Private equity EV/Revenue multiples have increased 70% since 2000. They averaged 10.3x for the first three quarters of 2018 versus 6.6x in 2000. AS a result of these higher valuation expectations, the traditional private equity playbook of acquire, cost restructuring, and flip based on financial engineering are being disrupted by growth equity PE players like Vista who demonstrated the success of this model through the acquisition and sale of Marketo. Vista acquired a struggling Marketo in 2016 for $1.75B, improved it, and sold to Adobe a little more than two years later for $4.75B.

Mary Meeker from Kleiner Perkins is the undisputed leader in using big data to describe and analyze the major trends in the tech industry. She and KPCB have published a renowned annual research report since 2001. Take a look at her analysis from 2002 and her 2018 report. The differences and trends are fascinating.