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The SaaS Era of 2013-2022 is Over. Welcome to The World of Hyperfunctional SaaS.

SaaStr

But it’s already starting in the contact center, where leaders from Zendesk to Gorgias to Intercom to Talkdesk are automating away 30%-50% of contact center headcount. And a related SaaStr great deep dive with Parker Conrad, founder CEO of Rippling, here: The post The SaaS Era of 2013-2022 is Over. Maybe, maybe not.

AI Search 306
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As You Scale, About Half Your Team Will Be in Sales and Marketing

SaaStr

Sales-driven SaaS startups end up with about half their headcount in sales and marketing. — Jason BeKind Lemkin (@jasonlk) February 17, 2022. 2x the sales headcount you thought you did to hit the full plan for this year, and Q1 of next year. It sounds high at first, until you realize that's just how the math works.

Scale 352
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Top 10 Insights from the 2022 Startup Sentiment Survey

Tom Tunguz

Over the past week, I’ve analyzed the nearly 500 responses from founders who responded to the 2022 Market Conditions Survey. Top 10 Insights from the 2022 Startup Sentiment Survey. About 20% of those polled will conduct a layoff, and on average will reduce headcount by 20%. The typical founder feels 6.0

Startup 242
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The Typical Startup Saw a 24% Increase in Sales Cycle in 2023

Tom Tunguz

The average startup saw a 24% increase in sales cycle from early 2022 to 2023. The antidote: greater pipeline-to-quota coverage ratios by either increasing the top of the funnel or reducing the account executive headcount. Sales cycles shifted dramatically in 2023. 60 day sales cycles are now 75 days.

Startup 350
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How Layoffs in Startupland Differ Between B2B & B2C Companies

Tom Tunguz

B2B companies have reduced headcount to a greater extent than at any time since 2020. The current wave of layoffs, a difficult component of the innovation boom/bust cycle, differs from the previous years’ dynamics. In the last three years, B2C startups’ ratio of layoffs have dwarfed B2B layoffs. In 2020, B2C companies cut 8.8x

B2C 321
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5 Interesting Learnings from Okta at $2 Billion in ARR

SaaStr

Slowing headcount growth — like lots of others. Okta headcount grew 32% year-over-year, fairly consistent with revenue growth, but then Okta like others slowed down hiring. Okta is seeing higher SMB churn and more ROI scrutiny, but is also benefitting from some customers wanting to centralize on fewer core vendors.

Scale 318
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5 Interesting Learnings from Monday.com at $550,000,000 in ARR

SaaStr

From $11m in annual revenue in 2017 to $500m+ in 2022. Like many tech companies, Monday added a ton of headcount in 2021. It then added only 63 employees last quarter, and plans to continue with very slow headcount for a while. They’ve clearly pushed hard on efficiency and it’s working. #4.

Headcount 322