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Aloha! The First Things Things of 2024
Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech & Live Events:
1. Do the thing at the start of the year, season, or quarter, not at the end.
We started TicketManager on Sept 27, 2007. End of a quarter and end of year
We raised one of our rounds on Nov 1. End of year in final quarter
It’s a really small thing, but we’ve had to explain it quite often when talking about YoY trends
It costs nothing to wait until the start of a new cycle, quarter, or year. There’s plenty to explain along the way. I don’t need something else.
2. The great RFP awakening.
2023 was a year of correction for SaaS businesses. Growth slowed for many, NRR dropped, Net Expansion went off a cliff (see chart), layoffs were rampant, FCF was king, and profitability mattered once again
But something else happened too:
Discipline in services returned.
growth-at-all-costs businesses learned that growth has a cost. And it changed customer expectations.
Customer after customer came to us looking to switch vendors. The problem, the deals they were offering were money losers. I saw it in so many businesses too, specifically SaaS, Agencies, and live events.
Investors were eating that loss in the name of future profits only they learned those profits weren’t coming.
Now those customers are wandering the market looking for someone to respond to their RFP terms.
Our answer has always been the same: No thanks. Suggest the same for you. Business is best when everyone is healthy. We're not going to pay $100 for something and sell it for $90.
3. Covid tried to kill the multi-year deal.
SaaS TCV bookings targets got smashed this year as customers felt burned being stuck in multi-year deals over Covid.
See #2 on this one. Don’t break the math. Do what will grow your business into a healthy vendor your customers can rely on. Let your competitors repeat the mistakes of the past. Once in a one year, companies don't go to multi year.
4. Stars like confetti.
I hope you had a terrific holiday.
The fallen world is built to tear down beauty.
But when God shows it in moments, in people, and in nature, man is it breathtaking.
As Rustin Cohle proclaimed when looking at the vastness of the dark night sky in True Detective: “Once there was only dark, if you ask me the light's winning”
Happy New Year.
#TeamLight
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By Tony Knopp
5
11 ratings
Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech & Live Events:
1. Do the thing at the start of the year, season, or quarter, not at the end.
We started TicketManager on Sept 27, 2007. End of a quarter and end of year
We raised one of our rounds on Nov 1. End of year in final quarter
It’s a really small thing, but we’ve had to explain it quite often when talking about YoY trends
It costs nothing to wait until the start of a new cycle, quarter, or year. There’s plenty to explain along the way. I don’t need something else.
2. The great RFP awakening.
2023 was a year of correction for SaaS businesses. Growth slowed for many, NRR dropped, Net Expansion went off a cliff (see chart), layoffs were rampant, FCF was king, and profitability mattered once again
But something else happened too:
Discipline in services returned.
growth-at-all-costs businesses learned that growth has a cost. And it changed customer expectations.
Customer after customer came to us looking to switch vendors. The problem, the deals they were offering were money losers. I saw it in so many businesses too, specifically SaaS, Agencies, and live events.
Investors were eating that loss in the name of future profits only they learned those profits weren’t coming.
Now those customers are wandering the market looking for someone to respond to their RFP terms.
Our answer has always been the same: No thanks. Suggest the same for you. Business is best when everyone is healthy. We're not going to pay $100 for something and sell it for $90.
3. Covid tried to kill the multi-year deal.
SaaS TCV bookings targets got smashed this year as customers felt burned being stuck in multi-year deals over Covid.
See #2 on this one. Don’t break the math. Do what will grow your business into a healthy vendor your customers can rely on. Let your competitors repeat the mistakes of the past. Once in a one year, companies don't go to multi year.
4. Stars like confetti.
I hope you had a terrific holiday.
The fallen world is built to tear down beauty.
But when God shows it in moments, in people, and in nature, man is it breathtaking.
As Rustin Cohle proclaimed when looking at the vastness of the dark night sky in True Detective: “Once there was only dark, if you ask me the light's winning”
Happy New Year.
#TeamLight