219. Crisis Coverage w/ Tomasz Tunguz - SaaS Strategies, Sector Data, and the $ Ceiling for Deals over Zoom

Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint Ventures joins Nick on a special Crisis Coverage installment to discuss SaaS Strategies, Sector Data, and the $ Ceiling for Deals over Zoom. In this episode, we cover: September of 2015 was the last time we had you on the program...  bring us up-to-speed on major milestones and changes since then? Has your thesis changed at all? Aside from the effects of the pandemic now, what has been the biggest change in SaaS investing since then? Lots of varying advice from so-called experts... some suggesting to deep cuts across the board, extend runway out for a few years... others saying now is the time to lean-in, expand and take advantage of opportunities that are created by the crisis.  You put together a pretty simple two by two decision-matrix for startups.  Can you talk through this and how you're providing different counsel to startups in different positions? If you're vetting a startup for a Series A that has benefited from the crisis, how do you disentangle or segregate temporary or non-sustainable revenue sources from the steady-state? Have you adjusted your vetting criteria or expectations around metrics due to the crisis? What's something you look for and analyze that is less common? What's your take on situations where there is an agreed MRR but the contract is structured such that the bulk of the contract value is paid upfront.  On one hand is a great boost to working capital but how do you look at that from an MRR standpoint? Any tactical advice for founders/sales teams w/ regards to structuring new customer contracts in this environment? Is there a maximum $ contract size that you think can be closed over the phone? To determine the sectors impacted most by COVID-19, you looked at Roger Lee's data on Layoffs.  We've discussed a lot of the impacted sectors anecdotally here on the show... according to the data, what has been impacted most? Are there some sectors where we'll see a lagging effect... due to factors like sales cycles maybe we don't see the effects yet but will over the coming quarter or two? You've discussed sectors and categories that this crisis might accelerate... aside from the obvious like teleconference, telehealth, grocery delivery, video streaming, etc... what are some non-obvious areas that may get a big boost? To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.