SaaStr

OCTOBER 11, 2024

Every year, Bessemer Venture Partners releases a State of the Cloud report. This year, it’s all about AI, which is why Sameer Dholakia, Partner at Bessemer, calls it the Cloud AI Era. Four portfolio companies join Sameer to talk about three trends of the Cloud AI Era. Like we’re all here at SaaStr in Cloud.

Cloud 167

Cloud AI Artificial Intelligence Healthcare 167

SaaStr

JANUARY 10, 2025

Each leader started by sharing their unique perspective on how they approached adding AI into their SaaS products: How GitHub Built an AI Copilot to 1.8M ” How Ramp Reached $300M in 3 years and Uses AI to Save 25,000 Customers a Billion Dollars Ramp’s VP of Design Diego Zaks has a different take on AI in SaaS.

AI Search 312

AI Search AI Strategy Scale 312

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 21, 2025

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. With more recent cloud software companies, there was a lot of organic expansion - ie expanding into new markets and capabilities through internal product development. Follow along to stay up to date! Subscribe now M&A is Back!

Cloud 189

Cloud Subscription Payment Features Pricing 189

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 3, 2024

The State of SaaS Go-to-Market with Theory Ventures General Partner Tomasz Tunguz #2. The Cloud Bubble Lasted About 18 Months. One Thing is Clear: AI Is Leading to 1000+ New Competitors in SaaS #4. The State of SaaS Go-to-Market l Theory Ventures General Partner Tomasz Tunguz #2. Top Posts: #1. Genesys Files to IPO.

Cloud 273

Cloud AI SMB SaaS 273

Clouded Judgement

DECEMBER 20, 2024

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. The promise of SaaS is that growth in the early years leads to profits in the mature years. It shows the number of months it takes for a SaaS business to payback their fully burdened CAC on a gross profit basis.

Cloud 146

Cloud Banking Subscription Payment Features 146

SaaStr

OCTOBER 27, 2024

The Bar Has Gone Up: The New Era of HyperFunctional SaaS with Jason Lemkin #2. Why This is Good News for SaaS. #5. One Thing is Clear: AI Is Leading to 1000+ New Competitors in SaaS Top Videos and Pods: #1. “How To Perfectly Pitch Your Seed Stage Startup With Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel” #2.

AI 292

AI Cloud Startup SaaS 292

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

And yes, I know we can argue Databricks is neither really Cloud nor really SaaS. I’d argue that doesn’t much matter — its comparables are the Cloud and SaaS leaders). Canva image from here ) The post Canva and Databricks: The Two Big Potential SaaS / Cloud IPOs of 2024 appeared first on SaaStr.

Cloud 351

Cloud SaaS Enterprise Branding 351

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

Dear SaaStr: Do SaaS Companies Typically Pay Their Sales Reps a Bonus on Renewals? Simple answer: almost no SaaS companies pay sales reps on standard renewals. Weve all learned this over the past years in SaaS: You want qualifiers qualifying BDRs. If So, How Much is Typica l? You want openers opening SDRs. Not renewing.

Scale 269

Scale Sales SaaS Cloud 269

SaaStr

OCTOBER 29, 2024

So it’s been a sloooow time in SaaS IPOs since the boom times ended in December 2021. There have been just 3 SaaS IPOs since December 2021: Klaviyo OneStream Rubrik And all were strong ones, at $500m+ ARR or so, growing ~50% or so. The clock in the end ticks on liquidity, and the most for Private Equity-backed SaaS players.

AI 313

AI Cloud SaaS Investment 313

SaaStr

MAY 28, 2022

Gartner, spending on SaaS: 2020: $120B 2021: $152B 2022: $177B 2023: $208B. They predict public Cloud spending to rise 20% next year to $500 Billion. And that’s the key driver of overall Cloud spend. They also importantly predict SaaS spend to grow to $200 Billion next year, also up almost 20%. That’s a lot.

Cloud 358

Cloud B2C SaaS Enterprise 358

Clouded Judgement

MAY 16, 2025

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. Quarterly Reports Summary Top 10 EV / NTM Revenue Multiples Top 10 Weekly Share Price Movement Update on Multiples SaaS businesses are generally valued on a multiple of their revenue - in most cases the projected revenue for the next 12 months.

Trends 146

Trends Cloud Subscription Payment Features 146

Clouded Judgement

JUNE 6, 2025

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. ARR (annual recurring revenue) is a hallmark SaaS metric rooted in predictability. That predictability underpins why investors find “comfort” in SaaS models. Integrations are the classic SaaS moat. Integrations.

