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Mar 4, 2020 · 18m · top-founders

1684 With $60M in ARR, How Braze Drives Serious Expansion Revenue on Old Cohorts

Bill Magnuson · 11m 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 podcast interview, Braze co-founder and CEO Bill Magnuson discusses how the customer engagement platform scaled past $60 million in ARR with over 600 enterprise clients, maintaining 140% net retention and strong unit economics through disciplined capital allocation.

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 32.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.7 Guest teaching 1.9 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 1.9
05100:0010:000:00–3:48 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Executive Overview and Performance Highlights of Braze Nathan frames the company metrics and fundraising history right away. Bill provides clear operational background on early mobile transformation and equity financing history.3:48–6:24 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Customer Base Scale and Global Market Expansion Nathan probes for specific gross churn percentages. Bill explains how their enterprise versus digital-first customer mix influences churn dynamics.6:24–9:17 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Expansion Revenue Models and Cross-Channel Customer Retention Nathan benchmarks Braze's net retention against top-tier 140% SaaS metrics. Bill outlines how contract expansion scales across multiple messaging channels.9:18–12:16 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Aggressive Customer Acquisition Economics and Payback Period Benchmarks Nathan leverages recent S-1 filings like Qualtrics to drill down on dollar-based CAC and payback thresholds. Bill details his disciplined spending culture and comfort with 16 to 24 month payback ranges for enterprise tiers.12:16–14:48 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Internal Software Dogfooding and Go-To-Market Tactics Nathan presses Bill on hitting the $100M ARR milestone and raises end-of-year sales discounting tactics. Bill firmly clarifies that Braze does not offer timing-based discounts.14:48–17:45 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Bill Magnuson During the Famous Five, Nathan mistakenly assumes Bill was brought in by venture capitalists, prompting Bill to clarify his founding CTO origin.17:45–18:28 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Braze Metrics Summary Nathan provides an outro summary of the key metrics covered throughout the interview. Bill gives a brief closing thank you.0:00–3:48 · Guest teaching 1/10 Executive Overview and Performance Highlights of Braze Nathan frames the company metrics and fundraising history right away. Bill provides clear operational background on early mobile transformation and equity financing history.3:48–6:24 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Base Scale and Global Market Expansion Nathan probes for specific gross churn percentages. Bill explains how their enterprise versus digital-first customer mix influences churn dynamics.6:24–9:17 · Guest teaching 2/10 Expansion Revenue Models and Cross-Channel Customer Retention Nathan benchmarks Braze's net retention against top-tier 140% SaaS metrics. Bill outlines how contract expansion scales across multiple messaging channels.9:18–12:16 · Guest teaching 2/10 Aggressive Customer Acquisition Economics and Payback Period Benchmarks Nathan leverages recent S-1 filings like Qualtrics to drill down on dollar-based CAC and payback thresholds. Bill details his disciplined spending culture and comfort with 16 to 24 month payback ranges for enterprise tiers.12:16–14:48 · Guest teaching 3/10 Internal Software Dogfooding and Go-To-Market Tactics Nathan presses Bill on hitting the $100M ARR milestone and raises end-of-year sales discounting tactics. Bill firmly clarifies that Braze does not offer timing-based discounts.14:48–17:45 · Guest teaching 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Bill Magnuson During the Famous Five, Nathan mistakenly assumes Bill was brought in by venture capitalists, prompting Bill to clarify his founding CTO origin.17:45–18:28 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Braze Metrics Summary Nathan provides an outro summary of the key metrics covered throughout the interview. Bill gives a brief closing thank you.0:00–3:48 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Executive Overview and Performance Highlights of Braze Nathan frames the company metrics and fundraising history right away. Bill provides clear operational background on early mobile transformation and equity financing history.3:48–6:24 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Customer Base Scale and Global Market Expansion Nathan probes for specific gross churn percentages. Bill explains how their enterprise versus digital-first customer mix influences churn dynamics.6:24–9:17 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Expansion Revenue Models and Cross-Channel Customer Retention Nathan benchmarks Braze's net retention against top-tier 140% SaaS metrics. Bill outlines how contract expansion scales across multiple messaging channels.9:18–12:16 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Aggressive Customer Acquisition Economics and Payback Period Benchmarks Nathan leverages recent S-1 filings like Qualtrics to drill down on dollar-based CAC and payback thresholds. Bill details his disciplined spending culture and comfort with 16 to 24 month payback ranges for enterprise tiers.12:16–14:48 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Internal Software Dogfooding and Go-To-Market Tactics Nathan presses Bill on hitting the $100M ARR milestone and raises end-of-year sales discounting tactics. Bill firmly clarifies that Braze does not offer timing-based discounts.14:48–17:45 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Bill Magnuson During the Famous Five, Nathan mistakenly assumes Bill was brought in by venture capitalists, prompting Bill to clarify his founding CTO origin.17:45–18:28 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Braze Metrics Summary Nathan provides an outro summary of the key metrics covered throughout the interview. Bill gives a brief closing thank you.0:00–3:48 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Executive Overview and Performance Highlights of Braze Nathan frames the company metrics and fundraising history right away. Bill provides clear operational background on early mobile transformation and equity financing history.3:48–6:24 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Customer Base Scale and Global Market Expansion Nathan probes for specific gross churn percentages. Bill explains how their enterprise versus digital-first customer mix influences churn dynamics.6:24–9:17 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Expansion Revenue Models and Cross-Channel Customer Retention Nathan benchmarks Braze's net retention against top-tier 140% SaaS metrics. Bill outlines how contract expansion scales across multiple messaging channels.9:18–12:16 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Aggressive Customer Acquisition Economics and Payback Period Benchmarks Nathan leverages recent S-1 filings like Qualtrics to drill down on dollar-based CAC and payback thresholds. Bill details his disciplined spending culture and comfort with 16 to 24 month payback ranges for enterprise tiers.12:16–14:48 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Internal Software Dogfooding and Go-To-Market Tactics Nathan presses Bill on hitting the $100M ARR milestone and raises end-of-year sales discounting tactics. Bill firmly clarifies that Braze does not offer timing-based discounts.14:48–17:45 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Bill Magnuson During the Famous Five, Nathan mistakenly assumes Bill was brought in by venture capitalists, prompting Bill to clarify his founding CTO origin.17:45–18:28 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Braze Metrics Summary Nathan provides an outro summary of the key metrics covered throughout the interview. Bill gives a brief closing thank you.

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

0:00 · Nathan 45.7% · guest 54.3%0:00 · Nathan 45.7% · guest 54.3%3:00 · Nathan 19.7% · guest 80.3%3:00 · Nathan 19.7% · guest 80.3%6:00 · Nathan 27.5% · guest 72.5%6:00 · Nathan 27.5% · guest 72.5%9:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%9:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%12:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%12:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%15:00 · Nathan 23.2% · guest 76.8%15:00 · Nathan 23.2% · guest 76.8%18:00 · Nathan 94.7% · guest 5.3%18:00 · Nathan 94.7% · guest 5.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:31 Rejecting timing-based sales discounts

Bill directly shuts down Nathan's suggestion that sales reps offer 30% discounts at year-end.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 14:35 Clarifying corporate tax incentive framing

Nathan immediately interrupts to clarify his point about enterprise tax write-offs rather than Braze price discounting.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:32 Clarification of co-founder origin

Bill corrects Nathan's mistaken assumption that he was brought in as an outside CEO following a VC round.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:18 Citing enterprise S-1 customer acquisition economics

Nathan demonstrates high-level SaaS domain expertise by referencing Qualtrics and Cvent CAC models to challenge standard payback assumptions.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Executive Overview and Performance Highlights of Braze 5111 Nathan frames the company metrics and fundraising history right away. Bill provides clear operational background on early mobile transformation and equity financing history.
Customer Base Scale and Global Market Expansion 5212 Nathan probes for specific gross churn percentages. Bill explains how their enterprise versus digital-first customer mix influences churn dynamics.
Expansion Revenue Models and Cross-Channel Customer Retention 6212 Nathan benchmarks Braze's net retention against top-tier 140% SaaS metrics. Bill outlines how contract expansion scales across multiple messaging channels.
Aggressive Customer Acquisition Economics and Payback Period Benchmarks 7223 Nathan leverages recent S-1 filings like Qualtrics to drill down on dollar-based CAC and payback thresholds. Bill details his disciplined spending culture and comfort with 16 to 24 month payback ranges for enterprise tiers.
Internal Software Dogfooding and Go-To-Market Tactics 6333 Nathan presses Bill on hitting the $100M ARR milestone and raises end-of-year sales discounting tactics. Bill firmly clarifies that Braze does not offer timing-based discounts.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Bill Magnuson 4312 During the Famous Five, Nathan mistakenly assumes Bill was brought in by venture capitalists, prompting Bill to clarify his founding CTO origin.
Episode Conclusion and Braze Metrics Summary 0000 Nathan provides an outro summary of the key metrics covered throughout the interview. Bill gives a brief closing thank you.

Statements from this episode (9)

Assertion Supported
Braze maintains six-figure average annual contract values for consumer companies
“So we work with you know, generally large scale consumer companies. And so, you know, average annual contract values are in six figures.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 1:34
Disclosure
Braze raised $40M in six years before adding $130M recently
“The first six years of the company if you look at the financing history, we raised about forty million dollars, and now in the last about year and a half, we've actually added another 130 to that.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 2:51
Assertion Contradicted
Braze expects to reach 600 customers and 300 employees this year
“So we're coming up on about 600 customers today and, you know, we've been, we'll end the year close to around 300 employees as well.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 3:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Braze maintains a gross revenue churn rate of 5% to 10%
“Yeah. Something like that. You know, and it depends on the category. Obviously the kind of more traditional enterprise fortune 500 are going to be on the lower end of that. And then when we're looking at you know, mid market digital first companies and other r…”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 6:10
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Braze expands initial single-channel contracts by 10x to 20x over time
“In other cases, you know, we've had clients that have grown 10, 20 X because we started out working with them on just one channel. And then, you know, over time we've kind of taken over all the customer communication.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 7:37
Assertion Supported
Braze maintains a net revenue retention rate just below 140%
“Yeah, I mean, we're a little bit lower than that but again, it's kind of a bimodal distribution, right? There's some people that are, you know, huge multiples, and then others we just grow as their user base grows.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 8:03
Disclosure
Braze accepts 16 to 24 month CAC paybacks for Fortune 500s
“With a large fortune, 500 company, That's 60 to 24 is totally fine. You know, with a smaller, you know, bin market digital first company you know, we obviously need it to be lower than that.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 11:56
Disclosure
Braze explicitly targets consumer-scale businesses rather than B2B platforms
“We're not built to be a kind of B to B scale platform. You know, we sell primarily into consumer scale businesses.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 13:03
Disclosure
Braze refuses to offer timing-based discounts to close end-of-quarter deals
“Yeah, we don't we don't get into timing based discounts like that, you know.”
Bill Magnuson Mar 4, 2020 ▶ 14:32
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