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Apr 15, 2026 · 20m · top-founders

Kadence Reaches $15M ARR Managing Hybrid Work for Revolut & Boeing

Dan Bladen · 12m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this interview with Nathan Latka, Kadence co-founder and CEO Dan Bladen details how he pivoted from an IoT wireless charging startup into an enterprise hybrid workplace platform, restructured his cap table, and scaled Kadence to a $15 million ARR run rate.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 36.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 6.4 Guest teaching 3.8 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 2.6
05100:0010:0020:002:24–5:11 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Pricing Architecture and Moving Upmarket to Enterprise Neo-Banks Nathan quickly breaks down the unit economics by converting user pricing into average contract values and customer counts. Dan clarifies how enterprise tiers differ from SMB coworking flex passes in a very collaborative manner.5:11–9:33 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Dan Bladen's Backstory and the Pivot from Chargify Dan provides a detailed historical narrative of pivoting Chargify into Cadence during the onset of the pandemic. Nathan prompts for specifics around cap table baggage and investor management.9:33–13:28 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Sponsor Segment: Founderpath Non-Dilutive Capital Nathan demonstrates high domain knowledge by articulating the exact mechanics of cap table recapitalizations and option pool refreshes. Dan confirms the tactical setup of their Delaware flip and ESOP expansion across 220 DocuSigns.13:28–15:43 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Series A Funding, Valuation Multiples, and Net Dollar Retention Nathan presses on Dan's valuation multiples, NDR cohorts, and current ARR trajectory, calculating Dan's triple-digit growth to roughly $15M ARR. Dan confirms the benchmark metrics and validates the sticky nature of enterprise workspace software.15:43–19:13 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 AI Product Innovations: SpaceOps, Scenario Planning, and GTM Strategy Nathan analyzes Cadence's product expansion into AI agent-based scenario planning and brings up Ahrefs data to question their customer acquisition channels. Dan details their shift toward enterprise events and dinners over traditional inbound search.2:24–5:11 · Guest teaching 3/10 Pricing Architecture and Moving Upmarket to Enterprise Neo-Banks Nathan quickly breaks down the unit economics by converting user pricing into average contract values and customer counts. Dan clarifies how enterprise tiers differ from SMB coworking flex passes in a very collaborative manner.5:11–9:33 · Guest teaching 5/10 Dan Bladen's Backstory and the Pivot from Chargify Dan provides a detailed historical narrative of pivoting Chargify into Cadence during the onset of the pandemic. Nathan prompts for specifics around cap table baggage and investor management.9:33–13:28 · Guest teaching 4/10 Sponsor Segment: Founderpath Non-Dilutive Capital Nathan demonstrates high domain knowledge by articulating the exact mechanics of cap table recapitalizations and option pool refreshes. Dan confirms the tactical setup of their Delaware flip and ESOP expansion across 220 DocuSigns.13:28–15:43 · Guest teaching 3/10 Series A Funding, Valuation Multiples, and Net Dollar Retention Nathan presses on Dan's valuation multiples, NDR cohorts, and current ARR trajectory, calculating Dan's triple-digit growth to roughly $15M ARR. Dan confirms the benchmark metrics and validates the sticky nature of enterprise workspace software.15:43–19:13 · Guest teaching 4/10 AI Product Innovations: SpaceOps, Scenario Planning, and GTM Strategy Nathan analyzes Cadence's product expansion into AI agent-based scenario planning and brings up Ahrefs data to question their customer acquisition channels. Dan details their shift toward enterprise events and dinners over traditional inbound search.2:24–5:11 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Pricing Architecture and Moving Upmarket to Enterprise Neo-Banks Nathan quickly breaks down the unit economics by converting user pricing into average contract values and customer counts. Dan clarifies how enterprise tiers differ from SMB coworking flex passes in a very collaborative manner.5:11–9:33 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Dan Bladen's Backstory and the Pivot from Chargify Dan provides a detailed historical narrative of pivoting Chargify into Cadence during the onset of the pandemic. Nathan prompts for specifics around cap table baggage and investor management.9:33–13:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Segment: Founderpath Non-Dilutive Capital Nathan demonstrates high domain knowledge by articulating the exact mechanics of cap table recapitalizations and option pool refreshes. Dan confirms the tactical setup of their Delaware flip and ESOP expansion across 220 DocuSigns.13:28–15:43 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Series A Funding, Valuation Multiples, and Net Dollar Retention Nathan presses on Dan's valuation multiples, NDR cohorts, and current ARR trajectory, calculating Dan's triple-digit growth to roughly $15M ARR. Dan confirms the benchmark metrics and validates the sticky nature of enterprise workspace software.15:43–19:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 AI Product Innovations: SpaceOps, Scenario Planning, and GTM Strategy Nathan analyzes Cadence's product expansion into AI agent-based scenario planning and brings up Ahrefs data to question their customer acquisition channels. Dan details their shift toward enterprise events and dinners over traditional inbound search.2:24–5:11 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Pricing Architecture and Moving Upmarket to Enterprise Neo-Banks Nathan quickly breaks down the unit economics by converting user pricing into average contract values and customer counts. Dan clarifies how enterprise tiers differ from SMB coworking flex passes in a very collaborative manner.5:11–9:33 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Dan Bladen's Backstory and the Pivot from Chargify Dan provides a detailed historical narrative of pivoting Chargify into Cadence during the onset of the pandemic. Nathan prompts for specifics around cap table baggage and investor management.9:33–13:28 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Sponsor Segment: Founderpath Non-Dilutive Capital Nathan demonstrates high domain knowledge by articulating the exact mechanics of cap table recapitalizations and option pool refreshes. Dan confirms the tactical setup of their Delaware flip and ESOP expansion across 220 DocuSigns.13:28–15:43 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Series A Funding, Valuation Multiples, and Net Dollar Retention Nathan presses on Dan's valuation multiples, NDR cohorts, and current ARR trajectory, calculating Dan's triple-digit growth to roughly $15M ARR. Dan confirms the benchmark metrics and validates the sticky nature of enterprise workspace software.15:43–19:13 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 AI Product Innovations: SpaceOps, Scenario Planning, and GTM Strategy Nathan analyzes Cadence's product expansion into AI agent-based scenario planning and brings up Ahrefs data to question their customer acquisition channels. Dan details their shift toward enterprise events and dinners over traditional inbound search.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 47% · guest 53%0:00 · Nathan 47% · guest 53%3:00 · Nathan 32.1% · guest 67.9%3:00 · Nathan 32.1% · guest 67.9%6:00 · Nathan 7.1% · guest 92.9%6:00 · Nathan 7.1% · guest 92.9%9:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%9:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%12:00 · Nathan 40.5% · guest 59.5%12:00 · Nathan 40.5% · guest 59.5%15:00 · Nathan 17.1% · guest 82.9%15:00 · Nathan 17.1% · guest 82.9%18:00 · Nathan 73.3% · guest 26.7%18:00 · Nathan 73.3% · guest 26.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 3:09 Dan reframes seat-based pricing against agentic disruption

