cover of episode E117: Did Stripe miss its window? Plus: VC market update, AI comes for SaaS, Trump's savvy move

E117: Did Stripe miss its window? Plus: VC market update, AI comes for SaaS, Trump's savvy move

2023/2/24
logo of podcast All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
C
Chamath Palihapitiya
以深刻的投资见解和社会资本主义理念而闻名的风险投资家和企业家。
D
David Sacks
一位在房地产法和技术政策领域都有影响力的律师和学者。
Topics
Chamath Palihapitiya:Stripe可能错过了上市的最佳时机,其巨额税单和员工股票期权问题与其长时间保持私有化有关。员工限制性股票单位(RSU)的到期日迫使公司上市,否则将面临税务问题。Stripe的估值大幅下降,这引发了对其未来估值的担忧。Mark Zuckerberg曾因担心上市而推迟Facebook的上市时间,但后来承认这并非明智之举。对Stripe的估值分析表明,其在2018或2019年上市可能更有利。Stripe的业务模式透明,可以通过分析其生态系统中的上市公司数据来对其进行估值。对Stripe及其竞争对手Adyen的盈利能力和运营杠杆的比较分析表明,Stripe之前的估值过高,目前的估值更合理,但仍高于其主要竞争对手Adyen。Stripe和Adyen的员工生产力比较分析显示,Stripe在短期内大幅增加员工数量,员工数量的快速增长与其GMV增长不成比例。Adyen专注于大型客户,而Stripe则同时服务大型和小型客户,导致Stripe的盈利能力较低。Stripe为了服务大量小型客户而需要雇佣更多员工,这降低了其盈利能力。Stripe可能错过了在2018-2019年上市的最佳时机,这会使其错失最大化企业价值的机会。Stripe未来在小型客户市场长期盈利能力存在不确定性。Stripe承认其员工数量增长过快,并正在进行调整。在透明的市场中,对公司进行精确估值相对容易。科技行业正在响应经济环境的变化,减少员工数量,提高效率。 David Sacks:针对B2B SaaS公司,服务大型企业和小型企业的策略都是可行的。传统观点认为,大型企业是B2B SaaS公司的最佳客户,因为它们预算更大,合同价值更高。近年来,越来越多的初创公司选择服务小型企业,因为它们更容易满足需求,销售周期更短。服务小型企业的销售周期短,销售过程更简单,产品需求也更简单。选择服务大型企业还是小型企业取决于创始人的能力和市场匹配度。B2B SaaS公司可以同时服务大型企业和小型企业。从服务小型企业开始,随着公司发展壮大,可以逐步向大型企业市场拓展。衡量企业可扩展性的关键指标是资本回报率(例如LTV/CAC或ROIC),以及该比率随企业规模扩大而变化的情况。如果资本回报率下降,则企业估值也会下降。如果资本回报率下降,企业需要采取措施进行调整,或在市场意识到之前进行融资或上市。Stripe的估值下降可能与其错过了上市的最佳时机有关。在支付处理市场,成本结构变得非常重要,因为大型客户拥有议价能力,会限制LTV。支付处理市场的盈利能力因细分市场而异。许多SaaS公司的效率不如预期,导致其估值下降。客户生命周期价值(LTV)的计算应考虑所有成本,包括运营成本。 Jason Calacanis:略 David Friedberg:略

Deep Dive

Chapters
The discussion centers on Stripe's potential IPO timing misstep, its tax challenges, and its struggle with employee stock options. The conversation also delves into the company's growth and operational strategies in comparison to its competitors.
  • Stripe has a $4 billion tax bill due to expiring employee RSUs.
  • Stripe was valued at $55 billion, a 42% decrease from its peak valuation.
  • Stripe significantly increased its employee count in a short period, impacting its profitability.

Shownotes Transcript

(0:00) Bestie intro: Jason's Japan trip!

(1:04) Stripe's precarious situation: Did it miss its window? Breaking down its $4B tax bill, slowing growth curve, enterprise vs SMB customers, scalability issues, and more

(23:07) Lessons for founders: How ZIRP can skew CAC and LTV calculations, burn multiple

(29:40) VC market update: ZIRP mistakes, VC as a "must-have" asset class for LPs, how the 2021 vintage can be saved

(39:05) AI's outsized impact on SaaS and real-world businesses

(55:16) Advice from Steve Jobs on customer-first product development, Section 230 update

(1:00:29) Trump's savvy visit to East Palestine and 2024 strategy, Biden's visit to Ukraine, China's position

(1:14:24) Tinfoil hat corner

(1:23:25) Bestie wrap up!

Follow the besties:

https://twitter.com/chamath)

https://linktr.ee/calacanis)

https://twitter.com/DavidSacks)

https://twitter.com/friedberg)

Follow the pod:

https://twitter.com/theallinpod)

https://linktr.ee/allinpodcast)

Intro Music Credit:

https://rb.gy/tppkzl)

https://twitter.com/yung_spielburg)

Intro Video Credit:

https://twitter.com/TheZachEffect)

Referenced in the show:

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/inside-stripes-55-billion-pitch-to-investors)

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-private-tech-company-that-let-employee-stock-grants-evaporate)

https://techcrunch.com/2013/09/11/zuckerberg-says-he-was-too-afraid-of-taking-facebook-public)

https://sacks.substack.com/p/enterprises-vs-smbs-whos-the-better-customer-for-b2b-saas-startups-9a0d4efe69e9)

https://sacks.substack.com/p/the-burn-multiple-51a7e43cb200)

https://twitter.com/tylertringas/status/1627449217294958592)

https://chamathreads.substack.com/p/higher-rates-will-lead-to-the-next)

https://twitter.com/Jason/status/1628851245644644352)

https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3497-you-know-one-of-the-things-that-really-hurt)

https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/02/not-like-the-nine-greatest-experts-on-the-internet-justices-seem-leery-of-broad-ruling-on-section-230)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/20/on-the-record-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-president-bidens-trip-to-ukraine)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/20/secrecy-security-biden-trip-to-kyiv)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/joe-biden-makes-surprise-visit-095627966.html)

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1626984889449959430)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/23/world/russia-ukraine-geopolitics.html)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957)

https://openai.com/blog/how-should-ai-systems-behave)