Tom Tunguz

JUNE 26, 2022

The difference is starkest in headcount: Coinbase employs more than 5,000 people while Uniswap counts fewer than 100. In 2021, the gap between the companies narrowed. The converse may be true for Uniswap: perhaps crypto whales (retail investors with significant balances) dominated the volume in 2020, and to a lesser extent in 2021.

Benchmarks 310

Benchmarks Headcount Government Business Model 310

SaaStr

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Everyone spent way too much money in 2021. A few things happened on the B2B side that show a cautious recovery… Klaviyo filed its S1 — the first great SaaS IPO since December of 2021 at $650M in ARR, growing almost 60% and profitable. It’ll never be like 2021, but outside of spot issues for leaders, hiring is slowly resuming.

Sales Hiring 287

Sales Hiring SaaS Headcount Compensation 287

SaaStr

AUGUST 9, 2024

Headcount isn’t the right story for them, though. Eventually, this team moved out of growth, so their success wasn’t dependent on budget or headcount. This revenue chart is 2017-2021 before Braze IPO’d. Braze went public in November 2021. Just like hiring, you don’t want to be lazy here. Garbage in and garbage out.

Scale 294

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Startup 294

SaaStr

JANUARY 30, 2024

It’s a SaaS startup that basically fell out of product-market fit after the 2021 boom … but has enough revenue and high enough NRR to keep going. They did layoffs and froze headcount. And I’m highlighting so if it’s you — you can get a bit of a kick in the arse and go do something about it. It’s the “NRR Zombie”. What’s that?

Headcount 299

Headcount Finance Startup Trends 299

SaaStr

MARCH 20, 2024

For folks in SaaS, what got confusing in 2021 is that growth blew up so much in SaaS that the venture bar got lower. In 2021 and 2022, the money was a net negative, and what GTM organizations did was twofold. Do you have to double your headcount to make it from $10M to $20M or even $2M to $5M?

Sales Hiring 304

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Headcount 304

SaaStr

AUGUST 31, 2021

In the run-up to the 2021 SaaStr Annual , SaaStr’s very own Poya Osgouei sits down with Bryan Elsesser, VP of Sales at SaaStr. But it hindered our support and growth by being behind on headcount. “I Join us at SaaStr Annual at the end of September. “I should have hired faster.

Sales Hiring 276

Sales Hiring Headcount Sales Branding 276

SaaStr

JULY 20, 2022

It IPO’d in November 2021 and today is doing $130m ARR, growing a respectable 30% year-over-year. Fairly low revenue per headcount, although being headquartered in Utah with a large presence in India does seem to bring costs down. #7. No matter how it may have seemed in 2021. A fairly standard SMB price point.

SaaS Payments 287

SaaS Payments Scale Payment Methods SMB 287

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

And yet … they are slowing hiring: They went on a hiring tear like most of us did in 2021, adding 500 employees in a year. If you add $10m this year, maybe increase headcount $5m (worth of com)p. $20m, They are growing a smidge slower than last year, but really, still at just epic rates. At 65% (!) at $550,00,000,00 in ARR.

Headcount 262

Headcount SaaS Startup Scaling 262

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 31, 2023

AI Efficiency Gains +2% Headcount Reduction ? Compounding the last three years’ growth would imply quotas should be 41% more than in 2021. Headcount reductions in the last year, which impacted every company, should increase the pipeline coverage ratios for the remaining team members.

Headcount 217

Headcount Sales Hiring AI Cloud 217

SaaStr

JANUARY 30, 2023

Without headcount planning for the support team, the company’s response time and customer satisfaction scores dipped. With the growth of account management, Deel grew the business from 50 million ARR in December 2021 to 100 million ARR by the first quarter of 2022. Learnings from the growth stage Measure what you can.

Sales Hiring 276

Sales Hiring Payment Services SaaS Payments Scale 276

SaaStr

JANUARY 12, 2024

SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin also wrote how Customer Success has now morphed into part of the sales team and that the 2024 trends in CS include everyone wanting to eliminate humans from support to replace that headcount with AI and bots. It probably won’t go back to 2021 levels, but it will be some kind of growth. The world has changed.

Sales Hiring 321

Sales Hiring Customer Success Scale AI 321

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Vimeo just hired their first sales rep 3 years ago to spearhead $20k+ deals … and now they have 100 reps, and are on track to double that headcount. And come here from Anjali LIVE at 2021 SaaStr Annual!! My Top 10 Learnings: #1. Lean In Early With a Strong Lead on International Expansion — Even Now. Sign up here.

