Meini Heuberger

Rubrik launched their IPO this week with a price range of $28 - $31 / share, or ~6-7x NTM rev and fully diluted market cap of ~$6B. Some rough math below on the implied valuation and forward revenue multiple at different prices / forward growth rates.  $RBRK

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As part of a recent #SaaSTalks session, I had the pleasure of speaking to two seasoned #GTM experts, Girish and Charanyan, and we had a very engaging discussion on GTM for SaaS firms focused on SMBs. Our discussion inspired me to put down a few thoughts of my own to guide startup founders venturing into the SMB space. If you’re a SaaS founder looking to get started on GTM, here are some suggestions! Arpit Maheshwari Sayantan Sarkar Naman Jain

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Rubrik’s IPO Signals Venture Capital Optimism and Growth Opportunities Rubrik’s recent IPO triumph serves as a powerful signal for venture capital investors. The company’s valuation surge provides hope for reasonably priced growth financing rounds. However, many companies still find themselves below the valuation of their last funding round, patiently awaiting brighter days. Here’s a closer look at Rubrik’s journey: Successful IPO: Rubrik’s stock price soared 17% on its debut day, closing at $37. The firm’s valuation now stands at approximately $6.49 billion. Upsized Offering: The IPO raised a whopping $752 million, fueling Rubrik’s expansion plans and valuing the company at $5.6 billion. Steady Growth: Rubrik’s valuation has steadily climbed. In January, a Series E round valued the company at $3.3 billion, up from $1.8 billion in 2017. Investment Backing: Microsoft, Greylock, and Lightspeed have all backed Rubrik, reinforcing its potential. #IPO #VentureCapital #TechCompanies #GrowthOpportunities #DataSecurity #CloudComputing #Cybersecurity

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Takeaways from Andreessen Horowitz on how AI will transform sales: 🫱🏻‍🫲🏽 Sales, marketing, and customer success will blend together where customer context is the source of truth. 🌊 Fluid GTM strategies that are customized based on what's best for the customer - be they enterprise, SMB, or developer-first. 💲 Per seat pricing → outcome-based pricing 

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Salesforce's CEO is right. Before deploying AI agents and Copilots, ensure that sensitive data stored in SaaS is under control and that you have visibility into what data these agents can access or edit. Metomic can help. #saasdlp #datasecurity Evolution Equity Partners Marc Benioff

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PE & AI - 2025: How AI (LLMs & agentic AI) Will Revolutionize GTM for Portfolio Companies AI is transforming GTM strategies across sales, marketing, and customer success in PE portfolio companies. It’s already reshaping traditional practices and challenging legacy GTM tech. By 2025, this shift will accelerate, making an AI-driven mindset essential for driving faster, more profitable growth while automating manual, repetitive GTM tasks. Key Areas of AI Impact on GTM at PE portfolio companies: • Unified Buyer & Customer View: AI consolidates data across channels, giving GTM teams a 360-degree view of target buyer & customer journeys and aligning marketing, sales, and customer success • Deep Multi-Source Insights: AI can analyze multi-source / multi-channel unstructured data including emails, calls, and social media, uncovering deeper customer behavior insights for better GTM strategies. AI also combines multimodal data to provide richer insights, sentiment analysis, and predictive sales or engagement outcomes • Dynamic Personalization: AI delivers real-time, tailored communication during interactions, driving higher conversions and improved customer experiences • Real-Time Engagement: AI enables timely and accurate interactions across touchpoints, ensuring customer needs are met seamlessly • Process Automation: AI automates lead research, call preparation, and workflows, allowing GTM teams to focus on strategic, high-value activities • AI Assistant for GTM teams: AI guides GTM teams (from marketing, to sales reps to customer success or service professionals) with actionable, real-time insights during customer interactions, improving decision-making and outcomes • AI has an Edge Over Existing Tools: AI's agility and ability to handle unstructured data outpace traditional platforms, giving PE portfolio companies an advantage ------------------ #pe #privateequity #investing #ai

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In the SaaS & Cloud industry we've long viewed Operations as a mere cost center—a backstage drag on margins. It's past time to flip the narrative. Operations are not just keeping the lights on; they're the unsung heroes driving revenue, customer loyalty, and scale. Discover how reimagining SaaS operations can make margins move. Dive into my what I've been thinking on and see why investing in operational excellence is the game-changer you've been waiting for. We define what's possible. 📞 +1-917-539-9423 --Robert 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g-hyUx8J #Operations #SaaS #Finance #CX #Margins #Cloud

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At the heart of all business transformations are: 1. Reduction in opex 2. Investment in new/better revenue streams That’s it, that’s the list.

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One thing we can clearly see from the Bain & Company report is the significant shift in the buyout market. Despite overall activity dialing down from its 2021 peak, the data tells a story of strategic concentration rather than uniform decline. Here’s the breakdown: The average size of a fund broke a record at $1.2B — an 83% increase between 2022 and 2023. But, the number of buyout funds that closed globally experienced a 38% decrease in the same period. While there is more capital, there are fewer closers. Check out the infographic below for the full picture and some strategies to win in this PE landscape. #PrivateEquity #BuyOuts #ValueCreation

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The secret—if it ever was one—is out on private equity fondness for vertical software. While PE-backed acquisitions were down 50%+ from a peak in 2021, vertical buyouts have continued to grow, and the fervor seems to be gaining steam. In today’s essay, we will pose an answer to one question: is PE a viable path to exit for a venture-backed startup?

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I had a great conversation in the Bloomberg studio with Sonali Basak about the outlook for the IPO and M&A markets, the state of the enterprise software industry and the impact of AI within our portfolio.   At Thoma Bravo, our portfolio companies are investing heavily in AI to enrich the value that enterprise software customers derive from our technology. Coupa Software, a leading business spend management platform in our portfolio, is an example of a company using data and GenAI to provide actionable business intelligence at scale to its customers. With over $6 trillion (and growing) of transactional data connecting millions of buyers and suppliers, Coupa is a great case study that demonstrates the power of a rich proprietary data set. We believe data is the real moat when it comes to SAAS solutions and unlocking the potential of AI.   Thanks again for having me, and the full interview is here: https://lnkd.in/gbccsgiX

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Why is CONTINUOUS sales enablement critical to scaling Cloud GTM? Kate K., Sr. Director, Global AWS Alliance at JFrog explained her 360 degree enablement strategy on the Cloud GTM Leader course hosted by Roman Kirsanov Ongoing Seller Enablement is Key: ✔ Cloud marketplaces (MP) could be central to your company's success. They can help sellers close deals faster and meet or exceed quotas. However, cloud GTM is NOT a primary focus for sellers, who concentrate on their accounts and customers.   ✔ Therefore it’s Alliance leaders goal to ensure sellers grasp the benefits and importance of MPs. But how? Here are Kate's 10 Rules of Effective Sales Enablement: 1️⃣ Regular and Continuous Efforts: Understand seller focus areas and keep cloud strategies top-of-mind without overwhelming their inboxes. Help them integrate cloud GTM early in sales cycle 2️⃣ Go Beyond One-off Sessions: Include scheduled enablement calls, join QBRs, and maintain consistent communication. Ongoing sessions and follow-ups are vital to prevent “out of sight, out of mind” issue 3️⃣ Deliver Enablement in Various Formats: Use short on-demand videos, longer recordings, and in-person events to cater to different learning preferences 4️⃣ Create Easy-to-Reference Guides: Create cheat sheets and central source of truth for sellers on key topics, e.g. “how to co-sell” or “GTM via MPs” 5️⃣ Establish Central Communication Channels: Use platforms like Slack to send Cloud GTM updates and facilitate collaboration and marketplace experience sharing among sales teams 6️⃣ Provide Guidance for Co-Selling: Offer support on how to win in co-sell calls, including what questions to ask, how to show up, and what NOT to do 7️⃣ Leverage Customer Stories and References: Use success stories to build credibility with sellers and get them excited. Compelling customer examples can help sellers internalize how MPs can expedite deal closures 8️⃣ Identify and Leverage Successful Sellers as Advocates: Boost credibility by inviting sellers successful in Cloud GTM to share their stories in regular meetings. Developing internal advocates creates powerful peer influence. You can then across different motions or industry focuses can also be effective, ensuring relevance 9️⃣ Conduct Research for Sellers: Gather insights to empower sellers before engaging in conversations with key stakeholders at the cloud provider 1️⃣ 0️⃣ Seek and Act on Feedback: Encourage open communication and actively incorporate feedback from sellers and sales leadership to support them where they need it the most Implementing ongoing sales enablement is essential for scaling Cloud GTM effectively. By integrating regular training, providing accessible resources, and fostering collaboration, you can get sales teams excited and aligned with MPs. This can help them meet quotas, make customers more successful and significantly contribute to company growth. How are you enabling your sales teams to excel in Cloud GTM?

