SaaSletter - July 2023 SaaS Demand Index

Plus content from Benchsights, Maxio, and SaaS Capital

We’re excited to update the SaaS Demand Index with data through July 2023.

For our new readers: the Demand Index is derived from high-intent (aka “okta pricing”) Google Search volume data.

PDF slides here.

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 -4% year-over-year.

On a sequential basis versus June, the Demand Index declined 8%.

The weak July top-of-funnel data appears to be worse than the mixed July RepVue quota attainment data.

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 months and last 3 months, respectively:

The continued deceleration in Security is notable.

All of the category drill-downs - like this Security example - are available in this slide PDF:

While usually very closely correlated, Enterprise and Publicly Traded Companies’ recent underperformance is increasingly visible:

Curated SaaS Content

On a quota capacity attainment basis, early-stage (below $5m ARR) companies are really lagging (14% below the industry average). Conversely, above $60m ARR companies are outperforming. Data via Benchsights *excellent* benchmarking platform.

Maxio’s “Growth State - 1H 2023” Report included good consumption vs usage data.

SaaS Capital also released a benchmarking report (n=1,500+) - my excerpts here.

A great vendor consolidation chart from Piper Sandler equity research (h/t

Francis (Software Analyst)

):

Cloud Ratings Content

We recently initiated coverage of the Lead Routing Software category and interviewed Elena Hutchison for our “Cloud Radio” podcast:

AUDIO | VIDEO

*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.