enterprise SaaS

11 statements across 11 episodes · 2 bullish · 4 bearish · 11 people on the record · first statement Oct 28, 2015 by Marvin Liao · across every show →

Everything said about enterprise SaaS, oldest first

Oct 28, 2015
Disclosure
Liao requires $10K-$50K MRR before investing in enterprise SaaS startups
“Like, I won't look at a pre-launch sort of like enterprise SaaS company. I want to see something in the range of 10 to sometimes 50,000 dollars a month in recurring revenue.”
Marvin Liao Oct 28, 2015 ▶ 13:23 20 VC 083: 500 Startups Week: New Funds, Startup Mentoring and Dave's Masterplan with Marvin Liao, Partner @ 500 Startups
Jul 28, 2017 negative
Insight
"Move Fast and Break Things" Fails for SOX-Compliant SaaS Startups
“The idea of move fast and break things really doesn't work if you need to be SOX compliant, and if you're asking your customers to trust you with their financials.”
Nathan Wenzel Jul 28, 2017 ▶ 6:11 20VC: Construct Your Fundraising Process To Get 3 Term Sheets in 36 Hours, Why Slow and Steady Can Be Best For Startups & Why All Startups Must Know Their Zero Cash Day with Nathan Wenzel, Founder & CEO @ SimpleLegal
Jan 22, 2018
Assertion Supported
Eurie Kim: Average Enterprise SaaS M&A Multiple Since 2015 Was 3.5x-4x
“We actually recently came across some analysis that showed that all the enterprise SaaS M&A deals done since 2015, the average revenue multiple of those deals was three and a half to four X.”
Eurie Kim Jan 22, 2018 ▶ 5:35 20VC: Why Brands Can Have The Same Revenue Multiples As Enterprise Companies & The Right Way To Think About Amazon In Today's World of Commerce with Eurie Kim, General Partner @ Forerunner Ventures
Jul 15, 2019 neutral
Insight
Subotovsky: Enterprise SaaS requires solving business problems, not just pleasing users
“If you don't do that, if you're not solving a real business problem, and you're just solving something that the end user wants, but that's it, you're not going to be able to build a true enterprise company.”
Santi Subotovsky Jul 15, 2019 ▶ 20:54 20VC: Zoom From Series A to IPO, How VCs Can Provide CEOs with Additional Leverage and Why The Negative Effects of Signalling Are Very Real with Santi Subotovsky, General Partner @ Emergence Capital
May 6, 2022
Insight
Lemkin: Enterprise SaaS founders remain head of sales until $10M ARR
“In true enterprise, like real enterprise, the founder is often the VP of sales until ten million.”
Jason Lemkin May 6, 2022 ▶ 18:27 20VC: Why the Traditional Seed Fund Model No Longer Works, Why Multi-Stage Funds Investing at Seed Bring Signaling Risk but also Less Pressure, The One Criteria All Potential Sales Hires Need to Have and The Clear Signs of 10x Sales Hires with Jason Lemki
Jan 31, 2024 neutral
Insight
Kellogg: Good CAC ratio benchmark is 1.5 for enterprise, 1.0 for SMB
“I'd say a 1.5 or less is in enterprise. I mean, here we are back to your question. The bigger the deals, the more permission you have. So an enterprise, I might go one five. In SMB, I might go one O.”
Dave Kellogg Jan 31, 2024 ▶ 9:34 Dave Kellogg: How to Forecast in 2024 & Why CaC Payback is Flawed and CAC Ratio is Better | E1110 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Feb 2, 2024 negative
Insight
Will Wu: Enterprise SaaS succeeds by serving buyers, not end users
“I mean, it's like an enterprise SaaS product, and they can have a really successful product because they're solving the right needs for an enterprise customer, another company that they're selling to, but I don't know if that product was designed from the grou…”
Will Wu Feb 2, 2024 ▶ 17:56 Will Wu: Top Five Product Lessons from Creating Snapchat "Discover" and "Chat" | E1111 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Dec 6, 2024 positive
Insight
Bookman: High gross retention is the most critical metric in SaaS
“And the whole game in enterprise SaaS is high gross retention. Let's just be clear. The whole game is high gross retention. You look at a lot of companies, if they're in the, you know, seventies, eighties, good luck. I don't want that business.”
Zachary Bookman Dec 6, 2024 ▶ 6:11 Zachary Bookman: Why Valuations and Fundraising are BS | E1235 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Jul 28, 2025 positive
Insight
Casado: AGI won't eliminate enterprise SaaS because humans are already AGIs
“I mean, I would say humans are AGI and we still invest in enterprise SaaS.”
Martin Casado Jul 28, 2025 ▶ 1:05:10 a16z GP, Martin Casado: Anthropic vs OpenAI & Why Open Source is a National Security Risk with China · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Apr 27, 2026 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Adam Foroughi: Enterprise SaaS Market Sell-Off Is Not Over Yet
“So in a way, I would say not only is it fair because of the risks that exist, I'm not sure it's actually done yet. You know, again, I'm not a trader of businesses, but I do think we're going to go through material changes in the market, especially when it come…”
Adam Foroughi Apr 27, 2026 ▶ 1:00:38 AppLovin CEO: Why Founders Shouldn't Angel Invest & Why the Best Don't Need Mentorship · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Jun 15, 2026 negative
Insight
Enterprise SaaS companies won't survive without M&A
“If you were just selling the same software, you're probably not going to be around.”
Aravind Srinivas Jun 15, 2026 ▶ 1:18:06 Perplexity CEO: Micron Will Be More Valuable Than Meta & How Export Controls Helped Not Hurt China · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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