Northstar Pay is a mid-market B2B payments software company serving 4,200 small and midsize merchants in the U.S. and Canada. The company generates $48M in annual recurring revenue, grows at 18% YoY, and competes against larger platforms such as Stripe, Adyen, and Block, as well as niche vertical SaaS providers embedding payments. Northstar Pay has historically relied on founder relationships and ad hoc sales feedback to understand the market, but leadership now believes it is missing competitor moves and reacting too slowly to pricing, product, and partnership changes.
You are the new Head of Strategy. The CEO has asked you to design a practical approach for how Northstar Pay should keep up with industry trends and competitor activities, and how that intelligence should influence product roadmap, pricing, and go-to-market decisions over the next 12 months. The issue is urgent because the company has seen slowing win rates in new business and increasing discount pressure in renewals. Leadership does not want a “research for research’s sake” function; they want a lightweight system that produces actionable insights and measurable business impact.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| ARR | $48M |
| Gross margin | 71% |
| New business win rate (last 2 quarters) | 24% down from 31% |
| Renewal discount requests | 38% of accounts up from 22% |
| Product team capacity for net-new strategic initiatives | 3 major bets per year |
Additional market facts:
Prepare a recommendation for the executive team that addresses the following: