SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

Recurring software revenue is now recognized as a great way to generate tons of cash for investors,” says Gerety. Do public markets understand recurring revenue and SaaS models?” Fast forward, and Box is over $1B in revenue. They’re at $700M in revenue and growing 50%. By freezing headcount for a year.

Sales Hiring 216

Sales Hiring Headcount Finance Technical Review 216

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 31, 2023

The winter forced many companies to evolve from open-source projects to revenue-generating businesses. 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. This innovation reinvigorates very early-stage IPOs.

AI Search 240

AI Search AI Scale Headcount 240

SaaStr

JANUARY 21, 2022

Dorian Stone , Head of Organizations Revenue at Grammarly, is here to share lessons from his experience of scaling the company from consumer to SMB to Enterprise to help you steer your expansion efforts in the right direction. When Dorian stepped into his current role, they promised the board a strong growth on the revenue line.

Scale 194

Scale SMB Enterprise Sales Hiring 194

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 26, 2022

The market values COIN, Coinbase’s stock, and UNI, Uniswap’s token at about 3x trailing 12-month revenues. As the market has corrected, so have the trailing 12-month revenues (TTM)/Market Cap multiples. Coinbase and Uniswap generate billions in revenue. Coinbase’s trailing revenue in Q1 2022 approached $7.5b

Benchmarks 309

Benchmarks Headcount Government Business Model 309

Clouded Judgement

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Companies have reduced headcount, but new bookings aren’t getting any easier Quarterly net new ARR growth : Some green-shoots! Revenue multiples are a shorthand valuation framework. Multiples shown below are calculated by taking the Enterprise Value (market cap + debt - cash) / NTM revenue. Top 5 Median: 16.0x

Cloud 161

Cloud Software Review Headcount Trends 161

ChurnZero

JANUARY 8, 2024

At most SaaS companies, the line item for customer success budgets is dedicated to headcount. This is why on our annual survey of customer success leaders , we ask about “non-headcount budgets.” This non-headcount approach is a technique for understanding how SaaS companies are investing in the needs of their customer success teams.

Customer Success 52

Customer Success Headcount Benchmarks Leadership 52

SaaStr

JANUARY 30, 2023

Overcoming challenges by optimizing for success In the early stages of setting up your SaaS business, it’s always a good idea to invest time thinking about the direction you want to take. Without headcount planning for the support team, the company’s response time and customer satisfaction scores dipped.

Sales Hiring 216

Sales Hiring Payment Services SaaS Payments Scale 216

Tom Tunguz

JUNE 20, 2020

We can derive the table above if we look over the entire respondent base and bucket headcount by ARR. Software companies invest in engineering early and then the product matures, complement that engineering and product investment with go to market teams to commercialize the product.

Scale 363

Scale Scaling Sales Hiring Software Review 363

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. Revenue multiples are a shorthand valuation framework.

Cloud 130

Cloud Headcount Subscription Payment Features 130

SaaStr

APRIL 3, 2024

We can take higher risks in a less regulated industry than a peer in an investment bank or healthcare business. CIOs and CFOs who have done the work to centralize decision-making around technology investments won’t redistribute that authority anytime soon because that control gives them margin leverage.

Generative AI 222

Generative AI AI Technical Review Software Review 222

SaaStr

AUGUST 10, 2022

Cloud revenue growing 55% — and Atlassian reaffirms 50% Cloud growth for 2023 and 2024 also! 8,800 employees, so an impressive ~$350,000 in revenue per employee. Atlassian plans to double its headcount over the coming few years. 20% growth in customer accounts leads to 36% revenue growth. The Power of High NRR.

Scale 213

Scale Headcount Cloud Business Model 213

Sales Hacker

SEPTEMBER 2, 2023

So that has many of us questioning which direction we should be heading toward in our modern day revenue tech stack? Which AI tools are going to make revenue operators’ lives immensely easier? Where do you think revenue technology is heading? —- Robert Simmons – VP of Sales A lot more automation and AI.

AI 78

AI Revenue Scale ChatGPT 78

SaaStr

JULY 20, 2022

907 employees at IPO, so about $150,000 revenue per employee. Fairly low revenue per headcount, although being headquartered in Utah with a large presence in India does seem to bring costs down. #7. A reminder growth investing isn’t a space you automatically make money at. So why the terrible revenue multiple?

