Box, Unicorns and the State of SaaS

Last week, XANT CEO Dave Elkington joined Om Malik, Mandeep Singh and Emily Chang on “Bloomberg West” to discuss Box’s earnings, tech unicorns and the current state of SaaS.

Elkington called Box’s earnings a healthy sign of progress.

He also shared his views on unicorns, a term used to label start-up companies whose valuations exceed $1 billion. Even though Elkington dislikes the word “unicorn,” preferring “stallion,” he still says they are providing incredible value by disrupting the market.

Many seem to think the current state of technology is on the verge of another bursting tech bubble.

Elkington noted that he doesn’t fully subscribe to that notion.

While he certainly believes there is a bubble, he doesn’t foresee an audible pop that will spell disaster for the tech industry.

He said we’re more likely to see a deflation in the market and the purging of organizations with valuations based solely on user count and page views.

In fact, this process started about six to eight months ago as private valuations have come down 30 percent to match what we’re seeing in the public market.

Elkington said he’s convinced annuity businesses, like Box, Dropbox and XANT, are going to excel in this environment.

You can see the full interview here.

Download the cheat sheet below to learn which metrics actually increase sales results.

Image credit: Yosuke Muroya