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Usage based pricing could be the key you need to improve your Net Revenue Retention. Join Saurabh Agrawal from Zenskar and Steven Forth from Ibbaka for an in depth conversation on how to execute on this strategy. https://lnkd.in/gwy7g35x #pricing #SaaS #usagebasedpricing #NRR #NDR #SaaSgrowth #SaaSmarketing

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Clari just passed $4 trillion in revenue under management. That’s how much revenue is flowing through the Clari Revenue Platform. And thanks to our customers, we know more about how to run revenue than any company on earth. Here are 5 unexpected learnings to help you capture more revenue this year. #Clari #Revenue #AI

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Back for its 9th edition, Bessemer Venture Partners, Forbes, and Salesforce Ventures present the 2024 Cloud 100 ☁ - the definitive list of the top private cloud companies around the world.    In this year's Benchmarks Report, Mary D'Onofrio, Alex Yuditski, and I break down our analysis of these 100 leading private cloud companies - here's a quick preview of the highlights below:   1️⃣ The Cloud 100 list value reached $820 billion this year, a +25% year-over-year increase and the highest list value ever in Cloud 100 history 2️⃣ The time it took the average Cloud 100 company to reach Centaur status—crossing $100 million annual recurring revenue (ARR)—has decreased consistently since the list’s inception. The average 2024 Cloud 100 company took under eight years to reach Centaur status, down from ten years for the inaugural 2016 Cloud 100 cohort.   Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gpNXgTC8

