The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch This Week in SaaS: PluralSight Goes to Zero, Salesforce and Mongo Hit Hard, The Next IPO Candidates and How Do We Solve the Problem of Liquidity in Venture Capital
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Jun 3, 2024 
Jason Lemkin, an early SaaS investor and founder of the SaaStr community, shares insights on the shocking collapse of PluralSight and its implications for the tech market. He discusses Salesforce's staggering market drop and MongoDB’s struggles, noting a shift to slower growth for many SaaS companies like Dropbox. Lemkin argues that the current venture capital landscape is broken, highlighting the need for reevaluation of investment strategies amidst a liquidity crisis, while also addressing common mistakes founders make in fundraising.
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Pluralsight's Downfall
- Vista wrote down their $3.5 billion buyout of Pluralsight to zero, likely due to unsustainable debt service.
- Despite Pluralsight having roughly 30% operating margins, the debt load was too high.
B2B2C vs. B2B2B SaaS
- B2B2C SaaS (like Canva) performs well, driven by a strong general economy and consumer spending.
- B2B2B SaaS struggles as tech companies continue cutting budgets, impacting even large players like Salesforce.
Ask About Budget
- All good salespeople should directly ask about budget in the first discovery call.
- Framing the conversation around budget early helps align expectations and qualify potential customers.