Episode Details

Your software might be the system of record, but if someone else owns the money movement, your growth is capped. Greg Myers sits down with Jane Podbelskaya, Founder of Charge Forward, and Jake Colognesi, Founder of Mamba Growth Equity, to dig into what separates “we added payments” from a truly investable embedded finance strategy for vertical SaaS.

We get specific about why embedded finance can feel almost unfair when it’s done right: revenue scales with your customers’ transaction volume, one financial product naturally unlocks the next, and a platform can build multiple monetization streams across payments, lending, payroll, and insurance. Jane and Jake share why the best roadmap starts with customer interviews and real pain points, not trends, and how niche markets can suddenly have far more runway once you add a financial services layer.

Then we shift into the scorecard. Jake breaks down what investors look for in the numbers like payments revenue mix, attach rate, and net take rate and Jane adds the “second-order” metrics that can make or break enterprise value: net dollar retention lift, CAC payback improvement, and the stickiness that comes from being mission critical. We also cover the operator reality: CEO alignment, true product ownership, compliance and go-to-market planning, plus the tracking and reporting infrastructure that turns embedded finance into a managed business line.

If you’re building in vertical SaaS and want embedded finance to drive valuation, not complexity, listen now, and share this with a founder who needs a clearer embedded finance playbook.