2023 SaaS Fundraising Napkin

My takeaways from CJ Gustafson 's "2023 SaaS Fundraising Napkin" -> I focused on comparing 2023 to his 2022 napkin 1 - Growth rates have come down Series B-D

I tend to focus on Enterprise Value / Revenue / Growth ratios On an EV/Rev/Growth basis, private valuations have actually INCREASED in the 2023 Napkin This is a function of declining growth rates + ~stable valuations

The 2023 SaaS Napkin shows many private SaaS valued at a PREMIUM to high-growth public stocks! Based on liquidity + business risk, that is a surprise In the 2022 Napkin, privates had a 47% DISCOUNT to public stocks

Note: Some of this is a byproduct of how EV/R/G has evolved for publics -> data from Meritech Capital : Specifically, a) +50% multiples declining and b) only 4 stocks in the +50% LTM Growth sample (Sentinel, Bill.com, Klayvio, and Gitlab - 2 of which have traded poorly for factors outside of their LTM growth rates)

Finally, a h/t to Christoph Janz as Godfather of SaaS Napkins!

Google Sheet with CJ Gustafson Napkins laid out here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OUsK-NJPU9HSF2N_HntGL51ekNysr3TgHfmLEQOGqaI/edit#gid=1375988103

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