Capstone – Project
SaaS pricing analysis and recommendation for Mercatus, the leading alternative investment technology platform.
A Collaboration Between
Mercatus is the leading SaaS provider of alternative asset and investment management solutions, helping investors maximize returns, accelerate growth, and mitigate risk. Mercatus is the only platform to systematically consolidate asset and portfolio data, automate and control financial, operational, and ESG analyses, and streamline decisions and collaboration across the entire investment lifecycle. Many of the largest alternative investors and asset owners leverage Mercatus to manage over $525B of assets and investments across 118 countries and 11 asset classes. Mercatus is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Austin, London, Rome, and India.
Our CEO, a Notre Dame alum, is looking for intelligent, proactive, and resourceful Fighting Irish students to evaluate our pricing strategy and make a strong recommendation to improve it.
The end deliverable will be 90-minute presentation to the CEO and Director of Product that succinctly summarizes the requirements above and makes a strong recommendation on how Mercatus should improve their own pricing strategy.
Host Venue Address
Austin, TX - 11801 Domain Blvd 3rd Floor, Austin, TX 78758
Required Prerequisites
- Work experience is enterprise SaaS preferred
- Familiarity with alternative investments, private equity, and/or project finance preferred
- Hunger to research enterprise software pricing strategies via available online resources
- Students will learn about the $10+ trillion alternative investment industry
- Students will have a deep understanding of alternative investment technology landscape
- Students will learn how to be resourceful and conduct primary and secondary research
- Students will know how to prepare a product pricing analysis
- Students will learn how to deliver an actionable executive presentation to senior leadership
Project Topics
Data Management
Growth Strategy
Sales & Business Development
Software Design & Development
Company Information
| Company | Mercatus, Inc |
| HQ | California |
| Revenue | Unlisted |
| Employees | 25-50 |
| Stage | High-Growth Startup |
| Hiring Potential | Follow-on Projects, Formal Internship |
| Website | https://www.gomercatus.com/ |
Company Overview
Mercatus is the leading SaaS provider of alternative asset and investment management solutions, helping investors maximize returns, accelerate growth, and mitigate risk. Mercatus is the only platform to systematically consolidate asset and portfolio data, automate and control financial, operational, and ESG analyses, and streamline decisions and collaboration across the entire investment lifecycle. Many of the largest alternative investors and asset owners leverage Mercatus to manage over $525B of assets and investments across 118 countries and 11 asset classes. Mercatus is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Austin, London, Rome, and India.
Experiential Learning Program Details
| School | University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business |
| Engagement Format | Capstone - Small Team Consulting Project - Students work in consulting teams of 3-5 directly with faculty and client liaisons on developing real solutions to real-world challenges. |
| Course | |
| Level | N/A |
| Students Enrolled | N/A |
| Meeting Day & Time | N/A |
| Student Time Commitment | 1-3 Hours Per Week |
| Company Time Commitment | 3-5 Hours |
| Duration | 0.29 Weeks |
Program Timeline
| Touchpoints & Assignments | Due Date | Type |
|---|
Key Project Milestones
-
October 17, 2019 - Mercatus pricing strategy analysis and recommendation
Key Milestones & Project Process
- Review of Mercatus product, positioning, and pricing (led by Mercatus Supervisor)
- Review of Mercatus competitive landscape (led by Mercatus Supervisor)
- Summary of the latest trends in enterprise SaaS pricing strategy?
- How are pricing strategies different between vertical and horizontal SaaS?
- How have the following enterprise SaaS companies evolved their pricing strategies? What strategies has directly facilitated growth?
- Specific companies to benchmark key financial KPIs and analyze:
- Direct competitors: eFront, iLevel, AltaReturn, Preqin, Bison
- Public vertical SaaS companies: Veeva, Guidewire
- Public horizontal SaaS companies: Salesforce, Anaplan, Workday
- Asset Management Services Company: RadianGen, Quintas
- Resources: public filings, podcasts, former & current employees interviews, articles, online research, etc. (Note, direct competitor research will be provided by Mercatus).
- Identify the top three key influencers in enterprise SaaS pricing strategy (name, title, background, contact info)
Mercatus will leave it to the students to best determine daily key milestones to meet the final end presentation deliverable. Students will have the Mercatus Supervisor available on site to bounce ideas off and help answer any questions.
Suggested Deliverable:
90-minute presentation to Mercatus CEO and Director of Product that succinctly summarizes the requirements above and makes a formal recommendation on how Mercatus should improve their own pricing strategy.
Project Resources
There are no resources currently available
Industry Mentors
Academic Mentors
Assigned Students
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