Upfront’s Kobie Fuller has designed an investment framework for modern enterprise software

Coby Fuller, a partner at Upfront Ventures, had the idea that there are certain characteristics that every successful enterprise software company shares. That’s not something that can be easily measured or identified, and you might think that it’s not something that any investor knows or feels when they see it. But Fuller decided to sit down and figure out what those components were, and created the framework he released today.

What Fuller came up with is called FABRIC, a way to measure and understand which enterprise software companies are likely to be most successful. “Fabric represents my overall exploration of how I think about software and invest in it for the next ten years,” Fuller told TechCrunch.

There are six elements he thinks are important for companies to prioritize and stand out, including fast, addictive, bold, rewarding, integrated and community-based.

While it’s not necessary for every company to have these features right out of the gate, it does give them a basis for thinking about enterprise software companies in which to invest. I put out there what anyone building the next generation of enterprise software companies should think about – and use as a guide for how to build their business within their companies.

Fuller believes that with tens of thousands of SaaS companies now in existence and the number growing, companies need to think about how they stand out and what makes buyers and users turn to a solution. It should be fast and fun to use, something that users will trust and return to.

He uses the word AddictiveBut what he means is that the software has to be designed in a way that is useful and easy to use and you come back, you design the software in a way that lights up the industry. his head. That sums up the first three elements of being fast, addictive and daring.

Beyond all that, you should be reimbursed; Helping you complete a task faster means you are getting your work done faster. It should also integrate with your existing technology systems and your teams and workflows. Finally, there needs to be a community around you that helps you and makes you feel a part of using that software.

All this may seem like common sense, but building software that does all the work is easy. Once you do it and start selling it within the organization, your users will buy into the idea of ​​this company completely, making it incredibly difficult to stop using it or sell the same service to another vendor.

One startup that embodies this idea is FIMA, the company that Adobe is trying to buy for $20 billion. “Shukma encompasses all these elements of fabric – they’re fast, they’re addictive, they’re bold, they’re value-for-money. They are deeply integrated and have built an incredible career and community from day one.”

Fuller is documenting what he learned while building a company and becoming an investor. Prior to joining Upfront Ventures, Fuller was Chief Marketing Officer at Revolve, an L.A. fashion e-commerce company.

“Some of the principles we learn from these can be applied to all of our general background, experience, especially in [working with] “I’m trying to distill it into something that’s very simple, very, very powerful, that consumers and anyone can access and then allow a common language to create software,” Fuller said.