out with the old, in with the new: how i transitioned from homegrown to zuora (subscribed13)
TRANSCRIPT
Out With The Old In With The New From Legacy To Zuora
Gear Fisher Co-Founder & CEO
@gearfisher | [email protected]
The Nine Keys to Subscription Success
$
PRICE ACQUIRE BILL COLLECT
NURTURE ACCOUNT MEASURE ITERATE SCALE
What We Do
So#ware for tracking, analyzing and planning endurance training (cycling, running, triathlon)
Athletes: B to C Coaches: B to B
Background • We’ve been SaaS since before it was a thing • Started in October 2000 using hand coded tools • Numerous aHempts to “roll our own” • Now, 50 people, $7M revenue, can’t manage it • We’ve le# a lot of money on the table
Growth over the Years
Future Growth
Zuora Phase 1: ImplementaKon
• 6 person team, 2 devs full Pme @ 2 months • Methodical phased approach, 99% API • Challenges: internal resourcing and Pme • Full implementaPon 10 months • Phase 1: B to C subs, coupons, bundles
Zuora Phase 2: MaximizaKon
• Post busy season (April-‐Oct) – B2B, coaches, usage/metered per client – Cash to Accrual – Legacy migraPon – InternaPonal
Who we are, who are you?
Brand IdenKty & PosiKoning
• Who you are sets an expectaPon of how you conduct business
• We are premium, high-‐end • Refund policy, trials, coupon codes, gi#s, bundles, partners
• Always cauPous. New vs. recurring promoPons
Business Models
• 30-‐day trial, 2000 • Trial with credit card up-‐front, 2002 • Freemium, 2007 • Premium trial-‐freemium, 2013
Challenges
• Processing credit cards sucks: complexity • Card expiry issues, InternaPonal problems • Things always changing • Edge cases
…There’s More
• AccounPng (month-‐end, cash vs. accrual) • Metered usage billing • Payment plan dynamics • One Pme charges
…SKll More
• Upgrades / Downgrades • Bundles & cross selling • Experiments • ReporPng!!! KPI tracking
K(ey)KPI’s • CONVERSION • CHURN • ARPU • LTV • .. And if you can figure it out: SAC
… Solved with SAAS OpPcs
Just Track It • Tired of figuring out how to calculate KPI’s
• Zuora & SAAS OpPcs just makes it standard
Billing nightmares
• Story Pme: • Edge cases are the death of you • Manual override, means manual oversight: fail
What made us give up?
• Hamstrung by home grown system (3rd generaPon since 2009)
• Answer was always: “yeah, but, we have to change our billing system”
• Leaving money on the table (expiraPons… ideas never realized)
What made us give up?
• UlPmately: We want to grow and focus on our products, not our billing system
• We needed a plalorm, not a product
How we’re doing it • Manager of business systems: Z-‐Champion • Know the business rules • Coordinates interacPon of all stakeholders • Keeping it simple to start • Training for accounPng procedures
Lessons Learned
Point 1:
D o y o u l i k e m o n e y ?
Point 2:
Point 3:
Let your developers and tech resources focus on product
What’s your business? Start early
ReporPng done right; No programmer needed
Lessons Learned
Point 4:
D o y o u l i k e m o n e y ?
Point 5:
Point 6:
Too criPcal to get it wrong or half-‐ass it
Business partner, not product provider
ExperimenPng process so much easier with a plalorm
