Clouded Judgement

OCTOBER 27, 2023

Subscribe now Cloud Giants Report Q3 ‘23 Not a great signal for software this week from the Cloud Giants (AWS, Azure and Google Cloud)…After Q2 (3 months ago), the tone from the Cloud Giants around optimizations was largely: optimizations have started to ease, and net new workloads have picked up. Staggering scale already.

Cost optimization & reporting 157

Cost optimization & reporting Cloud Azure AWS 157

Clouded Judgement

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

” Microsoft on Azure : “And I think last quarter, we said one, we are going to continue to have these cycles where people will build new workloads. Azure (excluding Azure AI) continued to decelerate, and while AWS did come in ahead of expectations, it wasn’t a blow out.

Cost optimization & reporting 167

Cost optimization & reporting Cloud Azure AWS 167

Clouded Judgement

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Hyperscaler Preview Next week Amazon, Microsoft and Google report earnings and we’ll see Q3 data for AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4).

Cloud 167

Cloud Azure AWS Software Review 167

Clouded Judgement

JANUARY 6, 2023

Cloud Downgrades This week UBS came out with a couple research reports citing concerns in AWS / Azure growth. This brings me back to AWS / Azure downgrades. This was the worst tone that we’ve heard in years from large AWS/Azure partners, a group that usually expresses different shades of optimism about AWS/Azure growth.”

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure AWS Underperforming Technical Team 130

Clouded Judgement

OCTOBER 28, 2022

Hyperscalers Report Quarterly Earnings This week we saw AWS (Amazon), GCP (Google) and Azure (Microsoft) report earnings. At the same time, Azure came in below expectations. Azure called out an incremental $800m of costs expected throughout the year (they just finished their Fiscal Q1).

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure AWS Cost optimization & reporting 130

Clouded Judgement

AUGUST 2, 2024

Cloud Giants Report Q2 We also got the Q2 quarters from AWS / Azure / GCP this week! Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4). Companies that do not disclose subscription rev have been left out of the analysis and are listed as NA.

Cloud 157

Cloud Azure GCP(Google Cloud Platform) AWS 157

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 22, 2024

Enterprise software businesses strive for 90-95% gross retention (generally the percent of revenue that sticks with you vs churns altogether), with net expansion in the 120%+ range (the aggregate change in expansion - contraction - churned revenue). Namely, retention!! The biggest culprit is describing non recurring revenue as ARR.

AI 190

AI Cloud Revenue Technical Advisors 190

Clouded Judgement

JANUARY 27, 2023

Azure (Microsoft) Quarter The week the first of the cloud giants reported - Azure. Early Look at 2023 Guides Given the Azure weakness reported on Tuesday, all software tumbled Wednesday morning with most names down 5-10%. Companies that do not disclose subscription rev have been left out of the analysis and are listed as NA.

Cloud 144

Cloud Azure Pricing Subscription 144

Clouded Judgement

APRIL 28, 2023

AWS (Amazon), Azure (Microsoft), and Google Cloud (Google) all reported this week. Azure reported on Tuesday and gave us that glimmer of hope. Azure : Coming into the quarter, a growth rate that would have satisfied the market would have been ~29%. Azure came in at 31% (constant currency). Follow along to stay up to date!

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure AWS AI Search 130

Clouded Judgement

JUNE 9, 2023

Expansion revenue is still declining (we see this in falling net retention rates), but gross retention remains strong. Usage on Snowflake is driven by queries run on Snowflake Azure: Neutral Tone With Strength in AI Overall I’d characterize Azure’s quarter as a net positive.

Trends 130

Trends Cloud Azure AWS 130

Clouded Judgement

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

Microsoft launched Azure in 2010, and Google launched GCP to the public in 2011 (they launched a preview of Google App Engine in 2008, but made it publicly available in 2011). Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4).

Cloud 176

Cloud GCP(Google Cloud Platform) AWS Azure 176

Clouded Judgement

MAY 10, 2024

All 3 (AWS, Azure, GCP) saw positive reacceleration Quarterly Reports Summary Top 10 EV / NTM Revenue Multiples Top 10 Weekly Share Price Movement Update on Multiples SaaS businesses are generally valued on a multiple of their revenue - in most cases the projected revenue for the next 12 months.

