Category Visionaries Griffin Parry, CEO & Co-Founder of m3ter: $31.5 Million Raised to Upgrade the Monetization Stack for B2B Software Companies
Griffin Parry is the CEO and Co-Founder of m3ter, a data infrastructure company that helps successful B2B software companies upgrade their monetization stack for new pricing strategies. With $31.5 million in funding, m3ter enables usage-based billing without requiring companies to replace their existing systems. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Griffin shares how the company emerged from his experience as a repeat founder who felt firsthand the operational pain around usage-based billing, both at his previous cloud infrastructure company (which was sold to Amazon) and during his time at AWS. Now, m3ter is solving these challenges for established B2B software companies, particularly those with $100M+ ARR who need to adapt their monetization approach as business models evolve toward more complex, usage-based components.
Topics Discussed:
- How m3ter enables usage-based billing without replacing existing systems
- The shift toward more complex pricing models in B2B SaaS, particularly with AI features introducing variable costs
- m3ter's approach as a data infrastructure company rather than just a billing solution
- The discovery process that led to m3ter's first paying customers
- The evolution of m3ter's market positioning and go-to-market strategy
- The balance between direct sales and partner channels
- Fundraising during changing market conditions
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
- Meet customers where they are with your messaging: Griffin discovered that while m3ter is actually creating a new category of software, they needed to initially present themselves as solving the specific problem customers were searching for. "Our customers generally come to us because they have billing pain... So every time they have to send out invoices, it's very complicated and painful and risky." Only after engaging with customers could they expand the conversation to their broader value proposition.
- Start with discovery, not building: When launching m3ter, Griffin and his co-founder conducted 60-70 discovery conversations before building their product. "We had a thesis... but we were going to commit a big chunk of our lives trying to solve this problem. So we wanted to make sure that it was out there and widespread." This approach gave them high confidence in their market and created a pipeline of design partners who became their first customers.
- Balance direct sales with partner channels: For complex B2B sales to finance and operations leaders at mature companies, m3ter found that partners with existing trusted relationships were their most effective go-to-market channel. However, they learned that "no one's going to partner with you if you don't already have great customers. And so you do have to go through the hard yards... Most of our first big cohort of customers have come through direct sales."
- Evolve your category positioning naturally: Rather than forcing a new category name, m3ter initially positioned themselves where customers were already searching. "We did spend some time going, 'hey, we're a pricing operations platform'... but people would go, 'well, what's that?' And that was a waste of a cycle trying to explain it." Instead, they evolved toward, "We're a billing infrastructure, billing solution. We'll make your billing work."
- Fundraise strategically with market conditions in mind: Griffin raised their Series A during a difficult funding environment, but did it intentionally: "Let's zig when everybody else is zagging. We really believe in what we're doing. Let's go and find a high-quality investor who shares that confidence and then we'll really be well set up for the years to come."
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