Metrics that Measure Up

Dave Kellogg is the author of Kellblog, Executive in Residence at Balderton Capital, multiple time SaaS CEO, investor and an OG for all things SaaS Metrics. During this episode, which is from his presentation at SaaS Metrics Palooza 23', Dave shares his insights and best practices on presenting SaaS metrics like a pro - especially to board members and investors. Ten mistakes that many make in presenting SaaS Metrics include:Amateur presentationCherry-picking Mis-benchmarkingOmitting contextPiecemealingDumping Smooth operatorForgetting questionMissing investor point of viewRetinal burnThis episode is chalked full of details, nuances and insight. If you would like to see the slides that Dave uses to guide this session at SaaS Metrics Palooza 23' you can download them at:benchmarkit.ai/saas-metrics-palooza-23-1/how-to-present-and-analyze-saas-metrics-like-a-proSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Science of Scaling, was a session delivered by Mark Roberge at SaaS Metrics Palooza 23'. In this episode, Mark discusses a math centric approach to determine if Product-Market Fit has been achieved, when to scale GTM investment and how much to invest in growth.Key concepts introduced include:How to use a mathematical formula to determine if Product-Market Fit is achieved (PET Metric)The leading indicators (unit economics) that inform increasing investment in customer acquisitionNorth Star metrics used by leading B2B SaaS companies to measure Product-Market FitThe power and competitive advantage of capturing daily leading indicators to scale economicsIf you prefer to watch the entire session and see the associated slides - the video can be seen at:https://bit.ly/SaaSMetricsPaloozaMarkRobergeIf you are asking questions such as: 1) Have we reached product-market fit; 2) Should we invest more to scale customer acquisition; 3) How much and how quickly should we invest more capital to accelerate growth then this episode is a must listen!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chad Gold, the CFO at B2B SaaS Sales Engagement Platform leader Salesloft, shares how the role of a SaaS CFO has evolved over the last few years.Chad and the Metrics that Measure Up podcast host, Ray Rike discuss the following topics during this episode:How the B2B SaaS CFO role has evolvedHow performance metrics are used to manage and report on the businessHow performance metrics are used for budgeting and planningHow the B2B SaaS CFO Role will evolve over the next few yearsChad started his career as a corporate finance analyst at Ernst and Young (EY) and then migrated to the Home Depot in a variety of financial roles that built his foundation into the strategic side of finance. Chad's first B2B technology job was at Ariba, a division of SAP where he was able to apply his FP&A experience in a technology company. Chad has been the Salesloft CFO for 5 years and has seen the company grow by 10x including a majority investment by Vista Equity.Chad shared his "lines not dots" which means the ability to meet people and then foster relationships with them over time is a key to being exposed to different opportunities which is how Chad transitioned into the B2B Technology industry.Chad highlighted that his role as a CFO has not evolved that much over the last couple of years, beyond being asked to help identify those aspects of the business that are best positioned to drive efficient growth especially now that capital is more difficult to secure, and thus difficult capital allocation decisions are more important in 2023 than they were in 2020 - 2022.What are "Chad's" go-to metrics? He started at a high level with momentum and velocity metrics like the ARR funnel, new booking, churn, expansions, and the leading indicators of pipeline and customer health. Chad highlighted the importance of the number of integrations to other systems which is a great indicator of retention!He also highlighted his engagement with the key GTM functions, such as the Customer Success function to understand product engagement and utilization as an early indicator of churn and/or expansion - thus providing early visibility into making better forecasts. Chad used the term "you can read the news or make the news" which is how he approaches partnering with the other members of the executive team to ensure how the leading indicators metrics are performing, and even how to enhance their performance which will lead to better financial metrics outcomes.If you work with a CFO in your business, would like to become a CFO or even just want to better understand CFO best practices to drive better financial results through cross-functional collaboration and of course...metrics this conversation with Chad Gold is a great listen!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael DiFilippo, Chief Financial Officer at Invoca shares his journey to becoming a B2B SaaS CFO and how the role has evolved over the last ten years, During this episode of the Metrics that Measure Up podcast, Michael and I discussed the following items:How the B2B SaaS CFO role has evolved over the last few yearsHow Michael uses Performance Metrics to manage the businessHow the B2B SaaS CFO role will evolve over the next few yearsMichael started his journey to becoming a SaaS CFO in accounting, treasury, internal audit, and ultimately FP&A roles in the industry goods and then consumer food industry. In 2008, Michael secured his first CFO role in a B2B SaaS company with MuleSoft - ultimately acquired by Salesforce. This cross-functional foundation was so valuable to Michael that he