Cloud 167

Cloud Software GCP(Google Cloud Platform) Azure 167

Clouded Judgement

AUGUST 4, 2023

You can see more detail about their net new ARR added each quarter below Azure Growth came in at 27%, and guided to 25-26% growth for Q3. Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4).

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure AWS Cost optimization & reporting 130

Clouded Judgement

MAY 31, 2024

This can lead to an airpocket of valuation as companies transition to a different primary valuation metric Outside of the hypserscalers (Azure, AWS, GCP) who have uniquely benefited from AI revenue (mainly selling compute), everyone else has largely struggled. Coming in to Q1 there was broader optimism. Q4’s were generally good!

Cloud 184

Cloud Software GCP(Google Cloud Platform) AI 184

Clouded Judgement

APRIL 21, 2023

Next week we get all 3 hyperscalers reporting (AWS from Amazon, Azure from Microsoft, and GCP from Google). Let’s double click on Azure. Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4). The Q4 ‘22 growth rate was 38% YoY.

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure AWS GCP(Google Cloud Platform) 130

Clouded Judgement

JULY 28, 2023

AI = Data + Compute I’ll continue beating this drum, but we got two great quotes from Azure and AWS this week. This week we had two of the hypserscalers report (Microsoft / Azure and Google / GCP), and everyone was eager to see their results. Lots to unpack, I’ll hit on a couple of my favorite topics from this week below.

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure AWS GCP(Google Cloud Platform) 130

Clouded Judgement

MAY 26, 2023

Azure / Confluent / Datadog reported a few weeks back (they all had March quarter ends), and their commentary suggested the worst was behind us. Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4). ie instead of storing 5 years of data they store 3 years.

Cloud 144

Cloud Azure Trends Forecasting 144

Clouded Judgement

JUNE 20, 2023

net retention and CAC payback). On the Microsoft earnings call they said (related to Azure): “But at some point, workloads just can't be optimized much further. On the other hand, if your net revenue retention is 120%, you only need to grow new logo revenue 10% to be a “high growth” business.

Cloud 167

Cloud Software Benchmarks Scale 167

Clouded Judgement

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

Hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP as companies look for cloud GPUs who aren’t building out their own data centers) Infra (Data layer, orchestration, monitoring, ops, etc) Durable Applications We’ve clearly well underway of the first 3 layers monetizing. Model providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc as companies start building out AI).

Cloud 190

Cloud Artificial Intelligence GCP(Google Cloud Platform) AI 190

Clouded Judgement

AUGUST 11, 2023

The good news is gross retention (ie churn) stayed constant. If next quarter we get similar commentary that Azure gave us this quarter (“still a couple quarters away” without any specific guidance), then we may see market loose a little patience. The weakness they called out was from larger cloud-native businesses.

Cloud 130

Cloud Trends Azure GCP(Google Cloud Platform) 130

OpenView Labs

FEBRUARY 9, 2021

But growing with a usage-model is not as straightforward as traditional subscription SaaS. Though it was pioneered in the infrastructure layer (think: AWS and Azure), it’s becoming increasingly popular for API-based products and application software. Snowflake in particular is off the charts with a 158% net dollar retention.

Scale 98

Scale Pricing Scaling AWS 98

User Pilot

APRIL 30, 2024

Appcues enhances user onboarding, adoption , and retention with targeted walkthroughs, in-app messaging, and feature adoption tools. Quickbooks and Xero are accounting SaaS products that help you send invoices, track expenses, and process payroll. You don’t handle maintenance or updates. What are the benefits of the SaaS model?

SaaS Payments 104

SaaS Payments Payment Methods Payment Services Payment Solutions 104

Clouded Judgement

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Maybe with the exception of hyperscalers (particularly Azure). Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4). Companies that do not disclose subscription rev have been left out of the analysis and are listed as NA. And the median guide is 0.4%

Software Review 167

Software Review Cloud Software Azure 167

Clouded Judgement

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

In the short term, enjoy the ride as the chase continues 😊 Kind of related to all of this - we now have seen the Q4’s from AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4). Lots of deceleration in growth.

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure AWS Generative AI 130

Clouded Judgement

FEBRUARY 17, 2023

As you can tell, there’s a BIG drop-off projected in 2023 Like Azure, they called for a big slowdown of consumption trends in the month of December. Most public companies don’t report net new ARR, so I’m taking an implied ARR metric (quarterly subscription revenue x 4).

