Jake Saper is a General Partner at Emergence Capital which has backed leading SaaS companies like Salesforce, Zoom, Gusto, Bill.com, and Veeva. Jake is a Board member of companies like Guru, Textio, Ironclad, Maze & many others. When I wanted to do a deep dive into SaaS business models, I could think of no one better than Jake and this episode absolutely delivered. We cover everything from single-player to multi-player product modes, various moats in SaaS, and how SaaS pricing & business models are evolving. We dive into specific anecdotes from companies like Zoom, Guru, Textio and others around how their products scaled. Finally, we end with how AI and LLMs will impact SaaS in the future and how founders should think about using LLMs in their products.
Where to Find Jake:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jakesaper
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakesaper/
Emergence’s Blog: https://www.emcap.com/thoughts
Where to Find Shomik:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/
Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com
Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.
In this episode, we cover:
(01:11) - Learnings from Zoom, Salesforce, Veeva, Gusto & Others
(04:52) - Jake’s Framework for Evaluating Messianic Founders & Lasting Products
(13:05) - Single Player vs Multi-Player Products
(14:53) - Individual Usage vs Viral Adoption in an Org and the Deep Collaboration Thesis
(20:49) - Quick Takes on Net ARR Growth, PLG vs PLS with Zoom as an Example
(25:51) - When and How to Evaluate Moving into Adjacencies (Gusto & Veeva Example)
(34:35) - Moats in SaaS
(38:51) - Role of Community in SaaS
(41:45) - Emergence’s Coaching Network Thesis
(44:28) - LLMs Impact on SaaS & How Founders Can Position Around It
(53:41) - Outcomes Based Pricing in SaaS
(55:09) - How Textio Leveraged Data Hacks to Build a Moat
(59:01) - AI Impact on Software Margins and Honing in on the Value & Job to Be Done
Show Notes:
How to Subscribe:
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google.
#18 - Jake Saper (General Partner, Emergence Capital) - Moats in SaaS, AI's Impact on SaaS, Learnings from Salesforce, Zoom, Gusto & more