Andrew Stockwell

#SaaS #People leader. Husband, dad to 2 strong girls, aspiring chef, and travel junkie. Passion for #Leadership #EX #CX & #Digital. Tweets are my own.

[HRLF @NEHRLF]

We are LIVE at #HRLFIgnite! More than 200 senior HR leaders checking in and ready to ignite this great industry we all share.

[Ryan Neu @ryanRneu]

@chamath predicted the future on @theallinpod: 80% feature-complete software at 90% discounts. @DavidSacks inspired us to make it happen at @VendrHQ, for procurement.

We tripled the amount of companies that use Vendr, essentially overnight.

[Ryan Neu @ryanRneu]

For companies, a superior distribution channel for software means lower CAC.

Fulfilling Vendr’s mission requires universal access to our data, buying power, and platform.

So, we made it free. Sign up at https://t.co/7htzu8PYZC

[OnlyCFO @OnlyCFO]

Pretty cool that many features of https://t.co/bdxO2MZOEl are now free.

—pricing benchmarks
—procurement automation
—negotiation support

Lot of people probably interested in diving into pricing benchmarks

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

I would also argue that position in soliciting competitive bids and detailed data and insights on potential alternative solutions to strengthen your hand! Why would you ever negotiate without @VendrHQ?!?

[The Secret CFO @SecretCFO]

It’s taken me a while to work out the root of negotiation success.

It’s not BATNA, leverage, body language, or any of the things you learn on expensive courses.

They are important, but they are downstream from the thing that really matters: POSITION.

Position is the state in which you enter a negotiation. It’s everything.

Ever tried to borrow money when you actually NEED it? Difficult and expensive.

Way easier to borrow money when you don’t.

Position gives you the luxury of timing. The ability to choose WHEN you negotiate.

And you can’t strengthen your position overnight. It’s a function of the things you do everyday.

And most of those things are unexciting:
- keeping costs low
- protecting assets
- being cash generative
- decent balance sheet liquidity
- avoid burning bridges

[Tomasz Tunguz @ttunguz]

Vendr’s quarterly report on SaaS purchasing trends summarize the sentiment of the software market. Q2 was tough but Q3 is looking up.

The average sales cycle has lengthened from 32 to 44 days for net new software, a 37% increase.

Slower cycles & fewer new purchases : 19% of software purchases are net new in 2023 ; just 17% in Q3. Still about 1-in-5, but down from 30% last year.

In a challenging market where new customers are a challenge, how does a company grow? Increase price & cross-sell.

Average contract values rose 43% q/q - nearly the average over this time period.

What’s selling? BI, data integration, data science + analytics top the podium.

One last notable data point : DataDog’s ACVs are twice as high as any other vendor in the report at $220k. Salesforce, Cloudflare, & Netsuite are next with ACVs in the $100k-$120k range.

That $220k number is 3x DataDog’s current ACV & it’s driven by a remarkable push up-market & cross-sell effort detailed in their earnings report earlier this week.

Doubling down on existing customers & growing those accounts have been the dominant way to drive growth during this challenging year.

[OnlyCFO @OnlyCFO]

Trends and insights on software buying

With Q&A from the CEO of Vendr

https://t.co/CJkDR4fzr8

[OnlyCFO @OnlyCFO]

Full @VendrHQ here

https://t.co/9tXmw6mJZz

[OnlyCFO @OnlyCFO]

My takeaway from the latest Vendr SaaS trends report:

We are moving quickly to very transparent pricing. Lots of tools are capturing pricing data so the discounting games are less meaningful. We still expect discounts though...

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

Only one week in and I can already see why Vendr is named to this list! Wonderful people, an excellent onboarding process, and so much opportunity for growth. I'm thrilled I made the decision to join, and can't wait to see what comes next. Let's go!!! # #…https://t.co/XRnSA9SbQs

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

Thrilled to be counted amongst you all as we start this exciting new journey! Let's go! https://t.co/6cxBRb7uVO

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

I’m thrilled to share that I started a new position as Senior Director of Operations at Vendr today! I'll be working on strategic initiatives and operational programs to help Vendr scale and grow aligned with its mission to forever change how companies fi…https://t.co/i5hzS1j9Sy

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

@Phrentrivia Imminent domain?

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

@Phrentrivia Agamemnon

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

Although still small in terms of team size and budget, successful EX initiatives have the ability to have an outsized impact on customer experience and therefore business results (not to mention culture, employee retention, and talent acquisition).

Illu…https://t.co/Z0wrPB0E4r

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

Any AEs/CSMs or sales leadership in my network looking for their next great endeavor, check out Vendr and attend their happy hour 12/1 from 4-7pm ET in downtown Boston! https://t.co/qUMSgnWPrO

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

@Phrentrivia Well then, have to say Barcelona

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

I am seeking an operations, product, or strategy leadership role in SaaS or B2B information services/market research and would grateful for your support. Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities you can share, and please let me k…https://t.co/CBWulOcjVI

[Andrew Stockwell @apstockwell]

@Phrentrivia Single child policy