The defensive moves, receivables financing, and AE incentives that took Metadata from near cash death to a $40M Series B
Gil Allouche · MetaData
Published September 1, 2022Gil Allouche, CEO and Founder of Metadata shares:
- How we survived a near (cash) death experience
- How to transition from surviving to thriving
- Closed $40m Series B and prep for hypergrowth
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Gil Allouche recounts Metadata’s near-cash-death period and recovery. The talk covers painful defensive moves, creative cash management, customer and sales incentives, demand experiments, team building, and the shift from survival to intentional growth.
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“bonus Equity after we got back back on track but but in that time when we really needed cash it was there we also did something cool that I couldn't believe was happening which is all the AES who are very cash you know kind of cash operated they converted 50 to 100 of their commissions into options into common options that got them a lot more invested in the business and got us about a million dollar cash back into”
“in their company as a partner so they all knew the pitch they all believed in the product they all worked together before amazing we also spiffed we gave an additional incentive for salespeople to get upfront payment you get the cash ahead of time by the runway customer gets a discount and the AE gets additional money this is essentially similar to doing accounts receivable debt but instead of giving the debtor that money you get it”
“opportunity an Arbitrage experiment it's called conversational ads which I'm going to show you in a second the next slide and that got us bottom of the funnel demo request not leads not interest not lead syndication this is our ad telling people you want to buy our product bring the person our ideal customer profile on the line and in return we'll give you a gift card very simple worked like magic still works like magic last”
“same group that already worked together before proven itself so we brought five AES undo each other they already know how to work with one another they ramped each other up they were super knowledgeable and all of them crushed the numbers they their ramp up time was insane I think in about a month and a half we were able to get all of them ramped up”
“reading this this book by uh tahi from Storm Ventures from survival to thrival and this is the definition I really wanted to be there because I was in the survival mode PTs did every day this is instead a better State this is when you want to invest in growth you have to forget about the previous stage that you were in don't forget the muscle but forget about the previous stage for a second don't worry all the time about being defensive and go into offensive mode so this is what we did”
“We’re also here But We Also Had 2 Months of Cash Left”
“In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Layed off of 36% of team and executed 20% salary cut for the remainder of us”
“In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Declined a draconian Series A term sheet and multiple ‘shark’ M&A offers”
“Marketing Innovation - Conversational Ads 230% Increase in Demand w/ 60% Less budget 0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 Demo Requests vs Budget Actual Spent Requests”
“2021 From Survival to Thrival”
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How to build a Series B fundraising deck
How to Survive Cash Death and Grow 600% in 2yrs - Slide Deck
Gil Allouche is a tech entrepreneur whose passion for artificial intelligence, big data, and growth marketing led him to start Metadata in May 2015. As the Founder and CEO of Metadata, Gil prides himself on building a customer-first company. He is part of an ambitious team that is committed to solving a major problem that B2B marketing and salesprofessionals face every month -- generating qualified, opt-in leads.
Gil Allouche · MetaData
Gil Allouche · MetaData
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How to Survive Cash Death and Grow 600% in 2yrs Gil Allouche CEO, Founder of Metadata Founder500, Sept 2022 + 3 months of positive cashflow … and increased LTV by 400%
Over the next 20 minutes: In 2020 we were a few months away from $ death 😭 I’m going to show you HOW TO TRANSITIONED FROM SURVIVAL TO THRIVAL What drastic measures we took to stay alive 🥵 Hack: debt against receivables & AE spiffs for upfront $ Letting go of PTSD and putting $ in growth Sales hack: senior AEs who worked together before Post-A (& Post-B) operational efficiencies Fundraise Hack: Convertible notes and syndicates Closed $40m Series B and prep for hypergrowth HOW WE SURVIVED A NEAR (CASH) DEATH EXPERIENCE PREPARING FOR HYPERGROWTH Our Series B Pitch Deck 🎁
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit $2m ARR We’re here
We’re also here But We Also Had 2 Months of Cash Left
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Reduced annual ARR goal by 33%
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Layed off of 36% of team and executed 20% salary cut for the remainder of us
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Converted AE’s commissions and bonuses into common stocks for 2 quarters
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Removed and stopped paying non-essential vendors (we eventually paid)
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Took multiple loans (PPP 1+2, credit cards and an A/R revolving credit)
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Defense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Declined a draconian Series A term sheet and multiple ‘shark’ M&A offers
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Offense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Opened a ~$1m convertible note for employees, internal and external investors
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Offense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Hired and ramped a close-knit proven GTM team (1 demand marketer, 5 x quota carriers)
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Offense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Spiffed AEs for up-front payments
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Offense How we turned things around Q1 2022 Called all customers and launched recession-proof offering (i.e. MetaMatch)
In 2020 We Finally Hit p/m Fit Offense How we turned things around Q1 2022 We invested in marketing experiments / tactics and discovered great success with convo ads
NEVER MAKE DECISIONS OUT OF FEAR
Curveball to My new VP of Marketing Reduce your budget by 67% but hit the same goals So.. we have to cut 67% of your marketing program.. Also no hires. Can you still hit your goals tho? WTF!? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT???!!!
