Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, we dive into the world of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) with Taimur Abdaal, the founder and CEO of Causal.  
 
Taimur shares his background in mathematics and programming, and how that led him to start Causal, a number crunching tool that simplifies financial modeling and planning. He talks about the journey of building Causal, from its early days to raising funding and scaling the business. Taimur also discusses the company's approach to go-to-market strategy, product development, and the key metrics they focus on.  
 
If you're interested in the intersection of tech, finance, and entrepreneurship, this episode is a must-listen. Stay tuned to gain valuable insights into the world of SaaS and FPA! 

Show Notes: 

00:00 Data scientist at Nested worked on automating financial models, prompted the idea for a better number-crunching tool. Spreadsheets have not evolved much in 40 years. 

04:38 Felt right to quit job, started project, gained interest. 

07:11 Product focuses on easy initial use, scalable complexity, self-serve flow, and product-led growth strategy. 25% revenue from self-serve, majority from higher touch motion. 

10:43 Early investors were found through connections, securing $1 million. 

14:32 Access to networks and warm introductions important for fundraising. Pre-seed and seed stages focus on market size, team strength, and initial traction. Series A requires high growth rate. 

17:29 Next focus is out-of-the-box reporting, easily linked with CRM. 

Links:  
 

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/casual-secures-15-million-in-series-a 

Taimur Abdaal’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taimurabdaal/ 

Causal’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/causalhq/ 

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