Navigating the Mundane: The Reality of CFO Life and Modern Solutions

In this episode, CJ is joined by Peter Benevides, CFO of Olo, a leading vertical SaaS company powering digital ordering, payments, and guest engagement solutions for popular restaurant brands. Peter explains how Olo successfully expanded into payments and used this as a strategic advantage. He breaks down how the company stacks S-curves through continued product expansion and adoption, and how this enables them to increase revenue without increasing the take-rate. The conversation also covers pricing strategy and how Olo balances subscription and consumption-based models. Peter also sheds light on what it's like selling into franchise businesses and lessons learned from other vertical SaaS companies like Veeva.

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@cjgustafson222 (CJ)

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview and Intro

(01:53) Sponsor – NetSuite | RightRev | Planful

(05:24) An Introduction to Olo

(08:34) Reaching Larger and Smaller Enterprises

(10:34) The Focus on Guest-Facing Technology

(13:22) The Evolution of Payments at Olo

(16:38) Sponsor – Brex | Vanta | Tropic

(20:33) The Card-Not-Present Offering and Fraud

(23:50) Knowing Who Your Guest Is and Olo’s Extended Value Prop

(32:04) Stacking S-Curves

(33:30) Increasing Revenue Without Increasing the Take-Rate

(36:27) How the Payments Module Makes Other Products Stickier

(37:39) Advice to CFOs Looking to Add Payments

(39:11) Pricing Subscription and Consumption-Based Products

(42:35) Forecasting and the Predictability of This Model

(44:43) Vertical Software Company Case Study: Veeva

(49:06) Working with Franchises

(53:42) Long-Ass Lightning Round: Planning for the Future

(56:16) Advice to Younger Self

(58:48) Finance Software Stack

(59:24) Craziest Expense Story