I interviewed about 20 senior leaders across 8 countries, mostly at large organizations

Each strategic initiative has its own goals and KPIs, but the data is spread across different teams and tools.

Before every leadership review, someone has to chase updates by email, wait for responses, reconcile numbers, and piece everything together.

The leaders I interviewed described reporting cycles that consumed 20–60 hours of manual effort. And by the time the information reached leadership, some of it was already outdated.

But what interested me most wasn't just the time being lost.

It was that an initiative's KPIs could appear healthy even when an important assumption behind the original strategy was no longer holding true.

I've been wondering how much of this translates to smaller, growing SaaS companies.

When you're starting out, a few people can keep track of almost everything. But as customers, products, and priorities grow, so does the amount of information you need to make decisions.

For those building or scaling SaaS companies, what's something you've discovered about managing your business that you didn't anticipate when you started?

Are you spending more time gathering information and checking performance than you expected, or have you found ways to stay informed without adding more reporting work?

I'd be interested in hearing what you've experienced.