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Nov 19, 2024 · 17m · top-founders

They make $30m per year selling software to the EOS community, Ninety CEO

Mark Abbott · 12m spoken Nathan Latka · 2m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Ninety CEO Mark Abbott details how his company scaled to $30 million in annual revenue by building software tailored for established coaching ecosystems like EOS, while outlining his vision for the future of work and AI-driven organizational intelligence.

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 13.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 2.0 Guest teaching 0.5 Guest disagreement 0.3 Nathan pushing back 0.8
05100:0010:000:05–3:51 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 Nathan Latka Introduces Mark Abbott and Ninety Nathan introduces Mark and highlights Ninety's rapid rise to $30 million in revenue before handing over the stage. Mark begins his presentation by sharing his early career working out bad bank loans and sitting on company boards.3:53–7:23 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Ninety's Platform, Core Competencies, and Revenue Growth Mark delivers a keynote presentation detailing Ninety's platform, nine core organizational competencies, internal culture certification, and historic revenue growth. As an uninterrupted solo presentation, host interaction metrics remain at zero.7:24–13:50 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 The Future of Work and AI-Driven Organizational Intelligence Mark outlines themes from his upcoming book regarding the future of work, organizational transitions, and Ninety's integration of AI tools like mentor bot Maz. The segment is entirely a presentation monologue.13:51–17:07 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Q&A: Strategic Partnerships, EOS Alignment, and Scale Nathan takes the microphone for Q&A, citing insights from 3,000 interviews and Founderpath data rooms to outline the strategy of building software for non-technical coaching ecosystems. Nathan repeatedly probes Mark on partner revenue-sharing percentages and customer unit economics.0:05–3:51 · Guest teaching 0/10 Nathan Latka Introduces Mark Abbott and Ninety Nathan introduces Mark and highlights Ninety's rapid rise to $30 million in revenue before handing over the stage. Mark begins his presentation by sharing his early career working out bad bank loans and sitting on company boards.3:53–7:23 · Guest teaching 0/10 Ninety's Platform, Core Competencies, and Revenue Growth Mark delivers a keynote presentation detailing Ninety's platform, nine core organizational competencies, internal culture certification, and historic revenue growth. As an uninterrupted solo presentation, host interaction metrics remain at zero.7:24–13:50 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Future of Work and AI-Driven Organizational Intelligence Mark outlines themes from his upcoming book regarding the future of work, organizational transitions, and Ninety's integration of AI tools like mentor bot Maz. The segment is entirely a presentation monologue.13:51–17:07 · Guest teaching 2/10 Q&A: Strategic Partnerships, EOS Alignment, and Scale Nathan takes the microphone for Q&A, citing insights from 3,000 interviews and Founderpath data rooms to outline the strategy of building software for non-technical coaching ecosystems. Nathan repeatedly probes Mark on partner revenue-sharing percentages and customer unit economics.0:05–3:51 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Nathan Latka Introduces Mark Abbott and Ninety Nathan introduces Mark and highlights Ninety's rapid rise to $30 million in revenue before handing over the stage. Mark begins his presentation by sharing his early career working out bad bank loans and sitting on company boards.3:53–7:23 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Ninety's Platform, Core Competencies, and Revenue Growth Mark delivers a keynote presentation detailing Ninety's platform, nine core organizational competencies, internal culture certification, and historic revenue growth. As an uninterrupted solo presentation, host interaction metrics remain at zero.7:24–13:50 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Future of Work and AI-Driven Organizational Intelligence Mark outlines themes from his upcoming book regarding the future of work, organizational transitions, and Ninety's integration of AI tools like mentor bot Maz. The segment is entirely a presentation monologue.13:51–17:07 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Q&A: Strategic Partnerships, EOS Alignment, and Scale Nathan takes the microphone for Q&A, citing insights from 3,000 interviews and Founderpath data rooms to outline the strategy of building software for non-technical coaching ecosystems. Nathan repeatedly probes Mark on partner revenue-sharing percentages and customer unit economics.0:05–3:51 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Nathan Latka Introduces Mark Abbott and Ninety Nathan introduces Mark and highlights Ninety's rapid rise to $30 million in revenue before handing over the stage. Mark begins his presentation by sharing his early career working out bad bank loans and sitting on company boards.3:53–7:23 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Ninety's Platform, Core Competencies, and Revenue Growth Mark delivers a keynote presentation detailing Ninety's platform, nine core organizational competencies, internal culture certification, and historic revenue growth. As an uninterrupted solo presentation, host interaction metrics remain at zero.7:24–13:50 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Future of Work and AI-Driven Organizational Intelligence Mark outlines themes from his upcoming book regarding the future of work, organizational transitions, and Ninety's integration of AI tools like mentor bot Maz. The segment is entirely a presentation monologue.13:51–17:07 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Q&A: Strategic Partnerships, EOS Alignment, and Scale Nathan takes the microphone for Q&A, citing insights from 3,000 interviews and Founderpath data rooms to outline the strategy of building software for non-technical coaching ecosystems. Nathan repeatedly probes Mark on partner revenue-sharing percentages and customer unit economics.