SaaS Payments 227

SaaS Payments Scale Payment Methods Payments 227

Sales Hacker

JULY 24, 2018

Decreased revenue per rep, High turnover as you scale headcount. We made our machine more efficient even as we scaled, grew headcount, and skyrocketed our revenue. In the first six months of the year, our team’s headcount grew by almost 60%, yet our revenue outpaced that, growing by 142%.

Scale 55

Scale Headcount Sales Hiring Scaling 55

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. If you make your customers somewhat successful, you’re going to get 112% revenue retention each year.

Sales Hiring 236

Sales Hiring Customer Success Scale AI 236

Intercom, Inc.

AUGUST 23, 2022

With increasing business costs and reduced headcount, companies are feeling the squeeze as they also grapple with rising consumer expectations. This means customers are far less likely to churn – resulting in a continuous rich source of revenue for your business, all without burning out your team or investing in extra headcount.

Customer Support 211

Customer Support Retention Headcount Customer Lifetime Value 211

Intercom, Inc.

NOVEMBER 14, 2018

If you’re forecasting short on your global revenue target, do you know how you’ll make up the difference? Average revenue per account (also referred to as Average Transaction Size (ATS) or Average Sales Price (ASP)). New logo revenue. Net expansion revenue. Net new revenue attainment. Revenue sold per rep.

Sales Hiring 188

Sales Hiring Metrics Revenue Sales 188

Chart Mogul

JULY 15, 2021

High growth companies like Airtable, Figma, Notion, or Github all have revenue as a top of mind business milestone. In fact, out of a sample of 40 growth stage companies, 50% said revenue growth was their #1 north star metric, according to research led by Lenny Rachitsky for Future.

Underperforming Technical Team 52

Underperforming Technical Team Revenue Scale Communication 52

Chart Mogul

JULY 15, 2021

High growth companies like Airtable, Figma, Notion, or Github all have revenue as a top of mind business milestone. In fact, out of a sample of 40 growth stage companies, 50% said revenue growth was their #1 north star metric, according to research led by Lenny Rachitsky for Future.

Underperforming Technical Team 52

Underperforming Technical Team Revenue Scale Communication 52

ChurnZero

JUNE 9, 2023

Good sales teams typically get the budget, headcount and tools they desire because the function is tied to revenue. As a result, CS teams often have to work harder to make the case for headcount, technology and even product requests on behalf of customers. How can CS leaders address this challenge?

Finance 98

Finance Metrics Customer Success Headcount 98

Intercom, Inc.

AUGUST 16, 2022

Support teams are facing a critical juncture: business costs and customer expectations continue to grow while resources like headcount and budget are decreasing. Plus, 65% of the average company’s revenue comes from existing customers – so it pays off in the long run to keep them happy. Reduce investment costs.

Headcount 118

Headcount Scale Sales Hiring Customer Lifetime Value 118

Chart Mogul

AUGUST 15, 2019

Revenue-based financing is quickly becoming a popular way for startups to raise funds without sacrificing equity. New investment structures are gaining traction in the early-stage SaaS financing market. Bigfoot Capital invests in initial-scale SaaS companies using both RBF and venture debt investment structures.

Finance 85

Finance Payments Revenue Payment Solutions 85

Sales Hacker

DECEMBER 9, 2022

Regardless of your revenue goals, if you can be faster and more effective at your sales planning practices, you will give your sellers a competitive advantage. Related: How to Use Sales Readiness Data for Revenue Growth. Understand how many sellers you need to hit quota to achieve your revenue goals and consider compensation impacts.

Scale 97

Scale Headcount Sales Forecasting 97

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2021

Also, pivot from Garrett’s initial idea and focus on revenue targets, not a specific headcount. #2 3 – Invest in your onboarding process. Investing in your CRM and database is key. It’s easy to over-invest in sales and underinvest elsewhere. Make a repeatable process that’s consistent.

Sales Recruiting 169

Sales Recruiting Sales Hiring Scale Sales 169

SaaStr

MARCH 7, 2023

Pepper shares that ICONIQ, a venture capital firm with $10B under management, made fewer investments last year than ever before. Many of them said headcount management and spend were common levers they pulled, given the immediate and significant impact they have on spend. PST, to unveil the data behind effective scaling.

Outsourcing Services 164

Outsourcing Services Scaling Venture Capital Forecasting 164

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 31, 2023

The majority of COGS (revenue less COGS = gross profit) fall in hosting costs (ie AWS), and some customer support. If they don’t want to pay double the price, then Notion has a decision to make - do they sell the Notion AI SKU at a price that dilutes gross margins if it ends up generating more revenue? What do I mean by this?

