Before You Begin

Before connecting your data, you'll need:

Admin access to your data sources

A clear idea of which metrics matter most

About 30 minutes for initial setup

Step 1: Identify Your Core Data Sources

Most SaaS businesses have data in these categories:

Revenue Data

**Stripe** - Subscriptions, payments, invoices

**Paddle** - Payments, taxes, subscriptions

**Chargebee** - Billing, subscriptions

Product Data

**Mixpanel** - User events, funnels

**Amplitude** - Product analytics

**Segment** - Event tracking

Customer Data

**Salesforce** - CRM, deals, contacts

**HubSpot** - Marketing, sales, service

**Intercom** - Support, conversations

Marketing Data

**Google Analytics** - Website traffic

**Google Ads** - Paid search

**Facebook Ads** - Social advertising

Step 2: Prioritize Connections

Start with the data sources that contain your most important metrics:

For early-stage SaaS:

1. Payment processor (Stripe/Paddle)

2. Analytics (Mixpanel/Amplitude)

3. CRM (if you have one)

For growth-stage SaaS:

1. Payment processor

2. CRM

3. Marketing platforms

4. Product analytics

Step 3: Connect Your Data

Most integrations are one-click OAuth connections:

1. Select the integration from the dashboard

2. Click "Connect"

3. Authorize access in the popup

4. Select which data to sync

Tips for Smooth Connections

**Use admin credentials** - Some integrations need admin-level access

**Start with read-only** - You don't need write access for analytics

**Check data freshness** - Most sync every 1-24 hours

Step 4: Configure Your Metrics

Once connected, configure which metrics you want to track:

Revenue Metrics

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)

ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)

Net Revenue Retention

Expansion Revenue

Churn Rate

Product Metrics

Active Users (DAU/WAU/MAU)

Feature Adoption

Session Duration

Conversion Rates

Customer Metrics

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Lifetime Value (LTV)

LTV:CAC Ratio

Time to Value

Step 5: Set Up Alerts

Configure alerts for significant changes:

Revenue drops > 10%

Churn spikes

Unusual activity patterns

Metric threshold breaches

Step 6: Configure Reports

Set up automated reports:

**Daily**: Key metrics summary (optional)

**Weekly**: Comprehensive business review

**Monthly**: Trends and strategic insights

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"No data showing"

Check that the integration has completed syncing

Verify you have data in the source system

Ensure you selected the right date range

"Metrics look wrong"

Verify the metric definitions match your expectations

Check for duplicate data sources

Review any filters that might be applied

"Integration disconnected"

Re-authorize the connection

Check if API credentials have changed

Verify the source system is accessible

Next Steps

Once your data is connected:

1. **Review initial insights** - Check the automatic analysis of your data

2. **Ask questions** - Use natural language to explore your data

3. **Share with your team** - Invite team members and configure their preferences

4. **Iterate** - Add more data sources as needed

Your AI intelligence layer will get smarter over time as it learns the patterns in your business.

How to Connect Your SaaS Data to an AI Intelligence Layer