Cloud 130

Cloud Technical Review Software Review Technical Advisors 130

SaaStr

DECEMBER 18, 2024

and >accelerating< – 80% Gross Margins – 500 $1m+ customers 20x ARR doesnt seem >that< high pic.twitter.com/5qW7jeReQc — Jason SaaStr 2025 is May 13-15 Lemkin (@jasonlk) December 17, 2024 So SaaS is back. Perhaps Databricks isn’t really SaaS, it’s Cloud + AI/Cloud infrastructure.

AI 284

AI Cloud Enterprise SaaS 284

SaaStr

OCTOBER 16, 2024

So RingCental is both an incredibly impressive SaaS and Cloud company — but also a bit of a cautionary tale. SBC has become a much bigger issue in SaaS and Cloud the past 2+ years as the markets have focused on true efficiency and profitability. Fast forward to today, it’s at: $2.43 ARR Now they have $1.5

Scale 284

Scale Compensation SMB Cloud 284

Clouded Judgement

OCTOBER 11, 2024

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. Top 10 EV / NTM Revenue Multiples Top 10 Weekly Share Price Movement Update on Multiples SaaS businesses are generally valued on a multiple of their revenue - in most cases the projected revenue for the next 12 months.

Cloud 170

Cloud Cost optimization & reporting GCP(Google Cloud Platform) Software Review 170

SaaStr

JANUARY 5, 2025

So does being a solo founder … work in SaaS? Of the post ~40 SaaS IPOs, only 5 or so had solo co-founders. More on that here : At the Top SaaS Companies, Founder-CEOs Own ~15% at IPO. UPDATED But that’s of SaaS and Cloud companies that IPO’d. So let’s call that 10%-12% or so.

Cloud 329

Cloud SaaS Data 329

Clouded Judgement

JANUARY 24, 2025

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. Top 10 EV / NTM Revenue Multiples Top 10 Weekly Share Price Movement Update on Multiples SaaS businesses are generally valued on a multiple of their revenue - in most cases the projected revenue for the next 12 months.

Enterprise 159

Enterprise AI Cloud Artificial Intelligence 159

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 7, 2025

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. Quarterly Reports Summary Top 10 EV / NTM Revenue Multiples Top 10 Weekly Share Price Movement Update on Multiples SaaS businesses are generally valued on a multiple of their revenue - in most cases the projected revenue for the next 12 months.

Cloud 159

Cloud Forecasting Subscription Payment Features 159

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

So Battery Ventures has a new detailed report on The Open Cloud you can dig into here. There’s a lot of great data in the report, but one analysis helped answered a question I’ve been wondering the past 12-18 months: Are start-up actually more overvalued today than at the peak of Cloud mania in 2021? in 2021 to 23.4x

Startup 293

Startup Cloud AI Mobile 293

Tom Tunguz

MARCH 13, 2025

Public SaaS companies’ growth rates have halved since 2023, as David Spitz pointed , from 36% to 17%. There are few, fast growing, younger SaaS companies to sustain the growth rates. The top quartile companies are growing at slower rates today than the bottom quartile companies in 2016. When will it change ?

Software 173

Software Cloud SaaS Marketing 173

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

So the best of the best in SaaS and Cloud are still on fire. years on average to IPO in SaaS. The last 3 SaaS IPOs took 11.3 It may take you almost 14 years to pull off a Great IPO in SaaS. So 17+ years for VCs to liquid on SaaS IPOs. More on that data here. Years Or More For The Next Batch.

Cloud 315

Cloud SaaS Data 315

SaaStr

OCTOBER 23, 2024

So some Cloud and SaaS stocks are on fire, even now. Why is Palantir the highest valued public SaaS and Cloud stock? Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) is a Year Old But Fueling $159m in Q2 Bookings Alone To some Cloud and SaaS leaders, AI is a table-stakes addition. And then … there is Palantir.

Artificial Intelligence 236

Artificial Intelligence Government AI Cloud 236

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

IBM’s $7B Bet on Vertical AI and What It Means for SaaS Founders. For SaaS founders, the opportunity lies in building specialized solutions that leverage foundation models while adding unique domain expertise and data advantages. cost savings, 35% time savings The Partner Ecosystem Play IBM isn’t going it alone.

AI 185

AI Scale SaaS Government 185

Clouded Judgement

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. The promise of SaaS is that growth in the early years leads to profits in the mature years. It shows the number of months it takes for a SaaS business to payback their fully burdened CAC on a gross profit basis. consensus) and 0.5%

Cloud 146

Cloud Software Subscription Payment Features 146

SaaStr

AUGUST 18, 2024

So layoffs are still happening and it’s harder in many spaces in SaaS. Many, many folks in SaaS and Cloud are still growing like a weed. And because SaaS and Cloud overall is still growing a stunning +20% a year, that means tons of jobs are still being created. Pick a few of the Cloud 100 and other leaders.