Marketing Innovation - Conversational Ads 230% Increase in Demand w/ 60% Less budget 0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 Demo Requests vs Budget Actual Spent Requests
Marketing Hack: Deploying BOFU Conversational Ads Like a chatbot inside LinkedIn Messaging What it looks like… Choose your own adventure
Hiring Hack: Int’l Employees International Teams Hustlers & Owners Timezone Sync Better Economics Culture clash
Hiring Hack: Teams Who Worked Together Before International Teams Hustlers & Owners Timezone Sync Better Economics Culture clash Battle Tested Teams Comradery Dynamics Fast Ramp Up Less Diversity
First Measures Impact: Reduced Burn, Extended Runway and Raised Series A We got close to death 😬
Second Measures Impact: Path to Profitability and Raised Additional $$$ 4,000,000 2,000,000 0 -2,000,000 Feb 20 Apr 20 Jul 20 Sep20 Mar 20 May20 Jun 20 Aug20 Oct20 Nov20 Dec20 Jan21 Feb21 Mar21 Apr21 May21 Jun21 Jul 21 Aug 21 Sep 21 Oct 21 Nov 21 Dec 21 Jan 21 Cuts #1 Series A Cuts #2 Add’l Funding Cash Balance - Before Adjustments and Cash Balance - After Adjustments Cash Balance - Before Adjustments Cash Balance - After Adjustments
New Runway + ARR Growing + Closed Series A
We ended the year at $5m and with a breakeven path We’re here
2021 From Survival to Thrival
We are here Changed Mindset: Let Go of Cash PTSD and Invested in Growth
We are here Changed Mindset: Let Go of Cash PTSD and Invested in Growth We increased our goal 3 times in 2021 and met our newest target by 97% That survival phase made our team much closer built our cashflow muscle made me a better humbler CEO
State of Metadata Pre Series B ( =where from now) Latest Cash $8.5m+ (after payroll) ← this is great Burn $200k/monthly ← this is very good IP - received our 4th and 5th patents (!!) Verbal interest + Physical meeting w/interested VCs Brought in HR help, CISO help Good Technology (differentiated, badass roadmap) ARR Growth (badass, ~600% in 24 months) Cash & Burn (badass, we can breakeven anytime) Bad NRR (4x in the past 24 months, still work to do before 130%) Story (“DemandGen” better than ABM, still confusing af)
State of Metadata Pre Series B ( =where from now)
State of Metadata Pre Series B ( =where from now)
State of Metadata Pre Series B ( =where from now) PRIOR TO B ROUND Cash $8.5m+ (after payroll) ← this is great Burn $200k/monthly ← this is very good IP - received our 4th and 5th patents (!!) Verbal interest + Physical meeting w/interested VCs Brought in HR help, CISO help Good Technology (differentiated, badass roadmap) ARR Growth (badass, ~600% in 24 months) Cash & Burn (badass, we can breakeven anytime) Bad NRR (4x in the past 24 months, still work to do before 130%) Story (“DemandGen” better than ABM, still confusing af)
https://metadata.io/series-b-deck Special 🎁 to F500 Attendees - Our Series B Deck
Over the last 20 minutes: In 2020 we were a few months away from $ death 😭 I showed you HOW TO TRANSITIONED FROM SURVIVAL TO THRIVAL What drastic measures we took to stay alive 🥵 Hack: debt against receivables & AE spiffs for upfront $ Letting go of PTSD and putting $ in growth Sales hack: senior AEs who worked together before Post-A (& Post-B) operational efficiencies Fundraise Hack: Convertible notes and syndicates Closed $40m Series B and prep for hypergrowth HOW WE SURVIVED A NEAR (CASH) DEATH EXPERIENCE PREPARING FOR HYPERGROWTH Our Series B Pitch Deck 🎁
September 2022 Gil Allouche Founder and CEO of Metadata