Jun 24, 2019The Death of the SaaS LTV/CACA little over two years ago I wrote a blog piece on Early Stage SaaS Unit Economics which outlines LTV/CAC for enterprise software businesses. While heavy on math, the post lacked foresight because I now believe LTV/CAC calculations are of waning importance in SaaS. It is clear to the SaaS…Technology10 min readTechnology10 min read
May 13, 2019All big brands are becoming fintechsIf you’ve spent some time around the Canaan Fintech team, you’ve undoubtedly heard us talk about the future of the industry: these days, it seems all big brands are becoming fintechs. In other words, we’re seeing many large companies that had initially built a captive and engaged audience turn around…Fintech3 min readFintech3 min read
Jun 11, 2018European FinTech + Money2020I just returned from Money2020 Europe and am positive it was the best conference I’ve ever attended. It’s clear from post-conference chatter that I am not alone. After spending the last 18 months studying European fintech companies and regulation from afar, I finally decided put my feet on the ground…Fintech5 min readFintech5 min read
Feb 27, 2018Consumerization of Enterprise & The Dropbox IPOThe Dropbox S1 was released last week and regardless of how you cut it, this is an incredible story. Founded in 2007, Dropbox has 500 million registered users — 11 million paying- and did $1.1 billion in revs in 2017. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the story is that…SaaS5 min readSaaS5 min read
Jan 22, 2018FinTech Central: Blockchain will never work in financial services & bitcoin is here to stayIn December, we hosted the New York fintech community at NASDAQ for our last FinTech Central of 2017. Recap of the year here: Q1, Q2, Q3. …Fintech3 min readFintech3 min read
Jan 22, 2018Preparing Your SaaS Business for a Successful FundraiseMy first job out of college was helping to advise SaaS companies on fundraises and M&A opportunities. I learned quickly that for every successful outcome in SaaS, there are 10+ broken processes — and many reasons for an acquirer or investor to pass on a deal. …Startup4 min readStartup4 min read
Published inCanaan·Oct 10, 2017FinTech Central: Bitcoin is not “closing”! And other misconceptions debunked.Canaan recently hosted leaders from across the crypto & blockchain landscape at Lending Club in San Francisco for our latest FinTech Central. Our panel included Brad Garlinghouse CEO @ Ripple, Kathleen Breitman CEO & Co-Founder @ Tezos, Lily Liu CFO @ 21, and Adam White Head of GDAX @ Coinbase. …Bitcoin4 min readBitcoin4 min read
Published inCanaan·Jul 5, 2017FinTech Central: Working With the RegulatorThe motto in early stage technology company building is move fast and break stuff. The motto in early stage financial technology company building is move methodically and work with the regulator. …Fintech3 min readFintech3 min read
Published inCanaan·Apr 18, 2017FinTech Central: The 2nd Wave of FinTechCanaan recently hosted our West Coast edition of FinTech Central (FTC) to discuss the current state of infrastructure in fintech. FTC, which launched in 2015, is our quarterly panel discussion about trends in the fintech ecosystem. At our first FTC, marketplace lending for XYZ and bitcoin were hot. Fast forward…Fintech3 min readFintech3 min read
Jan 26, 2017Early Stage SaaS Unit EconomicsEast Coast investors have a reputation for being sticklers around numbers, and not “buying the dream”, the same way our West Coast brethren tend to. In this piece I’m going to double down on the first part, and continue to strongly deny the second… One of the most common oversights…Startup8 min readStartup8 min read
