The SaaS Revolution Show is a weekly podcast that brings insights and tactics from leading SaaS entrepreneurs and operators across the world. Hosted by Alex Theuma, the show is brought to you by SaaStock. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast.

According to Alexis Prenn, CEO and co-founder of Receipt Bank, SaaS is a bit like playing a video game — every 9 months or so you move to the next level. Each level is as difficult as the one before.

That’s one of many things Alexis shared as he sat for a chat with Alex Kayyal, Head of EMEA at Salesforce Ventures during SaaStock on Tour London. Filled with pragmatism and honesty, their conversation revolves around churn, cohorts, CAC and the 7-year journey of getting it all right.

Alexis set up Receipt Bank 7 years ago in London with co-founder Michael Wood. For the first three years they went the bootstrapping way, not so much out of strong conviction to do so but because they were too hard on themselves. They feared rejection more than anything else.

The two co-founders believed that they had to make themselves a little more beautiful and their metrics a little better before they asked anyone for a penny. Eventually both realised that this mentality was missing the point of what it means to be a growing SaaS company.

On February 10th, 2011 they decided to be serious and not make any more excuses. And pursue a realistic growth rate. Three percent at a time, Receipt Bank has reached 2,964% growth. It’s on a path to reaching $25 million ARR and has banked $65 million in funding. Alexis is incredibly honest about just how long and hard reaching those milestones has been and how, for the most part, it never was achieved with beautiful metrics. The art of getting CAC, cohorts and churn right is still as difficult as ever.

Listen on to learn:

  • How and when Receipt Bank became a serious company
  • Why growth and retention are the only things that matter?
  • Why you should avoid averages with metrics like the plague
  • How to keep the growth mindset as the company scales
  • How to choose acquisition channels

While this conversation was recorded at SaaStock On Tour London due to popular demand we also brought it to SaaStock18, our flagship event. You can watch their talk plus 40 more hours of actionable Marketing, Sales, Customer Success and Funding content by getting SaaStock On-Demand.