Nick Franklin spent years leading international expansion at Zendesk before founding ChartMogul, the subscription analytics platform used by thousands of SaaS companies worldwide. In this interview, he shares hard-won lessons on retention, the metrics that actually matter, and why AI is about to reshape how founders understand their businesses.
The Origin Story: From Zendesk to ChartMogul
SaaS Mag: Can you share the story behind starting ChartMogul and the problem you originally set out to solve?
Before starting ChartMogul I was leading international expansion at Zendesk, first in Europe and then in Asia. During that time I saw firsthand how painful it was to build SaaS metrics in-house. The data was there, but it was hard to work with. Reports were rigid, commercial teams could not really explore the data themselves, and the overall experience was pretty clunky.
At the same time, it was clear how valuable this data could be if it was done right. Subscription businesses run on these metrics, but most teams did not have good tools to actually use them.
Zendesk was also a bit of a detour for me. I had moved into a commercial role, but my real passion has always been in building products. So I was actively looking for a problem I cared about and wanted to solve.
ChartMogul came out of that intersection – a clear problem I had experienced personally, and a chance to build something much better for other SaaS teams.
SaaS Mag: What gave you conviction that subscription analytics would become mission-critical for SaaS companies?
I did not have 100% conviction upfront. There was a strong intuition from my time at Zendesk that these metrics really mattered, but it only fully clicked after we launched. The level of initial traction and the sheer volume of feedback we received from SaaS founders and operators was a big signal. It felt like we had hit a nerve.
The combination of early traction and the fire hose of feature requests is what built real conviction that this could become mission-critical.
What SaaS Founders Often Miss
SaaS Mag: Why do many SaaS companies focus too heavily on new revenue while underestimating retention?
The simple answer is that new revenue is more exciting. Signing new customers gives a much bigger dopamine hit than an existing customer quietly renewing or even expanding. It gets more attention internally and is easier to celebrate.
The problem is that it is short-term thinking. If you take care of retention, new business starts to take care of itself through word of mouth and a stronger reputation in the market. The flip side is also true – churned customers rarely recommend you, and over time that becomes a real drag on growth.
So it is not that companies do not understand retention, it is just less visible and less immediately rewarding, even though it matters more in the long run.
SaaS Mag: What are the most common mistakes founders make when interpreting their growth metrics?
One of the most common mistakes is assuming growth will just continue up and to the right. When startups get early traction it is easy to believe ARR will keep compounding, but eventually the math catches up and you hit what is known as the SaaS ceiling. Growth slows or plateaus, and it can feel like it happens suddenly.
At that point you realise there are really only a few ways to break through: improve retention, increase how much customers pay, or add more new customers each month than you did before.
Scaling a SaaS business is basically the constant struggle to make progress on those three levers. The reality is most companies never get far enough on them, which is why so many stall out before they hit $10M ARR. That is still a great outcome, but getting past that point is what separates solid companies from great ones.
The Metrics That Actually Matter
SaaS Mag: If a SaaS founder could track only a handful of metrics, which would you prioritize and why?
You can understand a lot about a SaaS business from a small set of metrics. For me the core ones are MRR movements over time, ARR, number of subscribers, customer retention, WAU or DAU, and signups or free trials. Together these give you a pretty complete picture of growth, engagement, and churn.
A common mistake is thinking more data is always better. In reality it often just adds noise and makes it harder to focus. A small set of well-understood metrics is usually more effective than trying to measure everything.
There is also a tendency to over-index on quantitative data, especially product usage metrics, and underestimate qualitative insights. Talking to customers – understanding why they buy, stay, or leave – is often just as important as anything you see in a dashboard.
Retention as a Growth Engine
SaaS Mag: What separates companies with world-class retention from the rest?
A big part of retention is actually structural. Some products are just more “essential” than others. There are categories like subscription billing that companies really do not want to switch away from, and others like video editing where usage can be more project-based. That creates a natural range in retention across SaaS.
So there is a kind of hierarchy of essentialness. The more essential your product is to day-to-day operations, the easier retention becomes. From there, things like product quality, support, and pricing still matter, but you are starting from a stronger position.
