#271 | Consumer Report 2026, State of Fintech, SaaSacre, & more
Feb 15th | The latest from Maveron, A16Z, Bessemer, Redpoint, Sequoia, Mayfield, CRV, and others
SandHill.io aggregates and shares the latest investment themes, market insights, and best practices for operating and investing from 700+ VCs, analysts, and operators.
This newsletter curates a selection of posts featured on the website each week.
Investment Themes, Theses & Industry Analyses
Consumer 2026 Report (Natalie Dillon & Simran Suri, Maveron)
The State of Fintech in 2026 (F Prime Team)
The SaaSacre of 2026 (Janelle Teng, VP @ Bessemer)
The WhatsApp moment for money is here (Chris Dixon, GP @ A16Z Crypto)
Q4 ‘25 Cloud Update (What’s going on with software?) (Eric Flaningam, Partner @ Felicis)
The AI Inflection Point: From Software to Digital Labor (Meera Clark, Partner @ Redpoint)
Will Vertical AI Survive? (Nihar Bobba, Partner @ BTV)
Healthcare Payor Q4 2025 Earnings Roundup (Vickram Pradhan, VC @ Sopris)
The Insurance Stack is Compressing (Annelies Gamble, Partner @ Zetta)
Insurance Is the Canary for Macro Stress (Amir Kabir, MP @ Overlook)
Guides, Case Studies, and Best Practices for Operating
The AI pricing and monetization playbook (Bessemer Team)
Using M&A to Grow in SaaS (Sammy Abdullah, GP @ Blossom Street)
The SaaSpocalypse CEO Survival Guide (Patrick Salyer, Partner @ Mayfield)
The Lighthouse Playbook (David Booth, Partner @ A16Z)
Agents vs. Workflows: The Framework Founders Actually Need (Emma Wirt, Platform Lead @ Fika)
AI Agent Companies Should Study Amazon, not SaaS (Pratyush Buddiga, VC @ Susa)
Uplevel or Replace? A CEO’s Dilemma at Series B (Liz Christo, Partner @ Stage 2)
Additional Reads
The Opening, Midgame and Endgame in Startups (David Cahn, GP @ Sequoia)
The case for baby and the bathwater amidst “SaaSpocalypse”? (Rick Zullo, GP @ Equal)
Who Gets to Eat? (Euclid Ventures)
5,127 Layers (Rex Woodbury, MP @ Daybreak)
The Case for Scaling Venture (Erik Torenberg, Partner @ A16Z)
The feature backlog has gone *poof* (Nikhil Basu Trivedi, GP @ Footwork)
SaaS Was Never About the Software (Jackie DiMonte, GP @ Grid)
Software after SaaS: sin eaters, hybrids, and NFX. (Yoni Rechtman, Partner @ Slow)
The Post-Model World: Why The System Is The New Moat. (Rob May, GP @ Half Court)
Three dominant models of today’s vertical AI horserace (Caitlin Bolnick, GP @ CRV)
The Price Is Wrong (Vivek Ramaswami & Sabrina Wu, Madrona)
Fearless vs. Courageous (Alfred Lin, GP @ Sequoia)
Bubbles and Balloons (Kanyi Maqubela, GP @ Kindred)
RL and The Era of Experience (Tanay Jaipuria, Partner @ Wing VC)
The Incompetent Confidence Complex (Kyle Harrison, GP @ Contrary)
Notes:
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