Metrics matter when assessing potential investments, but when it comes to assessing potential investments every company is unique, says Bessemer Venture Partners’ Alexandra Sukin.
“We’re very thoughtful as a firm around trying to understand what metrics matter to a different business.”
– Alexandra Sukin
In an interview for the BetaKit podcast at SAAS NORTH, Sukin shared some SaaS strategies for companies, and explained that Bessemer Ventures’ investment strategy revolves around looking at the unique metrics of companies rather than applying a standard across the board.
“Every time we look at a company, we take a step back and we ask ourselves, ‘How is this different and what is specific to this company?” she says. “Regardless of what vertical a SaaS company is in, or whether they’re SMB or enterprise, there might be something unique about how they distribute to customers, and that matters a lot.”
When it comes to Bessemer working with SaaS founders, the firm considers the team behind the companies and how they intend to grow with the business.
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“We’re very thoughtful as a firm around trying to understand what metrics matter to a different business,” Sukin says. “We take a step back first and say, ‘What kind of data do we want to ask for and what kind of metrics do we think are relevant or important to this type of business?”
Bessemer Venture Partners was founded in 1911, and entered the venture capital game in the 1960s. The firm holds a portfolio that consists of 200 companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces. Its global portfolio includes big names such as Pinterest, Shopify, Yelp, and LinkedIn, and it has $9 billion of capital under management.
Sukin is an investor at the firm where she focuses on consumer platforms, small and midsize business (SMB) software, and data infrastructure. She works with portfolio companies including Rewind, MicroAcquire, and Truebill.
Sukin also spoke to BetaKit about justifying valuations, how companies can create roadmaps to meet expectations, and how Bessemer reviews a company’s distribution strategy.
Find more about how founders can attract Bessemer’s support in BetaKit’s podcast episode with Sukin at SAAS NORTH.