What is the difference?

SaaS Hype Factor vs BVP Efficiency Score

Hype Factor

Bessemer Efficiency Score

What is it?

Hype Factor is an efficiency metric that shows how efficiently a company converts capital raised into ARR. SaaS companies convert venture capital into two things: annual recurring revenue (ARR) and hype. ARR has direct value as every year it turns into GAAP revenue. Hype has value to the extent it creates halo effects that drive interest in the company that ultimately increase ARR.

Bessemer Efficiency Score is a measure of capital efficiency that tracks net new ARR against net burn for a given period. This metric showcases the incremental ARR dollars added for every dollar of burn, effectively measuring a company’s spending habits.

Formula

ƒ Sum(Capital Raised) / Sum(Annual Recurring Revenue)
ƒ Sum(Net New ARR) / Sum(Net Burn)

Example

Looking at some recent JMP research, the average SaaS company goes public at around $25M/quarter in revenue, a $100M annual run-rate, and which also suggests an ARR base of around $100M. The average SaaS company has raised about $100M if you include everyone or $68M if you exclude companies not considered enterprise software. This suggests that 1.5 (=100/68) is a typical capital-to-ARR ratio or Hype Factor, on the eve of an IPO.

A company records $1 million in net new ARR and $600K net burn in a given year, resulting in a Bessemer Efficiency Score of 1.7x. This indicates that the company’s capital efficiency has reached the “best” range of scores.

Published and updated dates

Date created: Oct 12, 2022

Latest update: Feb 16, 2023

Date created: Oct 12, 2022

Latest update: Mar 18, 2024