Subscript

In the latest episode of Diving Deep we're joined by the brilliant CFO of Lob, Madhu Jagannathan. Throughout the conversation, Madhu shares: 🤔 Hands on advice for navigating usage-based billing 💰 Why the Deal Desk team should report directly to Finance 💻 The specific metrics that matter most for B2B SaaS CFOs 🧠 What is actually means to become a Strategic CFO 🙌 And more! Leave a comment and we'll send you over the recording. You're gonna love this one. 💯

B2B SaaS CFOs: what's on *your* dashboard? Here are some of the main metrics that Madhu Jagannathan, the CFO at Lob, is keeping an eye on: 🌪️ Sales velocity 🥐 Pipeline quality 📊 Monthly cohorted analysis ⚖️ Forecast vs. actual on bookings and retention

We hear this phrase “Strategic CFO” being tossed around a lot nowadays. But, what does it actually mean? From Madhu Jagannathan’s perspective as CFO at Lob, he believes the CFO’s job (at a Venture-backed company) is to maintain the highest level of accountability to investors. To do this, CFOs should be constantly thinking about ways to make the company the most *valuable* it can be in the desired timeframe. He says it’s purely mathematical: Once you figure out when a desired exit is, work backwards. How much time do you have before seeking that exit? What do you need the revenue growth to be? What inputs and activities will drive that growth?

Who do *you* think the Deal Desk team should report to? 👀

If you think your usage-based business is complex, you’re not alone! Hear about how Madhu Jagannathan, CFO at Lob, and his Finance teams deal with the challenges of being in a complex usage-based model, in particular quoting based off customers’ estimated volumes. 👇

Strategic planning at a later-stage company is radically different than at an early-stage company. At a later stage company, strategic planning is 80% predictable, and 20% art. You know what to expect when you invest a dollar into most areas of the business. It's mostly an input/output function and the error bars are quite narrow. However, at an early-stage company, strategic planning is 1% predictable and 99% art. As a finance leader, you can't bring later-stage planning to an early-stage company. And, you can't bring early-stage planning to a later-stage company. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Sam Bonning!

In order to be a great finance leader at a founder-led business you need to know what your company's North Star is. Most founders are PASSIONATE about making a dent in the universe over the next ten years. They know exactly where the company is going. However, what's less clear to most founders is *how* they're going to get where they're going. That's where a brilliant finance leader comes in! Be your founder's partner in strategically determining the best path forward each year so they can reach their ultimate goal. Sure you need to be great at budgeting, forecasting, calculating burn, digging into data, etc. But, do all of that in the service of achieving the 10 year goal. (Thanks for sharing your insights Sam Bonning and Sidharth Kakkar!)

It's strategic planning season! Sam Bonning, the brilliant VP Finance & Strategy at Remote, sat down with our CEO and reminded us how to approach annual planning. This year, don't let your role in the strategic planning process focus mainly on budgets. Instead, planning should be a broader exercise for the finance team to help dictate the company's direction. What's your company's vision? What does the company need to do in the next year to get closer to that? How are you going to measure that progress? Eventually you'll get more in the weeds, but first, grab your seat at the table and make sure the company is strategically making the best decisions.

B2B SaaS finance leaders, this one’s for you. 👇 7 THINGS AI IS TERRIBLE AT FOR B2B SAAS FINANCE 💬 Translating Jargon AI can process numbers, but only a VP of Finance can decipher terms like "synergy savings" and "strategic realignment" into actual budget implications. 💰 Handling “Urgent” Budget Requests AI might flag every urgent budget request as high priority; a VP of Finance knows when “urgent” really means “can wait until next week.” ⚖️ Balancing Competing Priorities AI follows rules; a VP of Finance knows when to bend them to keep all departments happy. 🤝 Interpreting Slack Messages AI can’t detect sarcasm in a Slack message; a VP of Finance knows when "great idea!" actually means "this is a disaster." 🧠 Predicting Budget Overages AI may follow the data, but a VP of Finance has a gut feeling about when the marketing team is about to overspend on swag. 🔮 Seeing Beyond the Spreadsheet AI is all about data; a VP of Finance understands the stories, people, and potential behind those numbers. 🙌 Building a Winning Culture AI focuses on data; a VP of Finance knows that happy employees are the best investment. THINGS AI IS GREAT AT (THANKS TO SUBSCRIPT) 🏃  Intelligently Chasing Down Late Payments Even though chasing down payments is boring to us humans, AI absolutely loves it! You get to thoughtfully (and dependably) follow up with your customers at scale, without dedicating your staff to it! 👀 Turning Complicated Sales Contracts Into Invoices Yup, AI can thoughtfully read your sales contracts, understand the nuances, correctly build your invoices, and update your B2B SaaS analytics. Want more information about how Subscript AI can help your finance team? Just leave a comment or send us a message. 

Get in on our August small group roundtables! You'll be matched up to a group of 4-5 fellow Finance leaders who operate at similar size/growth stage companies at yours. This month we don't have a theme; rather, each attendee will bring a topic of their choice to problem-solve with their small group! Reserve your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eAnfUBFS