Stephen Allott: Financial Planning and the Theory of Constraints 2.0

For SaaS and software company founders and CEOs, growth is constrained less by ambition than by clarity, capacity and cash.

Forecasting is the discipline that turns ambition into predictable execution 

In this session, you’ll learn the best practice and most practical method, based on Eli Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints, for modelling future growth you can apply immediately. Identify the few variables that actually limit scale and how to build a credible 3–5 year cash-flow forecast? You’ll learn how to use decision-engineering principles to identify your key metrics and how to distinguish metrics that inform real decisions from vanity metrics. You will be able to reduce complex dashboards to a small, focused set of measures, and how to link each metric directly to an action you would take if it moved.

Attendees will leave with a clear modelling framework, a short list of decision-critical metrics, and a repeatable approach to running the company with greater focus and predictability.

Slides


Stephen Allott, Pebble Code
Stephen Allott

Stephen Allott

Chairman, Tarigo

Stephen Allott has rare, first-hand authority on shareholder value creation for SaaS and software companies by repeatedly building, scaling, and exiting category-leading technology businesses. 

He built the most valuable organically grown UK software company, Micromuse, to NASDAQ IPO as President, CFO, and main board director. Across multiple software businesses, he has driven growth from early scale to global dominance. As Venture Partner Emeritus at Seedcamp, Europe’s largest seed fund, he has advised hundreds of founders and supported nine unicorns. A former McKinsey strategy consultant and senior executive at Sun Microsystems and Xerox, Stephen combines operational execution, capital-markets credibility, and board-level judgment on how software companies compound long-term shareholder value.

Away from the above, Stephen is a budding pianist and table tennis player. He’s attended BoS frequently and spoken before on scenario planning in times of uncertainty (on the very day the Covid lockdown was announced in the UK), scaling software sales and businesses.

More from Stephen

Next up

Register now

BoS OS is how founders harness AI to run their company, not as a chatbot, but as a system. See how it works →

Not sure which workshop is for you? Start with the stage that matches where you’re at.

Start here

New to this? Start here
Try It
Not sure AI can do anything real for your business yet? See it work on your own company, low-risk, over two sessions.
2 sessions · $500 · 12 seats
Register now

Ready to build your foundation?

Foundation
Getting Started: What Does AI Know About You?
You’ve got an idea for how AI could help your business. Leave with it actually understanding your company well enough to help.
2 sessions · $500
Register now
Foundation
How to Show AI How to Help You
You’ve got a system running but it’s not really being used. Sharpen it so it actually helps you make decisions.
2 sessions · $500
Register now

Have your basics running? Get going with confidence

Stage 1
Get Going With Confidence
Turn a real task into something you can actually measure, then practise a safe, low-stakes build before you do it for real.
2 sessions · $500
Register now
Stage 1
Your First Mission
Pick something in your business that actually matters, get pushback from other founders in the room, then make it real.
2 sessions · $500
Register now

Already running your OS? Put it to work

Advanced · Flagship
Build Your AI Company Operating System
Four weeks from now, two things you asked AI to handle are actually running in your business, not sitting in a document.
4 weekly sessions · $2,000
Register now
Advanced · Find better prospects
Build Your ICP and Prospecting System
Stop guessing who your best customers are. Leave with a system that finds them for you, running.
4 sessions · $2,000
Register now
Advanced · Learn from customers
Build Your Customer Signal System
Turn scattered customer conversations into one system that tells you what actually matters, before the workshop ends.
4 sessions · $2,000
Register now
Advanced · Know your competitors
Build Your Competitive Intelligence System
A running system that tells you when a competitor’s move matters, and stays quiet the rest of the time.
4 sessions · $2,000
Register now

Further ahead

April 2027
BoS Europe 2027
Get notified