SaasRise Enterprise Mastermind Call Recap August 25, 2026

1. EBITDA vs. Revenue in Acquisitions & Exit Multiples

• Challenge: Understanding how PE firms weigh EBITDA vs. ARR growth, and how customer concentration risk discounts valuations.

Best Advice:

• Median exit multiple was ~4.4x revenue in H1 2026; Rule of 40 companies tend to achieve that benchmark.
• NRR above 115–120% and gross retention above 85% can push EBITDA multiples into the higher teens.
• Lock large customers into multi-year contracts to reframe concentration risk as committed revenue.
  

2. Showing Emotions to Your Team During Hard Times

Challenge: Balancing transparency with maintaining team morale when personally losing belief in the company.

Best Advice:

• Be transparent about market-driven stress with context and explanation, not directed frustration at individuals.
• Have at least one internal confidant to vent to before communicating broadly.
• Honesty about struggles can unlock unexpected support from team, customers, and partners.
  

3. Cold Calling & Phone Number Enrichment

Challenge:

Breaking into enterprise accounts via outbound; AI phone screens increasingly blocking BDR calls.

Best Advice:

• Clay is a solid tool for phone enrichment using a waterfall method.
• Phone calls outperform email for conversions; email alone yields ~0.5% outbound conversion.
• Success depends heavily on list quality, BDR training, and a tightly defined ICP.
• Outbound to existing/lapsed customers (e.g., annual business reviews) can drive 10–20% upsell.

The following tools were mentioned or recommended during the meeting:

• Clay
• Recommended for phone number enrichment using a waterfall method with multiple data sources.
• Also confirmed as being used for lead enrichment by a BDR team.
• Cold Calling / BDR Outreach
• Not a software tool per se, but phone calls were strongly favored over email for outbound conversions, with email yielding only ~0.5% outbound conversion rate.
• AI Phone Screening (awareness, not a recommendation)
• iPhone's built-in AI call screening was flagged as an emerging obstacle for BDRs, with roughly 30–40% of calls now hitting an AI phone tree.
• Annual Business Review Call Programs
• Using a call service for outreach to existing and lapsed customers was highlighted as an effective upsell strategy, typically driving 10–20% growth on existing recurring revenue.

Claude (AI assistant)

• Briefly mentioned as a tool for introspection/ideation support.