MassTLC: Business Decisions and Models from the SaaS CFO
Ascent Venture Partners: Matt Fates
June 27, 2012
Ascent Venture Partners: Matt Fates
Experience:
Ascent Venture Partners 2002 – Present
Norwest Venture Partners 1998 - 2000
Alex Brown & Sons 1996 – 1998
Areas of Focus: Data analytics, cloud business services, security
Current Investments:
Education: BA, Computer Science, Economics – Yale UniversityMBA – Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (Tuck Scholar)
2
Ascent Venture Partners
Who we are
At the forefront of enterprise tech investing We have backed more than 100 early-stage, emerging technology companies
since 1985, generating more than $10 billion in enterprise value We leverage our extensive network to make connections for portfolio
companies to investors, customers and advisors that can support their long-term success.
Investment team of six, dedicated to investing in IT innovation for the enterprise
Supporting early-stage entrepreneurs
3
Investment Focus Areas
4
SaaS Investments: Transforming Legacy Industries
Cloud Print Service for large enterprises Store it in the cloud. Print it where needed, when needed, in any amount. Quality guaranteed.
SaaS-based Service for business dataLive data streamed directly into e-commerce and CRM applications
SaaS-based Security for specialty marketsEnables control of data while gaining the collaboration and cost savings benefits of the cloud
Cloud Scheduling for large & small enterprises Appointment CRM: Enable self-serve appointment scheduling for customers, employees and partners
Today, There’s SaaS…
6
… And Then There’s SaaS
7
Custom SaaS Built to the specific pricing and hosting
needs of a company
Subscription pricing Most commonly an annual or monthly
subscription fee
Subscription plus transactions A monthly or annual fee plus a fee per transaction
Measuring SaaS
8
Key SaaS metrics we monitor:
Fully loaded cost of customer acquisition vs. contribution margin and expected duration Line up all costs associated with acquiring a customer against their
contribution margin Consider time offset (length of sales cycle) How long to they stay customers on average?
Expected future contribution from existing customer base
Churn vs. Expansion/Upsell
Impacts of SaaS
9
Business Impacts of Using SaaS:
Cash vs. revenue vs. bookings vs. CMRR
When it comes time to sell the company most buyers don’t use SaaS metrics or accounting!
Ascent Venture Partners: Matt Fates
Thank You
10
Ascent Venture Partners255 State Street, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02109(617) 720-9400
www.ascentvp.com@AscentVP
Top Related