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PE - PE Acceleration Toolkit (i.e. not Playbook) What commercial, GTM and growth areas do you cover in your "PE Portfolio Company Toolkit" (i.e. some funds like Vista Equity Partners call it a Playbook but I refer to it as toolkit with the aim of it being a participatory, not a prescriptive playbook)? Some ideas* come to mind - what else? (* i.e. Commercial/GTM/Revenue Growth - not including Product, Engineering, R&D and other functions) 1. Sales Optimization   - Sales Org Structure   - Sales Management Process   - Sales Prospecting & Outbound   - Sales Process Engineering - Pipeline Management - Forecasting & Commit Process - Forecasting Rollups - CEO & Board   - Sales performance metrics and KPIs   - Channel Sales, Partner and alliance programs   - Rev Ops & Sales Enablement   - Sales Quota, Compensation & Incentives   - Sales Tech & Automation 2. Marketing Optimization   - B2B Demand Generation strategy   - Marketing Management - Marketing Process Engineering - Defining Lead Nomenclature - Campaign Management - Strategic Messaging Architecture   - PLG - Product Led Growth   - Digital & Inbound marketing    - Account-based marketing (ABM) - Customer Marketing - Product Marketing - Marketing/Sales Alignment & SLAs   - Marketing Metrics / KPIs   - Marketing Tech & Automation 3. Customer Management, Success and Retention   - Customer onboarding processes   - VOC - collecting and analyzing customer feedback   - Customer Segmentation   - Customer Management Processes   - Proactive customer Engagement   - AM & Expansion Sales   - Renewal strategies   - Customer loyalty strategies   - Customer support optimization   - Customer metrics and KPIs 4. Pricing and Packaging   - Pricing strategies   - Value-based pricing   - Discounting strategies & pricing transparency   - Subscription and usage-based models   - Pricing experimentation and A/B testing   - Competitive pricing analysis 5. Operational Efficiency   - SaaS metrics (CAC, LTV, churn rate, etc.)   - Process automation and workflow optimization 6. Talent & Culture   - Leadership & Management    - Attracting and retaining top talent   - Building a high-performance culture   - Performance Management   - Remote work best practices   - Continuous learning and development 7. Community Building   - Community creation & engagement   - Building an ecosystem around the product   - Customer Advocacy Programs 8. Data and Analytics   - Data-driven decision-making   - Business intelligence (BI) tools and dashboards   - Data governance, security and privacy   - AI applications Other: 9. Product (& GTM Alignment) 10. M&A (Commercial/GTM integration) 11. Finance (Supporting the GTM org) 12. GTM Board Updates & KPIs 13. Etc. ------------------ #pe #privateequity #business

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I’m excited to be joining a leading AI company that is 100% committed to working with the partner ecosystem to bring innovative AI solutions to customers in both the enterprise and the public sector. Whether you’re looking to protect physical infrastructure, assets, employees and/or citizens, or protect against supply chain disruption and third party risk from cyber threats, Dataminr’s realtime risk alerting platform provides early warning detection and alerting at unprecedented scale. And with pre-built integrations with leading SOC platforms (SEIM, SOAR, and TIP), Dataminr makes it easy to integrate its realtime risk alerting platform into existing security operations workflows for immediate realization of time to value. So if you’re not already a #Dataminr partner, here are the top reasons you should be: 1) We are 100% committed to our partners success with a partner first go to market motion 2) We have happy, reference-able customers that include 1/3 of the Fortune 50, 2/3 of the Fortune 100, and 100 governments globally which rely on Dataminr to protect infrastructure, assets, employees and citizens. 3) We offer the leading risk alerting AI platform delivered with unprecedented speed, scale and relevance which ensures that customers can respond quickly to emerging threats. 4) We have the largest pool of public data sources on external threats in the world (1M+ data sources and counting) along with 12 years of alerting history which allows for more accurate and relevant alerts. 5) We provide developer APIs which allow app developers to easily integrate realtime alerts into vertical specific applications such as supply chain and logistics, insurance, finance and more. Come join us on our mission! Ted Bailey, Brian Gumbel, Dana Barnes, Brian Howie, Murali Nemani, Jason Wilcox, Peter Bailey, Kiran Rao, Whitney Benner, Alex Jaimes, Ph.D., Gary Hacker, Jeremy Bash, Amy De Salvatore, Dave DeWalt, #dataminr, #channelpartners, #mssps

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This is a HUGE sign. When Andreessen Horowitz published an article named “Death of a Salesfroce”, you know something's up. That something is CRMs. The CRMs of this world aren’t dying. Far from it. But Sales has taken a huge leap forward, and they are having a real hard time adapting to all changes. So they're pushing AI and advanced, sales-streamlining tools as hard as they can, trying to keep up with innovation. The problem is - the very basic need for which you have a CRM in the first place - keeping your data siloed - that's also being challenged. Big time. The future of Sales is transparent data, shared knowledge and much better insights about buyers. And it will change the relationship between sellers and buyers, for the better. There's a storm coming. #sales #crm https://lnkd.in/dtgVTNgb 

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