A Conversation with Host Analytics, Inc.

Ian Charles

Host Analytics, Inc. (now Planful), Chief Financial Officer

Ian Charles served as Chief Financial Officer at Host Analytics until it was sold to Vector Capital in early 2019. During his time at Host Analytics, Ian sourced and structured over $75 million in operating capital (including a restructuring and expansion of term and line of credit debt facilities), completed multiple system conversions and implementations, redesigned operational flow of information and drove significant unit economic improvements across all SaaS key performance indicators.

Host Analytics (now known as Planful) is the first and only Enterprise SaaS company to offer a complete suite of enterprise performance management applications built from the ground up as cloud-based applications. Since raising their first round of venture funding in 2008, they have posted record-breaking customers and bookings growth each year. Host Analytics has been recognized as a visionary in the market by leading research and analyst firms and has won numerous awards.

For this edition, Golub Capital's Peter Fair interviewed Ian Charles, Chief Financial Officer of Host Analytics, Inc.

Peter:

Hi Ian. Thanks so much for joining us today. I’m looking forward to chatting about your experience at Host Analytics. To start, tell us about being a venture-backed technology business in 2017. Have you noticed any changes in consumer buying trends and behaviors?

Ian:

Hi Peter, thanks for having me. Heading into the second half of 2017, we see customers requiring a higher degree of diligence in the financial stability of any vendor partnership they enter into. However, we also continue to see customers voting with their wallet and not turning to solution providers simply because of price. There is a growing focus on not only finding a solution to current business problems, but also a solution that scales with those issues that arise in the future. This has become an added requirement for a vendor.

Peter:

There has been volatility in valuations in recent years; how has that impacted/affected your experience?

Ian:

The recent volatility has shaken out some of the weaker players. This has resulted in additional pressure to perform in secondary metrics that include net revenue retention, LTV, growth efficiency index, etc. It’s no longer about top line growth, it’s about the true underlying long term value of that growth and the profitable sustainability.

Peter:

How are you thinking about new services, and increasing adoption and/or entry into new markets?

Ian:

We are constantly advancing our thoughts and progress towards new features and products that are mission critical to the finance function within Enterprise Performance Management. Our efforts include expanding go-to-market partnerships with companies like Workiva and Sage in addition to the expansion of channel partnerships with Deloitte, Accenture and RSM.

Peter:

If you were talking to a group of medium and small software company CEOs, name two things you’d say they should focus on.

Ian:

One. Hire the best people who can execute, execute, execute. Two. Don’t think about the current quarter—let your team handle that. Think about where you want to be next year.

Golub Capital would like to thank Ian Charles and Host Analytics, Inc. for participating in this edition of SaaS Talk.

Golub Capital is not responsible for the information or views communicated by representatives of other companies. This material is not indicative of the past or future performance of any Golub Capital product and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation by Golub Capital of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Golub Capital has distributed this material for informational purposes only.