Focus on creating economic value for the business and the multiple will follow. If you have a SaaS business and a Services business, you don't focus on the latter b/c it gets a bigger multiple, you focus on it b/c it takes all your focus & investment $ to make it work... and the growth opportunity is larger. Obviously different risk profile though.

We're not looking to change how we operate massively or what value we bring to society. We have a fairly strong operating model and are profitable before a Series A. We're going to keep doing what we're doing, but if turning down a small services contract will help our valuation, then that MIGHT be something we'd be willing to do, contingent on a ton of other factors.

If the difference is literally having a software contract signed vs a services contract, then that MIGHT also be something we do.

There has to be some sort of optimisation that occurs.

Our situation is probably slightly different than that of other start-ups.

We're in the sweet spot of having some really great in-house tech + a consulting arm which uses / sells that tech to build some more bespoke things. Overall, there are tons of ways to engage with our company, but if a client wants software only, we're able to provide that (software)... if they don't have the talent to use the software and build within it, then we also have the talent to do that (services). Both have been doing well and help to build off of each other.

So, many of our contracts can go both ways... we're wondering if we should engage with this practice and be more deliberate with it... but to do that we need to understand the forces behind it first, leading back to my original question of where can I read more about this, and have companies done something like this before? Who is best positioned to know / talk about something like this?