9-9-6: What is Means and Why Everyone is Talking About It
9-9-6. A term to describe the work culture of working 9AM - 9PM six days a week. This term is most often associated with those founders, companies, and their employees that work in generational software opportunities - such as we see right now with AI Software.Dave and Ray discuss 9-9-6 from multiple angles in today's episode including:What 9-9-6 isWhere did it originateWhy is it trendingThe importance of Winning in the early stage of a new software eraGeoffrey Moore's segmentation of new enterprise software markets (Gorillas, Chimps and Monkeys)Historic examples of those companies that became category leaderWhy the grind is not the point - Winning isWhy the choice of entering a 9-9-6 environment makes choosing the company even more importantIf you are currently in an early-stage AI-Native software company or considering making the move - this episode is a must listen!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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The Forward-Deployed Engineer
The Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE) represents a fundamental reimagining of the technical role in high-stakes enterprise environments. At its core, an FDE is a software engineer embedded directly with customers to solve their most complex—and often ambiguous—problems.Palantir is widely credited as the originator and early adopter of the FDE model, initially referring to these engineers as “Deltas.” In this episode, Dave “CAC” Kellogg and Ray “Growth” Rike explore multiple dimensions of the Forward-Deployed Engineer role, including:The origin of the FDEHow the military influenced the termWhether the FDE belongs in a technology-enabled services company or a software companyHow an FDE differs from a traditional technical services consultantWhere FDE expenses should be allocated—COGS vs. OPEXHow those allocation decisions impact key metricsThe hiring trends shaping the future of the FDEIf you’re building an AI-native application or an agentic AI company with outcome-based pricing, this episode is packed with insights and ideas on why a Forward-Deployed Engineer could be your next—and most important—hire.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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The Iconiq State of Software 2025 Report
Iconiq recently published its State of Software 2025: Rethinking the Playbook. Whenever a new industry benchmark report is published, Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike try to quickly read, analyze and decide if the report should be discussed on an episode of the Metrics Brothers. The Iconiq State of Software 2025 is a solid industry report that includes several key findings that Dave and Ray discuss during this episode including:Ai-Native vs AI-Enabled vs non-AI segmentationGrowth's impact on Enterprise Value to Revenue multiplesRevenue growth trends by company sizeNet Revenue Retention BenchmarksCAC Payback Period BenchmarksAdoption vs Engagement vs Outcomes for AI software companiesFunnel Conversion metrics for AI vs non-AI companiesIf you are interested in how the top tier, maybe I should say top quartile of SaaS companies are performing, in context of SaaS companies leveraging AI, those not leveraging AI and AI-Native software companies - this episode has something for everyone!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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The Bessemer Cloud 100 Benchmarks Report 2025
The Bessemer Venture Partners Cloud 100 Benchmarks Report 2025 provides a snapshot into the top 100 PRIVATE SaaS/Cloud/AI companies. This year's report is full of new insights and trends that highlight how AI is impacting the software industry as we know it. Some of the key points in the report that our hosts Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike discuss during today's episode include: The Cloud 100 $1,117 billion in aggregate value - a 36% increase from $820 billion in 2024The top 10 companies account for $598 billion of the aggregate value - 54% of entire list versus 46% last yearOpenAI valued at $300 billion exceeds the combined value of last year’s top 10AI companies dominate this year’s list, comprising $464 billion in value - last year AI company total valuation was $176B (21%)The average Cloud 100 company reached the $100M (Centaur) milestone in just 7.5 years - AI companies only 5.7 yearsThe story on the Cloud 100 valuation multiples provide an interesting story on how valuation and growth are not necessarily trending in the same direction:The average Cloud 100 revenue multiple was 20x fell for third straight and down from 34X (41%) since 2021If you are interested in how the SaaS and Cloud industry is evolving - by the number, and how AI-Native software companies are changing the benchmarks this episode is a MUST listen!Bessemer Cloud 100 Benchmark 2025 Report is available by clicking hereSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Grindscore: A New Workplace Attractiveness Metric
Positive Business Outlook or Work-Life Balance - which is more important? The "Grindscore" metric combines the two to determine the attractiveness of a company for employees. Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike discuss the metric from many different angles including:The origin of the Grindscore metricPositive Business Outlook (PBO) + Work-Life Balance (WLB)Sample of Private and Public Company GrindscoresWhy a high PBO and high WLB scores the same as a low PBO and an average WLB (flaws of the metric)This episode covers a metric that most software companies are not using - and the conversation may put a light on some of the reasons why?!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Metrics Brothers (formerly SaaS Talk with the Metrics Brothers) is hosted by Dave "CAC" Kellogg and Ray "Growth" Rike. The Metrics Brothers provides unique insights, strategies, tactics and the metrics that are relevant to Native-AI and B2B software and SaaS companies.Each 20-minute episode will cover a topic critical to leading a B2B software company, and chalked full of practical advice that can be introduced and applied in most Native-AI, Agentic AI and B2B software and SaaS companies.
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