The 2023 SaaS CEO Survey
April 13, 2023
by an investor from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in Toronto, ON, Canada
This week's blog post is a special one, and one that commanded more of my time than any other post that I've published over the past two years. This week, I present the results of a comprehensive survey of SaaS CEOs (specifically, those who became owners/CEOs by way of the search fund model). I chose to conduct this study for two primary reasons:
(1) To better understand the complexion of the "typical" software acquisition within the search fund ecosystem; &
(2) To see whether or not the the complexion of the "typical" software acquisition has CHANGED over time.
As you will see from the data, I feel safe in concluding that, yes, the profile of the typical SaaS acquisition has indeed changed over the past few years, in some cases quite materially.
The blog post below will walk you through how and why I arrived at this conclusion:
in Portland, OR, USA
Your survey results provided valuable information on the changing landscape of SaaS company acquisitions, and it was eye-opening to see how post-2019 transactions differed from their pre-2019 counterparts. It seems like the emphasis on growth and the changing dynamics of the market have contributed to this shift in acquisition characteristics.
I have a question related to the content: given that post-2019 acquisitions demonstrated better unit economics and higher revenue growth rates, do you think this trend will continue into the future? And if so, what factors might contribute to this evolution in the coming years?
Again, great job on the blog post, and I look forward to your thoughts on this topic.
from INSEAD in Vancouver, BC, Canada