The SaaS CFO

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, Ben sits down with Vlad Podolyako, founder and CEO of Folderly. Vlad shares his background in entrepreneurship and his journey from running a successful B2B sales agency, Belkins, to creating Folderly, an email deliverability platform.    Vlad dives into the problems they faced with email marketing at Belkins and how that led to the creation of Folderly. He explains how Folderly helps improve email performance metrics by fixing and monitoring issues with mailboxes, domains, templates, and content. Ben and Vlad also discuss the target audience for Folderly, which includes entry-level and advanced users in sales, marketing, and email analytics.    Finally, Vlad shares some impressive revenue metrics and gives insights into the growth and remote team structure of Folderly. Tune in for an insightful conversation with Vlad on this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast! HIGHLIGHTS [00:02:15] In 2019, email marketing faced a problem with low open and reply rates. The solution involved addressing domain infrastructure and using the right ESP provider. This led to the creation of Folderly, a service to help clients with similar issues.  [00:05:28] Three customer profiles: beginners, knowledgeable, and advanced in sales and marketing. The most important is understanding email outreach consequences.  [00:11:00] Our brand focuses on lead generation email marketing. We have successful outbound processes and also generate around 30% organic traffic. We educate customers on various acquisition channels and aim to expand our customer base.  [00:13:46] Google for startups offers funding, mentorship, and camps for entrepreneurs. Applicants fly to Silicon Valley or Europe to share their background, experience, and technology. Interviews and data sharing determine acceptance.  [00:15:51] Start with an MVP, gain traction with clients and case studies to attract partners and investors. Show progress, don't fake it.  [00:19:07] Expressing gratitude and reciprocity. Links SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/folderly-receives-funding Vlad Podolyako’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiefdata/ Folderly’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/folderly/ Folderly’s Website: https://folderly.com/ Follow Ben Murray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray/ 

James Gasteen, co-founder and CEO of Unaric, discusses the importance of cross-selling, bringing together different products under one vendor, and their unique approach of acquiring ISVs. He also shares their investment thesis and criteria they use for acquisitions.

Caitlin MacGregor, CEO of Plum, shares insights on bridging psychology and technology in talent assessment. The importance of accurate data, challenges faced by enterprises in talent competition, navigating procurement committees, and fundraising to find believers and derisking are covered. Plum focuses on empowering individuals and serving enterprises through expanding their team and amplifying customer voices.

Join us for an insightful chat with Michelle Duval, the dynamic founder and CEO of Fingerprint, as we explore her journey from pioneering one of the world's first coaching firms to creating an AI-powered tool for understanding cognitive biases and motivational traits at work. Listen in as Michelle discusses the freemium user acquisition strategy and the success story of how Canva integrated Fingerprint into their onboarding process. In the second part of our conversation, Michelle sheds light on the capital raising process, having secured AU $9 million to date, and the crucial milestones that guided their fundraising. She offers valuable advice to SaaS founders about understanding investors and knowing the key metrics that drive a business. Don't miss out on Michelle's insights about the future of Fingerprint and their mission to make human development accessible through conversational generative AI. -Founded 2017 -Staff of 43 -Around 1M ARR -HQ in New Zealand but remote first -6.5M USD raised to date Subscribe to Ben's newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page Fingerprint Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fingerprint-for-success/ Michelle Duval's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleduval1/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/fingerprint-for-success-f4s-raises-au-5-million-in-seed-round

