CEO Alex Joukowski focuses on "durably compounding" growth rather than unsustainable hyper-growth. He argues that when growth inevitably slows, a company without strong EBITDA margins becomes a "zombie," worth less at $120M in revenue than it was at $50M. This philosophy ensures long-term stability and optionality.
With $60M in revenue and only 80 employees, Sense demonstrates world-class efficiency. CEO Alex Joukowski credits a culture where individuals grow exponentially with the business, avoiding common tech headcount bloat. His internal benchmark is an ambitious $1M in revenue per employee, driving a lean, high-performance organization.
After launching its POS software, Sense found building custom hardware to be extremely difficult and capital-intensive. To accelerate growth and de-risk execution, the company strategically acquired another business. This M&A move allowed them to bypass years of challenging development and immediately scale their hardware offering.
Despite being profitable with 20% EBITDA margins, Sense raised a large Series C. The primary driver wasn't operational cash, but securing a strong partnership with an investor they vetted personally over several dinners. The round also funded expansion and provided employee liquidity through a tender offer, optimizing for relationships over valuation.
Contrary to typical startup advice, Sense's first customer was a large, multi-location operator. In their vertical, a large operator's problems were just amplified versions of an SMB's. This partnership provided deep insights and de-risked their product roadmap, helping them build a robust foundation for the entire market.
Sense treats its custom-built payment hardware as a high-margin product, not just a gateway to software and payments revenue. The device is engineered to provide significant standalone value to operators beyond payment acceptance. This strategy allows the company to capture margin on the initial sale while also locking in recurring revenue streams.