On this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray welcomes Brett Carlson, co-founder and CEO of ServiceUp, to share his entrepreneurial journey and the story behind his latest venture. Brett’s background spans over 25 years in tech, with experience founding and scaling startups on the business side. With ServiceUp, Brett turned his focus to the vehicle repair industry, spotting a massive, underserved $250 billion market ready for modernization and disruption.

Brett dives into how ServiceUp started by offering digital car repair solutions directly to consumers before pivoting to serve fleet operators and insurance companies. He explains the pain points that large fleet owners—think Amazon, UPS, and major rental car companies—face with outdated repair processes, and how ServiceUp’s platform streamlines transactions and increases efficiency for both fleets and repair shops. Brett also shares how thoughtful use of technology and automation, including AI-powered voice agents, has accelerated their reach and operational effectiveness.

Throughout the conversation, Brett offers an inside look at ServiceUp’s rapid growth and successful fundraising journey, including securing a $55 million Series B. He discusses the evolving expectations of investors, the importance of backing up metrics at each funding stage, and key lessons learned from navigating both the highs and lows of startup life. Whether you’re an aspiring SaaS founder or just curious about the intersection of technology and traditional industries, Brett’s insights into building ServiceUp are sure to inspire.

Show Notes:

00:00 Switching Focus to Fleet Services

04:20 Major Retailer Faces $175M Collision Costs

08:43 Frugal Growth and Investment Strategy

12:30 "Investor Monetization Contradictions"

15:21 DoorDash's Missed Market Opportunity

20:30 Advanced AI in Voice & Shop Tech

21:16 Automated Market Entry Strategy

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/serviceup-secures-55-million-in-series-b

Brett Carlson’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettcarlson418/

ServiceUp’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/serviceupio/

ServiceUp’s Website: https://www.serviceup.com/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

On this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray is joined by Ricardo Ghekiere, co-founder of BetterPic. Ricardo takes us through his unconventional entrepreneurial journey, starting with running a coffee bar, dabbling in a variety of ventures, and eventually making his way into the tech space. He shares the fascinating story of how he acquired BetterPic for just one dollar, rebuilt the company from the ground up, and scaled it into a thriving AI-powered business that transforms selfies into professional headshots.

Ricardo talks about navigating the challenges of transitioning from a B2C to a B2B go-to-market strategy, lessons learned from his first fundraising efforts, and his approach to metrics and profitability. We also get a sneak peek into BetterPic’s expansion into the fashion industry, their recent $2.5 million seed round, and Ricardo’s candid insights on scaling, pricing, and international growth. Stick around for actionable advice, behind-the-scenes stories, and a look at what’s next for BetterPic and its new ventures.

Show Notes:

00:00 Difficulty Attracts Talent

03:25 "Consumer-First, Expand to B2B"

08:53 Startup Secures $2.5M Funding

12:38 "Finding the Right Investors"

15:22 "B2B CRM Essential for Upselling"

17:49 Pricing Experiment Insights

20:09 Monthly Business Metrics Overview

23:52 Business Acquisition in San Francisco

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/betterpic-raises-2-5-million-in-seed-round

Ricardo Ghekiere’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-ghekiere/

BetterPic’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betterpic/

BetterPic’s Website: https://www.betterpic.io/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

On this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray welcomes Forest Flager, CEO and co-founder of Parspec, for an insightful conversation at the crossroads of technology and the construction industry. Forest shares his compelling journey from growing up in a construction family and working internationally as an architect and engineer, to leading a research group at Stanford and ultimately making the leap into SaaS startups. His winding path led him to co-found Parspec, a platform dedicated to modernizing procurement in construction through AI-driven solutions.

Forest dives into how Parspec is tackling the unique challenges faced by wholesale distributors—those crucial intermediaries who connect designers’ technical demands with what’s available in the market. By leveraging AI, Parspec streamlines the process of parsing project specifications, identifying suitable products, and managing the procurement lifecycle, serving customers across residential, commercial, and industrial construction. Forest also opens up about Parspec’s growth strategy, from landing and expanding with major distributors to scaling up their product offering, which has driven significant revenue increases and attracted $31 million in capital.

Listeners will gain valuable insights as Forest discusses lessons learned around product-market fit, nurturing referenceable customers, and managing investor relationships through effective signaling. He also teases exciting new developments on Parspec’s roadmap, aimed at supporting both distributors and contractors with even more automation and transparency. If you’re interested in SaaS growth, usage-based pricing, or the ways AI is reshaping traditional industries, this episode offers a front-row seat to real-world innovations and strategies for scaling a successful startup.

