Tunguz: vertical SaaS median sales efficiency 0.97 vs horizontal 0.66 (n=54, 2015 — flag age)

Claim: Tomasz Tunguz analyzed 54 public SaaS companies: vertical SaaS companies' median sales efficiency was 0.97 vs 0.66 for horizontal (statistically significant, p=0.026).

Source: https://tomtunguz.com/sales-efficiency-vertical-horizontal-gtm/

Confidence: Verified — but from September 2015. Use as historical anchor / directional claim; not a 2026 benchmark.

Companion: Constellation Software grew from $80M (2003) to >$5B (2014) revenue at 25% CAGR — built entirely by acquiring small vertical SaaS businesses with moats (Mark Leonard letters, analyzed by Tunguz: https://tomtunguz.com/mark-leonard/).

2024-2026 thesis evolution:

• a16z (Sept 2024): "AI is increasing VSaaS revenue per customer by up to 10×" (https://a16z.com/vertical-saas-now-with-ai-inside/)
• Bessemer State of the Cloud 2024: Vertical AI is "10× bigger opportunity than legacy vertical SaaS" (BVP partners Caty Rea, Kent Bennett, Brian Feinstein)
• a16z paraphrased thesis: "As foundation model capabilities commoditize, the scarcity shifts from the model to the data"

The pattern: vertical SaaS has had structurally better unit economics than horizontal for a decade; AI amplifies this by making the proprietary data the moat. Implication for Candid clients: the AI overlay is the prerequisite, not the alternative, for getting value out of operational data.