91 SaaS survivors
2 mins read
It's hard to talk about SaaS this week without looking at this chart:
I won't even try to define this moment (downturn, recession, selloff, etc). Nor will I try to predict what's next. Multiples have been cut in half since November, half of the 2021 tech IPOs are trading down 50%+, and VC Twitter sentiment is as low as I've seen.
To calibrate today, I'm looking back ~14 years.
Pulled a quick list of 91 growing SaaS companies founded in 2007-2009.
Some iconic companies started then:
A few things I noticed about the group:
They hired a little more conservatively this year versus our broader index. Median Y/Y growth of 24% vs 40%.
Lots of them have an owned community. 58% vs 41% in broader index.
They have slightly smaller sales teams. 15% vs 16% of headcount.
Lots of them have a product-led motion. 77% vs 65% in broader index.
They have big audiences. Average LI followers 98K vs 65K in broader index.
This group is interesting because they were born in a recession (and survived).
They were reading “RIP Good Times” while raising their Seed or A. They were watching markets plunge as they launched. They were selling early customers as budgets locked.