Sightfull, a San Francisco, CA & Tel Aviv, Israel-based company enabling strategic analysis of business data at scale, announced that it raised $18 million in series A funding. I interviewed Noam Liran, co-founder and CEO at Sightfull. Noam has spent most of his career in cybersecurity. He worked at a company that was acquired by Microsoft and then spent three years at Microsoft in R&D. Sightfull’s round was led by Dell Technologies Capital, with the participation of Norwest Venture Partners and Tiger Global. The new investment brings total funding to $24 million and will accelerate product development, meet increasing market demand, and expand the Sightfull team across multiple departments. Sightfull enables SaaS companies to quickly analyze vast amounts of complex business data to test and adjust their go-to-market strategies continuously. - HQ in SF and Tel Aviv - Founded in September 2020 - Staff of 30 - $24M Raised Noam Liran’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noamliran/ Sightfull’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sightfull/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/sightfull-raises-18-million-in-series-a Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Chronicle, a San Francisco-based startup that provides a presentation platform, raised $7.5 million in seed funding. I interviewed Mayuresh Patole, founder at Chronicle. He has a background in management consulting. Mayuresh was great at creating presentations but knew there was a better, faster way to tell stories in the business world. Chronicle was created to solve two main problems. The first is that creating slides is time-consuming because many presentation tools expect users to be visual designers, and most are not. The second is that the results are usually unappealing and static. The seed round was co-led by Accel and Square Peg, with participation from angel investors from Apple, Google, Meta, Slack, Stripe, Superhuman, OnDeck, Adobe, and others. - Founded in 2021 - Staff of 15 - $7.5M raised - Investors value authenticity Mayuresh Patole’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayuresh-patole/ Chronicle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chroniclehq/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/chronicle-raises-7-5-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Ramp, a London, UK-based forecasting analytics startup transforming how global finance teams plan for the future, raised $5 million in seed funding. I interviewed Dan Marcus, co-founder and CEO at Ramp. Dan is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for SaaS. Ramp is helping mobile gaming apps forecast revenue more accurately. The round was led by AlbionVC and Eurazeo with participation from Triple Point Ventures and angel investors including Barnaby Hussey-Yeo, CEO at Cleo, and Stephane Kurgan, Ex-COO at King.com, among others. Ramp is a user and revenue forecasting startup that is transforming how global finance teams plan for the future. It uses an opinionated view of modeling the interactions between the different levers of a business and with additional models to optimize inputs such as seasonality and live ops. - Founded 2018 - HQ in the UK - Staff of 34 - Passing $1M ARR - Raised $5M Dan Marcus’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansmarcus/ Ramp’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rampgrowth/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/ramp-closes-5-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Giskard, a Paris, France-based software startup specializing in artificial intelligence quality, raised €1.5 million in a funding round led by Elaia with participation from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners. I interviewed Alex Combessie, co-founder and CEO at Giskard. Alex started his career in finance and loved the data part of finance and strategic consulting. He went back to school for data science and became a software engineer and data scientist. Giskard’s AI Test product allows for the building of automated tests on AI models to measure critical quality criteria, including ethics, robustness, and efficiency. Angel investors including Christine Balagué (Founder of Good in Tech), Julien Chaumond (CTO of Hugging Face), Oscar Salazar (Founding CTO of Uber), Nathalie Gaveau (Co-Founder of PriceMinister), Charles Gorintin (CTO of Alan), Nick Hernandez (CEO of 360Learning), Vincent Huguet (CEO of Malt), Shéhérazade Semsar de Boisséson (CEO of McCourt Global), Chris Schagen (ex-CMO of Contentful) and Victor Coisne (VP Marketing of Strapi) also participated in the round. The investment will provide the startup with the firepower to engage in a sustained recruitment drive that will welcome additional talent to develop and commercialize its offer while venturing into new fields including computer vision, time series, and generative AI models. - Founded 2021 - HQ in Paris - Staff of 12 - 1.5M Pre-seed Round Alex Combessie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcombessie/ Giskard’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcombessie/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/giskard-raises-1-5-million-in-funding Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Wisor AI, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based advanced freight booking software solution, raised an $8 million seed round led by Team8. I interviewed Raz Ronen, Co-founder and CEO Wisor. Raz served in the Israeli Air Force special forces and then jumped right into startup life. Wizor is changing the way global freight is moving around the world by helping freight forwarders automate route planning, pricing, booking, payments, and more. Other investors who participated in the round included Ocean Azul and Hico Investment Group, as well as pre-seed investors fresh.fund, Atooro Fund, The Dock, Seed IL Ventures, and Izaki Ventures. The funding will expedite Wisor’s mission to digitize the global supply chain industry and empower freight forwarders to plan, price, and book a shipment in seconds instead of hours or days. Founded 2021 HQ in Tel Aviv Staff of 26 and growing $8M seed round Raz Ronen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raz-ronen/ Wisor’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wisorai/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/wisor-ai-raises-8-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

Coho AI, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based product-led revenue platform raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Coho AI is a product-led revenue platform that enables companies to maximize the revenue potential of their user base. I interviewed Itamar Falcon, co-founder and CEO at Coho AI. Itamar was born raised in Israel and has experience in product management and engineering. Coho AI helps established companies that have reached product-market fit evolve into product insight-driven businesses. Coho AI shows companies that a product-led growth (PLG) methodology can be applied to a wide range of SaaS companies and at different stages of the customer lifecycle. The round was led by Eight Roads, TechAviv, and a select group of angel investors, including company co-founder Ariel Maislos, Shlomo Kremer, Natan Linder, and other high-profile founders. With this funding, Coho AI allows to further build its platform that accelerates growth for B2B SaaS companies by effectively “lifting the hood” on their customer usage data. Founded 2021 HQ in Tel Aviv $8.5 raised Staff of 19 ARR < 1M (at Feb-23) Itamar Falcon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itamar-falcon/ SaaS Fundraising Story: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/coho-ai-secures-8-5-million-in-seed-round Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page