Navigating Multi-Year Subscription Deals and Consumption Models

Having listened to a number of Couchbase’s earning calls, the company’s CFO Greg Henry sits down with CJ to answer some in-depth questions, starting with the rationale behind Couchbase's non-standard fiscal year and the advantages of it. He then delves into his experience of transforming a traditional enterprise subscription model into a managed service consumption business. The conversation covers Couchbase's focus on Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) as their North Star metric and the art and science of multi-year deals. They discuss how best to interact with sell-side analysts, how callbacks after earnings calls work, and how to manage relationships on the buy side. Greg also reflects on his time at General Electric during its heyday, offering insights into the culture and frameworks that shaped his approach to business today before talking about Matt Cain's framework for Couchbase and how it enables function. Tune in to hear all this and the story of how Greg lost $1 million of operating profit.

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TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Preview and Intro(03:16) Sponsor - Mercury | NetSuite(05:40) Non-standard Fiscal Years(09:00) Transitioning From Subscription to Consumption(14:53) Couchbase’s North Star Metric of ARR(16:55) ARR versus RPO and CRPO(18:38) Sponsor - Maxio | Leapfin | Planful(22:14) The Art and Science of Multi-year Deals(24:33) Interacting With Sell-side Analysts(27:28) The “Open Window” After an Earnings Call(31:22) The Benefits of Having Analyst Coverage(32:16) Relationships on the Buy Side(35:44) Working at General Electric During Its Heyday(38:32) Frameworks From Jack Welch(40:52f) Matt Cain’s Framework for Couchbase(42:19) Learnings From GE’s Consent Decree(45:35) Long-ass Lightning Round: How Greg Lost a $1 Million Operating Profit(48:56) Finance Software Stack(50:13) Craziest Expense Story