4 ms·
I think we'll need more examples then just Buffer. Everyone knows Buffer is a successfully bootstrapped company that grew kind of big but not massive. If the a
by tyre 7y ago
I think we'll need more examples then just Buffer. Everyone knows Buffer is a successfully bootstrapped company that grew kind of big but not massive.
If the author gave five other examples, then there's a case, but pointing out the one known example doesn't provide enough evidence in my opinion.
A separate point on style and punctuation: too many em dashes in the wrong places.
> What would make Buffer — a good investment?
No need for an em dash here.
> And, if you want to start a get-rich-slow SaaS fund — what is your target maturity?
Same.
> What if, at end of the holding period — investor sells the Buffer stake at market valuation?
Replace em dash with "the".
> But wait… that perpetuity — is a “paper valuation”.
Remove. The ellipsis could be an exclamation point, though it could be in the "personal style" bucket.
I would suggest removing every single em dash and practicing writing without them. They can be useful—for providing inline examples or explanation, for example—but should be used sparingly. Commas, colons, parentheticals, and semicolons can cover most of your use-cases.
- philipodonnell 7y agoI think the author uses these to imply a dramatic pause... like I sometimes do with ellipses. :-)
- nkrisc 7y agoDramatic pauses don't work when the reader can clearly see what comes next.
- tyre 7y agoYes. It's an example of trying to write how you'd want it spoken. The written word is a different medium. It would be like writing: > She enters the room. Pan left and there's a photo on the wall. Cut back to her, she's brushing a strand of hair from her face. Now cut to the bartender. Zoom in on him. He's polishing a glass, staring at nothing. etc. It's a pastiche of a movie scene. It's not that you can't do it or that the reader won't know what you're trying to do. Unless there's a specific reason to do so, it's probably not the best option.
- tguedes 7y agoThe only other big example I know of is Basecamp.
- woodpanel 7y agoWho says SaaS needs to be a startup? In the stockmarket we can find similar trends, with existing companies that switched to a SaaS model. - Adobe (dominates DTP, can squeeze companies worldwide, small and large after switching to a subscription model) - SAP (investors were overall pleased with their SaaS offerings) - Microsoft (don't know the revenue stake Office 365 represents, but it's currently enough to subdue Slacks Post-IPO performance) - Slack But also mid- to small-cap companies like RIB Software, which offers SaaS for real-estate related industries. Of course, thouse examples don't mean that their balance sheets provide evidence – but rather that stock market participants see SaaS-models as a path for constant high-margin low-volatilty growth.