Why Holding Companies Beat SaaS for Enterprise AI
Michael Lee and Sequence joined the Dell Family Office to take Baldwin private in a $7.7 billion deal, proving permanent capital can out-execute standard private equity and venture models.
Theme
SaaS: what the top podcasts are saying.
How software subscriptions are changing, and which SaaS companies are exposed. 25 write-ups from 11 shows so far, the newest from September 2026.
25 write-ups11 shows
The short version
AI agents are pushing software vendors toward direct database access and outcome-based pricing. Custom AI coding tools and slower growth have slashed legacy valuations. Incumbents integrating AI into established workflows continue to see strong demand.
Top talking points
Incumbents thrive by adding AI tools
Incumbents maintain strong growth by adding AI to established workflows. Salesforce, Atlassian, and Twilio saw stock jumps of 20% or more after monetizing new agent features for existing customers.
- Why the SaaS Apocalypse Narrative Just Collapsed All-In Podcast · Aug 30
- SaaS Apocalypse Over? Use AI's Two Prongs 20VC with Harry Stebbings · May 10
- Aaron Levie: AI Agents Will Drive 'Agentic Upside' for SaaS My First Million · Jul 5
- Cleo Founder Debunks the 'SaaS Apocalypse' Narrative Cheeky Pint · Jun 14
Slower growth collapses valuation multiples
Falling growth rates cause steep private market corrections. Airtable and Miro suffered value drops of nearly 90% from peak valuations. Miro saw the valuation multiple compress from 30x to under 3x annual recurring revenue.
- Miro's 89% Crash: What Happens When SaaS Growth Stops TBPN · Sep 13
- Airtable's 90% Collapse: When Your SaaS Needs a PE Play All-In Podcast · Aug 9
- AirTable's $11B to $1.285B Sale: What SaaS Founders Missed 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Aug 9
Agents threaten per-seat pricing models
Autonomous software coworkers threaten the standard per-seat billing structure. Vendors capture the larger outsourced human services budget by selling finished outcomes.
- Why Agentic AI Will Crush Leveraged SaaS in 2 Years 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Aug 23
- Why the Next Trillion-Dollar Software Firm Sells Outcomes 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Aug 30
- Nadella: SaaS is 're-litigating,' agents unlock 10x value Latent Space · Jun 7
Most interesting insights
Matt Bank revealed that GEM flipped its software budget within twelve months, moving from 90% third-party tools to 90% in-house software development.
From Why Allocators Are Replacing Commercial SaaS With In-House Code, Capital Allocators · Sep 20
Enterprises spend roughly $6 on outsourced human services for every $1 they spend on software tools.
From Why the Next Trillion-Dollar Software Firm Sells Outcomes, 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Aug 30
A multi-year drop to 5% annual growth compressed Miro's valuation multiple to under 3x ARR, down from near 30x at its peak.
From Miro's 89% Crash: What Happens When SaaS Growth Stops, TBPN · Sep 13
From our research reports
The State Of: Q2 2026
AI Agents Drive SaaS to Headless APIs Amidst Worsening Compute Scarcity and Political Resistance
Across 7 shows, there was broad agreement on two critical trends: AI agents are fundamentally reshaping software value, shifting it from traditional user interfaces to headless, API-first architectures. Concurrently, a severe and escalating compute and power crisis, driven by infrastructure limitations, rising costs, and increasing public opposition to new data center construction, threatens AI's growth.
Where they split: A key tension emerged around the necessity versus the environmental and social costs of expanding AI infrastructure. Some argued for the critical need to build more data centers to maintain global AI leadership, while others highlighted the immense energy consumption and local burden of these facilities, fueling public and political opposition.
The Monthly Read: August 2026
Airtable's 90% valuation plunge signals a severe market reset for horizontal no-code SaaS amid AI disruption
Across 2 shows, commentators agreed that Airtable's sale at roughly 1.28 billion dollars down from an 11 billion dollar peak highlights a brutal valuation correction for horizontal SaaS businesses facing slowing venture growth and AI substitution.
Where they split: All-In framed the collapse as a product vulnerability caused by AI tools replacing traditional no-code platforms, while 20VC emphasized financial mechanics and the lack of private equity buyer competition for legacy SaaS assets.
People quoted on SaaS
Latest write-ups
Why Allocators Are Replacing Commercial SaaS With In-House Code
Matt Bank revealed that GEM flipped its software budget within twelve months, moving from 90% third-party tools to 90% in-house software development.
Miro's 89% Crash: What Happens When SaaS Growth Stops
Bending Spoons acquired digital whiteboard maker Miro for $1.79 billion, an 89% collapse from its peak private valuation of $17.5 billion.
Defeating a $600K SaaS Sales Tax Retrade in QoE Diligence
Orion Advisor Solutions' diligence team claimed HiddenLevers owed $600,000 in uncollected state sales taxes following shifting state tax rules for SaaS companies.
Why the SaaS Apocalypse Narrative Just Collapsed
Salesforce shares surged over 20% after raising guidance and integrating its data layer directly with Anthropic's Claude.
Why the Next Trillion-Dollar Software Firm Sells Outcomes
Enterprises spend roughly $6 on outsourced human services for every $1 they spend on software tools.
AI Agents Revive SaaS: Use 'Computer Use' to Automate Expert Software
AI agents aren't killing SaaS; they're revitalizing it by interacting with existing software tools. Claire Vo admitted a "trough of despair" about SaaS, only to find agents excel at "pressing buttons" within applications.
Why Agentic AI Will Crush Leveraged SaaS in 2 Years
Autonomous agents are shifting enterprise software from human copilots to a coworker model, directly threatening per-seat pricing models.
SaaS Growth Beyond Meta/Google: Swulinski's High-ROI Playbook
Referrals need to be a product feature: Don't treat referral programs as an afterthought. Integrate them deeply, make rewards easy to discover, and align them directly with product usage limits.
Airtable's 90% Collapse: When Your SaaS Needs a PE Play
Valuation Cliffs are Real: Airtable's collapse from an $11.7 billion valuation to $1.28 billion (a 90% drop) shows that even profitable, growing SaaS companies are not immune to brutal market corrections, especially when chasing…
AirTable's $11B to $1.285B Sale: What SaaS Founders Missed
AirTable, once valued at $11 billion, sold for $1.285 billion despite doing $485 million in ARR and growing 20% year-on-year. This 88% valuation cut signals a harsh market correction for horizontal SaaS apps.
Extended Private Horizon: AI's 'Cis-Apocalypse' for Non-AI SaaS
The average unicorn now stays private for over 12 years in the US, a direct result of abundant private capital and secondary markets offering employee liquidity without a public IPO.