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The Series A Valuation Report

Below is aggregate data on these raises with names redacted to preserve confidentiality. Figures like revenue, valuation, and round size are medians from conversations with founders. Remember the valuations and revenue multiples presented aren’t necessarily what the founders got, but rather it’s what they asked for when talking to VC.

July 30, 2019

Private SaaS Company Valuations: 2019

Long-time readers of our work may recall we have strived to shed a light on the opaque, confusing, and volatile practice of valuing private SaaS companies. As we near the mid-point of 2019, we thought it would be good to check on current private company valuation multiples.

July 23, 2019

Venture Funding Alive and Well in 2019, Funding to Female Founded Firms Trending Upwards to an Astronomical 6% of Last Year’s Total VC Funding

In the first half of 2019, total VC deal values hit $66B and is nearly on pace to match 2018’s record of $134.7B, according to the latest report released by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. The size of VC funding deals continues to trend upward, while angel and early stage investing is holding its own in terms of the number of deals.

July 18, 2019

What’s the “Cause of Death” in Your Churn Reporting?

In looking at this issue across several companies, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend / missed opportunity in how many SaaS companies classify the reason for customer churn. Roughly speaking, if companies were hospitals, they’d too frequently be reporting the cause of death as “stopped breathing.”

July 16, 2019

Top 5 SaaS Metrics Investors Want To See – By Venture Stage

If you don’t prepare ahead of time, you could get stuck not producing the top 5 SaaS metrics that investors want to see when they’re considering whether to invest in your next round. Not preparing the right SaaS metrics by venture stage for your VCs can ultimately reduce valuation, or even kill your fund raise.

July 9, 2019

The Fundraising Environment In 2019 - Three Major Shifts

In a recent meeting, a founder asked me what I thought of the fundraising environment. My answer was: it’s become incredibly sophisticated along three dimensions: diversity of product offering, pricing sophistication, and efficiency of investment processes.If you read eBoys or Done Deals or Creative Capital, you’ll get a sense of the early days of the venture industry. It started out with six men at a famous restaurant in San Francisco hearing pitches over lunch. None of them could afford to lead the entire round, so they would syndicate and take turns on the board. That was the “industry.”

July 2, 2019

What does it take to achieve extraordinary SaaS B2B valuation multiples? Zscaler Example

What does it take to achieve extraordinary SaaS B2B valuation multiples? A big market and performance indicators showing that the company can acquire customers at a fast pace. In addition, it is valuable to show that your company can support/maintain customers with a low cost of revenue. Even better when your metrics show gains in all the right directions over time. Getting to the point where you can deliver that kind of performance requires critical focus on all the levers across the business: from lead generation through customer success and renewal to product development.

June 27, 2019

Don’t obsess over Average Contract Value

Average Contract Value is (“ACV”) is a vanity metric that should be looked at as part of a group of ratios that include number of qualified leads, close ratio, sales cycle, and other critical sales metrics. It shouldn’t be put on a pedestal. Here is why:

June 25, 2019

SaaS Metrics Aren't Just For Investors. You Need Them, Too.

I often talk about B2B SaaS metrics from the perspective of what investors want. If you don’t have easy access to the metrics they expect (or, worse, if they’re wrong), your valuation could suffer, and that’s the last thing SaaS founders, CEOs and CFOs want to hear. But on occasion, I’ll hear prospects say they don’t need SaaS metrics because they’re not raising capital yet. That’s when I realized we need to talk more about the value metrics and analytics brings to operating your business and making data-driven decisions.

June 18, 2019