StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Jun 27, 2023 · 17m · top-founders

Financial habits of the best performing startups

Andrew Gauthier · 14m spoken Nathan Latka · 46s spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this SaaS Open conference presentation, Fractional CFO Andrew Gauthier outlines a comprehensive three-phase financial framework—planning, reporting, and strategy—to guide B2B SaaS founders in scaling efficiently from $2M to $10M ARR while transforming finance from a cost center into a strategic value driver.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 4.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 0.0 Guest teaching 0.0 Guest disagreement 0.0 Nathan pushing back 0.0
05100:0010:000:00–3:16 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Nathan Latka Introduces SaaS Open and GetLatka Platform The segment begins with a standard host promotional intro for SaaS Open and GetLatka, followed by Andrew Gauthier introducing his background as a founder and fractional CFO. It is a solo presentation with no direct dialogue, conflict, or pushback.3:18–5:59 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Phase One: Planning, Budgeting, and Rolling Forecasts Andrew presents solo on stage detailing financial planning, TAM modeling, annual budgeting alignment, and rolling forecasts. Because this is a conference presentation monologue, there is no host interaction or pushback.6:00–10:17 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Phase Two: Reporting, SaaS Metrics, and Chart of Accounts Andrew continues his monologue on SaaS chart of accounts, COGS allocation, and metric tracking such as the Rule of 40. The delivery is purely educational and instructional without any host debate.10:20–15:05 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Phase Three: Strategic Finance, Capital Raising, and M&A Andrew outlines strategic finance, capital raising timing, and M&A execution before concluding his presentation to applause. As a standalone conference talk, there is no active host debate or confrontation.0:00–3:16 · Guest teaching 0/10 Nathan Latka Introduces SaaS Open and GetLatka Platform The segment begins with a standard host promotional intro for SaaS Open and GetLatka, followed by Andrew Gauthier introducing his background as a founder and fractional CFO. It is a solo presentation with no direct dialogue, conflict, or pushback.3:18–5:59 · Guest teaching 0/10 Phase One: Planning, Budgeting, and Rolling Forecasts Andrew presents solo on stage detailing financial planning, TAM modeling, annual budgeting alignment, and rolling forecasts. Because this is a conference presentation monologue, there is no host interaction or pushback.6:00–10:17 · Guest teaching 0/10 Phase Two: Reporting, SaaS Metrics, and Chart of Accounts Andrew continues his monologue on SaaS chart of accounts, COGS allocation, and metric tracking such as the Rule of 40. The delivery is purely educational and instructional without any host debate.10:20–15:05 · Guest teaching 0/10 Phase Three: Strategic Finance, Capital Raising, and M&A Andrew outlines strategic finance, capital raising timing, and M&A execution before concluding his presentation to applause. As a standalone conference talk, there is no active host debate or confrontation.0:00–3:16 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Nathan Latka Introduces SaaS Open and GetLatka Platform The segment begins with a standard host promotional intro for SaaS Open and GetLatka, followed by Andrew Gauthier introducing his background as a founder and fractional CFO. It is a solo presentation with no direct dialogue, conflict, or pushback.3:18–5:59 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Phase One: Planning, Budgeting, and Rolling Forecasts Andrew presents solo on stage detailing financial planning, TAM modeling, annual budgeting alignment, and rolling forecasts. Because this is a conference presentation monologue, there is no host interaction or pushback.6:00–10:17 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Phase Two: Reporting, SaaS Metrics, and Chart of Accounts Andrew continues his monologue on SaaS chart of accounts, COGS allocation, and metric tracking such as the Rule of 40. The delivery is purely educational and instructional without any host debate.10:20–15:05 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Phase Three: Strategic Finance, Capital Raising, and M&A Andrew outlines strategic finance, capital raising timing, and M&A execution before concluding his presentation to applause. As a standalone conference talk, there is no active host debate or confrontation.0:00–3:16 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Nathan Latka Introduces SaaS Open and GetLatka Platform The segment begins with a standard host promotional intro for SaaS Open and GetLatka, followed by Andrew Gauthier introducing his background as a founder and fractional CFO. It is a solo presentation with no direct dialogue, conflict, or pushback.3:18–5:59 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Phase One: Planning, Budgeting, and Rolling Forecasts Andrew presents solo on stage detailing financial planning, TAM modeling, annual budgeting alignment, and rolling forecasts. Because this is a conference presentation monologue, there is no host interaction or pushback.6:00–10:17 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Phase Two: Reporting, SaaS Metrics, and Chart of Accounts Andrew continues his monologue on SaaS chart of accounts, COGS allocation, and metric tracking such as the Rule of 40. The delivery is purely educational and instructional without any host debate.10:20–15:05 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Phase Three: Strategic Finance, Capital Raising, and M&A Andrew outlines strategic finance, capital raising timing, and M&A execution before concluding his presentation to applause. As a standalone conference talk, there is no active host debate or confrontation.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 29.1% · guest 70.9%0:00 · Nathan 29.1% · guest 70.9%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:20 Challenging the cost-cutting mindset

