"Take Sierra, Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor's AI customer support firm that was recently valued at $10 billion. On paper, you'd think Sierra could have its pick of just about anyone who wants to work in AI - both co-founders are well-known names in Silicon Valley, Taylor is also the chairman of OpenAI, and Sierra has raised more than $600 million in less than two years. But even Sierra feels the need to put a giant number on the board to compete for talent."
"Taylor told me on Thursday that the company has reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue, up from about $20 million this time last year. Unlike many AI startups now flexing their ARR, Sierra books its revenue through upfront contracts. The company says its customer support agents have already been used by hundreds of millions of people, many of whom wouldn't know they're interacting with an AI to process a return or troubleshoot a bug."
"Taylor spent a good chunk of our conversation explaining why he thinks Sierra's $100 million means more than the typical AI startup ARR number. Sierra follows the same model used by public enterprise software companies like Salesforce and ServiceNow. It signs at least 12-month, often multi-year contracts, bills annually up front, and gives customers 30 days to pay after signing."
AI startups are emphasizing annual recurring revenue figures as a competitive signal for hiring and investment. Sierra, an AI customer support company co-founded by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, reports $100 million in ARR, up from about $20 million the prior year. Sierra books revenue via upfront, often annual payments on 12-month or multi-year contracts and gives customers a 30-day payment window after signing. Sierra's support agents have been used by hundreds of millions of people and serve enterprise customers such as SoFi, Wayfair, Ramp, and Rocket Mortgage. The ARR figure is presented as more durable than social-media demo metrics.
Read at The Verge
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]