As Butter embarks on the next step of our growth journey, we are thrilled to welcome Sofya Pogreb as our new CEO. She’ll lead the company in partnership with Vijay Menon, Founder and President.
We sat down with Sofya to chat about why she joined Butter, the big trends she’s keeping an eye on in the ever-evolving world of payments, and her interest in the three 3Bs (you’ll never guess what they are).
Sofya comes to Butter with an extensive background in financial services and a track record of building companies and scaling teams. Most recently, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of BILL, a public company that offers financial automation software. Before BILL, she was on the executive team and board for Next Insurance, a leading insurance company that generated a top line of $548 million in 2024.
Let’s dive straight in!
What drew you to this role and Butter?
So many things persuaded me to join, and I’m glad I did because it feels like coming home! I started my career in payments at PayPal, where I oversaw payment recovery and risk management. I fell in love with payments, and I’ve wanted to come back to the space for years now. I was also ready to return to an early-stage company. There’s truly nothing more exciting and rewarding than working in a fast-growing company.
Butter’s product was another major influence. Butter has a super strong value proposition—really, it's a no-brainer for customers. One of the reasons we're the strongest in the industry is that the company uses real AI and machine learning. Many, if not most, companies that say they use AI and machine learning don’t. They use the terms for their marketing power. Butter’s different—machine learning and AI are the core of the business. It’s the engine that powers everything, and we have the patent to prove it and to protect our IP.
The final piece of the puzzle was meeting Butter’s team and learning about the company’s culture. Every team member I met was a rock star in their area of expertise. As for the culture, I knew right away that Vijay had built something special. I prize collaboration, and the Butter team knew how to work together effectively. It was like watching a really good rowing team, where everyone was working in unison for the good of the whole.
What’s your vision for Butter over the next 1–3 years?
Butter is the premier payments optimization partner. That’s never going to change, but how we maintain our position as the market leader will look different in the next couple of years. I am going to emphasize different business strategies. For instance, I plan to reinforce Butter’s value to small- and mid-sized businesses next year.
There will also be more emphasis on product innovation. There is so much more we can do to help subscription-focused brands.
Butter is known for reducing payment failure, but there is so much more we can do to help subscription-focused brands optimize their payments stack.
What does a new CEO mean for Butter’s customers?
Butter’s customer service is already strong, but I aim to make it stronger by doubling down on three things: easy integrations, adding continuous value for our customers, and ensuring our pricing makes us the obvious choice and fully aligns with our incentives.
I briefly touched on this earlier in the conversation, but I want to be explicit: Research and development will be a priority for Butter going forward. Our Recover product is the industry leader, and I plan to keep it that way by investing in new and innovative features and products.
What industry trends are you most excited about?
The two things that excite me the most are related to how subscription businesses approach retention and their customer lifecycle.
The first trend is the industry’s increased focus on retention. Executives have come to the realization that retaining customers is as, if not more, important as acquiring new ones. One reason for this shift is that the cost of acquiring customers has reached an unsustainable level. Another factor is that retained customers tend to purchase more and have higher order values.
The second trend focuses on the customer lifecycle. Many subscription-focused businesses now view payments as part of the customer lifecycle journey. The best example is how the market is actively mitigating involuntary churn due to failed payments. After all, a service interruption (for any reason, including payment-related) is a poor experience. With Butter’s help, companies can now resolve the issue in the backend without the subscriber ever knowing.
How do you see AI and machine learning shaping the future of subscription-based business?
Operating a subscription revenue stream involves a lot of complexity, and there's a ton of data being collected throughout. These characteristics make subscriptions the perfect fit for AI and machine learning solutions. Businesses are already using machine learning to personalize ads, tailor upsells, predict when a subscriber might cancel, and, with Butter’s help, reduce involuntary churn due to failed payments. At this point, AI and machine learning are table stakes.
What kind of culture do you envision building at Butter?
I want Butter’s team to be obsessed with our clients. Our mission is to help our customers keep their customers, and everything we do should be in service of that mission.
Butter’s culture is strong, especially when it comes to collaboration. My goal in the next several months is to reinforce the importance of being even more customer-centric. I want Butter’s team to be obsessed with our clients. Our mission is to help our customers keep their customers, and everything we do should be in service of that mission.
What advice do you have for subscription merchants?
How much time do you have? I have a ton of advice, but it all boils down to two fundamental concepts.
First, subscription merchants should take a holistic look at their payments stack. I guarantee they’ll find opportunities to lower their cost of acquisition, increase lifetime value, and drive annual recurring revenue. Payments are complex, which means there is a lot of space for innovation and creativity, and those who leverage best-in-class solutions will end up providing a better experience to their customers.
Second, merchants must genuinely understand the data they collect and what’s being reported. I recommend merchants take a deep dive into their data and double- and triple-check for accuracy. If a merchant’s data shows something different than a solution they’ve partnered with, they must find out why. One place merchants can start is with decline codes. When it comes to payments optimization, understanding failure codes with a high level of granularity is a first and necessary step toward improving payments success.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself outside of the office?
I have three passions—four if you count Butter’s customers. I’m obsessed with what I call the 3Bs—babies, backpacking, and ballroom dancing.
I have three children (ages 6, 10, and 19) who mean the world to me.
My second passion is backpacking. I love to get outdoors and experience nature. The outdoors refreshes me, and it’s great exercise. I regularly visit and camp in Yosemite; there’s no place better.
My third B is ballroom dance. I was a competitive ballroom dancer, specializing in quick-step tango, and competed in the U.S. Dancesport National Championships. Two of my kids are dancers, and one just represented the U.S. in the World Dancesport Championships (ask me for pictures!).
What I love about ballroom dance is that it's very much a team sport, a partnership—each partner has a job to do, they are equally important, and both are critical to a successful outcome.
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