Adam Brodie spent a decade inside the numbers that make or break SaaS companies. He trained at PwC London in their Technology, Media and Energy practice, then took the CFO and COO seats at InsurTech SaaS company Valexa, where he led the financial side of an acquisition by a NYSE-listed group in 2014. Two years later he co-founded Finerva, a specialist accountancy and advisory firm serving tech and life science companies across the UK. Finerva recently completed a strategic merger with Rouse Partners to mark its tenth anniversary. We sat down with Adam to get his take on SaaS valuations, fundraising timing, the AI squeeze on product-market fit, and the financial habits that separate founders who exit well from those who don’t.
From PwC to Founder: The Path to Finerva
What led you to co-found Finerva?
Adam Brodie: I trained at PwC London in their Technology, Media and Energy practice, which is when I first encountered the UK tech and software ecosystems that I later embraced with Finerva. After a few years in M&A advisory, I joined an InsurTech SaaS business now known as Valexa as their CFO and COO. That served as my crash course in running a scale-up, from setting up our accounts all the way to planning and leading an exit when we were acquired by a NYSE-listed group in 2014.
After Valexa, I wanted to keep helping more founders achieve the same result. So I became a founder myself and started Finerva in 2016. We just celebrated our 10-year anniversary, and we completed a strategic merger last year with Rouse Partners, another leading independent accounting practice in the UK.
What problem were you most determined to solve?
Adam Brodie: Poor finance and accounting can kill a company. Often that’s simply because the “numbers person” is seen as this boring figure with no sense of creativity and entrepreneurship. That can be quite frustrating to watch. I believed then, as I do now, that with the right team and the right culture we could make a real difference in founders’ journeys: turning the complex, sometimes opaque world of finance, tax, and due diligence into simple, actionable concepts that entrepreneurs actually understand.
Where Finerva Fits in the Market
How does Finerva differentiate itself from traditional accounting firms?
Adam Brodie: We are a specialist firm, focused on the innovation economy: tech and life science. Most other firms are generalists. We see ourselves as extended members of your team. Your Venture CFO, if you like. We are not here to check a few boxes at the end of your financial year. We want ambitious, visionary clients who can grow with us.
Many accounting practices have qualified and chartered professionals, but only some are actually talented in what they do. I believe we are fairly unique in that we combine deep industry expertise, a strong track record, and genuine passion for working within the tech and life sciences sectors.
What financial challenges do you see SaaS founders facing right now?
Adam Brodie: It is certainly more challenging to raise finance today than it was a few years ago. The SaaS space has become more mature and crowded, and macroeconomic headwinds (inflationary pressures, fiscal uncertainty, political instability) are slowing down enterprise sales cycles and reducing spend.
Funding is particularly scarce in the UK, where capital has become more expensive and so has hiring full-time staff. This skews investors’ NPV calculations. They end up requiring faster and faster growth projections to justify their investment, which can lead founders to stretch their model’s assumptions rather than sticking to solid fundamentals and realistic unit economics.
SaaS Valuations in 2026: What Actually Drives a Premium Multiple
What are the key drivers of SaaS valuation right now?
Adam Brodie: SaaS valuations are under pressure compared with previous years, no question. So it is more important than ever to stand out. I think what matters most right now is demonstrating a clear path to profitability through growth. Growth is the means; profitability is the end.
That translates into a robust model that holds under realistic and sustainable CAC-to-CLV ratios, conservative churn assumptions, and sensible growth projections. For early-stage SaaS especially, solid product-market fit analysis and a business plan that accounts for threats from incumbent software giants, and especially AI, can make the difference between a sub-par and a premium valuation.
What mistakes do founders make when preparing for valuation or fundraising?
Adam Brodie: One of the mistakes I see most often is not focusing on the narrative. What problem does your product solve, and why are you best placed to solve it? The old Sequoia adage of horror vacui (nature hates a void) should be built into every pitch deck: if there is a gap in the market, why hasn’t it been filled before? Why now?
Timing is another big factor. Go to VCs too early and you risk lacking solid product-market fit evidence and track record. Go too late and your runway can be so short that your negotiating power evaporates.
Finally, I think there can be an unhealthy obsession with headline valuation when closing a deal, often at the expense of liquidation preferences, anti-dilution provisions, and other terms that matter just as much in the long run.
How should early-stage vs. growth-stage SaaS companies think about financial strategy differently?
Adam Brodie: The early stage is all about validating product-market fit, learning from your mistakes, and tweaking your growth trajectory. Your assumptions should be realistic from the start, but they are certainly subject to a greater degree of adjustment. The whole learning curve should be aimed at minimising your CAC-to-LTV ratio. How you model growth, justify spend, and raise investment all revolves around that ratio in the early stages.
Once you move into the growth stage, your focus should shift towards profit margin and cash flow management. Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality. A clear path to profitability will earn you funding and premium valuations at the growth stage, and a healthy cash flow strategy will protect you from the hurdles you will encounter along the way.
The SaaS M&A Outlook and the AI Squeeze
How do you see SaaS funding and M&A activity evolving over the next 12 to 24 months?
Adam Brodie: At least in the UK, we are slowly moving back towards a more stable, lower-inflation environment. My view is that over the next couple of years this will allow the restoration of semi-reliable rules of thumb for evaluating SaaS companies.
Take the Rule of 40. In recent months I have seen articles calling for a “Rule of 50” or “Rule of 60” standard, even a “Rule of X” (a weighted version of the classic). I think this is just a symptom of established benchmarks failing to fit an environment that kept shifting. As the macro environment stabilises, new benchmarks will emerge and new rules will take shape, making it easier for investors and advisors to assess and improve financial models.
What emerging trends should founders be watching?
Adam Brodie: Product-market fit is always the life-or-death point for a software company. Finding a gap in the market where competition is manageable but scalability potential is high has always been difficult. It is even harder today, where that sweet spot is being eroded on both ends by AI.
We see more and more niche software use cases being fulfilled in-house with coding agents. On the other side, the enormous investment flowing into AI data centres has upended parts of the supply chain. Competing with AI giants on scale is just not practical for most startups.
But there is a lot of untapped potential in this AI wave for proprietary, well-engineered technology, as opposed to slapping an “AI-powered” label on any piece of software. I think founders should double down on their technical teams rather than using AI to replace developers.
Practical Advice for SaaS Founders
What financial best practices should every SaaS founder put in place early?
Adam Brodie: From the very start, make sure your financial model shows clear and realistic assumptions: a link between your hiring plan and growth targets, a clear go-to-market engine, conservative churn assumptions, and realistic expectations for your CAC-to-CLV ratio. Investors do not expect perfection. They do expect thought, reasoning, and diligence.
One piece of advice for founders preparing for growth or exit?
Adam Brodie: From first contact to closing, you will easily spend three to six months going back and forth with investors or buyers. That gives you a multi-quarter window to hit the short-term revenue (or EBITDA) forecasts you presented to them. Use that window wisely. Hitting those targets builds confidence, validates your financial model, and shows you are trustworthy in your assumptions.
The Personal Side
What has been your biggest learning as a founder?
Adam Brodie: To accept that things change, and there will always be bumps in the road. By accepting that, I have found we can embrace the opportunities that change and challenges bring.
How do you see your role evolving as Finerva grows?
Adam Brodie: Like many business owners, I try to find people within our existing team, or new hires, who are better than me at certain roles. That frees me up to focus on the areas where I add the most value: client relationships, business development, and strategic planning.
