AI Economics for SaaS & B2B
SaaS economics depend on gross margin, feature velocity, and ARR growth. Technical debt attacks all three simultaneously. The question isn't whether you have debt — it's whether the debt is destroying your valuation.
Debt-to-ARR Drag
Technical debt slows feature velocity and ARR growth, which compresses SaaS valuation multiples. We audit this cascade.
COGS Inflation
AI features and cloud waste inflate Cost of Goods Sold — the silent killer of SaaS gross margins scrutinized by investors.
Platform Complexity
Multi-tenant architectures, API ecosystems, and integration layers create compounding technical debt that is uniquely difficult to measure and remediate.
Feature Bloat
Custom features shipped for deals add maintenance costs. Zombie features consume over 30% of engineering capacity.
How I Help SaaS Companies
- → Calculate the dollar impact of technical debt on ARR growth rate
- → Identify and sunset zombie features consuming engineering capacity
- → Optimize COGS structure for AI features using the AUEB framework
- → Prepare R&D economics for due diligence and board presentations
Need a sector-specific audit?
I run R&D capital audits tailored to your industry's cost structures, compliance requirements, and scaling patterns.
Richard Ewing — AI Economist & Capital Auditor