Ark Climate on Funding, Metrics, and Scaling Government SaaS

From Attorney to SaaS Founder: The Journey With Inhouse AI

In this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray welcomes Ryan Wenger, CEO and founder of In House, to discuss his fascinating journey from practicing law to building and selling a SaaS travel startup, and now, creating an AI-driven legal tech company. Ryan Wenger reveals how his experiences shaped In House’s mission to make legal services affordable and accessible for small businesses.  Ryan Wenger shares candid lessons about pivoting business models, the challenges of fundraising in today's SaaS landscape, and what it takes to reach product-market fit. He explains how In House leverages both AI and a network of legal experts to deliver smarter, safer legal solutions for SMBs and what operational metrics are driving their impressive growth.  If you’re a founder, entrepreneur, or interested in how SaaS and AI are reshaping traditional industries, you’ll find this episode packed with practical insights. Tune in for a front-row view of the evolving world of SaaS, AI innovation, and startup growth strategies!  Show Notes:  00:00 Starting a travel discovery app  05:29 Realizing the need for accessible legal help  06:53 Challenges with DIY legal solutions  10:28 Improving document requests with AI  16:03 Navigating VC fundraising challenges  18:04 Finding success in GPT Marketplace  21:00 Understanding users' legal needs  24:34 Using in-house AI  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/inhouse-raises-5-million-in-seed-round [https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/inhouse-raises-5-million-in-seed-round]  Ryan Wenger’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-wenger-2122a0a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-wenger-2122a0a/]  Inhouse’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inhouseai/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/inhouseai/]  Inhouse’s Website: https://www.inhouse.ai/ [https://www.inhouse.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

AI and Finance Unite: A Bold Vision for Tax Credit Automation with Taxnova

Join Ben Murray on The SaaS CFO Podcast as he interviews George Nichkov, CEO and founder of TaxNova. Hear how George Nichkov’s journey from consulting and tech inspired him to solve R&D tax credit challenges for SaaS companies.  George Nichkov shares how TaxNova uses AI to automate finance operations—streamlining tax claims, connecting with tools like JIRA and GitHub, and simplifying compliance across global markets. Say goodbye to spreadsheets and manual processes.  If you're a SaaS founder or finance leader curious about leveraging global tax credits and AI-powered FinOps, this episode is full of insights you won't want to miss.  Show Notes:  00:00 Considering a career change  03:50 Translating projects for accounting  07:24 Easy data integration for companies  12:14 Choosing venture capital for growth  14:04 Building early brand trust  16:57 Discussing data-driven tiered pricing  22:49 Building Pack Snow from scratch  26:05 Integrating JIRA with global offices  26:53 Promoting TaxNova resources online  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/taxnova-raises-1-million-in-funding [https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/taxnova-raises-1-million-in-funding]  George Nichkov’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nichkov/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nichkov/]  Taxnova’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taxnova-ai/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/taxnova-ai/]  Taxnova’s Website: https://taxnova.ai/ [https://taxnova.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

