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I also work at a theoretically counter-cyclical company, which is a brilliant selling point these days, and business has been very good. Our experience has been

I also work at a theoretically counter-cyclical company, which is a brilliant selling point these days, and business has been very good. Our experience has been a little different than yours. While investors are suddenly poor and conserving capital, the fact that we are closing big deals right now when every other startup they see is clinging to life and big deals are evaporating makes the company relatively attractive in the current environment. That is almost literally our pitch —- how many deals do you see that are doing this kind of business in our current environment? We have been cautious but we are actively growing our headcount. The quality of candidates we see has also spiked. It is a very rough time for many of my friends but this is a market where strong counter-cyclicals can do extraordinarily well.

gen220 7y ago
I think counter-cyclical SaaS business are well-poised for some favorable term sheets this quarter, which sounds like your setup: enjoy it! :) Our product is consumer facing (so it lags the cycles a bit, we can't triple our sales team this quarter and immediately double our revenue), and in an industry with regulation-capped margins (effectively capping ROI, without market expansions). Maximum profit percentage is in the single-digits, but revenue is measured in billions, so it's a small slice of a big pie. All this to say, we're a fairly conservative investment, so VCs don't look to us to save their currently-imploding portfolios, like they might look to you. Again, enjoy it! :)
- jandrewrogers 7y ago
  We are enterprise, that is probably a key difference! I can easily see consumer being more tenuous in the eyes of investors because there are going to be far more questions about what consumers are willing to spend in current conditions. All of our customers have plenty of cash in theory, we just have to encourage them spend it with us. :)

gen220 7y ago

I think counter-cyclical SaaS business are well-poised for some favorable term sheets this quarter, which sounds like your setup: enjoy it! :) Our product is consumer facing (so it lags the cycles a bit, we can't triple our sales team this quarter and immediately double our revenue), and in an industry with regulation-capped margins (effectively capping ROI, without market expansions). Maximum profit percentage is in the single-digits, but revenue is measured in billions, so it's a small slice of a big pie. All this to say, we're a fairly conservative investment, so VCs don't look to us to save their currently-imploding portfolios, like they might look to you. Again, enjoy it! :)

jandrewrogers 7y ago
We are enterprise, that is probably a key difference! I can easily see consumer being more tenuous in the eyes of investors because there are going to be far more questions about what consumers are willing to spend in current conditions. All of our customers have plenty of cash in theory, we just have to encourage them spend it with us. :)