The more interesting comparison is within the same category. When two companies are solving the same problem but have very different retention rates, it usually comes down to execution – product quality, pricing, onboarding, and how well they integrate into the rest of the stack. Over time, the product that becomes more embedded in the customer’s workflow tends to win on retention.
SaaS Mag: How should SaaS leaders think about retention differently in 2026?
Retention in 2026 is really about continuously re-earning the customer, not just trying to prevent churn. Buyers expect more value for less money, and they are quicker to question tools that do not clearly deliver ROI. That means pricing and retention are now closely linked.
One lever SaaS leaders should consider is lowering the barrier to stay, whether that is through lower base pricing or simpler entry plans. This can be uncomfortable, but it can strengthen retention by reducing friction and widening your market. We have done this ourselves over the past few years by lowering prices and recently introducing a lower-cost Starter plan for simpler use cases – something we resisted for a long time.
At the same time, AI is raising the bar on what value looks like. The shift is from tools to outcomes. If your product can actually do the work, not just support it, retention becomes much stronger. That also creates room to offset lower subscription fees with AI add-ons or usage-based pricing, but only if the value is clear and immediate.
Overall, retention is less about locking customers in and more about making sure they keep choosing you.
AI, Data, and the Future of SaaS Analytics
SaaS Mag: How is AI changing the way founders understand and act on business data?
I think for most use cases, getting answers from your data will become AI-led or AI-assisted. Instead of building reports or dashboards, founders will increasingly just ask questions and get answers directly. The interface shifts from exploring data to interacting with it.
That changes both speed and accessibility. More people in the company can work with data without needing to be highly technical, and the time from question to insight gets much shorter.
It feels similar to what is happening with coding right now. The act of doing the work does not disappear, but it becomes heavily augmented by AI, which changes who can do it and how quickly they can move.
SaaS Mag: What do you think the next generation of SaaS analytics platforms will look like?
Much more conversational, much more visual, and much more focused on storytelling. Instead of dashboards, you will have interfaces where you can ask questions and get clear answers, with context and explanations built in. The output will be less about charts – though charts are one important tool that are not going away – and more about helping people understand what is actually going on in the business.
Advice for Founders Scaling Today
SaaS Mag: What should SaaS founders prioritize right now to build healthier recurring revenue businesses?
Founders should be thinking carefully about how they benefit from AI, rather than being disrupted by it. Ideally your product becomes more valuable as the underlying models improve. If your product gets weaker as AI gets better, that is a problem. So having a clear AI strategy is becoming pretty critical.
The other big piece is making sure pricing matches the value you deliver. As AI increases what customers expect, there is more pressure to justify what you charge. If the value is not clear and immediate, retention will suffer. If it is, you have more flexibility in how you monetize – whether that is subscription, usage, or add-ons.
So it really comes down to two things: making sure your product compounds in value as AI improves, and making sure your pricing stays aligned with that value.
SaaS Mag: If you were starting a SaaS company today, what would you measure from day one?
Early on I would focus more on usage and engagement than revenue. Revenue matters and it is often more motivating, but in the early days it can be misleading. You can generate some initial revenue without really having strong product-market fit.
What you are really looking for is whether people are actually using the product, coming back, and getting value from it. Things like activation, repeat usage, and retention are much stronger signals that you are building something people want. Revenue becomes much more meaningful once those foundations are in place.
The Personal Side of Building
SaaS Mag: What has been one of your biggest learnings as a founder?
Post initial traction, it is all about the people. Once you have something that works, the biggest lever becomes the team you build around it. If you have great people who you trust and enjoy working with, you can figure most things out together.
It also changes your mindset. You worry less about exits or short-term outcomes, and focus more on building something meaningful with people you actually want to spend time with. In the end, that is what makes the whole experience worthwhile.
SaaS Mag: What continues to excite you most about building in SaaS today?
The software industry is still one of the most dynamic and interesting places to build. There are so many talented founders and teams constantly pushing things forward, and it never really stands still. That makes it a fun environment to be part of.
For us, what is most exciting is building tools that support those teams – helping founders understand and grow their businesses, and being a small part of their journey, is something we genuinely enjoy.
Nick Franklin is the founder and CEO of ChartMogul, the subscription analytics platform that helps SaaS companies measure, understand, and grow their recurring revenue. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn.
