Today, OpenView, the expansion stage venture capital firm, released the results of the 2019 Expansion SaaS Benchmarks survey. This year’s report was based on data from more than 500 SaaS companies, ranging from pre-revenue to $150M+ in ARR.

The 2019 Expansion SaaS Benchmarks Report culls data from SaaS organizations of all sizes and stages to help these businesses understand what does and does not work when it comes to building a generational software company.

From the survey data, it’s clear that there’s still a large parity gap when it comes to leadership positions and seats in the boardroom.

OpenView has been benchmarking gender parity in leadership positions for the past three years, and found that gender parity in leadership positions has increased from 12% in 2017 to 14% in 2019. While there has been growth, there is still a long way to go. At this rate, there won’t be full gender parity in leadership positions until 2055.

Devon McDonald, Partner at OpenView, explains, “We saw a big spike in women taking on leadership positions during the height of the #MeToo movement. Unfortunately, it seems like things have slowed down a bit and that initiative has once again taken a back seat. We’re hoping that legislation will force companies to rethink their leadership and board strategy. Our data shows that companies with an equal or female-dominated leadership team grew at faster rates than their male dominated peers (115% vs. 99% year-on-year growth). The proof is in the numbers, yet people are (Read more...)