Highlights
- Led company from minimal revenue, high burn rate and losses to triple digit revenue growth, profitability and cash flow positive position in 18 months
Background
When we started at the collaborative software company, it was a high risk, rescue and recovery operation. The founders had established the Company as a leading brand in its market, with a few large customers. However, the Company had generated only negligible revenue in the years since its founding four years prior.
Business Challenges on Arrival
- Sales pipe under $1 million, with sales cycles greater than twelve months, and a new sales force
- The burn in Q2 of company’s fourth year was averaging $600,000 per month, with $1.8 million in the bank
- The software product needed a major upgrade
- After years of struggle, the Company had become demoralized and disorganized
- Customer and partner relationships were damaged (sometimes badly)
- The marketing, product management, and finance functions were rudimentary
Actions Taken
- Introduced high performance sales management
- Implemented strong financial controls
- Installed comprehensive cash management system
- Built integrated business plan across all functions and put metrics and reports in place to measure results and hold everyone accountable
- Established incentive compensation structure to drive behavior and create a performance culture
- Launched user group and utilized customer input for product enhancements
- Executed marketing campaign associated with major 2.0 release
Results
- Cash flow positive and GAAP based profitability within18 months
- Annual bookings during our time with the company grew from $2 million to $7 million to $14 million (forecast)
- Product upgraded to be inter-operable and XML-compliant
- Customer wins included some of the world’s largest enterprises, sold in conjunction with marketing partners (IBM, SAIC, and ESRI) with whom we forged strong relationships