9-9-6. A term to describe the work culture of working 9AM - 9PM six days a week. This term is most often associated with those founders, companies, and their employees that work in generational software opportunities - such as we see right now with AI Software.

Dave and Ray discuss 9-9-6 from multiple angles in today's episode including:

• What 9-9-6 is
• Where did it originate
• Why is it trending
• The importance of Winning in the early stage of a new software era
• Geoffrey Moore's segmentation of new enterprise software markets (Gorillas, Chimps and Monkeys)
• Historic examples of those companies that became category leader
• Why the grind is not the point - Winning is
• Why the choice of entering a 9-9-6 environment makes choosing the company even more important

If you are currently in an early-stage AI-Native software company or considering making the move - this episode is a must listen!

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The Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE) represents a fundamental reimagining of the technical role in high-stakes enterprise environments. At its core, an FDE is a software engineer embedded directly with customers to solve their most complex—and often ambiguous—problems.

Palantir is widely credited as the originator and early adopter of the FDE model, initially referring to these engineers as “Deltas.” In this episode, Dave “CAC” Kellogg and Ray “Growth” Rike explore multiple dimensions of the Forward-Deployed Engineer role, including:

• The origin of the FDE
• How the military influenced the term
• Whether the FDE belongs in a technology-enabled services company or a software company
• How an FDE differs from a traditional technical services consultant
• Where FDE expenses should be allocated—COGS vs. OPEX
• How those allocation decisions impact key metrics
• The hiring trends shaping the future of the FDE

If you’re building an AI-native application or an agentic AI company with outcome-based pricing, this episode is packed with insights and ideas on why a Forward-Deployed Engineer could be your next—and most important—hire.

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Iconiq recently published its State of Software 2025: Rethinking the Playbook. Whenever a new industry benchmark report is published, Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike try to quickly read, analyze and decide if the report should be discussed on an episode of the Metrics Brothers. The Iconiq State of Software 2025 is a solid industry report that includes several key findings that Dave and Ray discuss during this episode including:

• Ai-Native vs AI-Enabled vs non-AI segmentation
• Growth's impact on Enterprise Value to Revenue multiples
• Revenue growth trends by company size
• Net Revenue Retention Benchmarks
• CAC Payback Period Benchmarks
• Adoption vs Engagement vs Outcomes for AI software companies
• Funnel Conversion metrics for AI vs non-AI companies

If you are interested in how the top tier, maybe I should say top quartile of SaaS companies are performing, in context of SaaS companies leveraging AI, those not leveraging AI and AI-Native software companies - this episode has something for everyone!

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