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

0:00 · Nathan 25.1% · guest 74.9%0:00 · Nathan 25.1% · guest 74.9%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Nathan 11.9% · guest 88.1%12:00 · Nathan 11.9% · guest 88.1%15:00 · Nathan 54.7% · guest 45.3%15:00 · Nathan 54.7% · guest 45.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 16:07 Hesitation over disclosing partnership rev-share

Mark is momentarily taken aback and pauses when Nathan repeatedly asks for the exact kickback and revenue-share percentage given to partner organizations.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 16:07 Nathan presses on partner kickbacks

Nathan directly challenges Mark by asking what kickback partners receive and immediately follows up when Mark attempts to characterize the relationship as sponsorship.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:14 Mark clarifies EOS relationship origin and equity

Mark explains that Gino Wickman holds no equity in Ninety and reveals that Ninety predated his discovery of Traction, sharing EOS's internal realization that building software was not in their DNA.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 15:21 Nathan outlines the coaching software playbook

Nathan synthesizes cross-portfolio insights from thousands of founder interviews and Founderpath data rooms to articulate the exact economic mechanism behind Ninety's growth.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Nathan Latka Introduces Mark Abbott and Ninety 1000 Nathan introduces Mark and highlights Ninety's rapid rise to $30 million in revenue before handing over the stage. Mark begins his presentation by sharing his early career working out bad bank loans and sitting on company boards.
Ninety's Platform, Core Competencies, and Revenue Growth 0000 Mark delivers a keynote presentation detailing Ninety's platform, nine core organizational competencies, internal culture certification, and historic revenue growth. As an uninterrupted solo presentation, host interaction metrics remain at zero.
The Future of Work and AI-Driven Organizational Intelligence 0000 Mark outlines themes from his upcoming book regarding the future of work, organizational transitions, and Ninety's integration of AI tools like mentor bot Maz. The segment is entirely a presentation monologue.
Q&A: Strategic Partnerships, EOS Alignment, and Scale 7213 Nathan takes the microphone for Q&A, citing insights from 3,000 interviews and Founderpath data rooms to outline the strategy of building software for non-technical coaching ecosystems. Nathan repeatedly probes Mark on partner revenue-sharing percentages and customer unit economics.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Supported
Latka: Mark Abbott rapidly scaled Ninety to a $30M revenue company
“Well, I don't want to bury the lead, but I rarely see someone take advantage of a movement and build it into a thirty million dollar revenue software company as quick as you did.”
Nathan Latka Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 0:39
Assertion Partly supported
Abbott helped build and IPO a company now valued over $50B
“Helped build a company and a platform that was pretty successful. Helped take company public. To this day, the company's over fifty billion.”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 2:58
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ninety saw its first revenue in 2017 and grew 85% in 2023
“First revenues were in 2017. we grew, you know, like a lot of smaller businesses. A hundred percent plus. last year we were 85%.”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 7:01
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Ninety will auto-generate org charts and seat-level KPIs within a year
“Well, within Plus or minus a year from now, you can give us that information, and we will immediately give you what a likely organizational chart will look like for you. Not only that, we'll give you the KPIs, not just for your company, but for every single se…”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 10:54
Disclosure
Ninety spent 1.5 years building Maz, an internal AI mentor bot
“We're building out a mentor bot. I've been working on it for a year and a half now. It's name's Maz, and ultimately it's going to meet every one of our employees where they are.”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 12:06
Disclosure
EOS creator Gino Wickman has no equity in Ninety
“No equity in the business.”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 14:15
Insight
Latka: The most bankable software companies usually start as agencies
“The most successful software companies we see that are most underwritable, bankable, they usually launch an agency.”
Nathan Latka Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 15:36
Disclosure
Ninety pays Exit Planning Institute a 10% to 20% revenue share
“And with regard to EPI, we do have a revenue share. It's between 10 and 20%.”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 16:17
Disclosure
The average Ninety customer pays around $2,500 per year
“About 2500 dollars.”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 16:33
Disclosure
Over 13,000 companies and hundreds of thousands of users run on Ninety
“We have 13,300 companies now running, running on 90, and, you know, several 100,000 people in those companies.”
Mark Abbott Nov 19, 2024 ▶ 16:48
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