#143: From Professional Services to a $30M SaaS Business with a PE Acquisition - Sean Hoban
May 9, 2025
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Sean Hoban, co-founder and former CEO of Kimble Applications, shares his journey from professional services to building a $30M SaaS business. He discusses the strategic shift needed to grow in the SaaS market and his experience using the Salesforce ecosystem. Sean also dives into challenges like customer onboarding and navigating funding dynamics, including insights on the EIS scheme for angel investors. He emphasizes the importance of engaging with ideal customer profiles and the impact of private equity on transitioning to a successful SaaS model.
Sean Hoban's transition from professional services to SaaS underscores the importance of leveraging existing expertise for industry-specific software solutions.
The strategic growth of Kimble Applications highlights the effectiveness of using forward-looking metrics for financial management instead of traditional methods.
Hoban's emphasis on community engagement among founders illustrates the value of shared experiences in overcoming the isolation of leadership roles in startups.
Deep dives
Foundation of Kimball Applications
Kimball Applications, now called Cantata SX, was co-founded by Sean Hoban to fill a gap in the professional services sector, particularly for managing financial and project operations using Salesforce. Focused on mid-market firms, the software aimed to streamline the entire lifecycle from proposal generation to billing. By leveraging their backgrounds in professional services, the founders recognized the urgent need for a robust solution that could efficiently manage resources and costs across various project methodologies like agile and waterfall. The software served as an essential connector between the customer relationship management system and financial ledgers, bringing significant value to its users.
Growth and Strategic Decisions
Kimball Applications experienced rapid growth, reaching approximately $30 million in revenue with around 300 customers shortly before its majority sale to private equity. This success was attributed to their innovative approach of utilizing forward-looking metrics like utilization and revenue forecasts, rather than relying on traditional financial reporting. The founders took strategic growth equity investments along the way to scale operations while ensuring a focus on maintaining a healthy margin. This allowed them to further develop their software and enhance their market presence, especially in regions like the UK and US.
Navigating the Sale Process
In 2021, after successfully piloting the company through challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the founders decided to sell the majority of Kimball Applications to Accel KKR, which previously held a minority stake. The decision was influenced by a need to de-risk their investment and secure the future of employees and the business. They managed to negotiate a deal that reflected the company's favorable position in the market, utilizing valuation multiples typical for SaaS companies at the time. The founders valued their relationship with Accel KKR and acknowledged the importance of handing over the business to investors who understood their operations.
Leveraging Experience for Future Ventures
Post-sale, Sean Hoban shifted his focus to various roles, including angel investing, advisory work, and exploring new technology ventures, like hydroponics, while maintaining his passion for learning. He highlighted the importance of sharing experiences with fellow founders, recognizing that the entrepreneurial journey can often be isolating. By engaging with the startup community, he aimed to impart valuable lessons learned from his own experiences with Kimball Applications. This involvement not only allowed him to guide newer founders but also kept him connected to the evolving tech landscape, particularly in artificial intelligence.
Key Takeaways for Founders
Throughout his journey, Hoban emphasized the criticality of focus and execution for startup success. He advised founders to remain vigilant about their ideal customer profile while resisting the temptation to chase opportunities that didn't align with their core business. Maintaining a commitment to ruthless execution and avoiding distractions can lead to enhanced business clarity and growth. His insights underline that scaling a company requires not only a robust product but also a disciplined approach to customer engagement and market strategy.
Sean Hoban was co-founder and former CEO of Kimble Applications, a leading professional services automation (PSA) software for organizations to manage their professional services business's entire operational and financial lifecycle. Sean and his co-founders had already started, grown, and sold a pro services organization before creating a PSA product and building a SaaS business.
With a little funding from the founders and a few angel investors, Kimble started efficiently and grew steadily, eventually raising a practical minority funding round from private equity investors Accel-KKR in 2018. The company grew to $30M ARR before selling most of the company to Accel-KKR in 2021, which merged two PSA companies to create Kontata.
In this episode, Sean discusses some of their deepest strategic opportunities:
Learning to grow a SaaS business versus a professional services organization
Building on the Salesforce platform and working in that ecosystem
Starting in the UK and expanding to Germany and the US
Quote from Sean Hoban, former CEO and co-founder of Kimble Applications
“One of the most powerful ways I learned as a CEO is to find and talk to other founders in London who were in a similar situation. We would meet for beers, share ideas, and chat on WhatsApp.
“If you have a specific problem, it was valuable to talk to other founders in the same growth stage. And these were founders, not hired CEOs.
“It's a lonely job as a CEO. And being able to talk to somebody else who is in a similar position can be cathartic and very helpful.”
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