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2022 Revenue Per Employee Benchmarks for Private SaaS Companies

A common metric by which SaaS companies track their performance is annual recurring revenue (ARR) per employee. This 2021 update explores the median ARR per employee broken down by company size and funding type, equity-backed or bootstrapped.

2022 Growth Benchmarks for Private SaaS Companies

The most important metric we track in the survey is revenue growth. This is because your company’s growth rate is the single largest determinant of your valuation multiple, and how you compare with companies of similar size and stage determines whether you might see a valuation premium (or discount) to the median valuation of your peers.

2022 Spending Benchmarks for Private B2B SaaS Companies

How much do SaaS companies spend on customer support or marketing? In day-to-day SaaS company operations, questions like the above are common. So, we asked survey takers what percentage of revenue is spent on cost of goods sold, customer support/success, selling costs, marketing costs, research & development, and general and administrative. This post summarizes the benchmarking data.

Benchmarking Metrics for Bootstrapped SaaS Companies

SaaS Capital works with both VC-backed and bootstrapped SaaS companies and has seen the advantages of both approaches. However, one situation that is especially interesting is bootstrapped SaaS companies with $3M to $20M in Annualized Run Rate Revenue (ARR). Growing from a pre-revenue startup to $3M (scale-up phase) marks a significant shift and bootstrapping from $3M to $20M creates enormous value for owners. To help support bootstrappers during their scale-up, we wanted to focus on benchmarking metrics for scale-up stage bootstrapped SaaS companies.

Is the Mendoza Line the Ideal Benchmark for SaaS Growth?

A great many founders would be better served by ignoring Mendoza’s line and instead following his example – choosing a path to success on his own terms. Betting on the odds, to strive for a sustainable business strategy over the long term beats chasing the IPO and fizzling out along the way.

New “How to Value a SaaS Company” Framework for 2022

Determining the suitable valuation multiple for a private B2B SaaS is a crucial exercise. The right multiple depends not only on the company’s characteristics, but on broader market conditions at a point in time. There is no one-size-fits-all multiple – but it is possible to make an informed, data-driven estimate.

What Effect Did the ‘Great Resignation’ have on B2B SaaS Companies?

In the 2022 annual SaaS Capital survey, we debuted a new section asking SaaS company founders, management, and investors about their experiences with employee retention -- an evergreen topic, but one which rose to particular importance during 2021, the year of the "Great Resignation."

2022 Private SaaS Company Valuations

On median, we've seen the market consistently value private B2B SaaS companies around 5x to 8x ARR over many years, including the last two. Outliers to the high side and low side have certainly existed throughout time, and there were many more (mostly to the high side) over the last two years, but the bulk of valuation events have remained in this range. Growth remains the biggest driver of valuations, and double-digit multiples are more attainable than ever with very high growth, but in 2022, there is more valuation risk to the downside than there is upside exuberance.

SaaS Capital CEO Series: Scott Shickler from 7 Mindsets Discusses Growth and Building a Strong Culture

In this conversation with Scott Shickler, CEO and founder of 7 Mindsets, we discuss the obstacles of growing a SaaS business from zero to $10M in ARR, and the importance of building and maintaining a strong culture at work – the kind of culture that keeps your employees.

Alternative Financing Methods for SaaS Companies

SaaS Capital began funding software companies in 2007, at a time when banks were highly reluctant to offer meaningful lines of credit, and the so-called “venture debt” industry focused solely on companies that already raised venture capital. Since that time, a thriving ecosystem of SaaS-oriented capital providers has entered the fray. This post explores those alternative financing methods and when they might be a good fit (versus a line of credit or loan from a specialty lender like SaaS Capital).