Show Notes:

00:00 AI-Enhanced Construction Procurement Platform

05:07 "Automated Product Documentation Launch"

09:52 Validating Product Roadmap with Customers

11:59 Preemptive Fundraising and Investor Relations

14:33 Delayed Marketing Strategy Adjustment

17:15 Usage-Based Pricing Model Explanation

22:35 HQ & Engineering Team Locations

23:53 "Full-Cycle Procurement Solution Platform"

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/parspec-raises-11-5-million-in-seed-round

https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/parspec-raises-20-million-in-series-a

Forest Flager’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forestflager/

Parspec’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/parspec

Parspec’s Website: https://www.parspec.io/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

On this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray sits down with Riya Grover, co-founder and CEO of Sequence. Riya shares her journey from investment banking to entrepreneurship, including the story behind her first SaaS company in the restaurant industry and its eventual acquisition. She dives into the inspiration for Sequence—a modern billing and quote-to-cash platform designed to tackle the challenges of custom contracts and complex pricing models for scaling SaaS and B2B companies.

Riya opens up about the company’s pivotal shift from payments to revenue management, navigating tough conversations with investors, and building a lean, high-impact team. She reveals how Sequence is empowering finance teams to automate billing, invoicing, and revenue recognition, while also offering flexibility for hybrid pricing and go-to-market motions.

Tune in to hear Riya’s insights on scaling a SaaS business, managing a major product pivot, and how AI-powered automation is transforming the future of financial operations. Whether you’re a SaaS CFO, founder, or just curious about the evolving CFO tech stack, this episode has a wealth of lessons and practical advice.

Show Notes:

00:00 Automated Custom Billing Platform

04:29 Scaling Challenges for SaaS Companies

09:11 Pivoting to Custom Payments Solutions

10:54 Early Capital's Impact on Team Building

14:51 Adapting Teams for Changing Visions

16:40 Growth Strategy Focused on Content and Networking

20:31 Hybrid Scalable Pricing Model

24:35 Transforming Finance with AI Agents

29:19 "Contextual Finance Automation Opportunities"

30:25 "Contact SequenceHQ Easily"

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/sequence-raises-75-million-in-funding

Riya Grover’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riya-grover-a22a4822/

Sequence HQ’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sequence-hq/

Sequence HQ’s Website: https://www.sequencehq.com/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

In this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray welcomes Ananth Manivannan, founder of Resolvd, for an insightful conversation about building a SaaS solution that’s shaking up healthcare operations. Ananth shares how his journey from supply chain management at PepsiCo to software engineering at Capital One laid the groundwork for Resolvd, a company dedicated to automating complicated, manual workflows in hospital systems.

The discussion highlights how personal experiences—including his own family’s encounter with the complexities of hospital supply chains—inspired Ananth to solve real-world problems with technology. He opens up about the realities of fundraising at the pre-seed stage, landing big-name investors, and winning hospital clients by delivering fast, value-driven pilots that avoid drawn-out sales cycles.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a SaaS enthusiast, or just curious about the future of healthcare tech, this episode is packed with candid advice on pricing models, scaling a nimble team, and navigating the unpredictable world of startup growth. Tune in to discover what it takes to bring transformative AI-powered solutions to one of the world’s most challenging and impactful industries.

Show Notes:

00:00 Resolving the Swivel Chair Problem

06:35 Vision and Execution in Fundraising

09:52 Visionary Pitching for VC Success

12:18 Accelerating Healthcare Sales with Results

16:39 "Rise of Consumption-Based Models"

19:39 Measuring AI Workflow Efficiency

21:39 Exploring Pricing Models

24:21 Expressing Gratitude and Well Wishes

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/resolvd-ai-raises-1-6m-in-pre-seed-round

Ananth Manivannan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananth-manivannan-775a24b7/

Resolvd AI’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/resolvdai/

Resolvd AI’s Website: https://resolvd.ai/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

On this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray sits down with Idan Bar-Dov, co-founder and CEO of Heka. Idan shares his unique journey from working in finance and law—starting out at an international law firm advising fintech companies—through the challenges of founding a startup during the pandemic, to leading a fast-growing SaaS company transforming how financial institutions use open source data.

