DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:DOCU) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Allan Thygesen: Yes. I’d say, first of all, we feel like we have turned the organization pretty well at this point and reallocated resources to where we’d see the highest investment. Look, I agree with you. I think we were not sufficiently efficient from a sales and marketing perspective. I hope to make us more efficient over time. Until I see that, I don’t — we don’t want to be — as Cynthia says, we want to project what we see. And — but you can assume that there will be a lot of emphasis on getting increasingly efficient, even beyond what we have, but I’m not ready to make any — that part of our forecast at this time. But that would certainly be the hope and expectation that we can accelerate top line and improve efficiency over time.

Michael Turrin: Thank you.

Allan Thygesen: I would say maybe one other point on the investment piece. We feel we have a very significant opportunity. And we have been, I think, a little underinvested in innovation over the last couple of years. We had the — and have the market-leading product and it remains an incredible value proposition. But I’m excited to reinvigorate that and get us to capitalize on the larger opportunity that I outlined earlier on this call. And I think the whole team feels — we already got some stuff coming out in Q1, and there will be a lot more over the next three quarters, and that will position us to — for growth in future years.

Operator: Our next question is from Josh Baer with Morgan Stanley.

Josh Baer: Great. Thanks for the question. Allan, I think you labeled 2022 well in characterizing it as a year of change. So, if €˜22 is the year of change, what’s 2023 the year of? Is it execution, stabilization, innovation, self-serve? Like, what word would you use to frame 2023?

Allan Thygesen: Yes. I think change and transition for calendar €˜22 — fiscal €˜23. For this year, I think it’s about setting the foundations for growth, and we are — we’re really leaning into that. I think we have a fantastic opportunity to capitalize on this very large TAM that we believe were pointed at. We are the market leader in e-signature and CLM. We are in the best position to capitalize on that opportunity, and we just need to go execute. So, that’s the job this year. It’s not quite as much of a turnaround transitional year as last year, it’s much more of a foundation and preparation for growth building year.

Josh Baer: That’s great. And then, one other one. Just thinking about direct versus self-serve, versus partner channels, where — what’s the mix of business today and where do you want that to go in three years?

Allan Thygesen: Yes. I mean, I think we’ve reported in the past that 13% of our business is digital. But a lot of that is associated by the fact that there’s only a small number of profits and options that you can find on our website. And so, we’ve been pushing actively even relative to small customers to have to order from a sales rep which I will admit I was slightly shocked to learn when I joined. So, our goal is to dramatically grow the — all the pieces of the business. And I’m not sure it’s going to be as meaningful a year from now to talk about what’s digital versus what’s direct because — in a lot of cases, our customer may order some things digitally and may talk to their sales rep about other things. And so, the whole thing becomes a little bit less clear.