AI to ROI

The Rule of X is a recently published SaaS metric that factors in the relevant importance of growth rate and operating profitability for B2B SaaS companies. Sam Bondy is the co-author of this metric and shares the catalyst for creating the metric, the latest trends and how the Rule of X impacts Enterprise Value to Revenue multiples. Sam joined me as a speaker at the recent SaaS Metrics Palooza to...

SaaS buyers complete ~70% of the buying process before they speak to a vendor's sales organization. As a result more and more SaaS companies are leveraging interactive product demonstrations on their website which is the topic of today's episode. Natalie Marcotullio, Head of Growth at Navattic discusses their recent "State of Interactive Product Demonstrations" with our host Ray Rike where they co...

The possibilities of combining AI with the collective intelligence from hundreds of B2B companies to increase their customer acquisition efficiency are limitless. Stephen Messer, Founder and CEO of Collective[I] shares his unique insights into how the potential is becoming a reality for many B2B companies. During today's episode, Stephen and our host, Ray Rike will cover the following topics: The...

SaaS company acquisition velocity will increase in 2025 and the role of marketplaces purpose built for buyer and sellers will become a must visit for both. If you are considering selling or buying a SaaS company, this discussion with Andrew Gazdecki, Founder and CEO at Acquire.com is a must listen. During the episode Andrew and our host, Ray Rike cover the following topics: The catalyst for f...

HubSpot was an early mover in building a media asset inside a B2B SaaS company with the purchase of The Hustle in 2021. Rob Litterst is the Head of Growth for the HubSpot Media Network which has expanded far beyond those early days in building out their media network! During today's episode, Rob and Ray discuss many aspects of building, growing and measuring the business impact of a medi...

AI Monetization Strategies - Balancing Revenue and Adoption with Gary Survis and Ethan DeSilva, Insight Partners was a top rated session at SaaS Metrics Palooza '24 that is a can't miss conversation for anyone in SaaS interested in how B2B SaaS companies are introducing, pricing and monetizing AI functionality. Key points covered during this conversation include: Is it the time to charge existing...

Poya Osgouei has been responsible for securing sponsorships for some of the largest B2B events including SaaStr, Lenny's and Friends Summit, Elevate by Plato and shares his insights on the future of B2B tech events. During this episode, Poya and Ray discuss the following topics: The state of B2B tech events The future of B2B tech events Community, Brand or Revenue - the "why" behind B2B tech event...

As SaaS pricing evolves to be more variable in nature, such as in Usage-Based Pricing or Value-Based Pricing the requirements for a more flexible billing platform that also enhances the customer experience and also becomes a foundational component of financial reporting. Apurv Bansal, founder at Zenskar is converting that evolving need into a next generation billing platform. During this conversat...

As B2B SaaS companies scale beyond $20M the complexity of their internal process, systems and SaaS metrics calculations become much more complex. As companies begin to consider a next round of financing and/or evaluate the strategic acquisition option, being able to quickly and reliably provide potential investors the metrics that matter to them is a key factor in how investors will determine not...

Godard Abel, CEO of G2 and Chad Gold, CFO at G2 led a session at SaaS Metrics Palooza 24'. This is an audio only version of their fireside chat with Metrics that Measure Up host, Ray Rike. During this episode, Godard, Chad and Ray discuss the following topics: When does a company need to hire a CFO What is the partnership dynamics between a CEO and CFO What are the investor and board responsi...

Imagine a career journey starting as a software developer at NASA, then a B2C video service developer, moving on to the role of a general manager at game developer Zynga, and next heading to be the Head of Growth at Postmates - an early to food delivery service and now founding an FP&A platform company for the Office of Finance - that is the journey of Siqi Chen, Founder and CEO at Runway! Dur...

Bill MaCaitis the former Chief Revenue Officer at Slack, and previously the CMO at Slack, CMO at Zendesk, and SVP of Marketing at Salesforce joins our host Ray Rike to share the Marketing Metrics Framework he developed during his experience as a multiple time Chief Marketing Officer. During today's episode Bill and Ray discuss various topics including: Top lessons learned from Marketing leadership...

Brad van Leeuwen, Co-Founder and COO- Cledara has built a business helping 1,000 customers in over 30 countries manage their SaaS expenses. This provides Brad with a very unique insight into the state of the total spend in SaaS and the most recent SaaS purchasing trends. During today's episode, we cover four primary topics with Brad: State of SaaS Spend Management The Impact of AI Native Soft...

