Akshay Kothari

So it's very, if you think about your job as like, well, there's all these different projects you need to fund and you need to resource allocate, finance becomes such a strategic partner in that. So I remember talking to, as part of like me going to hire our CFO, I talked to a lot of CFOs in the Valley as a way to learn.

So it's very, if you think about your job as like, well, there's all these different projects you need to fund and you need to resource allocate, finance becomes such a strategic partner in that. So I remember talking to, as part of like me going to hire our CFO, I talked to a lot of CFOs in the Valley as a way to learn.

So it's very, if you think about your job as like, well, there's all these different projects you need to fund and you need to resource allocate, finance becomes such a strategic partner in that. So I remember talking to, as part of like me going to hire our CFO, I talked to a lot of CFOs in the Valley as a way to learn.

And I remember one of the conversations was actually quite interesting where I asked like, what's the ideal like rule of 40? Like, you know, should it be this? Should it be that? Like, you know, and this person said like, you know, basically you should have test budgets. for everything you want to try out. And you should just look at each part of your business through that unit economic lens.

And I remember one of the conversations was actually quite interesting where I asked like, what's the ideal like rule of 40? Like, you know, should it be this? Should it be that? Like, you know, and this person said like, you know, basically you should have test budgets. for everything you want to try out. And you should just look at each part of your business through that unit economic lens.

And I remember one of the conversations was actually quite interesting where I asked like, what's the ideal like rule of 40? Like, you know, should it be this? Should it be that? Like, you know, and this person said like, you know, basically you should have test budgets. for everything you want to try out. And you should just look at each part of your business through that unit economic lens.

If you want to do performance marketing, give people $50,000, $100,000, doesn't matter. Tell them to test whatever they want to test. And if they can prove the unit economics for that channel, and the channel is working, then you should load up the truck. You shouldn't worry about rule of 40 at that period of that quarter or that month, because you've seen an opportunity that pays you back.

If you want to do performance marketing, give people $50,000, $100,000, doesn't matter. Tell them to test whatever they want to test. And if they can prove the unit economics for that channel, and the channel is working, then you should load up the truck. You shouldn't worry about rule of 40 at that period of that quarter or that month, because you've seen an opportunity that pays you back.

If you want to do performance marketing, give people $50,000, $100,000, doesn't matter. Tell them to test whatever they want to test. And if they can prove the unit economics for that channel, and the channel is working, then you should load up the truck. You shouldn't worry about rule of 40 at that period of that quarter or that month, because you've seen an opportunity that pays you back.

You can do the same with sales. And so one of the years we did actually spend a lot of money on billboards. It was a way for us to learn that, OK, well, this does improve your brand awareness, but doesn't actually do a lot to sign ups or, you know, deal closing sort of completion rates. Right. And so that's a theory we have right now with sort of being aggressive versus being too defensive.

You can do the same with sales. And so one of the years we did actually spend a lot of money on billboards. It was a way for us to learn that, OK, well, this does improve your brand awareness, but doesn't actually do a lot to sign ups or, you know, deal closing sort of completion rates. Right. And so that's a theory we have right now with sort of being aggressive versus being too defensive.

You can do the same with sales. And so one of the years we did actually spend a lot of money on billboards. It was a way for us to learn that, OK, well, this does improve your brand awareness, but doesn't actually do a lot to sign ups or, you know, deal closing sort of completion rates. Right. And so that's a theory we have right now with sort of being aggressive versus being too defensive.

Well, the budget could be pretty small. You just need enough of a budget to be able to get signals back that channel is working. And in many cases, you don't need it to be very large, right? I think maybe like sales might have a longer period before you sort of see what the paybacks are.

Well, the budget could be pretty small. You just need enough of a budget to be able to get signals back that channel is working. And in many cases, you don't need it to be very large, right? I think maybe like sales might have a longer period before you sort of see what the paybacks are.

Well, the budget could be pretty small. You just need enough of a budget to be able to get signals back that channel is working. And in many cases, you don't need it to be very large, right? I think maybe like sales might have a longer period before you sort of see what the paybacks are.

But I think anything you're doing with performance marketing or some partnership deals or other things, like I think those things, you know, you can do it.

But I think anything you're doing with performance marketing or some partnership deals or other things, like I think those things, you know, you can do it.

But I think anything you're doing with performance marketing or some partnership deals or other things, like I think those things, you know, you can do it.

So this was second half of 2021, pretty crazy time. And the reason we did this raise was because our peers, our competitors were getting very aggressive in going to market, both from the marketing lens as well as from the sales lens. And we saw an opportunity to not only raise this money, but also to sort of play the game on the field. And so we did this in October 2021.

So this was second half of 2021, pretty crazy time. And the reason we did this raise was because our peers, our competitors were getting very aggressive in going to market, both from the marketing lens as well as from the sales lens. And we saw an opportunity to not only raise this money, but also to sort of play the game on the field. And so we did this in October 2021.