In an entirely cooperative monologue, the closest to combativeness is Andrew rejecting the standard corporate instinct to focus solely on trimming costs instead of building revenue and value.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 0:00 Host conference introduction

There is no host pushback in this recorded solo presentation; Nathan simply introduces the high bar for speakers at SaaS Open.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:50 Highlighting common COGS accounting mistakes

Andrew educates the audience on how startups fail to allocate COGS per revenue line, blinding them to true gross margins during fundraising.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 0:00 Nathan Latka introduces GetLatka analytics platform

Nathan highlights GetLatka's database of SaaS metrics and founder interviews as an essential industry benchmarking tool.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Nathan Latka Introduces SaaS Open and GetLatka Platform 0000 The segment begins with a standard host promotional intro for SaaS Open and GetLatka, followed by Andrew Gauthier introducing his background as a founder and fractional CFO. It is a solo presentation with no direct dialogue, conflict, or pushback.
Phase One: Planning, Budgeting, and Rolling Forecasts 0000 Andrew presents solo on stage detailing financial planning, TAM modeling, annual budgeting alignment, and rolling forecasts. Because this is a conference presentation monologue, there is no host interaction or pushback.
Phase Two: Reporting, SaaS Metrics, and Chart of Accounts 0000 Andrew continues his monologue on SaaS chart of accounts, COGS allocation, and metric tracking such as the Rule of 40. The delivery is purely educational and instructional without any host debate.
Phase Three: Strategic Finance, Capital Raising, and M&A 0000 Andrew outlines strategic finance, capital raising timing, and M&A execution before concluding his presentation to applause. As a standalone conference talk, there is no active host debate or confrontation.

Statements from this episode (8)

Insight
Gauthier: Startups must finalize annual budgets 30 to 90 days before fiscal year
“Typically this process should be done 30 to 90 days before the start of your fiscal year. Oftentimes I see startups doing scrambling to do this in Q one. And it's not ideal.”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 4:35
Insight
Gauthier: Rolling forecasts are critical for dynamic changes unlike static budgets
“A budget is nice, and it creates a point in time reference point as to how you're thinking your how you're thinking your business will operate over a course of time, but forecasting and rolling forecast will give you the ability to make changes on the fly base…”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 4:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gauthier: Rule of 40 and Profitability Are Replacing Growth at All Costs
“What's becoming more and more prevalent today is the importance of the rule of 40, profitability, sustainable growth, and less on growth at all costs.”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 7:52
Insight
Gauthier: Failing to Break Out COGS by Revenue Line Obscures Margins
“I see a lot of companies where they will, you know, maybe have subscription revenue and professional service revenue broken out, but they don't necessarily break out the cogs, and as a result, it makes it really difficult to understand your gross margin by rev…”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 8:28
Insight
Gauthier: Detailed GL Accounts Enable Cleaner Reporting Than Class Tracking
“A lot will use class tracking in order to do that, but we prefer to do detailed GL accounts in the system, and this just allows it to roll up cleaner when you're reporting month over month.”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 9:01
Insight
Gauthier: Founders should double their expected fundraising timeline in 2023
“If you think it's going to take you six months to raise funding or nine months especially in today's environment, double it. It's not an easy environment to be raising venture, venture capital in today.”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 13:15
Insight
Gauthier: Taking capital from unsophisticated investors offers real advantages
“There's a lot of value in taking dollars from less sophisticated investors, because they might be a little bit more hands-off, have fewer opinions on how you run the business, and be a little less demanding day to day.”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 13:50
Opinion
Gauthier recommends 'Built to Sell' for building business value and exit flexibility
“If you haven't read the book, Built to Sell, highly recommend it. Just great, great examples of building a business that has real value, and it gives you flexibility to either raise capital or you know, exit if that's what you want to do at some point.”
Andrew Gauthier Jun 27, 2023 ▶ 17:17
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more