The SaaS CFO

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In today’s episode, Ben sits down with Edward Barrow, founder and CEO of Cloud Capital, for a timely and in-depth conversation about the challenges facing CFOs, controllers, and tech leaders as cloud and AI spending rapidly becomes one of the largest and most complex line items on the P&L. With spend on compute, tokens, and infrastructure rising—sometimes to over 30% of revenue—understanding, forecasting, and optimizing cloud and AI costs is no longer optional for SaaS leadership teams.  Edward brings hands-on experience in both scaling software companies and overseeing strategic finance for cloud-native businesses, sharing research-backed insights and actionable strategies. Together, they explore how AI is reshaping unit economics, why traditional forecasting methods won't cut it in 2027, and what new controls and collaboration between finance and engineering are essential for sustainable growth. If you're preparing for 2027 budgeting and want to stay ahead of the curve on cloud and AI cost management, this episode is for you.   Show Notes:  00:00 Helping CFOs manage cloud spending  05:43 AI investment in software businesses  09:10 Balancing growth and profitability  13:03 AI and Token Cost Management  14:02 Understanding and managing cloud costs  18:13 Automated financial forecasting tools  20:50 Allocating and budgeting production costs  27:11 Commitment challenges in tech projects  27:51 Challenges of long-term tech commitments  33:46 Planning cost optimization steps  34:55 CFOs adapting to cloud and AI  Links:  Edward Barrow’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ebarrow/  Cloud Capital’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloud-cap/home/  Cloud Capital’s Website: https://www.cloudcapital.co/  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben's AI in finance trends newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray 

On this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, Ben sits down with Giacomo Marchiori, CEO and founder of Talentware, an AI-native skill intelligence platform transforming the HR tech landscape.   From his unique career path in engineering and automotive manufacturing to founding a rapidly growing SaaS company, Giacomo Marchiori shares the story behind Talentware’s creation, its innovative approach to skill assessment across industries and job functions, and the company’s impressive growth fueled by recent fundraising rounds.   Join us as we dive into lessons learned in startup fundraising, navigating the crowded AI space, scaling go-to-market efforts, and building a tech company poised for expansion throughout Europe.  Show Notes:  00:00 Improving Talent Management Processes  04:03 Mapping and Assessing Skills  06:56 Initial VC Fundraising Stages  10:25 Starting VC conversations early  14:20 Choosing a Technology Investment Strategy  17:54 Upcoming events and expansion plans  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/talentware-secures-800-000-in-pre-seed-funding/  https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/talentware-raises-3-3m-seed/  Giacomo Marchiori’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giacomo-marchiori/  Talentware’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/talentware-ai/  Talentware’s Website: https://talentware.ai/en/home/  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray 

Welcome back to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, Ben Murray is joined by Alex Lee, CEO and co-founder of Truewind, a company on a mission to build cutting-edge AI tools for accountants. With a background that uniquely spans aerospace engineering, venture capital, and SaaS startups, Alex Lee brings a fresh perspective to the future of finance.  Listeners will hear how Truewind fits into the accounting close process, empowering accountants with AI-driven workpapers, journal entry automation, and digitized standard operating procedures. Alex Lee explains how the platform streamlines financial operations—without replacing ERPs—and discusses its impact on everything from audit readiness to accelerating the value delivered to customers.  The conversation also explores the evolving role of accountants in an AI-powered world, lessons learned from raising $17 million in venture funding, and thoughtful go-to-market strategies tailored for CFOs and controllers. Don’t miss this episode if you’re interested in AI, SaaS, fundraising, or the future of accounting technology.  Show Notes:  00:00 Building First Startup Blue Light  03:30 Integrating AI with existing ERP  06:40 Benefits of TruWind API integration  10:07 Evolving roles in accounting  14:37 Key fundraising lessons for startups  16:56 Choosing the Right Investor Fit  19:57 Understanding Partnership Tiers  23:09 Tracking Customer Value and Engagement  26:00 AI infrastructure in finance  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/truewind-raises-13-million-in-series-a/  https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/truwind-raises-3-million-in-seed-round/  Alex Lee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexlee611/  Truewind’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truewindai  Truewind’s Website: trytruewind.com  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray 

Ali Mirzaei, CEO and founder of Dimension Studios, built a leading TikTok Shop before creating SellerOS, an AI-powered automation platform. He shares the journey from unexpected operational headaches to a $3M+ ARR business, including AI agents trained on real shop data, near-zero-CAC growth, fundraising discipline, commission versus SaaS pricing, and scaling without adding headcount.

Sarah Wyman, founder and CEO of Stackpack, builds agentic AI tools for vendor management. She explores why invoice-level tracking misses who uses AI and what it costs, how to attribute spend across teams, and what CFO dashboards should monitor. The conversation covers AI budgets, model selection, usage-based pricing, cost governance, and measuring ROI through business outcomes.

Yagiz Abik, co-founder and CEO of Munich-based 5U AI, shares how he’s building digital employees for logistics companies. Explore AI adoption in a traditionally tech-resistant industry, why mid-market firms are the sweet spot, and how trust drives sales. Yagiz also discusses raising $3.2 million in two weeks, task-based pricing, improving AI-native margins, and scaling toward enterprise customers.

Dori Yona, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Simple Closure, previously built a dating app and scaled fintech company Ernie to 3.5 million users. He discusses automating business shutdowns, preventing lingering fines, and recovering value from abandoned assets through Asset Hub. The conversation also explores fundraising momentum, partner-led growth, transparent pricing, and AI-powered operations.

Ramsey Al-Ramahi, founder and CEO of RevReply, is a sales leader turned AI SaaS builder. He shares the leap from lead-generation services to automated lead conversion, RevReply’s Berkeley SkyDeck journey and $1 million seed round. They explore inbound traction, pricing AI against human work, customer retention, and proving ROI in sales automation.

Mahdi Abdulzarak, seasoned cybersecurity leader who ran large security teams, and Kim Van Lavieren, security engineer with military and Amazon experience, tell the Dawnguard founding story. They discuss raising $6.3M from a five-slide deck, working with design partners, converting pilots to commercial deals, and AI-driven approaches to cloud security, pricing, and engineering operations.

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast. In this episode, Ben sits down with TJ Clark, co-founder and CEO of Librari, an AI-powered contract management solution. Drawing on his journey from Iowa native and recovering lawyer to serial entrepreneur with a major exit under his belt, TJ Clark shares how the chaos of managing business contracts inspired him to build Librari.   He explains how their AI extracts actionable insights from scattered contracts across various platforms, making compliance and renewals a breeze—especially for CFOs and controllers. The conversation covers the company’s go-to-market approach, fundraising lessons, key SaaS metrics, and the future of AI-powered back office efficiencies.   If you're interested in how technology can streamline contract management—and want a peek inside the founder-led growth playbook—this episode is for you.  Show Notes:  00:00 Solving disorganized contract issues  05:48 Flexible pricing and wide client range  09:45 Securing initial funding  13:05 Providing procurement expertise  14:28 Integrating contract data with systems  18:46 Finding key contacts for networking  21:56 Discussing AI in modern business  23:56 Using AI agents safely  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/librari-raises-1-75m-pre-seed/  TJ Clark's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjclark/  Librari's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thelibrari/  Librari's Website: https://www.thelibrari.com/  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray