On Wednesday 27th April'16, CEO of Signal Media, David Benigson was invited to talk about 'why metrics matter' at the London SaaS Meetup. The topic discussed is informative for startups and SMEs to larger companies.

1. S T E P P I N G I N T O A N E W E R A
“Our AI is advanced machine intelligence, able to read and understand the world’s data and then
use that information for future decisions and prediction”
Signal, 2016

2. We are Signal Media
Media Intelligence:
Enabling organisations to unearth actionable
insights from the world’s data
Some company info:
3 years old
60 clients
$1 MM ARR
35 employees
London, NYC
2 funding rounds
Multiple Awards

3. Why we care about metrics?
It helps answer key business questions and
improve decision making
It is a common language (numbers) within
different stakeholders
It helps us benchmark our progress
In a world of uncertainty, metrics can provide a
compass for direction (sometimes!)

4. Why sometimes?
Decision making is emotional even with loads of
data
Instinct isn’t bad - it’s great (millions of years of
evolutionary data gathering)
Instinct is the guiding force for making a choice,
after weighing up all the data you’ve gathered
At an early stage - you just don’t have it… right?

5. From Inception to Now
The Garage
Building MVP
Funding
Management Team
& Key Hires
Scaling

6. The Garage
The founding team:
Complementary skills
(Business/ Sales + Technology + Research)
Shared Vision

7. Building the MVP
In the early days, metrics are scarce.
And when available, they are binary.
● Can we build something?
● Does the core technology work?
● Is there a market for it?
● Can we commercialise it?
● Can we survive? Do we have enough
money for coffee?
Signal 1.0 - no photos please :)
With little data. Instincts are key….

8. Funding
How were we measured by investors?
● Vision
● Team
● Market
● Product
● Traction
How did we measure our success of the round?
● Number of term sheets
● Size of the round
● Terms of the round
● Strategic investors
● Cultural fit
VC’s give you the impression that they are hyper data driven - they may
be hyper focused on metrics, but they have imperfect data.
They are using instincts and emotion too.

9. Great… so we raised some cash
But now how do we deploy the money and build a
business?
And how do we measure our success?
● Team
● Product
● Traction

10. ADAM HUTCHINSON
Ex Head of UX, BBC &
Morgan Stanley
CLAUDIA CAMPOS HOGAN
Ex CMO, Zalora.com;
McKinsey
CHARLIE MAYER
Ex Head of Sales,
Gorkana & Clipserver
RUSSEL LEVI
Ex Global Head of Sales,
Bloomberg
ALEX NORTHCOTT
Founder Gorkana
BARRY COLLINS
Head of Sales EMEA, Twitter
ROQUE VERSACE
Ex VP Sales, Salesforce
Measuring Team
How do we measure hiring success?
● Cultural fit
● Skills, relevant experience
● Career achievements
KATHARINE SCHLOPFIN
Ex Head of Content, Sapient
Nitro
DYAA ALBAKOUR, PhD
Ex Post Doc,
University Glasgow
How do we measure our team?
● Retention
● Progression
● Job satisfaction

11. Measuring Product
How do we measure product success?
● Data on user engagement
● Feedback from user research
● Customer referral to colleagues and other
companies
● Commercial growth
● Social proof (public feedback)
Signal is a superb and and essential business search tool. The
morning updates give me deep insights from trusted sources
across the web.
John O’dwyer - Head of TMT Banking, AIB
The Signal feed is the heart of where we find everything
we need.
Amedeo d’Amore, Head of Product, Hot Topics
“
“

12. Measuring Traction
What’s our coverage per vertical and geography?
How much exclusive content do we cover? (our USP)
Where should we focus vertically?
How much value is our product bringing to our customers?
How is this value changing over time?
Are new solutions deployed, being adopted?
How many companies do we know that will benefit from our service?
How many companies are interested in what we do?
How many companies are willing to pay to access our service?
How likely is it that the customer would recommend our service?
What is our expected return on investment? (Investment= time + cash)
How do I best allocate the company’s resources?
Questions Example Metrics
Content penetration per vertical and
geography
Number of publications by tier
Active users
User engagement
Prospect pool
New conversations (leads, opportunities,
trials)
Win rate
Bookings
MRR contribution
NPS
Renewals
Customers, Bookings, MRR & ARR
Gross Profit Margin
Sales & Marketing Efficiency
Operating Cash Flow & Bank Balance
CAC Payback Period & Ratio
Sales &
Marketing
Product
Content
Customers
Investors

13. So why is this important…
Instincts are great but do they scale??
Data enhances your ability to make effective decisions…
They provide:
● Holistic view of your organisation
● Answer questions with real evidence
● Benchmark your progress over time
From the data we can draw insights, and from the insights we can take
action!
You cannot improve what you cannot measure!!
Lord Kelvin

14. How should I react to this reputational crisis?
How should I position a new product opportunity?
What is the public sentiment towards my brand?
Who is talking about me?
How can I reach the right influencers in real time?
What is happening in my industry?
Are there risks to my business that I should be aware of?
Plus… this is what we do for customers so we should probably be pretty good at it, right?

15. Bringing actionable insights to our clients is
also part of our product strategy

16. “I forget his name, but there was this German guy who was struck by lightning, and the part of
his brain that creates emotions was destroyed. That was the only part of his brain that got
damaged. And so, psychologists were really interested in studying this guy, because they thought
he was going to be an amazing decision maker. It turned out he couldn't make a single decision!
Because he never had perfect information, he could never pick the optimum anything.”
- Tom Tunguz (the most data driven VC)
It’s the same when running your company, metrics are great, but you never have the perfect
data set... Your gut is key!
A final thought...

17. THANK YOU
David Benigson, CEO/ Founder
Email us: hello@signal.uk.com
Visit us: www.signalmedia.co
AND WE ARE HIRING!
● Application Developer
● Platform Developer
● Interaction Designer
● Customer Success Executive
● Visual Designer
● Sales Development Representative
● Demand Generation Manager
● Data Storyteller
Apply via www.signal.uk.com/careers