When a growth equity or private equity firm sends you an LOI, the first number you look at is the valuation. That’s normal. But valuation is only the price. It is not the structure. The structure determines: You do not need to read these agreements like an attorney. But you need to understand what certain […]
CFO’s Guide to Disclosing Headline ARR Numbers
This ARR guide is written for CFOs, finance leaders, founders, CEOs, and investor-facing software operators who want to disclose Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) clearly, credibly, and consistently. I’ve collected and personally reviewed hundreds of public tech company ARR definition and calculations. I identified what actually works versus what creates confusion for investors, analysts, and internal […]
The Public Playbook for Monetizing, Measuring, and Defending AI Value
The market has officially reset. The “just say you’re doing AI” era is over. Wall Street no longer rewards companies for announcing AI features or waving a product roadmaps loaded with potential. AI has become what it should’ve been all along: an economic engine for software incumbents. Now, investors now want to see the receipts. […]
The Real Economics of SaaS versus AI Companies
There is a lot of hype and clickbait out there on SaaS math versus AI math. And that SaaS companies are dead, and SaaS metrics are dead. The tweet below got me thinking about SaaS economics versus AI economics. It’s a catchy take on AI versus SaaS. But is it true? “AI companies running at […]
Essential SaaS Metrics for a Series A Fundraise
In SaaS, metrics aren’t just numbers on a dashboard. They tell the story of your company’s health, scalability, and valuation potential. At some point, your story must be supported by numbers and metrics. Let’s find out what metrics you need to showcase in a Series A funding round. When I talk to scaling founders, I […]
6 Metrics Buyers Ask For Before They Buy Your SaaS
Run your business like it’s for sale. Run your business as if no one wanted your business. Your hear opinions on all sides about preparing your business for a fundraise or exit. What doesn’t change? You need data and metrics to scale your business. By putting data and metrics in place, you serve two purposes. […]
Top Financial Metrics Tracked by Usage-based Companies
I’ve been poring through public financial documents looking for ARR definitions and calculations. I could not find one pure-play usage company that defines ARR. If these companies don’t define ARR, what metrics do they track? In this post, I’ll walk you through the top financial metrics that usage-based companies track and disclose, why those metrics […]
How to Define and Calculate ARR
Defining and calculating ARR is a hot topic. I have been talking to a lot of SaaS founders and finance leaders about how to properly calculate annual recurring revenue. Not too easy with today’s pricing and business models. The shift in pricing models (usage, consumption, outcome-based) has made the lives of tech CFO’s more difficult. […]
AI ARR vs. SaaS ARR: How to Define and Calculate
How do leading SaaS companies define ARR? Especially as AI and usage-based pricing models reshape recurring revenue in SaaS? In this post, I break down how Verint, a CX automation leader, defines both Subscription ARR and AI ARR, and how they model these metrics internally for cash flow, investor reporting, and product strategy. I did […]
The Power 3 SaaS Metrics That Predict If You’ll Scale or Stall
Scaling a SaaS business sounds great—more logos, more revenue, better valuation. But there are three metrics that will determine if you have the potential to scale and if you are scaling versus growing. These aren’t vanity metrics. You are swimming upstream if these metrics are not improving. Looking for a path to profitability? Start calculating […]