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Mar 24, 2020 · 18m · top-founders

1704 Virus Hits, He's Burning $80k/mo With Just $300k Left in Bank, $3m in ARR, What Should He Do?

Juha Berghäll · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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

Juha Berghäll, founder and CEO of OneIO, discusses scaling an enterprise cloud integration platform to $3 million in ARR and achieving strong SaaS unit economics while managing an $80,000 monthly burn on a four-to-five-month cash runway. He details his strategies for navigating Series A fundraising, realigning channel partner distribution, and preparing operational contingencies during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 51.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 3.2 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 2.6
05100:0010:001:00–4:25 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 OneIO Product Value Proposition and Enterprise Use Cases Nathan introduces the company and tests comparisons against tools like MuleSoft and Zapier. Juha clarifies the difference in target persona and architectural placement, and Nathan confirms financial metrics and ARPA figures.4:29–8:33 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Sponsor Message: F5 Cloud Services Infrastructure Solutions Segment starts with a sponsor message and transitions into revenue calculations, headcount allocation, and sales partner commission structures. Both parties engage in a collaborative breakdown of metrics.8:35–11:52 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Fundraising Strategies Amid Global Macroeconomic Uncertainty Nathan questions the viability of raising capital during market panic around the virus downturn. Juha counters that VCs have committed fund capital to deploy and draws parallels to 2008.11:54–15:21 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Valuation Targets, Burn Rate, and Cash Runway Nathan presses Juha on valuation expectations, net versus gross churn, and runway length given the $80k monthly burn. Juha provides exact metrics on CAC payback and net retention.15:22–18:06 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Operational Contingency Plans and Regional Cost Structures Nathan asks what exact cuts Juha will make if the market stays frozen. Juha educates Nathan on Finnish labor laws making quick salary cuts difficult, before concluding with the standard rapid-fire questions.1:00–4:25 · Guest teaching 5/10 OneIO Product Value Proposition and Enterprise Use Cases Nathan introduces the company and tests comparisons against tools like MuleSoft and Zapier. Juha clarifies the difference in target persona and architectural placement, and Nathan confirms financial metrics and ARPA figures.4:29–8:33 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Message: F5 Cloud Services Infrastructure Solutions Segment starts with a sponsor message and transitions into revenue calculations, headcount allocation, and sales partner commission structures. Both parties engage in a collaborative breakdown of metrics.8:35–11:52 · Guest teaching 3/10 Fundraising Strategies Amid Global Macroeconomic Uncertainty Nathan questions the viability of raising capital during market panic around the virus downturn. Juha counters that VCs have committed fund capital to deploy and draws parallels to 2008.11:54–15:21 · Guest teaching 2/10 Valuation Targets, Burn Rate, and Cash Runway Nathan presses Juha on valuation expectations, net versus gross churn, and runway length given the $80k monthly burn. Juha provides exact metrics on CAC payback and net retention.15:22–18:06 · Guest teaching 4/10 Operational Contingency Plans and Regional Cost Structures Nathan asks what exact cuts Juha will make if the market stays frozen. Juha educates Nathan on Finnish labor laws making quick salary cuts difficult, before concluding with the standard rapid-fire questions.1:00–4:25 · Guest disagreement 1/10 OneIO Product Value Proposition and Enterprise Use Cases Nathan introduces the company and tests comparisons against tools like MuleSoft and Zapier. Juha clarifies the difference in target persona and architectural placement, and Nathan confirms financial metrics and ARPA figures.4:29–8:33 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Message: F5 Cloud Services Infrastructure Solutions Segment starts with a sponsor message and transitions into revenue calculations, headcount allocation, and sales partner commission structures. Both parties engage in a collaborative breakdown of metrics.8:35–11:52 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Fundraising Strategies Amid Global Macroeconomic Uncertainty Nathan questions the viability of raising capital during market panic around the virus downturn. Juha counters that VCs have committed fund capital to deploy and draws parallels to 2008.11:54–15:21 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Valuation Targets, Burn Rate, and Cash Runway Nathan presses Juha on valuation expectations, net versus gross churn, and runway length given the $80k monthly burn. Juha provides exact metrics on CAC payback and net retention.15:22–18:06 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Operational Contingency Plans and Regional Cost Structures Nathan asks what exact cuts Juha will make if the market stays frozen. Juha educates Nathan on Finnish labor laws making quick salary cuts difficult, before concluding with the standard rapid-fire questions.1:00–4:25 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 OneIO Product Value Proposition and Enterprise Use Cases Nathan introduces the company and tests comparisons against tools like MuleSoft and Zapier. Juha clarifies the difference in target persona and architectural placement, and Nathan confirms financial metrics and ARPA figures.4:29–8:33 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Message: F5 Cloud Services Infrastructure Solutions Segment starts with a sponsor message and transitions into revenue calculations, headcount allocation, and sales partner commission structures. Both parties engage in a collaborative breakdown of metrics.8:35–11:52 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Fundraising Strategies Amid Global Macroeconomic Uncertainty Nathan questions the viability of raising capital during market panic around the virus downturn. Juha counters that VCs have committed fund capital to deploy and draws parallels to 2008.11:54–15:21 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Valuation Targets, Burn Rate, and Cash Runway Nathan presses Juha on valuation expectations, net versus gross churn, and runway length given the $80k monthly burn. Juha provides exact metrics on CAC payback and net retention.15:22–18:06 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Operational Contingency Plans and Regional Cost Structures Nathan asks what exact cuts Juha will make if the market stays frozen. Juha educates Nathan on Finnish labor laws making quick salary cuts difficult, before concluding with the standard rapid-fire questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 51.8% · guest 48.2%0:00 · Nathan 51.8% · guest 48.2%3:00 · Nathan 58.2% · guest 41.8%3:00 · Nathan 58.2% · guest 41.8%6:00 · Nathan 27.6% · guest 72.4%6:00 · Nathan 27.6% · guest 72.4%9:00 · Nathan 71.4% · guest 28.6%9:00 · Nathan 71.4% · guest 28.6%12:00 · Nathan 50% · guest 50%12:00 · Nathan 50% · guest 50%15:00 · Nathan 37.6% · guest 62.4%15:00 · Nathan 37.6% · guest 62.4%18:00 · Nathan 83.8% · guest 16.2%18:00 · Nathan 83.8% · guest 16.2%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:14 Guest challenges market panic narrative

Juha rejects the premise that VC investing stops during a downturn, citing committed fund dynamics and historical precedent from 2008.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:25 Nathan presses on valuation targets and cash runway

Nathan directly challenges Juha on how his valuation expectations will hold up given only four to five months of cash runway remaining.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 16:07 Finnish labor law structural realities

Juha informs Nathan that fast payroll reductions are legally restricted in Finland compared to US startups, forcing alternative cost-cutting paths.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:07 Nathan converts churn figures into net revenue retention metrics

Nathan immediately translates negative 2.5% churn into 102% net retention and prompts for gross revenue churn breakdown.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
OneIO Product Value Proposition and Enterprise Use Cases 6512 Nathan introduces the company and tests comparisons against tools like MuleSoft and Zapier. Juha clarifies the difference in target persona and architectural placement, and Nathan confirms financial metrics and ARPA figures.
Sponsor Message: F5 Cloud Services Infrastructure Solutions 5201 Segment starts with a sponsor message and transitions into revenue calculations, headcount allocation, and sales partner commission structures. Both parties engage in a collaborative breakdown of metrics.
Fundraising Strategies Amid Global Macroeconomic Uncertainty 6323 Nathan questions the viability of raising capital during market panic around the virus downturn. Juha counters that VCs have committed fund capital to deploy and draws parallels to 2008.
Valuation Targets, Burn Rate, and Cash Runway 7214 Nathan presses Juha on valuation expectations, net versus gross churn, and runway length given the $80k monthly burn. Juha provides exact metrics on CAC payback and net retention.
Operational Contingency Plans and Regional Cost Structures 5413 Nathan asks what exact cuts Juha will make if the market stays frozen. Juha educates Nathan on Finnish labor laws making quick salary cuts difficult, before concluding with the standard rapid-fire questions.

Statements from this episode (15)

Assertion Partly supported
Berghäll: Adidas, Sixt, and Schindler are OneIO customers
“For instance, enterprise customers would have been Adidas or Sixth Schindler.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 1:33
Disclosure
Berghäll: OneIO's annual ARPA is $40,000 to $45,000
“At the moment we are actually following up ARPA revenue per account. So we are somewhere in 40, 45,000 USD.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 2:59
Disclosure
Berghäll: OneIO has 65 customers
“We have 65 customers.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 4:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Berghäll: OneIO reached $230,000 in MRR in December 2019
“So in the USD, the MRR is was last year, December, two 30.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 5:39
Insight
Berghäll: Software startups must feed channel partners, not rely on them
“In order to us to deliver the full value for the customers, we need to stay in control. We need to lead the cases and then utilize the channel feed the channel rather than us, you know hoping that the channel guys are doing their best for us.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 7:46
Disclosure
Berghäll: OneIO received a €1.1M EU grant during Series A raise
“We are actually now in the middle of kind of a serious A round discussions, and we also got this grant from EU Innovation Fund, which is, which was really nice, one, 1.1 million euros in total as a grant that helped us to To boost up a bit.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 8:36
Disclosure
Juha Berghäll: VCs haven't postponed OneIO's Series A talks despite market crash
“At the moment, the discussions are still going on with us, for instance, and nobody has said that, okay, we will postpone or something like that.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 9:47
Disclosure
Berghäll: OneIO targets a €5M to €6M Series A round
“Well, at the moment, we are looking for in a ratio of five to six million euros, which is then something six, six plus USD a million.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 9:56
Disclosure
Juha Berghäll: OneIO Targeted $20M to $25M Pre-Money Valuation Before COVID-19
“Before this virus thing going on, I think the we were looking for 20 to twenty five million free money valuation.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 12:14
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Juha Berghäll: OneIO Burns Around $80,000 per Month
“We are burning, last year, for instance, the burn rate was around 80, 80 K USD.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 12:58
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Juha Berghäll: OneIO Has Four to Five Months of Runway
“So the run rates we are estimating four to six, six four to five months at the moment.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 13:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Berghäll: OneIO's net MRR churn was around negative 2.5% last year
“Calculative jern net MRR jern, around 2.5, -2.5 last year.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 13:53
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Berghäll: OneIO's LTV to CAC ratio averaged 3.9 last year
“LTV divided by CAC was 3.9 last year in average.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 15:14
Disclosure
Berghäll: OneIO halts trade shows and travel to reduce burn
“Of course, we've been doing a lot of this traditional kind of trade shows as well. They are now cut off. Easy. No need to decide over there. Then traveling, flying, all that, which was quite, quite big last year. That will be automatically cut.”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 15:48
Insight
Berghäll: Finnish labor laws delay layoff cost savings by months
“Especially since most of the folks are in Finland and the legislation and when it comes to, you know, layoffs and stuff like that, it's not that flexible. So it's going to take weeks, months to start getting any savings from employees and salaries and stuff li…”
Juha Berghäll Mar 24, 2020 ▶ 16:10
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