Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Historically enterprise SaaS with strong product/market fit has been (comparatively) safe. Companies tend to get hit in order of consumer > SMB > mid-market > enterprise. The above does not apply if you're a high burn organization that overhired, those jobs are at risk in every industry except maybe the government.

(Of course nowhere is entirely safe, even in good times)




In a downturn, enterprise SaaS vendors have to cut back on development and hold on to the customers they have. They aren’t winning new big contracts, and losing a few big customers could be fatal.

And when you cut back on roadmap on a product like that, consolidation starts looking sensible. That’s when you get bought out by Oracle or ADP or someone.


Yeah I mean bad things can happen to anyone, but relatively speaking enterprise tends to be safer all else being equal. A great consumer company is still probably safer than a decent enterprise SaaS company.

"losing a few big customers could be fatal" For sure, but there's also a long history of enterprise companies weathering this just find (eg Twilio famously churning Uber). There often is just less pullback than one would think as well, it's typical to see 3+ year contracts in enterprise.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: