      onlycfo.io · 2024-01-04
      · 882d
    

Airplane's Acquihire by Airtable: Lessons on Startup Failure, Burn Multiples, and Buyer Risk

Airplane, a developer platform that raised $40.5M, was acquired by Airtable in an acquihire after failing to achieve sustainable unit economics despite strong product-market fit signals. The article analyzes Airplane's likely sub-$1M ARR with 61 employees, resulting in a burn multiple well above 3x, and examines how startup tool shutdowns increase buyer risk and due diligence requirements in the startup software market.

8 metrics· Cited 0× in the knowledge base ·Open source ↗

Metrics in this report

Airplane ARR (estimated)

Less than $1MUSD

Developer platform, Series B stage, ~100 customers, 15 months post-funding

Burn Multiple

Under 1xratio

best-in-class

SaaS company efficiency benchmarking

Burn Multiple

1.0 - 1.5xratio

target

SaaS company efficiency benchmarking

Burn Multiple

1.5 - 2xratio

acceptable

SaaS company efficiency benchmarking

Burn Multiple

2 - 3xratio

suspect

SaaS company efficiency benchmarking

Burn Multiple

Over 3xratio

minimum

SaaS company classified as 'Bad' efficiency; capital-raising difficulty expected

Retool Headcount at $10M ARR

30employees

Direct competitor benchmarking; 10x Airplane's estimated revenue at similar headcount

Retool Headcount at $1M ARR

4employees

Direct competitor benchmarking; growing 700% YoY