This week on the Expert Voices podcast, Randy Wootton, CEO of Maxio, speaks with Jon Cochrane, VP of Strategy at Maxio and Director of the Maxio Institute, to discuss the Maxio Institute Growth report and the future of the Maxio Institute. Randy and Jon delve into key insights from the report, including the resilience of B2B businesses and the impact of the pandemic on different industries. They discuss how data can drive growth and inform business strategies and the challenges faced by sales and marketing tech companies amid competitive pressures and shifting budgetary priorities. Listen as they explore the unique paths to growth among small SaaS businesses, emphasizing the importance of predictable invoicing and cash management.

Quotes

• "Build a great team, make sure that you have great data that you can access regularly, that can be surprisingly hard. And then talk to somebody who has been there and done that and who has done this well in the past. I think you'll find that the community is quite generous with their thoughts and their insights and sharing that, because all the people who love number crunching and data crunching, this stuff is fun too, to be able to share and analyze.” -Jon Cochrane [25:49]

• “[What] we're trying to do is help the SaaS industry get better through better insights. And for CEOs like me who are freaked about what's unfolding day to day and how are we going to continue to grow in this world and deliver shareholder value, being able to share insights that create a collective understanding of reality is better for everyone.” -Randy Wootton [32:33]

Expert Takeaways

• The Maxio Institute Growth report provides essential benchmarks for private SaaS businesses based on real-time invoicing data.
• The SaaS industry appears to be returning to normalized growth rates with an average annualized growth rate of about 15% in 2023.
• Industry-specific differences are pronounced with the restaurant, hospitality, and leisure sectors leading year-over-year improvement.
• Early-stage SaaS companies with a consumption-based monetization strategy under one million dollars in billings show minimal growth.
• Potential future expansions of the report include deeper industry analysis and coupling quartile analyses with industry benchmarks.

Timestamps

[03:44] Maxio Institute: providing real industry benchmarks and insights for the private markets

[05:00] The challenge of obtaining accurate data in the private markets

[06:01] The importance of timely data in the Maxio Institute report

[09:20] Key insight: B2B businesses have proven resilient and have returned to more normalized growth rates

[10:59] Impact of the pandemic on different industries

[13:51] Challenges in marketing tech with numerous competing vendors

[18:27] Importance of predictable invoicing for early-stage companies

[21:48] Cash management and milestones in SaaS growth

[33:01] Investing in insights for growth and shareholder value

Links

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