Early on during the epidemic, I had to have a notarized document. I met with a notary at my local bank office. He took my ID and ID through the crack in the door. He watched it while I waited outside. Finally, he handed me the document and my license. I signed and returned it to him for his stamp. All of this would be much easier online.
DocuSign seems like a slam dunk of a company. It helped define the digital signature category, an idea that came into full focus during the pandemic, when it became impossible to meet in the office, but business still needed to be done. And yet, the company’s stock has been in freefall since 2021, when it peaked at more than $300 a share. Today it’s under $60.
To be fair, DocuSign is one of many SaaS companies that have seen their value decline since their late 2021 market peak, but it solves a real problem in a world still stuck in paper-based workflows. Why then does it suffer the same fate as companies that might be considered less important businesses?
On the surface, the company’s struggle to maintain value and grow seems a little confusing given its role in digital transformation. Sure, the economy has hit many enterprise SaaS companies, but there’s probably more to it than the general tech slowdown can explain. It moved to a new CEO when it brought in former Google chief Alan Tygesen last year. It was probably a sign that everything was not as it should be.
The company recently announced during its earnings call earlier this month that CFO Cynthia Gaylor is stepping down after 4.5 years in various roles.