#09: Fixing Churn and Cash Burn: How CFOs Build Exit-Ready SaaS Models with Neil Hodson

In this episode, Dan speaks with Neil Hodson, multi-time CFO, COO and now Director of LMS Digital, about how finance leaders can take control of SaaS businesses under pressure. Neil shares how he tackled high churn and cash burn at FONN, reshaped the sales and marketing model around contribution and ACV, and turned the business into a retention-led, profitable SaaS platform that successfully exited to Access Group.

From applying his “as-is to to-be” framework, to demanding ROI on every pound spent, Neil explains how CFOs can move beyond spreadsheets to lead commercial change, safeguard cash runway, and always stay exit-ready.

Key Takeaways:

• How to assess your “as-is” reality and model the “to-be” plan that investors expect.
• How to fix churn and cash burn by reshaping sales and marketing around contribution and ACV.
• How to enforce ROI discipline so every pound spent drives retention and growth.
• How to stay exit-ready by building forecasts, governance, and visibility into unit economics.

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Check out Dan’s Private Equity-Grade Forecasting software, Kluster, here: https://www.kluster.com/

Send podcast guest pitches to: dan.thompson@kluster.com

Check out Dan’s Private Equity-Grade Forecasting software, Kluster, here: https://www.kluster.com/

Send podcast guest pitches to: dan.thompson@kluster.com