Kris Rudeegraap, co-founder and co-CEO at Sendoso viewed the emergence of Sales Engagement Platform technology as the beginning of the end for email based outbound demand generation for B2B Sales professionals. This catalyzed him to take the leap to cfound Sendoso, a next-generation direct mail and corporate gifting platform. In today's conversation, we will discuss the history and business impact...

How have product demonstrations evolved in today's buyer self-directed buying process? Andrea Wunderlich leads the product and customer marketing function at Maxio and recently introduced their virtual product tour. In today's self-directed buyer journey, it's good to break down how virtual product tours can be leveraged to serve the buyer, when and where they prefer. During this episode, several...

Greg Galant, Founder and CEO at Muck Rack created the industry's first Public Relations (PR) marketplace for journalists looking for great articles and for the companies producing those topics interesting to a target audience. The catalyst for creating Muck Rack Overcoming Friction between Marketing, PR Agencies, and the Press What role does the Press play in a Content Marketing Strategy  The...

How to create a "metrics-centric" business culture - a topic that Jay Topper, Chief Customer Officer at Fabric, and Ray our host cover in great detail on this episode of the Metrics that Measure Up podcast. During this episode, Jay and Ray discuss the following topics in detail: How to build a metrics culture Value of enterprise education and uplifting on metrics How to maximize the business impac...

Niclas Lilja, Founder and CEO at Younium recently joined our host, Ray Rike on the Metrics that Measure Up podcast to discuss his decision to re-locate from Sweden to the United States to better understand the U.S. buyer's market for recurring revenue billing solutions. During this fast-moving 30-minute conversation, Nic and Ray discuss the following topics: The Evolution of SaaS Pricing (yesterda...

Michelle Valentine, Founder and CEO of Anrok is taking on the Sales Tax compliance challenges for B2B SaaS companies. Global Sales Tax compliance is a critical obstacle to successfully deploying a global Product-Led Growth strategy. Michelle's conversation with our host, Ray Rike covers a wide array of topics including: Evolution of Sales Tax and Compliance in SaaS Challenges of Global Sales...

Henry Schuck, Founder and CEO has been leading ZoomInfo since he first founded the company in his law school dorm room through multiple funding rounds leading to an IPO in 2020. Henry shares his journey and his leadership evolution which continues today as he maneuvers the industry's choppy waters of 2023 and 2024! The journey from founding DiscoverOrg to the ZoomInfo IPO…and beyond Data-driv...

Matthew Blumberg, author of the Start-Up CEO Field Guide and founder of Bolster provides his insights and highlights from his series of books for start-up executives. Our host, Ray Rike, and Matthew discuss many of the main topics in the Start-Up CEO and directly from Matthew's experience as a multiple-time founder and CEO including: Lessons from being the founder & CEO at the same company for...

Julio Martinez, Founder and CEO of Abacum has been involved in Finance for most of his career. He then transitioned into the technology industry and was responsible for launching products for 4 years before founding Abacum. During this episode, we will cover 4 primary topics with Julio: The vision behind founding Abacum Three common FP&A mistakes FP&A’s role in developing corporate strateg...

Sean Brophy, the Head of Global Sales at Pigment joins our host, Ray Rike to discuss selling the Return on Investment of Financial Planning, Modeling, and Forecasting Software to both the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Revenue Officer. Topics discussed during the conversation include: The challenges of selling to the CFO & CRO as economic buyers How the business perspective on the value...

Sally Duby, Chief Sales Officer at The Bridge Group shares the latest SaaS Account Executive Benchmark Report based upon their research which they have been conducting since 2007. During the episode we cover a wide array of topics and benchmarks from the report including: Account Executive Compensation Trends (OTE, Base Salary and Commissions) AE Quota Trends - By Annual Contract Value AE Quota Ac...

Godard Abel, Founder and CEO of G2 is a pioneer in the world of B2B Software and SaaS reviews joins our host, Ray Rike to discuss the benefits of being a multiple-time CEO as he guides G2 into the next stage of growth and success. During the conversation, Godard and Ray cover a wide array of topics including: The benefit of being a multiple-time B2B SaaS Founder and CEO How the experience of a Sal...