing Services Banking CTO Hire New CTO 172

The Angel VC

NOVEMBER 26, 2014

The first date When I stumbled on Zendesk in 2008 I knew absolutely nothing about enterprise software, B2B or SaaS. Today the “consumerization of the enterprise” has become mainstream, but in 2008 it wasn’t. The investment from this seed round inspired a new mindset and created a big change in pace.

Scale 155

Scale Sales Hiring Venture Capital Software Review 155

Point Nine Land

JANUARY 27, 2023

I’m aware that this time is different are considered the four most expensive words in investing, but I wager to say that this is the iPhone moment of AI. Great design and UX have been a huge part of the SaaS investment thesis I started building in 2008. enabled ChatGPT’s meteoric rise.

ChatGPT 65

ChatGPT Startup Artificial Intelligence SaaS 65

Clouded Judgement

JUNE 5, 2023

Government spending takes many forms, including investment in infrastructure, provision of social services, and transfer payments like social security and unemployment benefits. Encouraging Spending and Investment : The goal of QE is to encourage more spending and investment in the economy. Taxes are straightforward.

Payment Services 169

Payment Services Cloud Government Banking 169

The Angel VC

MAY 31, 2016

When we invest in a SaaS startup, which almost always happens at the seed stage, the next big milestone on the company’s roadmap is usually a Series A. If you carry this thought further and assume that the biggest goal after the Series A is to get to the Series B (and so on, you get the idea) it sounds like turtles all the way down.

SaaS 193

SaaS Finance Mobile Enterprise 193

SaaStock

MARCH 20, 2019

Founded: 2008. Founded: 2008. signed a multi-year equity investment deal with TELUS Ventures. Founded: 2008. Just recently, Kairos secured a $4M investment which will allow them to develop their technology even further. Founders: Felix Van De Maele, Pieter De Leenheer, Stijn Christiaens. Based in: New York.

SaaS Payments 271

SaaS Payments Merchant Services Payment Solutions Payments 271

The Angel VC

MAY 17, 2017

In our weekly investment team call earlier this week we decided to pass on two early-stage SaaS startups that were both on track to grow from zero to $100k in MRR in their first 12 months of going live. And chances are that it would have been a good investment. I’ll keep you posted.) What does it mean for SaaS founders?

Business Model 180

Business Model Venture Capital SaaS Underperforming Technical Team 180

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Seed investments are booming. The top quartile seed rounds have expanded by 44% in 8 years, and by 75% since 2008. The expansion in seed investments spans the top 3 states for venture capital (CA, MA, and NY), which collectively account for 70% of seed investment dollars raised. as much in aggregate as they did in 2008.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Startup Investment Data 100

Casey Accidental

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

It kept investing in making its overall growth model stronger. Modeling your loops helps you start investing in building out those new growth loops or products well in advance of when you need them to sustain your growth, because of course developing them takes much more time than improving a current loop. Why did they do this?

Payments 62

Payments Scale Payment Methods Underperforming Technical Team 62

SaaStock

MARCH 8, 2019

Before getting into the investment world, she started and sold two successful companies in edutainment, and made a prominent name in the tech field around the world. At the beginning of 2019, she became an ambassador of Moxie Future, an initiative for women investors that facilitates investment in a responsible and sustainable future.

VP of Engineering 264

VP of Engineering CTO Coach Venture Capital SaaS 264

Hitenism

JANUARY 6, 2017

It was 2008, and I was having a classic founder moment. Back in 2008, “content marketing” wasn’t a thing. We founded KISSmetrics in 2008.). We ruled out all contending marketing channels that required us to invest a large amount of cash upfront. It was 2008! Twitter in 2008 was pretty limited.

Startup 182

Startup Marketing Engagement Content Marketing 182

Chart Mogul

DECEMBER 20, 2023

2008: SaaS is Really Hard … 2016: SaaS is Really Hard 2017: SaaS is a Great Business 2018: Everyone Invests in SaaS 2019: SaaS Eating the World 2020: I’m Genius 2021: King of World! Next year we’re expecting SaaS to remain difficult, but with ever improving conditions. We have a clear focus, strong plan and a great team. Bring on 2024!

Scale 52

Scale Subscription Payment Features Benchmarks 52

SaaStock

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Meet Our Speakers… Patrick Arippol, Managing Director of Early Stage Investments, DGF Investimentos. He is leading DGF Investimentos’ specialized early-stage investment group – DGF Inova. However, her path changed in 2008 when she took on a new challenge: an MBA in Business and Management. Business Consultancy.

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Scale Entrepreneurship Sales Hiring 207

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 28, 2019

How does a startup that launched during the financial crisis in 2008 become a unicorn company in 2019? So we started in 2008 June, 2008 I think and in three days we would celebrate our 11th birthday. It’s interesting to see how much has changed over the last 10 years, but in 2008 it was a very different time I think.

Sales Hiring 174

Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Government 174

SaaStock

MARCH 1, 2019

According to Mike Laven, CEO of Currencycloud, the one thing necessary for any company to succeed in China – or in any of the Asian countries – is to get local investment. It has more than 100 investments since its founding in 2001. SAIF is also one of the biggest funds, investing in Hong Kong, China and India.

SaaS Payments 190

SaaS Payments Venture Capital Telecommunications Payment Services 190

OPEXEngine

MAY 10, 2022

If you look at public companies in 2008, for example, Salesforce and Netsuite, these SaaS leaders maintained their growth despite the Great Recession. They maintained spending on Sales and Marketing, and investing in R&D. may mean there is room for growth opportunities thru increased investment in Sales and Marketing.

Technical Review 59

Technical Review Systems Review Benchmarks Investment 59

The SaaS Garage

FEBRUARY 6, 2020

We chose to invest in Loyalty Prime as it provides an effective solution to deliver on the widely preached but seldomly fulfilled promise in data-driven marketing and personalization: being able to provide “the right offer to the right person at the right time, in the right channel and with the right message for impactful business results.”

Generative AI 90

Generative AI Artificial Intelligence CTO Coach Venture Capital 90

The Angel VC

DECEMBER 1, 2014

While I do think that there are differences between how VCs work in Europe vs. the US, I think it wouldn’t be fair to blame European investors for missing Zendesk: With hindsight Zendesk looks like a clear winner, but back in 2008 it wasn’t that clear. It was still very early.

Investment 149

Investment Business Model Software Marketing 149

Tom Tunguz

MAY 18, 2015

Interestingly, despite the smaller contract sizes, SuccessFactors invested substantially more in sales and marketing as a percentage of revenue to generate their top-line growth than Taleo. Both of these business weathered the dot com crash in 2001 and the financial meltdown in 2008. Meanwhile, Taleo broke through in year 3.

Sales Recruiting 100

Sales Recruiting Scale Software Acquisition 100

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 15, 2013

When I started at Redpoint in 2008, I wanted to find every way of analyzing companies I could. At the beginning, the business must invest in the project, then if successful, the project grows and makes money, and last the project reaches maturity and declines. Credit: Karl Scotland. Each project within a business follows an S-curve.

Consulting 108

Consulting Startup Investment Management 108