School Bus Gas Prices Impacting Software Sales

So I was talking the a CEO of one of our portfolio companies today.  He runs an enterprise software company, and we were reviewing his pipeline.  During our conversation, he mentioned that he lost a $12,000 sale because of fuel prices.  Yes, that's right -- the price of gasoline is now impacting enterprise software sales.

Apparently, the customer was a large county school district.  And despite the fact that they had spent months going through a detailed RFP process (which our company won), the project was killed at the last minute.  The district has had to cut virtually all IT spending so they can pay for gasoline for their school buses and maintenance vehicles.  Apparently, they are not alone.  School districts across the country are facing similar issues.

What a tough month.  First, US Airways eliminates free pretzels due to fuel prices.  Now, school districts are slashing computer spending to keep the buses running.  Next thing we know, Google will start charging employees to ride the Google Bus to work.