Revolutionizing Hiring: Unveiling the AI-Powered Future of Recruitment

Kristen Beck, CEO and co-founder of Elly, shares her career path from being Trello’s first revenue hire through leadership roles at Atlassian, Shogun, and Typeform, and explains why she returned to startups to build an AI-native recruiting platform.   Elly focuses on capturing and learning from unstructured conversational data across hiring—from kickoff through interviews and debriefs—to help teams make better decisions, reduce time spent, and reveal patterns in successful hires. Beck outlines Elly’s two main customer segments: high-volume employers (including manufacturing and home healthcare) and fast-growing startups, and describes how AI enables insights beyond basic efficiency gains.   She discusses Elly’s founding timeline, seed fundraising to $8M (Atomic incubation and Sorenson-led round), PLG-led growth via word of mouth, a free ATS with paid AI features using subscription-plus-usage pricing, and key metrics like K-factor and module adoption, with Elly headquartered in New York and a 10-person team.  Show Notes: 00:00 Welcome and Intro   00:08 Kristen Beck Career Path   02:07 What Ellie Does   03:01 Why Build Ellie   04:44 Ideal Customer Profiles   06:08 How AI Changes Recruiting   08:57 Founding Story and MVP   09:41 Seed Round and Investors   10:35 Why Raise vs Bootstrap   11:49 Fundraising Lessons in Crowded Markets   14:20 Go To Market and PLG   18:42 Pricing and Usage Model  20:39 Key Metrics and Virality   22:19 Team and 2026 Priorities   23:56 AI Makes Distribution Matter   25:31 Where to Learn More  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/elly-raises-8-million-in-funding [https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/elly-raises-8-million-in-funding]  Kristen Habacht’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-habacht-80288780/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-habacht-80288780/]  Elly’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ellyai/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ellyai/]  Elly’s Website: https://www.elly.ai/ [https://www.elly.ai/]  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe [https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe]  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page [https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page]  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ [https://www.thesaasacademy.com/]  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout [https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout]  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray]

Ark Climate on Funding, Metrics, and Scaling Government SaaS

Welcome back to The SaaS CFO Podcast. In this episode, Ben Murray sits down with Ruth Bosse, founder and CEO of Ark Climate, a Munich-based SaaS company transforming how cities tackle climate action. With a background in politics, mathematics, computer science, and significant experience at McKinsey, Ruth Bosse brings a unique perspective to the intersection of technology, climate, and government.  We'll hear about the inspiration for Ark Climate, how the company rapidly built traction in the German market, the challenges and opportunities of selling SaaS to government entities, and their approach to fundraising and growth. Ruth Bosse also shares key lessons learned from launching a govtech startup, the importance of realistic sales forecasting, and her vision to expand Ark Climate into a broader government operating platform. Whether you’re a SaaS founder, govtech enthusiast, or simply interested in the evolving world of climate solutions, this conversation is packed with candid insights on metrics, go-to-market strategies, and scaling impact-driven technology.  Show Notes:  00:00 Starting a climate-focused company  06:29 Internal and external climate tools  08:04 Bootstrapping and pre-seed funding  12:02 Starting with cold calling  14:16 Why we stopped doing fairs  18:56 Expanding beyond climate tools  20:38 Closing remarks and future goals  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/ark-climate-raises-2-1m-pre-seed [https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/ark-climate-raises-2-1m-pre-seed]  Ruth Bosse’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthbosse/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthbosse/]  Ark Climate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ark-climate-technologies/?originalSubdomain=de [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ark-climate-technologies/]  Ark Climate’s Website: https://www.ark-climate.de/en/homepage [https://www.ark-climate.de/en/homepage]  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe [https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe]  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page [https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page]  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ [https://www.thesaasacademy.com/]  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout [https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout]  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray]

How Teqtivity Grew Globally on Zero Outside Funding

Welcome back to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, host Ben Murray sits down with Hiren Hasmukh, founder of Teqtivity, an IT asset management platform serving organizations from startups to global enterprises.   Hiren Hasmukh shares his journey from web and graphic design through custom software builds to leading a bootstrapped, profitable SaaS company with a global reach. Tune in as they discuss Teqtivity’s product evolution, the deliberate decision to avoid fundraising, lean operations, go-to-market strategies, and what it takes to retain big-name customers—all while maintaining a laser focus on customer support and product excellence.   If you’re interested in SaaS growth, profitability, and scaling without external capital, this conversation is packed with insights you won't want to miss.  Show Notes:  00:00 Career path to Techtivity  03:20 Origin of the smart locker idea  08:40 Driving growth through word of mouth  11:35 Focusing on retention and value  14:50 Staying flexible with marketing  Links:  Hiren Hasmukh’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiren-teq/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiren-teq/]  Teqtivity’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teqtivity/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/teqtivity/]  Teqtivity’s Website: https://www.teqtivity.com/ [https://www.teqtivity.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