Margin Call: Part 3

Sarah's Office - That Night

(Did you miss Part 2?)

I'm watching Sarah Chen from her office doorway at 7:43 PM, and she's doing that thing CFOs do when the numbers are telling a story they don't want to hear. She's got three monitors worth of revenue reports spread across her desk like a financial autopsy, and she's dissecting each segment with the precision of someone who knows the diagnosis but needs to confirm it anyway.

The September evening has turned the Seattle skyline into a blur of lights through rain-streaked windows. Most of the finance team cleared out hours ago, but Sarah's still here, pulling segment data like she's panning for gold in a spreadsheet river.

Her screen shows RetentionRaider's customer breakdown: SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise. Three tiers, three different margin profiles, and somewhere in those numbers is the answer to Sterling's ultimatum. She's got the revenue side down cold-that's her territory, her language. But the cost side keeps shifting like sand, and I can see her frustration in the way she keeps toggling between tabs.

“Come on,” she mutters, pulling up another view. This time it's margin calculations by segment, the kind of granular analysis that makes or breaks SaaS companies. The SMB numbers look decent-nothing spectacular, but stable. Enterprise margins are actually solid, which makes sense given their premium pricing. But Mid-Market...

She leans back, and that's when I see it click. Whatever she's looking at in the Mid-Market data has just connected to something else. Her fingers fly across the keyboard, pulling up comparative analyses, trend lines, growth rates. She's building a story, and it's not the one she expected.

The printer whirs to life-an almost antiquated sound in 2025, but Sarah's old school when it comes to critical analysis. She likes paper for the big decisions, something she can mark up, carry with her, wave at people if necessary. The segment analysis emerges page by page, and she's already reaching for a red pen.

But then she stops. Pen halfway to paper, she's staring at the printouts like they're written in a language she only half speaks. The financial story is clear, but the technical why behind it-that's not her domain. And after twelve months of flat margins, maybe it's time to admit that the domains need to merge.

She stands, gathers the papers with the careful deliberation of someone about to cross a bridge they've been avoiding. The walk from finance to engineering isn't far-two floors down, one building over-but it might as well be a different country. Different language, different priorities, different metrics of success.

At her door, she hesitates. I can see the calculation happening: Is this admitting weakness? Is this what Sterling meant about working together? The papers in her hand contain questions that her financial models can't answer alone.

She squares her shoulders-a tiny movement, but telling-and heads for the elevator. The cleaning crew nods as she passes, probably wondering why the CFO is heading to engineering at this hour. Sarah Chen doesn't do engineering visits. Until tonight.

The printouts in her hand aren't just numbers anymore. They're an olive branch written in revenue recognition and cost allocation. They're an admission that maybe, just maybe, fixing this requires more than one lens on the problem.

The elevator closes, taking her down toward David's office, toward a conversation twelve months in the making. And somewhere in those printed pages is a pattern that's about to change everything-if they can learn to read it together.

---

Next: David and Sarah discover that their separate insights form a complete picture-one that's been hiding in plain sight.

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