Together, they dive into Heka’s evolution from its early focus on reconnecting consumers with their assets amid widespread data gaps, to becoming a global platform that provides advanced fraud detection, contact recovery, and enriched credit decisioning for major banks, fintechs, payment processors, and alternative lenders. Idan also opens up about the company's fundraising milestones, lessons learned from raising $16 million to date, building credibility with Fortune 500 clients, and the importance of sticky revenue metrics as the business scales.

Tune in to hear more about Heka’s mission to become the gold standard in consumer data, outpacing industry giants, and what’s next for their growing team headquartered in New York and Israel. Plus, Idan shares practical advice for founders tackling enterprise sales, go-to-market strategy, and fundraising in the financial technology space.

Show Notes:

00:00 Fintech Pivot During COVID Lockdown

04:15 Global Financial Reconnection Solutions

07:20 Insightful Investors Drive Series A

11:59 Navigating Investment Deals Efficiently

14:42 Investors Drive Financial Innovation

18:48 "Metrics for Growth: Revenue & NRR"

20:49 "Conquer Fortune 500 Market"

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/heka-raises-14-million-in-series-a

Idan Bar-Dov's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/idan-bar-dov/

Heka Global’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/heka-global/

Heka Global’s Website: https://hekaglobal.com/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

In this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray welcomes Jon Carr-Harris, founder and CEO of Cred, for an engaging discussion about Jon’s global background and entrepreneurial journey. Growing up across nine countries and with experience in multiple startups, Jon brings a unique perspective to building successful tech businesses and understanding diverse user needs.

Jon shares insights into Cred’s innovative predictive intelligence platform, which helps companies bridge internal and external data to drive smarter business actions. The conversation dives into Cred’s go-to-market strategies, enterprise sales cycles, and evolving pricing models—along with how the team secured a $15 million seed round and landed big-name customers in sports, entertainment, and finance.

Whether you’re interested in SaaS growth tactics, data-driven decision making, or scaling a new tech venture, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways. Jon also hints at an exciting new product launch coming soon, so stay tuned to learn more about what’s next for Cred!

Show Notes:

00:00 "Bridging Internal-External Market Insights"

04:38 PLG to Leadership Sales Strategy

08:33 "Tailoring Sales for Investor Appeal"

12:15 Adapting SaaS Pricing Model

14:28 Data and Revenue Correlation

16:41 "Revolutionary Enterprise Product Release"

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/cred-raises-15-million-in-seed-round

Jon Carr-Harris' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcarrharris/

CRED’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/credplatform/

CRED’s Website: https://www.credplatform.com/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, host Ben sits down with Gilad Uziely, co-founder and CEO of Sequence (getsequence.io), for an open and insightful conversation about the rollercoaster journey of entrepreneurship and fintech innovation. Gilad shares his fascinating background—from growing up in Israel to building businesses across multiple industries, including hospitality and tech startups.

The discussion dives deep into Sequence, a platform Gilad describes as “Zapier for money,” designed to help both individuals and small business owners seamlessly connect, automate, and manage their complex financial lives across various accounts. Gilad opens up about the challenges of pivoting from a failed neobank startup, the tough lessons learned through restructuring and fundraising (including wrangling 83 signatures to clean up a cap table!), and the resilience required to move forward.

If you’re interested in the realities of founding, pivoting, and scaling a SaaS company in the fintech world—or want a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to build tools for micro-businesses and solopreneurs—this candid episode is for you. Gilad also shares his outlook on metrics that matter, building a strong company culture, and what’s next for Sequence as they take on the challenge of simplifying how we manage money.

Tune in to hear Gilad’s remarkable journey, practical lessons for founders, and what it truly takes to turn setbacks into new opportunities.

Show Notes:

00:00 "Program Your Money Easily"

04:29 Small Business Clients with Diverse Income

06:44 Business App for Revenue Tracking

11:16 Startup Pivot: Conviction and Blue Oceans

13:40 Fraudulent Users Increase Acquisition Costs

18:42 Critical Pivot Fueled by Investment

21:49 Targeting Small Business Customers

26:23 Cutting Acquisition Costs with Partnerships

27:27 "Join Sequence: Community & Content"

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/sequence-raises-75-million-in-funding

Gilad Uziely’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladuziely/

Sequence’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getsequence/

Sequence’s Website: https://www.getsequence.io/

To learn more about Ben check out the links below:

Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page

SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/

Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray