David Sacks and Ethan Ruby on launching SaaSGrid | E1803 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

SAS Grid is a new business intelligence tool designed specifically for SAS companies, providing analytics and dashboarding capabilities to help track metrics accurately and efficiently.

Key Insights

• 👨‍💼 SAS Grid is a business intelligence tool designed specifically for SAS companies, providing them with a streamlined process for tracking and analyzing metrics.
• 👻 The tool connects to various data sources and offers customizable dashboards, allowing users to visualize and understand their metrics more effectively.
• 🆘 SAS Grid helps improve accuracy in calculations, reduces errors, and provides insights and benchmarks for SAS companies.

Transcript

Read and summarize the transcript of this video on Glasp Reader (beta).

Questions & Answers

Q: How does SAS Grid help SAS companies track and analyze their metrics accurately?

SAS Grid connects to various data sources like Salesforce and HubSpot, allowing users to access and analyze important metrics in one centralized platform. This eliminates the need for manual data entry and reduces errors in calculations, providing more accurate and reliable insights.

Q: Can SAS Grid be customized to fit the unique needs of each SAS company?

Yes, SAS Grid offers customizable dashboards that can be tailored to each company's specific metrics and reporting requirements. Users can also correct any errors or edge cases directly within the platform, ensuring accurate and up-to-date data analysis.

Q: What are the key benefits of using SAS Grid for SAS companies?

SAS Grid provides several benefits for SAS companies, including improved accuracy in metrics tracking, time-saving automation, and customizable dashboards for better visualization and understanding of data. Additionally, the platform offers insights into objections, reasons for lost deals, and successful rebuttals, helping sales teams improve their performance.

Q: Does SAS Grid offer benchmarking capabilities for SAS companies?

Yes, SAS Grid plans to offer benchmarking capabilities for its customers. This feature will provide valuable insights into how companies compare to industry standards and help them identify areas for improvement or optimization.

Summary

In this video, Ethan Ruby, partner at Craft, introduces SAS Grid, a business intelligence tool specifically built for SAS companies. He explains that SAS companies often struggle with accurately tracking and analyzing their metrics due to the complexity of their data sources and the lack of purpose-built tools. SAS Grid aims to solve this problem by automatically connecting and analyzing data from various sources, allowing founders and executives to easily access and understand their company's metrics.

Questions & Answers

Q: How can AI help in analyzing sales and customer support calls?

AI can analyze recorded sales and customer support calls to understand the content and detect patterns, such as common objections, reasons for lost deals, and effective rebuttals. This information can be valuable for sales teams, as it provides insights into how to address objections and improve the sales process.

Q: What makes SAS Grid different from other business intelligence tools?

SAS Grid is specifically designed for SAS companies, which means it understands the unique metrics and data sources that these companies deal with. Unlike generic business intelligence tools, SAS Grid automatically connects to the relevant data sources, such as CRM and finance tools, and provides pre-built dashboards and metrics that are tailored to the needs of SAS companies.

Q: How does SAS Grid handle data accuracy issues?

SAS companies often face data accuracy issues because they rely on data sources that weren't purpose-built for their specific needs. SAS Grid addresses this problem by validating and correcting the data, as well as providing the ability to manually correct any edge cases or mistakes. This ensures that the metrics and insights generated by SAS Grid are reliable and accurate.

Q: How does pricing work for SAS Grid?

SAS Grid offers a pricing model that starts at $500 per month for a six-month contract. The pricing may vary based on the size of the company and the specific requirements. Additionally, SAS Grid offers a free trial and provides the product for free until the company reaches $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

Q: How does SAS Grid handle customer contraction?

SAS Grid tracks customer contraction by analyzing changes in monthly recurring revenue (MRR). It allows companies to see which customers are spending less and provides visibility into the reasons behind the contraction. This helps companies understand and address any issues that may be causing customers to decrease their spending.

Q: With the current economic situation, are SAS companies facing more challenges?

Yes, the software industry, including SAS companies, is facing headwinds due to the economic recession. Sales cycles are longer, buyers are more cautious, and companies are looking to consolidate vendors. Additionally, competition among SAS companies has increased as they venture into each other's territories. However, there are still opportunities for growth and success, especially for companies that can demonstrate efficient growth and strong margins.

Q: Is it necessary for SAS companies to have outbound sales teams?

The need for outbound sales teams depends on the target customer and the market strategy of the SAS company. Outbound sales may work well for enterprise-focused companies that have a specific list of target customers, such as Fortune 500 companies. However, for SAS companies targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), outbound sales may not be as effective as marketing programs for lead generation.

Q: How can SAS companies deal with customer contraction caused by layoffs or downsizing?

SAS companies should align their pricing and value proposition to the changing needs of their customers. This may involve revising pricing models to accommodate decreased headcounts or offering flexible pricing structures. It is crucial to understand the specific challenges that customers are facing and adapt the business accordingly to retain and support customers during difficult times.

Q: Are SAS companies becoming more efficient due to advancements in AI?

Yes, SAS companies are becoming more efficient themselves, and advancements in AI can further enhance this efficiency. With AI-powered tools and automation, SAS companies can do more with less, streamline processes, and optimize resource allocation. AI can help automate tasks, improve decision-making, and enable companies to operate more efficiently and effectively.

Q: Should SAS companies consider changing their pricing models?

While the seat-based pricing model has faced challenges, it remains a valuable approach for aligning price with value. It allows SAS companies to charge based on the number of users or seats, ensuring that customers pay for the value they receive. However, SAS companies should continuously evaluate their pricing models and consider adjustments that align with industry trends and customer needs. It's important to strike a balance between value creation and pricing that is fair and sustainable for both the company and its customers.

Takeaways

SAS companies face challenges in accurately tracking and analyzing metrics due to the complexity of data sources and the lack of purpose-built tools. SAS Grid, a business intelligence tool, aims to address this problem by automatically connecting and analyzing data from various sources, providing pre-built dashboards tailored to SAS companies. The economic recession has impacted the software industry, including SAS companies, but opportunities for growth exist for companies that can demonstrate efficient growth and strong margins. Handling customer contraction caused by layoffs requires understanding and adapting to the changing needs of customers. Advancements in AI can further enhance the efficiency of SAS companies, allowing them to do more with less. While the seat-based pricing model remains valuable, SAS companies should consider evaluating and adjusting their pricing models to align with industry trends and customer needs.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• SAS Grid is a product built for SAS companies to streamline their metrics tracking process and improve accuracy by eliminating errors in calculations and data sourcing.

• The tool connects to existing data sources like Salesforce and HubSpot, allowing users to access and analyze important metrics such as ARR, churn rate, and customer concentration.

• SAS Grid also offers features like customizable dashboards and the ability to correct any errors or edge cases directly within the platform.