continues to try and provide members in his organization the same opportunities.Michael credits DuPont with his broad orientation to finance through their rotational program, and ultimately he landed in a division producing LED screens. Then, when his former boss went to Symbol Technologies, he was recruited to join him and that was the start of his finance experience in a technology company.We pivoted to how the B2B SaaS role has evolved since Michael first became a SaaS CFO in 2008. First, he has seen the role evolve to a more strategic, growth partner in an advisory role to the executive team, and sees the same "strategic" focus of CFOs from executive recruiters. Michael says part of the evolution to a strategic CFO role is partially based upon his base of experience, and being invited into those discussions. In parallel, Michael has seen the scope of the CFO role expand into including other functions like Legal, Human Resources, IT, and even operations in some companies. Bottom line - the modern SaaS CFO is no longer primarily focused on the accounting side of the equation.Another key focus is how Finance ensures they have access to all of the operational data required to have better insights into how the business, especially the leading indicators is performing. At Invoca, The FP&A team is the primary liaison to the Sales operations team to ensure the data from the CRM system is flowing efficiently into the financial reporting process.Michael next focused on the primary measurements and metrics he uses to help manage the operational side of the business, its primary forward-looking metrics like pipeline performance trends, Sales Development meetings, and top opportunities trending. As Michael said, ARR growth is the #1 metric using a metaphor of book more and churn less!At the board level, the operational metrics include top-level metrics including Rule of 40, Gross Retention, Net Revenue Retention, Total Sales and Marketing Efficiency, CAC Payback Period, Actual versus Plan, New ARR booked, and New Customers which will then expand into the leading indicator trends that will impact those outcome metrics in the future quarter(s).Michael shared his vision for the future evolution of the B2B SaaS CFO which he agreed with our host will become one of the more common paths for Chief Executive Officers in the future!If you are in Finance and/or have a goal to become a B2B SaaS CFO - this conversation with Michael DiFilippo is a must listen!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Aidan Shaw, founded Myst Marketing to help B2C and B2B companies take advantage of the global pool of SEO resources around the world, while also experiencing the life of a digital nomad while building a great virtual company.During this episode, Aidan dives deep into the below SEO topics relevant today and in the future as Search Engines evolve in age of generative AI.The ROI of SEO: "Many businesses are divided over the tangible benefits of investing in SEO. Can you shed some light on the potential return on investment (ROI) for businesses that prioritize SEO, and provide some success stories or case studies that highlight its impact?"SEO vs. Paid Advertising: "There's always been a debate between the organic reach through SEO and the instant visibility offered by paid advertising. Can you discuss the pros and cons of each and why a business might choose to focus on one over the other, or perhaps a blend of both?"The Role of Content in SEO: "Content is often said to be king when it comes to SEO. How has the role of content in SEO strategies evolved over time, and what are the best practices businesses should consider when developing content with SEO in mind?"Future of SEO: "With advancements in technology, changing algorithms, and the rise of voice search and AI, where do you see the future of SEO heading? What should businesses be preparing for in the next 5-10 years to ensure they remain at the top of search resultContent Creation and AI: "There's a buzz about AI-generated content in the digital marketing space. How effective is AI-generated content for SEO, and what are the ethical considerations around using such content?"Challenges with AI in SEO: "While AI presents numerous opportunities in the SEO realm, what are some potential challenges or pitfalls businesses should be aware of?"See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

CJ Gustafson, CFO at PartsTech and the creator of the Mostly Metrics Newsletter and Run the Numbers podcast joins our host Ray Rike on this episode to discussVanity Metrics and why they are so dangerousSaaS Metrics that might not be that valuableCautions when using a Usage-Based Pricing modelThe motivation of being a social media creator for B2B SaaSThe challenges of being a social media creatorCJ and Ray share several interesting insights and sole disclosing perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of creating content on all things SaaS MetricsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Eric Mersch is the author of "Hacking SaaS" and a partner at FLG Partners. Eric joined our host, Ray Rike to discuss the details behind the thought process of writing the book and why he segmented it into discrete sections and chapters based upon the following:SMB to Mid-Market B2BEnterprise B2BB2CVertical Industry SolutionsHorizontal SolutionsDuring this episode, Eric and Ray will dive into several of the B2B SaaS Metrics that Eric wrote about including:Customer Lifetime Value to CAC (CLTV:CAC Ratio)Net Revenue Retention (aka Dollar Based Net Retention in the book)Gross Churn (aka Gross Revenue Retention - GRR)Contribution Margin - why it's important to understand the value of adding more ARR...at a costHacking SaaS is one of the first books written to share the details behind the majority of metrics that make the recurring revenue business model of SaaS and Cloud companies so attractive that Enterprise Values are measured as a multiple of revenues VS profits.