Tech / Software Trend
Preparing an interview rn and would like to get some insights from tech bankers here - what are some software/tech trends that you think is great to talk about during the interview?
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Something that you find interesting
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You should talk about how there are more software companies now than there were 100 years ago.
dubious claim gonna need some proof on this one
On premise CRMs
Not comprehensive, but a few that come to mind for mid-sized software companies (not necessarily as applicable to megacap software companies)
1. Adoption of AI to Support Optimization of Cost Base (definitely seeing AI implemented more on the costs side than being useful for revenue generation, pretty much any company going through M&A has an "AI" slide these days)
2. Cloud Computing and SaaS Pricing (any software companies not in the cloud pre-pandemic have shifted entirely to cloud-based products with SaaS pricing models
3. Vertical Software and Specialization (low barriers to entry and high competition in software are forcing horizontal platforms to verticalize or carve out specific functionality niches)
4. Control Points and Platformization (seeing shift away from best of breed products toward best in suite products that can act as a "total operating system" for a given set of workflows; on the software procurement side, seeing IT buyers prioritize ease of use and "all-in-one platforms")
5. Data & Analytics (it's not clear every company has the analytics capabilities down, but most software companies are accumulating data for the eventual future where language models or analytics can drive insights and action off the massive longitudinal data sets)
6. M&A Strategies (Software roll-ups are still highly attractive, especially when they can still achieve multiple arbitrage, but unintegrated roll-ups no longer fly - platforms need to show an ability to create GTM synergies as well as savings on the tech side)
Service as a Software!
Not a tech banker but VCs frequently post market maps on a bunch of different tech/SaaS verticals they invest in (AI, healthTech, etc.) on their blogs and that will have good info on trends currently in the space. Recommend looking into Bessemer, a16z for those
Sponsor backed take privates of software companies was the largest trend imo, and the biggest driver of M&A. Look up the article by Janelle Teng from Next Big Teng it goes into more detail.
Bit late to this - I found the thread while looking into tech trends. The cloud/SaaS point above is a good one. I’d add the whole “cloud bill becomes a problem” trend too.
It’s not just moving software to the cloud anymore. Companies are also getting more serious about what all that compute is actually costing them. I use Cast AI for the K8s side, and it’s made the idle-capacity problem a lot more obvious. That cost-vs-growth angle is pretty interesting for software companies imo.
AI-native SaaS and cybersecurity are two trends worth watching. AI could disrupt seat-based pricing, while cybersecurity demand keeps growing. For IB interviews, look at how these trends affect revenue growth, margins, and valuation multiples.
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