Learn software diligence by working one real-feeling deal from CIM to IC memo.
A practical deal simulation for private equity analysts, venture capital analysts, corporate development teams, investment banking associates, and software finance professionals who want to evaluate SaaS investments with confidence.
A high-density, modular on-demand video simulation system built around a comprehensive 24–30 hour live-deal workflow. Ideal for individual skill-building and intensive new-hire onboarding sprints.
This is not a SaaS metrics overview. It is a practical deal simulation.
You work through one company deeply, build the analysis in a Deal Workbook, and finish with a defensible investment recommendation your team can discuss and apply to real software deals.
Read the story
Start with the management narrative in the CIM and learn to identify what the seller wants you to believe before validating the operating data.
Test the numbers
Construct the 24-month ARR bridge, analyze GRR and NRR, rebuild SaaSified margins, evaluate QoE add-backs, and recalculate sales efficiency from source data.
Make the call
Prioritize the evidence, translate findings into valuation and deal structure implications, and draft the IC memo like an investor.
Build the toolkit a software investor actually uses.
Every module ends with investor interpretation: what changed in the deal view, what to ask management, what to ask QoE, and whether the finding affects valuation or structure.
Reconcile reported ARR to verified ARR
Separate recurring revenue from implementation services, challenge annualization logic, and build a clean ARR view investors can underwrite.
Evaluate earnings quality with discipline
Review Quality of Earnings add-backs using Accept / Reject / Haircut logic and connect EBITDA quality directly to Rule of 40 and valuation.
Rebuild sales efficiency from source data
Perform standard 70% S&M new-customer acquisition cost reallocations, then recalculate CAC payback, LTV/CAC, Magic Number, and cost of ARR.
Move through diligence the way a PE analyst works a live deal.
Each phase reveals new FieldPulse data and builds on the prior analysis. The course is designed as a high-density, modular on-demand video simulation system, but the first pass should be completed in sequence.
Understand the target
Open the deal, read the CIM, meet FieldPulse, and classify the revenue mix across subscription, services, payments, and other streams.
M0-M1Test the revenue story
Reconcile ARR, build the 24-month operational ARR bridge, analyze retention, cohorts, concentration, and customer quality.
M2-M4Test the economic model
Rebuild the SaaSified P&L, evaluate QoE add-backs with Accept / Reject / Haircut discipline, and recalculate GTM efficiency.
M5-M7Build the diligence workplan
Analyze AI usage economics, expose negative gross margins on heavy-user cohorts inside variable-cost AI features, and build the diligence question list.
M8-M9Make the investment call
Build the valuation case, draft the IC memo, and complete the capstone recommendation with valuation and deal structure support.
M10-M11You do the work, not just watch the videos.
The transformation comes from the workbook, checkpoints, and investment memo. Watching videos alone is not the goal.
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Software Investing Foundations
A high-density, modular on-demand video simulation system for software investing, diligence, and analyst onboarding.
Get launch updates, sample lesson previews, and team onboarding details.
Built by Ben Murray.
Software investing training from an in-house SaaS CFO who has sat inside founder-led and PE-backed businesses.
Learn software diligence from someone who has actually operated the numbers investors scrutinize.
Software Investing Foundations is taught by Ben Murray, founder of The SaaS CFO and The SaaS Academy. Ben has served as an in-house SaaS CFO for both founder-led and private equity-backed software businesses, giving him direct experience with board reporting, ARR quality, retention analysis, SaaS margins, cash forecasting, investor diligence, and the operating decisions behind the metrics.
This course is built from that CFO seat. Instead of teaching SaaS metrics as abstract definitions, Ben shows how the numbers behave inside a real software investment decision: where reported ARR can differ from verified ARR, how retention changes the valuation story, why CAC payback depends on allocation discipline, and how add-backs, AI usage economics, and customer cohorts affect deal structure.
Common questions
Who is this course for?
Private equity analysts, venture capital analysts, corporate development teams, investment banking associates, and software finance professionals who want to evaluate SaaS investments with confidence.
Do I need prior private equity experience?
No. You should be comfortable with Excel and basic financial statements, but the course is designed to teach the diligence workflow from the ground up.
Is this a general SaaS metrics course?
No. The course teaches metrics through a single lower middle market software deal simulation. The focus is interpretation, diligence, and investment judgment.
What do I finish with?
A completed FieldPulse Deal Workbook, seven checkpoint memos, and a final investment recommendation package including an IC memo and summary slide. You will receive a certificate of completion when you complete the course and pass the quizzes.
Is this useful for new hire onboarding?
Yes. This is one of the best use cases. A new analyst can work through a complete software deal, learn the team's diligence vocabulary, and produce a practical investment memo without waiting for a live deal to arrive. Teams can use it as an intensive new-hire onboarding sprint or as part of a broader analyst training program.
How long does it take?
Software Investing Foundations is a comprehensive 24–30 hour live-deal simulation. Most individual students complete the course across 4 to 8 weeks at 3–5 hours per week. Teams can also use it for intensive new-hire onboarding sprints when they want analysts to ramp quickly on software diligence.
What is the course format?
It is a high-density, modular on-demand video simulation system. Students work through concept lessons, exercise setup lessons, workbook walkthroughs, quizzes, checkpoint memos, and a final IC memo package.