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Caleb Avery, Founder and CEO at Tilled shares how B2B SaaS companies can turn credit card payment processing fees from an operating expense into revenue as a Payment Facilitator (PayFac).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bill Kantor, the founder, and CEO of Funnelcast is applying the lessons he learned about statistical process controls in the hardware industry to the art and science of measuring and managing the opportunity funnel and then optimizing forecasting for B2B technology companies.The end-to-end Customer Acquisition process is still quite manual today, due to B2B Sales being such a human-centric endeavor. However, with a sufficient amount of opportunity data, the science behind statistical process controls in the manufacturing and consumer-facing industries is now available to B2B revenue leaders.But why are we will still using manual tasks to manage the B2B opportunity funnel? It starts with companies and their leaders not investing the time required to take a more data-centric, holistic view of even the most basic metrics - such as win rate. Yes, the win rate which is NOT a point-in-time measurement, rather it is a curve that includes different win rates along the time continuum being measured. As an example, the win rate on Day 75 is NOT the same as the win rate on Day 120. Moreover, if you simply use total deals won / total deals closed to calculate the win rate it excludes all of those opportunities that are still open and in process.What are the TOP metrics that are most predictive of a B2B company's sales success? Bill suggests there are only 3 sales metrics that matter, which include:Win RateOpportunity Creation RateAverage Contract ValueBut what about the more detailed, nuanced measurements such as "stage by stage" conversion rates which provides additional signals as to whether a deal is at risk of becoming "stale" and thus the probability to win reduces materially? They are critical to increasing the accuracy of forecasting - as those deals that are stalled are highly correlated to sales rep storytelling and the "exception status" of a single deal becoming the "outlier" reason for multiple deals - effectively eliminating the category of outlier to the norm.If you are responsible for managing the new customer acquisition forecast, and/or are responsible for financial performance metrics that are a direct result of win rates, opportunity creation and thus hitting the forecast and the plan - this is a highly instructive episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alok Goel, Founder and CEO of Drivetrain.ai shares how his roles as a product manager at Google and then a Venture Capitalist informed his journey as a B2B SaaS entrepreneur.As a VC, Alok would meet 15 - 20 companies per week, which provides a unique opportunity to identify specific trends across a large number of companies using pattern recognition. One trend Alok identified, was what differentiated those companies that would consistently, quarter over quarter meet and exceed their stated financial goals from those that missed their financial goals? It was the pursuit to answer this question that lead to Alok's founding of Drivetrain.aiThe first question Alok answered was what were his experiences as a product manager at Google that informed his entrepreneurial journey. Google encouraged product managers to determine the best solution for a user without any constraints - which leads to the best solution for the audience. Then, think about how to deliver the solution with the constraints that do exist, both inside the company and in the market.Next, Alok shared the importance for a company to identify the data they have internally to gain insights into future growth efficiency, they should first identify what insights they wished they had about their business and then identify what instrumentation is required to achieve those insights.Alok shared the importance of never being too committed to one "way of thinking" that is not in alignment with the insights they are being provided from the market, from the internal metrics and data that is highlighting change is needed. In today's world, the external reality is changing so quickly, a company must change before the competitive market takes advantage of its resistance to change and evolution.Understanding that the insights you gain today are not going to change your business today - it will take some time. This is why having a continuous process that surfaces insights that can be quickly converted into actions that can be measured on their impact over time - this is why it is so important to understand the leading indicators (signals) and lagging indicators that are inter-dependant and predictive of future outcomes!If you are interested in how to develop a more predictive, holistic process that can capture the most important signals (leading indicators) that can be improved to ensure the ultimate lagging indicators such as Net Revenue Retention, CAC Payback Period and Revenue Growth rates are highly predictive and achieved consistently - this conversation with Alok Goel is a great listen!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.