#11 Clubhouse revolution. Ikea evolution. SaaS valuations. Why BMW and Audi cancel subscriptions.

February 1, 2021

Why this newsletter. Link

Archive of previous issues. Link

Manually curated by @luigimallardo

I wrote a new post that I wanted to share.

Going upmarket in B2B SaaS ->

In B2B SaaS going upmarket is often the only way to keep on growing at a decent rate over time. Many founders and operators still struggle with that idea and often they miss the execution of the most appropriate game plan. Link.

News on SaaSed-up companies 🗞

If I were in Twitter's shoes I would not be sleeping all night because of the rise of Clubhouse. You should check out. Link.

Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

News on SaaSing-up companies 📈

"We are creating the Ikea of the future". After spending most of its more than 75-year existence as a retailer operating huge destination-stores, the Swedish chain is rapidly moving from its one-size-fits-all strategy to a multi-tiered network of stores that include in-store urban locations and even neighborhood shops specializing in design services or as places to pick up orders placed online. It will have all three formats in five key cities by 2024, it says. Link.

Apple’s Self-Driving Electric Car Is at Least Half a Decade Away. Link.

News on to-be-SaaSed-up companies 📉

BMW, Audi, Merc cancel subscriptions. “The approach of the OEM’s overseas appears to have been ‘build it and they will come’, but they have forgotten that subscription is very different to retailing. Link.

SaaS companies

The average SaaS business is trading at 22.6x revenue. Also of note, 60% of companies are trading at 10x revenue or greater (all time high). Link.

Tomas Tunguz undercovered some really interesting insight around the valuation topic that is worth reading as well. Link.

New definition of ARR. Everyone today wants to claim they have ARR because the valuations are higher. There’s a newer ARR metric for SaaS companies called cARR, which is contracted ARR, or the annualized value of the contracts signed but not deployed. That number is typically larger and provides a bigger number to multiply, hence a higher valuation. Link.

Sales. The new question should be not “is your sales process repeatable?” but “is it optimizing?” And never “optimized,” because you’re never done. Link.

Interesting reads 📖

Consumer subscriptions. Contrary to popular belief, subscription pricing doesn’t work because of the lower price point that a monthly installment allows. It’s effective because a subscription reorients each customer’s mind from product function to value proposition. Link.

Enterprise software. Digital business, led by projects with a short Time to Value, will get more money and board level attention going into 2021.” Gartner has increased its estimates for global enterprise and IT spend for 2021 and 2022, with Enterprise Software and SaaS the biggest beneficiary, projected to grow a stunning 10.2% in 2022. Link.

The age of the electric vehicle is much more than just a switch of technology. Link.

An Epitaph for Intrapreneurship. Why big companies should not try to act like startups. Link.