By the time "digital events software" finally gets good,

We won't need it anymore.

Not literally. But mostly.
This will create a fascinating case study on what happens to high ACV products that go from necessary to merely helpful

Especially in a category with a lot of one-off buying

We small mobile events software explode a generation ago ... and then become a feature and a $0 category
The best advice I can give to digital events software companies is Do Not Be Arrogant

Most we talk to are arrogant, still

They have more business than they can handle

It takes a week to get a demo, etc.
Events are a $1T+ category that requires software, but most of the money comes from IRL spend which evaporated

Budgets temporarily were re-allocated to digital, but this isn't going to last more than a cycle

Folks want leads, engagement, pipeline influence, etc.
Still, there is no going back, and folks will still want to do digital events of some sort

Look at Clubhouse. A lot of it really is digital micro-events

But most vendors could be obsolete in a year if they don't rapidly evolve

And pick up the phone and >help< their customers
Only one vendor has actually tried to help us since Covid ... and we have scale

Everyone else has just sent us crazy quotes and told us to take it or leave. Or claim their product does things it doesn't.
Customers are loyal in SaaS.

This is why NRR is > 130% at many SaaS leaders.

Customers just want their problems >solved<, at a fair price.

Do that, and they likely will stay for a decade or more.
A related post here:

saastr.com/11-year-custom…

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More from @jasonlk

17 Feb
Wix was founded way back in 2006, and at the time, it seemed like yet another Build Your Own Website startup

But they grew, and evolved, and never quit

Today, they are at $1B+ in ARR and a $15B market cap!!

5 Interesting Learnings: ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
#1. Existing Customers Worth $9.2B Over Next 8 Years

While Wix’s actual churn is a bit unclear, this is a super interesting presentation of CLTV. Wix sees its existing $1B of ARR generating $9.2B over the next 8 years! That’s the power of recurring revenue: Image
#2. eCommerce and Business Tools Are Key Drivers to Accelerating Growth

Wix has benefitted from eCommerce explosion since Covid.

While their core web site “Creative Subscriptions” are growing at 23% YoY ... their eCommerce+ Business Solutions segment is growing 60% YoY! Image
Read 11 tweets
13 Feb
GoDaddy was founded in 1997 (!) and is not only still with us, but is at $4B in ARR still growing 12% YoY

Is it a SaaS company? Maybe. It's largest growth segment is Business Apps. It sells $700m of them.

5 Interesting Learnings: ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
#1. >Huge investment in marketing<

GoDaddy is a marketing engine, investing $439,000,000 (!) in marketing/ads in 2020. A bit of a challenge to the notion of the power of brand at scale.
They did acquire 1.4 million new customers for this $439m, or basically what they brought in in new bookings.

They don’t go profitable on new customers until Year 2, spending $1 to acquire $0.85 in annual bookings.

Churn is a bit murky, but obviously is the key lever here.
Read 8 tweets
12 Feb
Perhaps the #1 mistake I see startups make after $1m ARR is hiring a VP of Sales that is good ...

But not good for >their< startup. A mismatch.

And revenue then goes down, not up.

Here’s a 5 part test to make sure that doesn’t happen: 👇🏼
#1. Your VP of Sales should have lots of experience selling at your average ACV.

A great VP of Sales that has mainly sold $100k deals just isn’t going to make it at a $5k ACV start-up … no matter how strong they otherwise are.
Whatever your target ACV is for next year, that should be the #1 area your VP of Sales hire is good at.

Being good at a certain deal size also means you know how to manage the velocity, the pipeline, the opportunities needs, the hiring needs, etc. for that type of sale.
Read 10 tweets
10 Feb
Much talk of moving to Miami

But it seems to me the biggest geo change for “tech” is that every mature, profitable tech company may move to Texas

0% corporate taxes (some additional taxes, but)

See, e.g., DropBox, Oracle, HPE, Tesla, etc.

SF Bay Area may need that even more
With everyone going at least somewhat distributed, Salesforce the latest ...

If the CEO doesn’t want to live in SF & you’re profitable ... why pay highest corporate state taxes in U.S.?

The simplest way to boost earnings is just to move to TX (other states too but TX for many)
With even Salesforce cutting its SF office footprint, it may be that SF again becomes Startup Land

But the mature companies no longer stay in a semi-distributed world
Read 4 tweets
3 Feb
Okta is one of the more interesting Cloud / SaaS leaders, growing from its early roots as one of several Cloud identity vendors, to break-out leader today

It's now approaching $1B in ARR, growing a stunning 43% (!) ... and even accelerating!

5 Interesting Learnings:
#1. Still growing 43% at Almost $1B in ARR.

This really is a stunning growth rate, even faster than Slack, Zendesk, Hubspot & more at $1B in ARR.

It shows the size and scale of Cloud continues to just shock us.
#2. NRR at 123% -- And Going Up. 

Okta's NRR is a solid 123%, and is actually the highest it has been since IPO, and up from 118% a year ago. 

So, no, NRR doesn't have to come down as you scale.  Not at all.
Read 13 tweets
31 Jan
ServiceNow is a $100B (!) SaaS company most of us know only a little about

Its original product manages IT workflows in the enterprise

It's now at $5B in ARR, and >still< growing an incredible 32% YoY!

5 Interesting Learnings:
#1. Still growing 32% at $5B in ARR (!) This is pretty stunning, and justifies the $100B market cap.

Even at $5B in ARR, ServiceNow is still growing at 32% year-over-year.

This is as fast as Slack at $1B ARR.
To do this, ServiceNow has dramatically expanded its TAM, its deal size, and its product footprint over the years.

The "original" ServiceNow couldn't have gotten to $5B in ARR growing 32%.

Still, it shows TAM is what you make it.
Read 14 tweets

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