Cloud 130

Cloud Sales Hiring AI Headcount 130

The Angel VC

MARCH 23, 2016

If you have a SaaS startup with a higher-touch sales model where revenue growth is largely driven by sales headcount, the plan needs to be modified accordingly. The "Revenues" line shows your end-of-month MRR for the respective month. Revenues" tab The model assumes that you have three pricing tiers.

SaaS Payments 217

SaaS Payments Headcount SaaS Payment Methods 217

SaaStr

OCTOBER 11, 2023

Monday has gone from $7m in 2017 to over $700m in revenue today, showcasing the sheer power of compounding revenue. Measuring Usage Since Day One Since the beginning, monday.com built and has used a BI tool called Big Brain — a major investment for that size of company. But they refused to fly blind. How do you increase NRR?

Scale 164

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Banking 164

OPEXEngine

DECEMBER 13, 2022

Most SaaS executives can relate to a friendly debate they’ve had at a board or leadership team meeting about what percentage of revenue should come from “upsells” to existing customers or what is “healthy churn.” Companies with an equivalent commercial operation- sales headcount, marketing spend, and customer acquisition cost (CAC).

Benchmarks 52

Benchmarks Scale Headcount Software Review 52

OpenView Labs

MAY 24, 2021

The companies on OpenView’s PLG index traded at a 50% revenue multiple premium to their SaaS peers, with the valuation gap widening over the course of the year. They spend a whopping 47% of revenue on R&D compared to only 16% on Sales and Marketing. spending only 19% of revenue on R&D vs. 55% on Sales and Marketing.

Scale 98

Scale Headcount Sales Hiring Benchmarks 98

CustomerSuccessBox

DECEMBER 3, 2021

New areas of investment have been identified and you are ready to speak with the CEO/CFO about additional budget requirements. You may find yourself protecting your headcount, rooting for investments you want in tech, and giving suggestions for new product features. Areas for Customer Success investment. Revenue growth.

Customer Success 52

Customer Success Data Technical Review Headcount 52

Chart Mogul

AUGUST 15, 2019

Revenue-based financing is quickly becoming a popular way for startups to raise funds without sacrificing equity. New investment structures are gaining traction in the early-stage SaaS financing market. Bigfoot Capital invests in initial-scale SaaS companies using both RBF and venture debt investment structures.

Finance 52

Finance Payments Revenue Payment Solutions 52

Intercom, Inc.

AUGUST 5, 2020

More than that, by balancing both, we’ve been able to achieve what often feels elusive: positive revenue impact. One of the challenges we’ve faced as a support team is scaling our high bar for customer satisfaction without scaling our headcount alongside our customer count. More than a balance: it’s a strategic investment.

Scale 204

Scale Headcount Scaling Customer Support 204

ChurnZero

MAY 17, 2022

’s premier technology companies and an employer of choice, growing revenue over 100% annually for the last three years. The company plans on doubling its headcount in 2022. ChurnZero has quickly become one of Washington, D.C.’s For more information visit [link]. Media contact Heather Philbin pr@churnzero.net.

Marketplace as a Service 98

Marketplace as a Service Technical Review Headcount Software Review 98

OPEXEngine

OCTOBER 7, 2020

We filtered on the Bessemer Nasdaq SaaS Index for companies with revenues between $100M and $300M and revenue growth rates over 25%, to give us a cohort of public companies small enough to see resource allocations and trends more easily than with very large companies. Source: OPEXEngine EdgarEngine. Source: OPEXEngine EdgarEngine.

Trends 96

Trends Technical Review Headcount SaaS 96

ChurnZero

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

And yet, downplaying your team’s needs undermines CS’s current impact and future revenue-driving potential. But it’s not about driving revenue at all costs, cautions Jeff. This is something that I’m doing with fractional headcount allocation. Efficiency and profitability are top of mind for every executive today.

Customer Success 98

Customer Success Sales Hiring Headcount Scale 98

Valuize Consulting

OCTOBER 7, 2021

For many Chief Customer Officers and Customer Success (CS) leaders, this marks the beginning of a very stressful time as you prepare to have the challenging conversation with your CFO about how to properly invest in your Customer Success teams. This makes it challenging to secure investment.

Customer Success 52

Customer Success New CTO Scale Headcount 52