Who I Am
w.236 | Data Businesses, Coatue, Is SaaS Dead?, Growth Buyouts, PE Wizardry
Dear Friends,
Hope you’ve had a lovely week. It’s now the midpoint of summer, and it’s going by too fast. People are still releasing announcements and detailed reports, so there is plenty to keep us busy. Let’s dig into the high-level industry analysis from this week.
Today's Contents:
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Song of the Week: Who I Am & Celine Dion
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
The 7 Powers and the Golden Path of Data Businesses: Stop Sleeping on Data-as-a-Service. Strong and detailed analysis by Jeremy Diamond.
As all attention has been on AI, Jeremy draws attentions to DaaS business, those that use raw data sourced from beyond direct customer relationships to produce actionable aggregated information. He shows their competitive advantages using the 7 Powers Framework.
Avenir SaaS Industry Analysis Deck
TL/DR is SaaS fundamentals have turned unfavorable as the industry has hit the inflection point in the S-curve and growth has stalled. However, if the existing SaaS companies can adopt AI as a new product vector and reduce costs, there is hope for good returns.
Coatue’s 2024 EMW Conference. Their key questions are: How big can AI get? Is software dead? They think AI can be huge and that software still has opportunities. It’s a great overview, but you have to watch the full video as I couldn’t find the slide deck stand alone.
Growth Buyouts from Slow Ventures.
TL/DR: They believe vertical SaaS is dying as it doesn’t capture enough value but incumbent businesses in technology-light sectors still need software so the GTM and capital structure needs to adapt to a new model.
My view: there is a lot to like in the analysis, in theory, but the practice of executing this operating model is challenging and change management intensive.
Private Equity's Creative Wizardry Is Obscuring Danger Signs (Link to PDF, from Bloomberg). As interest rates stay high, buyout firms are trying all sorts of financial magic to keep things going. Investors want them to improve their companies instead.
My view: This view has been circulated for a while without a reckoning, so maybe the party can go on forever.
Other Activities
The Future is Fractional - A startup investor, talent strategist, and a fractional leader are joining forces to share deep-from-the-trenches insights to give you everything you need to leverage fractional for game-changing growth.
I’m participating in a panel online on Tuesday, Jul 16, 2024 at 11:00 AM CT. Join us if you can. Registration is in the link.
Song of the Week: Who I Am
Video on YouTube.
This is Celine Dion’s favorite song. Here is a clip of her singing it at the end of I Am: Celine Dion, released a few weeks ago on Prime. Celine announced in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disease that causes involuntary spasms and muscle rigidity, and released intimate footage of her battling the disease in the documentary.
The song is written and performed by Wyn Starks, who rose to fame two years ago after singing the original song during his audition on America’s Got Talent.
“Who I Am” by Wyn Starks
I gotta be me, gotta be I
Gotta be who I know I am inside
Can finally breathe, taking it in
Look at me flying!
It's always been there, it just took me a minute to find it
If I were to be anybody else, I'd just be hiding
Who I amSelfie of the Week
This week, I was in Minneapolis (my hometown), attending ECMC’s OnRamp Education & Workforce Accelerator. They brought a fantastic group of founders, investors, and experts committed to driving transformation in post-secondary outcomes and closing equity gaps.
It was super energizing to be on a panel of peer investors to discuss the massive trends and opportunities in the space. I also got the added benefit of seeing two of my most loyal readers (my grandparents!).
Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch.
As always,
Katelyn