SaaSletter - August 2023 SaaS Demand Index
SaaSletter - August 2023 SaaS Demand Index
Plus a Cloud Radio episode + curated AI content
Cloud Radio Podcast Episode
Before getting into the latest Demand Index, we just released a podcast with Andy Wilson, CEO + Co-Founder of Logikcull *weeks* after their sale to Reveal.
A must-watch/listen section starts at 25:45 - a candid deep dive building off Andy’s “19 Lessons From 19 Years” Twitter thread
Subscribe To “Cloud Radio” On: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | All Other Platforms
August Demand Index
We’re excited to update the SaaS Demand Index with data through August 2023.
For our new readers: the Demand Index is derived from high-intent (aka “okta pricing”) Google Search volume data.
Reminder: this is a directional, free, and ever-evolving* analysis → always do your own due diligence.
Moreover, the data captured here is best characterized as top-of-funnel or dark funnel → factoring in sales cycle length, do NOT use this Demand Index as a predictor of near-term financial results and/or financial guidance.
Industry-Wide Data
High-intent search volumes were down -5% year-over-year (against a strong August 2022).
On a sequential basis versus July, the Demand Index increased 13%.
Of note, our August top-of-funnel data aligns with the August uptick in Repvue’s quota attainment data for SMB and Middle Market roles:
Trends By Product Category
We’ve added a slide showing cumulative growth since January 2021 - Security stands out:
This slide presents growth for the last month and last 3 months, respectively:
The deceleration for Security in the July Demand Index data received a good bit of attention. Security high-intent searches had a strong + widespread uptick in August.
All of the category drill-downs - like this Security example capturing the August rebound - are available in this slide PDF:
Presenting this popular chart without comment for consistency - not much to say:
Top Performers: Top decile based on current quarter performance versus prior quarter (with public companies in bold for our many investor subscribers):
Fathom, Dayforce, Ironclad, Wiz, Xero, Planful, Scratchpad, Teamsupport, Vanta, Trainual, Coda, SmartRecruiters, Thoughtspot, Weave, Databricks, Postman, Apptio, Gladly, MessageBird, Litmus, RevenueCat, Tripleseat, Fortinet, DonorPerfect, Toast, RFP360, BMC, Fastspring, BigMarker, Appfolio, Xactly, Recurly, PandaDoc, Birdeye
SaaS Metrics Palooza 2023
Event Details: Date: October 10th-12th, 2023 | Time: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PT | Location: Virtual
Curated SaaS Content
The ROI of AI: A study using Boston Consulting Group consultants working with AI showed meaningful productivity gains (via
):“Consultants using AI finished 12.2% more tasks on average, completed tasks 25.1% more quickly, and produced 40% higher quality results than those without.”
“AI’s $200B Question: GPU capacity is getting overbuilt. Long-term, this is good. Short-term, things could get messy” - @DavidCahn6 from Sequoia Capital
An anecdote on AI’s revenue lift from Crowdstrike: 30%+ ASP, 5% customer penetration, ~3 years to $100m ARR
“The absolute best place to be in SMB software” - via
*In an effort to publish closest to month end, we are accessing the underlying API data “early” (relative to the typical SEO and PPC users that do not require such immediacy). Therefore data should be considered “provisional” (i.e. subject to revision by our data provider) and create volatility in the data presented in the 2 most recent months.
This report was first published on cloudratings.com.