Cloud 130

Cloud Azure Subscription Revenue 130

OPEXEngine

DECEMBER 7, 2021

The pricing model, which leads to increases or decreases in revenue based on how much customers engage with a service, has been gaining on the more traditional subscription model as the main way SaaS companies make money. It has tended to be used most in infrastructure platforms, like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. Enterprise companies.

Payment Features 52

Payment Features Subscription Pricing Venture Capital 52

Chart Mogul

APRIL 7, 2022

Data editing tools make it possible to attain perfect accuracy from your billing data, and consequently, your subscription analytics. Grow your recurring revenue with ChartMogul. Growing a subscription business is hard work. ChartMogul is offering all of those features at a lower price. The list goes on.

Payment Features 52

Payment Features Systems Review Churn Azure 52

Chart Mogul

JUNE 16, 2022

Customer data is spread across multiple platforms: CRM, communication, billing, and subscription analytics. Now you can send revenue and subscription data associated with your customer in ChartMogul directly to Intercom. Now you can send revenue and subscription data associated with your customer in ChartMogul directly to Intercom.

Payments 52

Payments Data Azure Payment Methods 52

Chart Mogul

DECEMBER 20, 2022

With our new destinations, you can send your clean and tidy revenue data to be combined with other data points in: Amazon S3, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure , Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, or Google BigQuery. Net and Gross MRR Retention Rates. Net and Gross MRR Retention Rates are often considered the most important metrics and SaaS.

Systems Review 52

Systems Review Payment Solutions Payments Azure 52

SaaS Metrics

JUNE 10, 2019

However, it becomes a real concern when you are looking for the cheapest subscription plans. Numerous security tools are needed when you are paying remotely through your credit card and low-end providers might not have the security system in place to safeguard sensitive financial information. User-level Data Security.

VPCs (Virtual Private Cloud) 40

VPCs (Virtual Private Cloud) Technical Review SaaS Systems Review 40

Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 31, 2019

The most triumphant transfer of control from an original generation leader to a new CEO was surely that of Microsoft, which pivoted from chasing after Apple’s success in the consumer space under Steve Ballmer (don’t mention Nokia ) to successfully focusing on the cloud under Satya Nadella (please do mention Azure).

Payment Solutions 259

Payment Solutions Payment Methods Software SaaS Payments 259

SmartKarrot

APRIL 13, 2020

Managing a portfolio of a few hundred customers and interacting directly with customers via phone, he/she will help at-risk customers promote overall customer satisfaction, product adoption, retention, and renewals mainly in the small business and very small business segment. They call Customer Success Outcome Management at Smarsh.

Customer Success 8

Customer Success Azure Retention Leadership 8

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

Then, we moved to a more customer-friendly model with SaaS and subscription-based pricing. What’s evolved over the years and is driven by hyper-scalers like Google Azure, AWS, Twilio, and Stripe is the consumption-based model. In this approach, you’re paying a lot to reps for retention.

Compensation 182

Compensation Sales Azure AWS 182

Full Session

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Mixpanel and Amplitude can analyze user journeys, conversion rates, and drop-offs, measure user engagement, and identify retention drivers. Increasing retention rates. Mixpanel connects to 50+ popular software, including Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Hubspot, Microsoft Azure, Optimizely, Slack, Snowflake, and Zendesk.

Software Review 52

Software Review Underperforming Technical Team Business Technical Review 52

Full Session

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Increasing retention rates. Mixpanel also offers a decent list of integrations, with over 50 apps, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Hubspot, Slack, Snowflake, and Zendesk. The plan includes 45 days of data retention. This tier includes 90 days of data retention. Gathering web analytics data.

Software Review 52

Software Review Sales Hiring Technical Review Underperforming Technical Team 52

SaaStr

AUGUST 22, 2020

This will be a really strong indicator of retention and recruiting. I think that there is probably another couple orders of magnitude of growth in these markets, which is why I don’t get that energized by like, “Okay, is Azure in the lead? It’s easy to buy more and it’s easy to have recurring subscriptions.

Sales Recruiting 213

Sales Recruiting Cloud CTO Hire Sales Hiring 213

Clouded Judgement

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

” “Azure OpenAI usage more than doubled over the past 6 months” “GitHub Copilot enterprise customers increased 55% quarter-over-quarter” Google on AI “Gemini API calls have grown nearly 14x in a 6-month period.” This will be the fastest business in our history to reach this milestone.”

AI 167

AI Cloud Technical Advisors AWS 167