growth down, quotas up

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We read this report about SaaS metrics and expectations so you don’t have to

KeyBanc Capital Markets and Sapphire Ventures just released their annual survey report of private SaaS companies. 

We pulled out the top takeaways you should know 👇

Overall, the study “identified clear trends of subdued growth expectation and a continued focus on efficient execution and profitability.” In other words: growth is down across the board, but you’ll still be expected to hit your newly-inflated quotas. 

What’s going on with growth?

You know how 2022 and 2023 were bad for growth? That’s pretty much staying the same. This year, companies expect growth deceleration of ~2-3%, except for companies with <$10M ARR which expect slight growth acceleration. (Go off, queens!)

What CS needs to know

• Gross retention rates are estimated to improve slightly, while net retention is expected to stay consistent with 2022 and 2023 numbers. 

• What about churn trends? The data shows that longer contract lengths experience reduced churn rates. For example, Month-to-month = 14% while 3+ years = 3%. Aim for those longer contracts if you can swing it!

What Sales needs to know

• Companies expect AEs to perform as well (if not better) than the previous year, with high productivity and quota expectations. Mass layoffs and the rise of AI productivity tools compound the pressure.

• Median ACVs are increasing YoY, from $54k in 2022 to $62K estimated for 2024.

What everyone needs to know

• Boards want to see more efficiency and they’re putting pressure on management to make it happen. This could mean reducing headcount, restructuring, outsourcing roles to lower-cost countries, and (of course) more budget cuts. 

• Who is most likely to be impacted? The report says that improvements to “human capital efficiency” (I think that means layoffs) seem to happen once companies cross the $10M ARR and $50M ARR thresholds. 

Read the full report if you dare.

Communication as a renaissance

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Let’s dish 🤭

Dear ZachXBT, I think you dropped this 🫴👑 

An anonymous crypto-vigilante with the handle ZachXBT just caught a nearly quarter-of-a-billion (yes, billion with a “b”) dollar crypto theft, and he’s just getting started. 

Who is ZachXBT? 

While his real identity is unknown, ZachXBT is a twentysomething “independent crypto-focused detective” – aka a crypto private eye 🕵️ (Are we just making up titles now?!)

And he does what?

He’s been on the crypto beat since 2021 (probably around the same time you started hearing about crypto from every Tom, Dick, and Harry on Twitter), and since then he’s traced billions in stolen/scammed funds. ZachXBT has even partnered with government agencies to take down the bad guys.

Why is ZachXBT anonymous?

Well, in short, because he wants to avoid retaliation (imagine pissing off someone who thought they were going to get away with stealing millions).

His name, face, and age are a mystery. Online, he uses his avatar. On calls, he goes off-cam with a voice-changer. 

ZachXBT proves once again that not all heroes wear capes (although, since he’s anonymous, we can’t confirm or deny if he wears capes). 

You can read the full profile on ZachXBT on Wired.