Gagan Rana

Finance & Strategy for SaaS & High Growth Tech Startups

I have experience as a FP&A leader at Atlassian, Executive in Residence at Learn Capital (VC fund) and a technology investment banker at Barclays. I use my deep experience across finance and strategy to help SaaS and high-growth tech companies raise capital, set budgets, develop financial models and support efficient growth.

At Atlassian, I was Head of Strategy & Business Operations (reporting to the CFO) and Head of FP&A: R&D, G&A, Corp Ops. During my time at Atlassian, headc…

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Work

Series A 2024 Budget (SaaS)
Worked with a Series A SaaS company to build their first budget
Partnered with CEO to develop revenue and operating margins goals for the year
Worked with executive team to develop bottom-up budgets, roadmaps and GTM plans
Developed bottom-up revenue and cost financial model for 2024
Presented budget to the Board and received approval
Used annual plan as a basis for a new operating rhythm for the business
Series B Fundraise (SaaS)
Currently working with a SaaS company to raise a Series B
Supported development of investor presentation materials, with a focus on traction metrics, financial forecast, TAM and competitive positioning
Built bottom-up financial model and TAM estimate
Developed data room materials and investor FAQ to support due diligence
Currently driving diligence by 2 strategic investors looking to acquire the company
Seed Fundraise (Fintech)
Worked with CEO to develop data room for Seed stage investors
Supported development of investor presentation, with focus on TAM, positioning, traction and financial forecast
Developed financial projections and bottom-up TAM model
Company successfully raised $500K
Business Cadence @ Atlassian (SaaS)
- Business Planning
- Business Operations
At Atlassian I developed a consistent approach to developing goals, evaluating performance and updating strategy based on business performance
I rebooted the company's operating system, which included developing OKRs, setting ambitious targets and driving weekly + monthly business reviews
Go Daddy Acquisition
Advised KKR and Silver Lake on their $2.25B acquisition of Go Daddy Group
Developed detailed bottom-up financial and valuation models
Led due diligence efforts
Created rating agency presentation to support financing
CDW IPO
- Financial Modeling
- Investor Presentations
Executed a $395M IPO for CDW, a provider of technology products and services
Developed financial model and crafted investor positioning
Led due diligence efforts

Experience

Pari Passu
Fractional CFO, Strategic Finance Consultant
Jun 2023 - Present
Pari Passu provides fractional CFO and strategic finance consulting services
- Partnered with two Series A SaaS startups build their 2024 annual operating plan + budget
- Helped a Seed stage Fintech startup raise $500K
- Working with a SaaS startup raise a Series B
Atlassian
Finance + Strategy
May 2019 - May 2023
Atlassian is a high-growth SaaS company that builds collaboration software
- Led a 30+ person FP&A team, focused on forecasting operating expenses, providing quarterly guidance to investors and strategic finance business partnering
- Drove the development of three-year company strategy and resulting three-year financial model for the Board; this work drove resourcing for two longer-term investments, informed a company reorg, and company OKRs
- Drove the development of the company’s business cadence, which included goal-setting, measuring, reporting, understanding and acting upon business performance results
- Partnered with real estate, workplace experience, accounting and operating team to develop real estate strategy and KPIs to support Atlassian’s shift to a remote company - this led to >$xxM in savings
- Developed product profitability model that informed board-level decisions on multi-year product investments, including incremental investments in the ITSM market and putting two products in “maintenance mode”
- Successfully drove quarterly guidance process for operating expenses and improved accuracy of forecasted expenses (within 1.5% of quarterly forecast)
Learn Capital
Executive in Residence
Oct 2018 - May 2019
Learn Capital is an early-stage venture fund that invests in education technology companies
- Evaluated early-stage and growth-stage investment opportunities by conducting due diligence, developing financial models and articulating an investment thesis
- Partnered with portfolio companies to address critical business, operational and business challenges
- Helped raise a >$250M fund
Chegg
General Manager
Jan 2016 - Aug 2018
A Smarter Way to Student!
- Launched new Test Prep paid business to expand Chegg’s product offering to the high school market - managed $xxM P&L, set KPIs, developed go-to-market strategy and developed partnerships
- Partnered with finance team to develop long-term financial model, set annual financial targets and manage monthly budgeting cycle
- Successfully transitioned test prep business model from a high fixed-cost model (investing over $xxM in content and technology) to a variable cost model by developing a long-term partnership with Kaplan
Barclays
Technology Investment Banker
Jun 2009 - Nov 2013
Barclays is a British universal bank offering top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment banking services
- Executed over $10B in transactions in the SaaS, payments and digital services sectors
- Developed detailed bottom-up operating models incorporating key market drivers, product offerings, sales rep productivity, employee headcount and multiple scenarios
- Executed a $395M IPO for CDW, a provider of technology products and services
- Advised Gas Station TV, a digital out-of-home media company, on their sale to Rockbridge Growth Equity
- Executed a $135M equity offering for Demandware, an eCommerce SaaS company
- Advised KKR and Silver Lake on their $2.25 billion acquisition of Go Daddy Group