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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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
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