Statistic Info

The WSJ published a recent chart of the 49 startups with billion dollar valuations. According to their research, there have never been as many privately held companies with such high valuations ever. The absolute number of these massively valuable companies alone is amazing. Ten years ago, most of them would have gone public by now. But what other insights can we tease from the data about these very special businesses?

First, the Billion Dollar Club (BDC) is nearly evenly split between Consumer and Enterprise companies, as the table below shows. I’ve noted the median dollars raised, the median valuation and the valuation efficiency in the table. The valuation efficiency is the valuation divided by the capital raised. This metric tries to answer the question, how much capital did the startup need to raise to achieve that valuation? This is a somewhat flawed metric[1] but I’m going to use it to compare the relative attractiveness of sectors[2].

Tomasz Tonguz

More Tech Services Stats

Customer’s lifetime value (LTV)= average revenue per user (ARPU) / monthly churn rate

In 2017, the global adoption rate for biotech soybean amounted to 77 percent.

The metrics that matter for each sales funnel, vary from one company to the next depending on the steps involved in the funnel

In all SaaS businesses there will likely come a moment where they realize that not all customers are created equal

Women in western countries use the internet 17 percent more than their male counterparts

Internet sales-driven companies have a much greater reliance on marketing, with 65% of the median company’s CAC budget devoted to marketing

SaaS companies in the $7.5MM-$15MM range are among the fastest growers

26% of SAAS companies with at least $15MM in 2015 GAAP revenue had a revenue growth rate + EBITDA margin of 40% or higher

SAAS companies that are focused mainly on enterprise sales have higher levels of professional services

After $10M in ARR, the median growth rate slows to just under 50%

More Growth Strategy Stats

SAAS companies that are focused mainly on enterprise sales have higher levels of professional services

In 2018, the global tech spending is forecast to amount to 3,212 billion U.S. dollars.

The median startup spends 92% of first year revenue on customer acquisition, taking 11-months to payback their Customer Acquisition Cost

Internet Sales strategies have a significantly lower CAC of just $0.42

Revenue per employee has been steadily increasing in SAAS companies. It serves as a great longitudinal measuring stick to understand the increasing or decreasing efficiency of the business

At Facebook, 15 percent of tech roles are staffed by women

Unlike many other industries, if a software company grows at only 20%, it has a 92% chance of ceasing to exist within a few years

How Often Should The Pricing Committee Be Meeting And Making Changes?

36% of SaaS businesses managed to reduce their revenue churn over the last 12-months

The median annual contract value (ACV) was $25K, $21K, $21K, $20K in 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013