venturecapital

Thinking this morning again about the Rippling $13.5B valuation... Is HR tech really that hot? 

I've done a few companies in that arena in my career and they have always been some of the hardest to get GTM traction. Yet MASSIVE, stale incumbents to disrupt.

What are the thoughts among this group?

I run marketing at High Alpha Innovation | We co-create startups with corporations | Founder, Holder.xyz | /jump /purple | Fmr. Salesforce, ExactTarget

I think my view is that the number of total potential use cases in HR tech is actually pretty slim. Which is why there is so much overlap. It’s pretty much HRIS and ATS. And that’s it.

Agreed. And several of these are either pretty adjacent to each other or have overlapping use cases, so a lot of redundant SAM baked in the aggregate valuations. I would anticipate significant consolidation from private companies not growing into their multiples in the next 3-5 years.

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What do you mean? Re: Rippling valuation? Yeah, I don’t know. Personally, I think over-valued. 

But I’m more interested in what you think overall about HR tech? Is there really that much opportunity there? For new companies and startups. It’s an area I personally have a qualm with.

Need to know revenue and ebitda to have a perspective

Believer, husband, dad, optimist // Possibilities into opportunities // Design & strategy // Expert dabbler // tylerhilker.com

Agreed on all of these. That’s what I’ve seen. 

Budget authority is also so low in selling to HR. You really only have budget for HRIS and recruiting. 

But if you have a product that can sell easy to the ceo, you’re in a good spot. But still super difficult.

Agreed. The problems & potential are real, but like oil far beneath the surface. Locked in incumbents & long buying cycles. Buyers aren’t usually users so UX sucks. Budget is small bc perceived ROI. HRIS requires massive scope; most entrants are point solutions requiring expensive integrations.

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Yeah, my assumption is that it’s never. Rippling mostly replaces smaller competitors and smaller startups. 

They are relentless with their BDR outreach to me (early-stage, venture-backed ceo).

I would love to know how often Rippling wins in replacing ADP across different segments? 

Assuming for enterprise it's almost impossible