Hey SaaStr Community,

So, things are brutal in the public markets, with multiples approaching all-time lows.

But … we’re seeing those very low prices bring out the Private Equity firms.  They are looking for bargains.  The latest is Coupa. 

In fact, this one was such a bargain that a bidding war broke out between two of the mighty giants here, Vista and Thoma Bravo. 

Thoma Bravo won, agreeing to take Coupa private for $8 Billion. 

When 2 of the giants in PE, in the midst of a huge downturn, enter into a bidding war … that’s a sign.  A sign many of those with the biggest checkbooks in SaaS think things will get substantially better.

No way, you say?

So I’ve written a bit about a topic that a lot of folks challenge me on.  But look, it’s true.

Customer Success has gotten worse over the past few years. 

Much worse.

The best Customer Success teams are still amazing. They jump on a problem like a grenade. They truly solve your problem. Often, in a way the software itself can’t. They are amazing.  They are the great gifts in SaaS.

But most CS folks don’t do this anymore. The quality of the average CS experience I’ve had over the past decade has deteriorated as SaaS has grown.

This edition of the SaaStr weekly is sponsored in part by BlueSnap

Cooley is one of the top law firms representing startups, and so they have data that no one else quite has. 

They know exactly what venture deals are priced at, exactly how many are happening, and exactly what is happening across 100s and 100s of leading startups.

Other data sources are great, but law firms have a unique access to the exact, real data.  Everyone else is scanning public filings and making some educated guesses.

And what Cooley has seen for later-stage VC rounds is pretty brutal.  More brutal than I thought, in fact.  You can see the simply massive decline in the total amounts of VC capital raised this year.

Workshop Wednesdays are back this week! 

And we'll have none other than SaaStr's own CEO + Founder, Jason Lemkin, host a workshop on 8 Ideas On How to Motivate The Sales Team After a Rough Patch.

If you haven't attended Workshop Wednesday yet, these are live, interactive, 30-minute sessions with tons of audience participation and live Q&A. 

So with the end of the year coming up again, it’s time to once again update a classic SaaStr post.  It may even be our official SaaStr Holiday post, really.

On why the best sales teams just close so much on the last day of the year

(be it Dec 31 for many of you, Jan 31 for others).

When there really is no need to buy then … at all. 

Not really. 

Especially these days, when in most categories, things are just harder than at the start of the year.  Sometimes, a whole lot tougher.

SaaS metrics can be more confusing than one might think.  What if some of the revenue doesn’t recur?  What if the client never deploys?  What if a customer churns, but is on an annual contract?  Is that just a blip in our NPS?

I hear you.  Still, let me share 6 flags that when I see and hear them … I worry.  And I never invest when I see these flags

1. ARR always = 12x MRR Always.  Look, ARR and MRR aren’t really GAAP metrics.  But MRR is just a monthly snapshot of your recurring revenue for this month, and ARR is really just a projection of that across the current and following 12 months.  So ARR is just 12x your MRR.  If you start playing games, or excluding some customers from one of the categories (ARR or MRR) … which I see a lot … everyone will just get confused.

Your revenue targets aren’t changing, but the world around you is. Small tweaks at every stage of the revenue cycle can help you stay on target no matter what is thrown your way. 

Starting with inbound leads, Chief Marketing Officer at SalesLoft, Lauren Vaccarello, shares secrets for optimizing your process, nailing handoffs, and increasing efficiency all the way through implementation.

You’ll leave armed with ideas to get the most out of your entire revenue motion. 

Let’s begin with the understatement of the century — sales is really tough, especially these days. Everyone is being asked to do more with less, so how do you maximize impact across the board? 

Vendr is looking for a Director of Revenue Operations who has the

proven ability to lead and scale Sales/Revenue Operations of significant scope through growth periods. As well as be able to collaborate with Revenue Leaders to develop, align, and implement territory assignments, sales/compensation plans, and quotas.

Remote is seeking a Strategic Account Manager who can help the Remote team connect with key stakeholders and go “deep and wide” within existing customer accounts. As well as confidently make cold calls to build pipelines - irrespective of those accounts being prospects or existing customers.

• SaaStr 615: Where Venture Capital Really is Right Now, With Accel, Iconiq Growth, and Salesforce Ventures at G2 Reach

• SaaStr 616: Secrets to SMB at Scale with HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan and SaaStr Founder & CEO Jason Lemkin
  
• SaaStr 617: SaaStr CRO Confidential Presents: Rippling VP of Sales Matt Plank on How to Ramp Up Sales in the Early Days. Hosted by Founders Fund Partner Sam Blond

Listen on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts or Spotify

The fact that most high-growth SaaS companies have to approach $1B in ARR to get truly profitable is a bit insane if you really think about it

If you're not working harder in sales now than you did at the start of the year,

You're doing it wrong

Everyone's being told to cut marketing just to short-term demand gen spend

Stuff that gets you leads right now

That's OK

Just bear in mind, you'll be paying the price in late '23 and early '24

The gold rush for tech is over for a while at least

No massive secondaries, no tender offers

No growth investors offering to buy out employees at $2B, $7B

So just go join something great,

And enjoy it

© SaaStr 2022

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