Cloud 324

Cloud Scale Startup SaaS 324

SaaStr

MAY 19, 2025

We wanted to kick it off with some of the key insights with Box CEO Aaron Levie and IBM VP AI Raj Datta: The Numbers Don’t Lie – ChatGPT Hit 500M Users in Just ~2 Years Let’s start with the cold, hard metrics that SaaS leaders seem to underestimate: AI adoption is happening at an unprecedented velocity.

AI 217

AI Technology ChatGPT Cloud 217

Clouded Judgement

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. Cloud Giants Report Q4 ‘24 We now have the quarterly reports from Amazon, Microsoft and Google. They each have some of the largest cloud businesses in the world in AWS, Azure and Google Cloud respectively.

Systems Review 146

Systems Review Cloud AI Artificial Intelligence 146

SaaStr

OCTOBER 23, 2024

Jason starts with the meta-question we’ve been asking a lot of SaaS leaders lately ( Klaviyo , ZoomInfo ) — ‘are we in a downturn?’ Going Long We’ve written before on the power of going long in SaaS. If we go back to 2006, BILL was a cloud-based company. in revenue. Are We In a Downturn?

SMB 307

SMB Payment Services Payments Payment Methods 307

SaaStr

DECEMBER 14, 2023

In the latest installment of SaaStr’s What’s New series – where we sit down with the leaders in SaaS and Cloud for the inside scoop on what’s top of mind and what’s new, SaaStr CEO and Jason Lemkin chats with the CMO of Google Cloud, Alison Wagonfeld. They also compete with Microsoft in a big way.

Cloud 309

Cloud Scale AWS AI 309

SaaStr

OCTOBER 24, 2023

And yet, overall Cloud spend continues to grow to record levels. Their Cloud business is on fire. SAP expects to close the year out with their Cloud and SaaS businesses at a $15 Billion run-rate. And even at that scale, Cloud sales are growing a stunning 16% (!). Their $15 Billion Cloud Business is Accelerating.

Cloud 284

Cloud Sales Hiring Scale Business 284

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

Overall, the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index is up 22.97% this year. I went further and put together a quick list of 25+ SaaS and Cloud leaders to see how their share prices are doing. But still a reminder, quietly, this isn’t too bad a year or a time for many SaaS and Cloud leaders. But not everyone.

Cloud 293

Cloud Scale SaaS Pricing 293

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Discover Bessemer Venture Partners’s annual State of the Cloud report, going through trends, benchmarks, and metrics that underpin the Cloud economy. The past twelve months have been relatively turbulent for Cloud founders. What does this mean for Cloud companies? What does this mean for Cloud companies?

Cloud 306

Cloud Payments Software Review Payment Solutions 306

SaaStr

APRIL 29, 2025

The ultimate gathering of SaaS and AI leadership is about to happen in San Francisco. 12,000+ SaaS leaders. 12,000+ SaaS leaders. 12,000+ SaaS leaders. 12,000+ SaaS leaders. It’s days away now! SaaStr Annual + SaaStr AI Summit 2025! Not talking heads. Not theorists. The executives making it happen.

AI Search 162

AI Search AI New CTO Scale 162

Clouded Judgement

AUGUST 30, 2024

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. An example of a platform shift is the creation of the cloud. Many companies achieved a transformative leap by taking an on-prem solution and migrating it to the cloud, reaping all the associated benefits. Follow along to stay up to date!

Cloud 276

Cloud Venture Capital AI Startup 276

Clouded Judgement

JUNE 19, 2024

Q1 earnings season for cloud businesses is now behind us. My hope is that this analysis can provide startup entrepreneurs with a framework for how to manage their businesses around SaaS metrics (e.g., These charts clearly show the ZIRP pull forward, the ensuing cloud cost optimizations, and then the recovery.

Cloud 320

Cloud GCP(Google Cloud Platform) Software Azure 320

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 1, 2024

Every week I’ll provide updates on the latest trends in cloud software companies. The promise of SaaS is that growth in the early years leads to profits in the mature years. It shows the number of months it takes for a SaaS business to payback their fully burdened CAC on a gross profit basis.

Cloud 319

Cloud AI Investment Metrics 319

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 22, 2024

Want to know how to be better than 95% of the world in SaaS sales? And this is from a top Cloud company today: Both are more work than 95% of folks are doing today. Honestly it’s easy. Or at least, it’s plain and simple. If you’re truly willing to put in the work. The 2 simple edges in sales: #1. Maybe 99.5%.

Sales 301

Sales Cloud Enterprise SaaS 301