Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech, & Live Events 1.26.24
How inflation is being used to mask the truth in sports business, enterprise software, and titles
Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech, & Live Events:
How different forms of inflation are masking truths
Every game is the most watched ever!
"There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, & Statistics"
We get sports business news every day at work. Nearly every day these days, we see announcements like "The Bills vs. Chiefs had 50 million viewers and is the most watched of all time!!!." Only one problem - it might not have been.
Nielsen, the yardstick that most media use to relay viewership made an enormous change to how they counted viewers in 2020. They now roll in a made-up number, called "out of home viewers," where they try to guess everyone who went to a bar or a friend's house to watch the game. Of that "50 million viewers," 17 million - 35% - were "new" viewers assumed to be out of home.
Net/Net: We have no idea if it was the most-watched game because we're using a different measuring stick.
That won't stop those in the media, on the teams, and leagues from trumping up unrealistic numbers (see what I did there?)
Ethan Strauss with a great piece explaining what's happening and how it impacts the major players in sports:
Record sales? Then why are you laying off huge swaths of staff?
A recession is defined as "a period of temporary economic decline identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters." So, by "definition," we're not in a recession.
But we were - in practice- in Q1 and Q2. Our dollar is worth 20% less than it was two years ago. Everything is more expensive, and enterprises spent 2023 cutting like it was in 2001.
Companies don't want to pay more. Period. Prices going up is hard. Even if it's just an inflation adjustment.
We're still growing and making money. A terrific blessing made even more important by what went on in early '23. Our numbers are higher than ever - as are most everyone's - but we need to look at it adjusted.
There are all kinds of new KPIs out there to justify investment. Just build a great business. The buyers will come. Companies aren't sold, they're bought.
Stolen valor and the inflation of importance
Title inflation has long been a problem in start-ups. Small companies where 50% of the staff is a "Vice President" are everywhere - and more power to them!
But one title inflation has been notable recently, and I'm going straight "get off my lawn" on this one: Non-founder CEOs claiming they're "co-founders" after the fact.
There are a dozen I know of who joined businesses that were around for years before them as C-level execs, who now are claiming they are a "Co-Founder." Buy all the awards you want. Get all the press you want. But claiming "founder" status? That's stolen valor and even more misleading than the inflated ratings or revenue numbers.
Being a founder is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Real gangsters know what it takes.
Call yourself whatever you want - just know we're gonna call it out every time.