The CIBC Innovation Banking podcast features conversations with business leaders on the financial aspects of business-building. In this conversation, Carter Griffin, a GP at Updata, shares more about Updata’s framework for evaluating the health and scalability of SaaS companies. This is a framework that Carter and Updata have honed after years as technology entrepreneurs and investors. It’s based on analyzing specific metrics that help you better understand the ROI on certain expenditures, the cost of acquiring a customer, but most importantly which business activities are driving the best results.
Back
CIBC Innovation Banking: Updata General Partner Carter Griffin on Metrics That Matter for Scaling SaaS Companies
Metrics that matter for scaling SaaS companies with Carter Griffin, General Partner at Updata Partners
Software as a Service is a unique model
When Carter started working in technology, software companies were physically installing software. Now, it’s hosted in the cloud. Updata has created a unique framework that evaluates hundreds of potential investments and helps determine the health of a business. So what metrics help you determine if your SaaS business is financially viable? Carter believes there are two that matter the most.
Customer acquisition cost needs to be a more in depth analysis
Many SaaS businesses look at their customer acquisition cost by taking the sum of their sales and marketing expenses to acquire a new customer, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Carter says looking at a business model’s efficiency is way more important than the standard gap financials. Onboarding and ongoing expenses need to be considered in the cost of acquisition to help entrepreneurs paint a clearer picture of their growth levers.
Software is (still) eating the world
The tech and software industries were some of the least affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Carter. He doesn’t anticipate much change for the software world, yet this certainly doesn’t mean it’s in trouble. Carter identifies software as the dominant sector in our lifetime, which is why it’s so important that we keep investing in innovative companies and driving progress.