20VC: SaaS is Dead: Why Systems of Record Will Die in an Agentic World | What Revenue Multiple Will Software Companies Trade At? | From 7,000 to 3,000: We Need Less People Than Ever with Sebastian Siemiatkowski
Summary
The episode centers on how AI—especially agentic systems and large language models—is collapsing the marginal cost of software creation and eroding traditional SaaS moats by lowering data switching costs. Sebastian explains why companies must build deep, contextual AI (Klarna’s in-house customer service that replaced ~600 agents) rather than rely on off-the-shelf solutions, and how that drove productivity gains and a headcount reduction from ~7,000 to ~3,000. The conversation covers implications for valuations and revenue multiples in software, the strategic choices around BNPL versus revolving credit, and competitive dynamics with fintech challengers like Revolut and Nubank. Anecdotes on fundraising (winning Sequoia and Michael Moritz) and a call for investors and CEOs to
Notable Quotes
""You should think that cost of creating software is going down to zero.""
""The next thing that's going to hit everyone bad is the switching cost of data.""
""I announced already in '23 that our AI customer service had done the equivalent of 600 agents' jobs.""
"And literally, 20 seconds later, this is so impressive, 20 seconds later, my phone starts buzzing, and it's Michael Moritz."
"BNPL is a shitty business. Consumer lending is a hard business to make a lot of money."
"If I meet investors today that haven't actually downloaded and tried to build something themselves, I think they don't have the skill set to make an evaluation of the company they're looking at."
"I think what people underestimate with AI, it's a compression technology."