In an overall cooperative episode, Dan mildly pushes back on the host's premise that seat-based SaaS models are dying by clarifying they see zero retention drops.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 18:02 Nathan challenges legacy seat models vs jobs-to-be-done pricing

Nathan frames Cadence's core model as legacy and questions whether they will be forced into consumption or task-based pricing.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:48 Dan explains the operational catalyst for pivoting Chargify

Dan educates Nathan on how NASDAQ approached them to repurpose wireless charging management software into space management during pandemic downsizings.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:44 Nathan articulates the recapitalization and ESOP playbook

Nathan walks through the technical intricacies of structuring a down-round Delaware flip and refreshing a 30% option pool to reset founder dilution.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Pricing Architecture and Moving Upmarket to Enterprise Neo-Banks 6313 Nathan quickly breaks down the unit economics by converting user pricing into average contract values and customer counts. Dan clarifies how enterprise tiers differ from SMB coworking flex passes in a very collaborative manner.
Dan Bladen's Backstory and the Pivot from Chargify 5512 Dan provides a detailed historical narrative of pivoting Chargify into Cadence during the onset of the pandemic. Nathan prompts for specifics around cap table baggage and investor management.
Sponsor Segment: Founderpath Non-Dilutive Capital 8413 Nathan demonstrates high domain knowledge by articulating the exact mechanics of cap table recapitalizations and option pool refreshes. Dan confirms the tactical setup of their Delaware flip and ESOP expansion across 220 DocuSigns.
Series A Funding, Valuation Multiples, and Net Dollar Retention 7313 Nathan presses on Dan's valuation multiples, NDR cohorts, and current ARR trajectory, calculating Dan's triple-digit growth to roughly $15M ARR. Dan confirms the benchmark metrics and validates the sticky nature of enterprise workspace software.
AI Product Innovations: SpaceOps, Scenario Planning, and GTM Strategy 6412 Nathan analyzes Cadence's product expansion into AI agent-based scenario planning and brings up Ahrefs data to question their customer acquisition channels. Dan details their shift toward enterprise events and dinners over traditional inbound search.

Statements from this episode (12)

Disclosure
Bladen: Kadence manages workplaces for 600 companies including Boeing and Revolut
“So WeWork with about 600, WeWork, 600 companies around the world. Think Boeing, Bombardier, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Revolut, helping them manage their own workplaces.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 0:57
Assertion Contradicted
Bladen: Willis Towers Watson cut real estate footprint, saving $500M annually
“So you can be a company like Willis Tau Watson that works with us, right? They've gone from 10.1 to 4.7 million square feet. So now that everybody's not in the office every single day, though, that's obviously a various difference across lots of different comp…”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 1:28
Disclosure
Bladen: Kadence Flex offers access to 15,000 co-working locations globally
“We do have a product called Cadence Flex, which does allow you to get access to about 15,000 co-working locations around the world.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 3:54
Disclosure
Bladen: Kadence has no million-dollar ACV customers yet
“No million-dollar customers yet. We've got a couple that are pretty close in our pipe”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 4:48
Assertion Partly supported
Bladen: Chargifi raised ~$17.5M from Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise
“We raised about 17 and a half million dollars from Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 6:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bladen: Chargifi had tens of customers and was nowhere near $1M ARR
“We had tens of customers at the time. Still wasn't anywhere near, like, a million in ARR.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 6:51
Disclosure
New VCs urged Bladen to abandon early investors; he pitched 100 instead
“We had a lot of investors saying, hey, new, new investors, we wanna come into Cadence, just ditch them, start this afresh on the side but that didn't feel like winning the right way to me, so we, I did over a hundred investors to get the round done”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 9:02
Disclosure
Bladen reset the company cap table after being diluted to 15 percent
“I was down to about 15% of the business at that point, and so yeah, I went to them, proposed, hey, we're gonna have to, the way to protect everybody's ownership, keep you guys all in, is to do an options increase so that's what we did.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 12:02
Disclosure
Bladen: Kadence raised Series A at mid-teens ARR multiple
“Mid teens.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 13:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bladen: Kadence achieved over 130% net dollar retention
“North of a 130%.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 14:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bladen: Kadence ARR run rate is around $15M
“We don't talk too publicly about it, but yeah, we're in and around that range.”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 15:30
Disclosure
Bladen: About 10,000 Teams Use Kadence
“We've got about 10,000 teams that use Cadence”
Dan Bladen Apr 15, 2026 ▶ 17:24
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