Enterprise 302

Enterprise Scale Sales Hiring Headcount 302

SaaStr

JUNE 7, 2023

Twilio is the same great company it was in 2022 and 2021, but it’s also been the segment where buyers have cut back perhaps the most. Headcount Down 25% Since September 2022, But Revenue Still Up. As a result, growth has radically slowed for the first time ever, to just 15% at $4 Billion in ARR. 5 Interesting Learnings: #1.

Headcount 237

Headcount Cloud Communication Acquisition 237

SaaStr

APRIL 20, 2022

But they need the headcount to grow this quickly. #8. In 2021, the traction of our self-service cloud adoption helped us grow our customer base 65% year-over-year to approximately 3,470 customers. This is pretty standard for high-growth Cloud companies, although not terribly efficient. Not free-cash positive yet. ” #11.

Scale 62

Scale Cloud Headcount Scaling 62

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

— Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) September 15, 2021. With precise headcount and budget needs. If you want to hit the plan for Q1'22, You need to be hiring all the sales reps you'll need then … Now. Recurring revenue certainly has pros and cons. Now that’s magic. I’ll Keep it Simple. How many reps.

Sales Hiring 287

Sales Hiring Scale Headcount Acquisition 287

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

For fiscal 2022, large customers represented 61% of total revenue compared to 54% of total revenue in 2021 and 46% in 2020… Overall NDR fell, but enterprise spending remains steady. Large customer revenue contribution increased again sequentially to 63% of revenue, up from 57% in the fourth quarter last year.

Cloud 244

Cloud Azure Headcount Software Review 244

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 31, 2023

US VC investment falls from $275b in 2022 to $200b in 2023 & sustains at about $200-220b in 2024 as LP interest in venture attenuates after the euphoria in 2020 & 2021. Record inflows into tokens fuel all-time highs in Bitcoin, Solana, & higher performance L1s who offer better price/performance to market.

AI Search 240

AI Search Headcount Scale AI 240

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 27, 2021

— Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) November 29, 2021. At $2m in ARR, budget $200k in headcount for the CSM positions + support. — Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) March 3, 2021. Is your CS team growing as fast as your sales team? If not, are you sure your have this right? At $4m, $400k, and so on. Hire Early.

Sales Hiring 246

Sales Hiring Customer Success Scale Customer Lifetime Value 246

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 27, 2021

— Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) November 29, 2021. At $2m in ARR, budget $200k in headcount for the CSM positions + support. — Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) March 3, 2021. Is your CS team growing as fast as your sales team? If not, are you sure your have this right? At $4m, $400k, and so on. Hire Early.

Sales Hiring 245

Sales Hiring Customer Success Scale Customer Lifetime Value 245

SaaStr

MARCH 6, 2023

Once single-point solutions took over sales technology in 2021, buyers grew tired of managing different seller relationships. Redeploy funds from headcount to sales technology. But a new competitor known as point solution would emerge to usurp CRM from its primary position. Understand the magnitude of the Sales Execution Gap.

Innovation 246

Innovation Sales Hiring B2B Strategy 246

Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 10, 2021

While the National Retail Federation predicts holiday spending in 2021 will be the highest on record, 77% of shoppers surveyed worry they’ll have issues buying gifts online this year. What to do: Increase your efficiency without increasing headcount using bots and automation. customer service workers in November 2021.

Headcount 195

Headcount Customer Support Scale AI 195

SaaStr

AUGUST 13, 2021

— Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) August 11, 2021. You need a baked financial model, that includes sales and marketing costs, scaling over time, headcount, and comparison to comps, and when you’ll need the next round(s). If you don't send the VC a deck ahead of the meeting, Don't expect them to be prepared.

Scale 296

Scale Sales Hiring Venture Capital Headcount 296

Intercom, Inc.

JUNE 1, 2021

In a commissioned study by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Intercom undertaken in April 2021, Drive Conversational Experiences for a Future-Ready Customer Support Strategy , we learned that only 37% of support leaders and decision-makers are satisfied with their organization’s current digital channels and solutions.

Underperforming Technical Team 232

Underperforming Technical Team Technical Review Scale Headcount 232

SaaStr

MARCH 7, 2023

Many companies got sucked into the 2021 vortex of a low-interest rate environment and high multiples when they should have focused on growth and efficiency. It’s not a surprise or secret that 2022 was challenging, especially starting the year with 2021 growth expectations. PST, to unveil the data behind effective scaling.

Outsourcing Services 179

Outsourcing Services Scaling Venture Capital Forecasting 179

Intercom, Inc.

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

Not only are support leaders already benefiting from conversational support, they also plan to invest more in its capabilities – including proactive support, chatbots, and automation – in 2021. In the report, we explore the key five trends that are shaping and redefining customer support today (and are set to accelerate in 2021).

