Oct 3, 2023 · 22m · saastr
2024 SaaS Landscape: Why 2024 Could be Pretty Darn Good for SaaS IPOs with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin provides a comprehensive analysis of the 2024 SaaS landscape, explaining why the post-2021 market shock has concluded and how recovering enterprise demand, disciplined capital efficiency, and a reopening IPO window set the stage for sustainable software growth.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Jason holds 100% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Jason as informed peer 0.0 Guest teaching 0.0 Guest disagreement 0.0 Jason pushing back 0.0
speaking balance: gold is Jason, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 21:25 Audience responsive utterance
In an entirely solo keynote presentation, the only guest/audience engagement is a passive confirmation ('Ok?') during the closing remarks.
Hardest push from Jason ▶ 21:27 Pushback on founder excusesJason aggressively rejects founder excuses regarding macroeconomic headwinds, demanding that startups outperform the prior year.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 21:24 Audience vocal acknowledgementBecause this session is a keynote presentation without an interactive guest, there is no schooling interaction present.
Jason holds their own ▶ 14:20 Rigorous efficiency metrics breakdownLemkin articulates industry-wide SaaS benchmarks, highlighting the $300k ARR per employee threshold required for modern IPOs.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Jason as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Jason pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defining the SaaS Market Shock and Cautious Recovery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | This is a solo keynote monologue by Jason Lemkin analyzing the macroeconomic SaaS shock and the Klaviyo IPO pipeline without an active dialogue partner. | |
| Rebound Trends in Heavily Impacted SaaS Sectors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Monologue presentation examining post-shock re-acceleration data across heavily impacted public SaaS leaders such as Zoom and ZoomInfo. | |
| Resilience in Real-World and Non-Tech SaaS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Monologue presentation detailing how non-tech vertical SaaS businesses like Toast, Monday.com, and Samsara remained resilient through market turbulence. | |
| Startup Growth Data and Headcount Optimization | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Solo address evaluating Maxio benchmark survey data and headcount optimization trends among public SaaS software firms. | |
| Efficiency Standards and the 2024 IPO Pipeline | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Solo keynote presentation examining increased revenue per employee benchmarks and the late-stage IPO readiness list. | |
| Valuation Multiples Reality Check and Public Market Caution | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Monologue discussing depressed revenue multiples in public software markets and setting expectations for private valuations. | |
| The Permanent Shift to Efficiency and Final Call to Action | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jason delivers a final call to action to founders with brief passive vocal agreement from an audience member. |
Statements from this episode (22)
Lemkin: SaaS is in cautious recovery and founders should be modestly bullish
“I think we're absolutely in a cautious recovery in SaaS, and I think folks should be modestly bullish today.”
Lemkin: Zoom revenue grew from $1B to $4B in a single year
“You know, we saw the biggest with Zoom, which went from one to four billion in one year.”
Lemkin: Klaviyo is the first major SaaS IPO since December 2021
“You know, on the B to B side, Klaviyo, as you know, I think last week filed for the first great SaaS IPO since December, 20 21. Since December, 20 21. They're at six hundred and fifty million in ARR, I think growing almost 60%, and they're profitable, and that…”
Lemkin: Samsara reported a lack of sales capacity and aggressive hiring
“They just, in their earnings last week, they said they don't have enough sales capacity now. They're hiring salespeople as fast as they can.”
Lemkin: Software app and headcount layoffs are over for market leaders
“It will never be like twenty-twenty-one, but we are over, outside of spot issues, for the leaders, for the public leaders, the successful ones, we're over the app and people layoffs. And hiring, at least, is slowly resuming.”
Lemkin: The next 12 months will outperform the previous 12 in SaaS
“So, net, net, I don't know what the next 12 months will look like, but I'll bet you dollars to donuts, it's better than the last 12, if, for many of you.”
Lemkin: Most SaaS companies hit market bottom in Q1 or Q2 2023
“For most folks in Sass and Cloud, it was the around, sometime around the first or second quarter of this year, and they bounced off the bottom.”
Lemkin: Zoom recorded its first growth re-acceleration in 24 months
“What happened this last quarter? It's the first quarter, Zoom has re-accelerated since in the last 18 to 24 months.”
Lemkin: 70% of monday.com revenue comes from non-tech businesses
“Only 30% of Monday is to tech, For project management and CRM. 70%, as he said, is to churches and real estate and other normal businesses”
Lemkin: Samsara hit growth low in Q2 2022 and re-accelerated for four quarters
“They hit it, actually, in Q-two of twenty-twenty-two, where this high flyer's growth sort of came down to earth. They stopped accelerating growth. But what happened the last four quarters? Slow re-acceleration, right?”
Lemkin: Okta achieved its highest new bookings quarter on record in Q2 2023
“Q two last quarter. Only by a smidge, mind you, only by a smidge, but they're highest quarter of new bookings on record, okay? Highest quarter of new bookings on record.”
Lemkin: MongoDB delivered its best quarter in six years
“MongoDB, which is another one, you know, they just had their best quarter in six years. They're just rocking it. Right? They're rocking it. Some of their strongest revenue growth they've seen since IPO.”
Lemkin: Another software bubble like 2020 will take 20 years
“It's never gonna be, it's gonna take 20 years to have a bubble, like we saw in 2020, it will happen again, but it's gonna take 20 years”
Lemkin: Startup data shows Q2 2023 was first growth reacceleration in six quarters
“Maxio that's here. They surveyed all of their customers. It's just, this is more of a look at startups. And you can squint here and you can see that like Q two was again, it's a little bit, but the first reacceleration they've seen in the last five to six quar…”
Lemkin: SaaS founders should avoid non-performance layoffs given recurring revenue visibility
“They're tough on all of us, and I really think as founders, we should do everything humanly possible to have no non-performance layoffs. I mean, we have recurring revenue. You should be able to predict the next quarter or two. You should be a little embarrasse…”
Lemkin: monday.com swung to 25% free cash flow margin in five quarters
“Monday went from cash flow negative To very cashflow positive in five quarters. It's crazy. Again, they went from something like -15% free cashflow to positive 25% in five quarters”
Lemkin: Public SaaS average revenue per employee now exceeds $300,000
“And I just read a summary last night that for the first time in many, many, many years the average revenue per public SaaS company is over 300,000 dollars. Ok, so the average employee, and this is a critical ratio for efficiency, how much revenue per employee.”
Lemkin: Monday.com grew from $7M to $700M ARR in six years
“When Iran came to the first, his first session in 2017, they were at seven million ARR. That was 2017. So this is six years later, they're at seven hundred million ARR. In six years, they went from seven to 700.”
Lemkin: Klaviyo will be a monster IPO and trade over $10B
“I really think all the VCs are gonna get excited about Klaviyo. It's gonna be a monster IPO. I think it'll trade over to ten billion.”
Lemkin: Algolia, Talkdesk, Greenhouse, or SalesLoft will likely IPO in 2024
“We had a panel of Algolia, Talkdisk, Greenhouse, and I think SalesLoft, they're all at two hundred million and at least three of them, I think, will IPO next year.”