The Latest from SaaStr: 2022 Was a Terrible Year for SaaS IPOS

So this was a Truly Terrible, Very Bad, Just Plain Awful year for SaaS IPOs — and IPOs in general.  The IPO window is closed.  Shut, mostly. 

In fact, IPOs had their biggest slump since 2008.

IPO listing volume is down a stunning 93%(!) since 2021. 

Last year, it seemed like everyone at $100m+ ARR could IPO.  Today, it looks like almost no one will.  At least, not. for a while.  The downstream effects on venture capital and more are still to come.

And SPACs?  Well, they ended the year in a total disaster.

Despite economic headwinds, SaaS spending is still growing, with most companies having self-reported maintaining or increasing spending.

Amanda Malko, CMO at G2, shares insights and trends from research conducted this year that can help buyers and sellers make smarter decisions about software and the market going into 2023. 

RevenueCat (where I was lucky enough to be the first investor) automates subscription management for mobile apps.  It recently published its annual review of data from the 10,000+ mobile apps it powers subscription management for and I learned a few interesting things. 

Longer Trials Are Better.

This is always a debate, and RevenueCat is more focused on mobile apps that traditional browser / desktop apps.  But I still found the data very compelling.

They found that apps with longer trial periods converted better.

if you're thinking of attending the first SaaStr event of it's kind in APAC, be sure to get your tickets now as time is running out to and the ticket prices will go up by $100 on December 31st at midnight. 

Don't miss out on the inaugural SaaStr event for APAC in Singapore. We'll be brining some incredible speakers from the global SaaStr community with us.

Announcement of the full agenda is coming very soon, but here's a glimpse at some of the speaker you'll hear from:

• SVP and GM, APJ at Databricks 
• VP of APJ at Amplitude
• CEO & Co-Founder at Papaya Global 
• Global CSO at Xero 
• VP, Asia Pacific, G2
• CMO, Ahrefs 
• Plus leading investors from Bessemer Venture Partners, Altara VC, Carbide Ventures, B Capital, Accel, and Sequoia Capital

The other day Pete Kazanjy did a deep dive interview with me on a few topics we don’t touch on as often:

* How SaaStr got started

* How Adobe Sign / EchoSign got started

* SaaStr Fund and how it works

* Why you need mentors, and when to go long

* Why SaaS is still on fire — but why we’re seeing deceleration from buyers

And a bunch of fun stuff

Never.  Just turn it off.

Auto-renewal policies are definitively worth following.

You really don’t want to have to go back to a customer for an affirmative renewal every year unless you have to.

But you don’t want to ever threaten to sue a customer, or get into an uncomfortable position. If they don’t want to use your product anymore, you failed, and so be it.

Your sales and customer success teams are losing deals and customers due to backlogged integration requests.

But can you really justify spending months of development on each integration, when an embedded iPaaS can help offload 70% of the work?

There are a lot of factors to consider in this build vs. buy decision, and it's all outlined in this guide.

Tip the payment scales in your favor by being one of the first to unlock exclusive early access to BlueSnap's 2023 Payment Predictions eBook.

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