Headcount 145

Headcount B2C Customer Support Trends 145

SaaStr

JULY 24, 2023

In 2019, 2020, 2021, no one really cared if you were efficient, but boy, has that changed. They kept the headcount kind of flat. You can grow into them. MongoDB does and earns it. #9 9 — Almost All Cloud Leaders Got Radically More Efficient In One Year. How efficient should you be, and can you be in SaaS? They went from -40% to +5%.

Revenue 245

Revenue Scale Sales Hiring Cloud 245

Intercom, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

According to a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Intercom in April 2021, Drive Conversational Experiences For A Future-Ready Customer Support Strategy , 59% of support leaders and decision makers find a lack of proactive support to be a barrier to conversational support at scale. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Scale 237

Scale Headcount Mobile Communication 237

SaaStr

MARCH 15, 2024

In 2021, revenue per employee was around 80k to 100k. Do you see massive disruption in workforces and marketing headcounts shrinking because of AI? “I’m Pick a couple of simple things to focus on that everyone can keep in their head and align to. Keep it simple with 3-5 max. Times were good.

AI Search 276

AI Search SaaS Advertising Sales Hiring 276

SaaStr

JUNE 7, 2021

As we gear up for SaaStr Annual 2021 in the SF Bay Area , we wanted to take a look back at some of our most iconic speakers and sessions from over the year, that we can still learn from today. And if you haven’t heard: SaaStr Annual will be back in 2021 in SF Bay Area , better than ever! Peter : No, no.

Sales Hiring 340

Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team SaaS Headcount 340

Sales Hacker

JUNE 16, 2021

Startup hurdle: headcount. The post Your 2021 Sales Enablement Platform Buyer’s Guide (+10 Tools to Consider) appeared first on Sales Hacker. Your GTM teams are made up of people, and people are resistant to change how they learn and sell. The types of obstacles will vary based on the size of your company. SMB hurdle: buy-in.

Sales Enablement 122

Sales Enablement Scale Sales Hiring Technical Review 122

Clouded Judgement

APRIL 6, 2023

That’s a big difference, especially when you layer in the growth in headcount from 2021 to 2022. Essentially companies grew headcount significantly to add less ARR. We’re obviously seeing the rightsizing of this now with headcount reductions. The second chart comes from the latest MS CIO survey (below).

Cloud 130

Cloud Headcount Subscription Payment Features 130

InsightSquared

MAY 25, 2021

Introducing the Ultimate Forecasting Benchmarks: The 2021 State of Sales Forecasting. InsightSquared is excited to unveil The 2021 State of Sales Forecasting study. From market expansion to headcount, technology and product roadmap decisions, businesses simply do not have the line-of-sight needed to plan.

Forecasting 62

Forecasting Benchmarks Sales Headcount 62

BetterCloud

NOVEMBER 4, 2021

Therefore, it is with great pleasure we announce the 2021 SaaSOps Stars Award Winners. The 2021 SaaSOps Stars Awards process. The 2021 SaaSOps Stars Awards process. The search for 2021’s best SaaS operations professionals began in August. Congratulations to the 2021 SaaSOps Stars!

Headcount 52

Headcount Innovation compliance Interviewing 52

OpenView Labs

MAY 24, 2021

Product-led growth (PLG) has emerged as the buzzword of 2021. Tomasz Tunguz predicted that in 2021, “product-led growth becomes the standard GTM for software and infrastructure companies.” Please consider participating in our 2021 Financial and Operating Benchmarks Survey —now open! DigitalOcean (2.2)

Scale 98

Scale Headcount Sales Hiring Benchmarks 98

OPEXEngine

OCTOBER 7, 2020

The 2021 planning process is kicking off or already underway at most companies. In Q4, we are all analyzing what changes are permanent, what was temporary, and how to come out of this better positioned than before, as we set the plan for 2021. Employee productivity is up for the moment, as companies reduced headcount.

Trends 96

Trends Technical Review Headcount SaaS 96

Chart Mogul

DECEMBER 22, 2021

What’s new in ChartMogul in 2021? Overall, in 2021, we logged and resolved 10,007 tickets with an average first response time of 20 minutes. To add to that, our uptime for 2021 (for both the App and the API) was an impressive 99.95%. pic.twitter.com/fZhXSQ0Avj — Nick Franklin (@Nick_Franklin) October 1, 2021.

Software Review 52

Software Review Systems Review Payment Features PayPal 52

ChurnZero

MAY 17, 2022

The company plans on doubling its headcount in 2022. ” ChurnZero’s recent accolades and acknowledgments include: APPEALIE Awards: Abby Hammer , ChurnZero chief customer officer and head of products, was named a 2021-2022 SaaS Leader by APPEALIE , a software leadership award honoring top marketing and customer success executives.

Marketplace as a Service 98

Marketplace as a Service Technical Review Headcount Software Review 98