Why we optimize for Revenue per Employee ($175k+) and why you should too
“Why we optimize for Revenue per Employee ($175k+) and why you should too Michelle Bacharach CEO, FINDMINE”
Founder resourceBuilder <$5m
Why we optimize for Revenue per Employee ($175k+) and why you should too
Why ARR per FTE suits AI companies better than burn multiple, and how FINDMINE hired for talent and kept diversity
Michelle Bacharach · FINDMINE
Published September 6, 2023About this resource
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Topics covered: Why we optimize for Revenue per Employee ($175k+) and why you should too; This Goal Doesn’t Have to Come at The Expense of Diversity!; Burn Multiple vs ARR/FTE for Companies with High Compute Cost (e.g., AI).
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This Goal Doesn’t Have to Come at The Expense of Diversity!
“This Goal Doesn’t Have to Come at The Expense of Diversity!”
Burn Multiple vs ARR/FTE for Companies with High Compute Cost (e.g., AI)
“Burn Multiple vs ARR/FTE for Companies with High Compute Cost (e.g., AI) David Sacks”
How we became an outlier for ARR/FTE
“How we became an outlier for ARR/FTE Prioritize a culture of results Be open on geography - not only #1 first, then #2! Get the order wrong, you might hire the wrong people in the wrong locations, making it harder to catch poor performers early Hire slow. VCs don’t care about this number til it’s too late, but you have to care NOW”
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Michelle Saastr Slide deck
Michelle is CEO and Co-Founder of FINDMINE, an award winning software platform that uses machine learning to scale product curation for the world's top retailers. As a product and strategy expert, Michelle is experienced in growing companies by launching software, apps and websites to millions of people, putting together joint ventures, and conceiving of new products. Michelle has shared her expertise with thousands of leaders in retail and technology as a speaker at SXSW, the National Retail Federations' Retail’s Big Show and Shop.org, Intel's Shift, Women in Machine Learning and Data Science, and many others.
- Company revenue
- $2.2M
- Team size
- 31
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Why we optimize for Revenue per Employee ($175k+) and why you should too
Why we optimize for Revenue per Employee ($175k+) and why you should too Michelle Bacharach CEO, FINDMINE
Over the next 20 minutes I’m going to show you Ensure A+++ talent Derisk company for future investors ARR/FTE is a much better fit for AI companies than burn multiple First: what are the Benchmarks? They vary by stage Culture that prioritizes autonomy and GSD Be open to any location to get the best talent / $ Who's a growth driver and who's a cost center? It's harder than you think. Growth will be slower, plan for that It gets harder as you grow, not easier Why Optimize Revenue Per Employee? How to Get ARR/FTE Up Considerations
FindMine Labs ARR Per Employee
FindMine Labs Org Chart
This Goal Doesn’t Have to Come at The Expense of Diversity!
This Goal Doesn’t Have to Come at The Expense of Diversity!
This Goal Doesn’t Have to Come at The Expense of Diversity!
This Goal Doesn’t Have to Come at The Expense of Diversity!
Why Optimize for ARR/Employee I’m going to show you Ensure A+++ talent Derisk company for future investors ARR/FTE is a much better fit for AI companies than burn multiple Ensuring Talent Future Proof Better Metric
Burn Multiple vs ARR/FTE for Companies with High Compute Cost (e.g., AI)
Burn Multiple vs ARR/FTE for Companies with High Compute Cost (e.g., AI) David Sacks
Let’s jump into Section 2 I’m going to show you First: what are the Benchmarks? They vary by stage. Culture that prioritizes autonomy and GSD Be open to any location to get the best talent for your $ What should your target be? How to get there 1 How to get there 2
Benchmarks depend on who you ask… 2022 Median ARR per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) by Funding Type
And also vary by stage
How we became an outlier for ARR/FTE
How we became an outlier for ARR/FTE Prioritize a culture of results Be open on geography - not only #1 first, then #2! Get the order wrong, you might hire the wrong people in the wrong locations, making it harder to catch poor performers early Hire slow. VCs don’t care about this number til it’s too late, but you have to care NOW
And now onto Section 3 I’m going to show you Who's a growth driver and who's a cost center? It's harder than you think. Growth will be slower Prepare for it. Gets harder as you grow, not easier. Things to Consider Slower Growth Difficulty Level
Growth will be slower: Prepare for it Have convos early and often with your VCs if venture-backed Figure out how to show adjusted growth figures if you’re bootstrapped now, going for VC soon
Q: How many employees does a SaaS company have at 100M ARR? Previously: 500 Now: 1000 Why? More capital raised! That’s $100K ARR / employee on average “Ultimately though, that’s not sustainable. The average SaaS company employee, fully burdened, costs much more than $100k a year.” Jason Lemkin Founder SaaStr
Over the last 20 minutes I showed you Ensure A+++ talent Derisk company for future investors ARR/FTE is a much better fit for AI companies than burn multiple First: what are the Benchmarks? They vary by stage Culture that prioritizes autonomy and GSD Be open to any location to get the best talent for your $ Who's a growth driver and who's a cost center? It's harder than you think. Growth will be slower, plan for that It gets harder as you grow, not easier Why Optimize Revenue Per Employee? How to Get ARR/FTE Up Considerations
Michelle Bacharach CEO, FINDMINE