What a difference. It makes one year. If you’re looking for proof, look no further than OpenView Venture Partners’ 2022 SaaS benchmarks report, which couldn’t be more different from the 2021 edition.
Both reports come from an annual survey of SaaS companies, and with 660 global respondents, the 2022 sample looks no different than last year. But boy has his mood changed.
Among other findings we’ll get into soon, OpenView found that “the majority of respondents are cutting costs regardless of the cash runway.
This desire to cut the financial burn is the answer to the public SaaS selloff and the resulting “whiplash”. Given the macro concerns, there is no reason to think that it will not continue for some time, which explains why companies are preparing.
Founders don’t just need to cut burn — they also need to transform their startups into the kind of companies that investors will back, and that’s not the same as in 2020 or 2021.
But then, what does a great SaaS company look like these days? And how to be one? Well, metrics are a good start to answering these questions – knowing what the top of the class is doing can help other entrepreneurs steer their companies in the right direction.
OpenView has some tips on the nitty-gritty, which we discussed with the report’s co-authors, working partner Kyle Poyar and senior director of development Curt Townshend.
“One thing we’ve seen in talking to CFOs and looking at the data is that it’s a tough time to be a founder today — and you need to know exactly where you are,” Townshend said. You are about to deposit your dollar.
Let’s explore what the answer(s) might be.
