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Sep 3, 2024 · 20m · top-founders

He Raised $3m at a $25m valuation, is that overpriced or just right?

Erling Lind · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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

In this interview, Nathan Latka speaks with CVPartner co-founder Erling Lind about scaling a specialized bid and resume management SaaS platform to over $5.5 million in ARR, shifting from a decade of bootstrapping to venture funding, and leading expansion into North America.

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 35.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 4.5
05100:0010:0020:001:02–4:09 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 CVPartner Core Offering and Target Client Use Cases Nathan interrupts to synthesize the product pitch with a concrete DLA Piper legal example. Erling validates the concept while clarifying a more standard engineering tender use case.4:11–7:11 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Pricing Architecture, Early Bootstrapping, and Scaling Traction Nathan drills down on ACV tiers and does real-time mental math to verify the current $5.5M to $6M run rate based on 400 customers. Erling cooperatively confirms the numbers.7:12–10:50 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Retention Metrics, Inbound Acquisition, and Competitive Strategy Nathan refuses Erling's vague 'mix' answer regarding customer acquisition and cites live Ahrefs domain rating data to question inbound traffic claims. Erling clarifies how proposal software like Proposify serves as partners rather than direct competitors.10:50–14:33 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Institutional Funding Decision, Valuation Debate, and Expansion Plans Nathan scrutinizes Erling's decision to raise $3M at a modest ~7.5x multiple in a down market instead of continuing to bootstrap. Erling defends the raise as necessary capital to fuel North American geographic expansion.14:34–17:40 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Independence Strategy, Organizational Scale, and Relocation to Toronto Nathan presses Erling on why he did not pursue an outright M&A exit to players like PandaDoc for a higher multiple. Erling explains that building the business and the operational journey matter more to him than an immediate cash payout.17:40–19:26 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Erling Lind Standard Famous Five wrap-up covering reading material, mentors, software tools, and Erling's upcoming relocation to Toronto.1:02–4:09 · Guest teaching 3/10 CVPartner Core Offering and Target Client Use Cases Nathan interrupts to synthesize the product pitch with a concrete DLA Piper legal example. Erling validates the concept while clarifying a more standard engineering tender use case.4:11–7:11 · Guest teaching 1/10 Pricing Architecture, Early Bootstrapping, and Scaling Traction Nathan drills down on ACV tiers and does real-time mental math to verify the current $5.5M to $6M run rate based on 400 customers. Erling cooperatively confirms the numbers.7:12–10:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 Retention Metrics, Inbound Acquisition, and Competitive Strategy Nathan refuses Erling's vague 'mix' answer regarding customer acquisition and cites live Ahrefs domain rating data to question inbound traffic claims. Erling clarifies how proposal software like Proposify serves as partners rather than direct competitors.10:50–14:33 · Guest teaching 2/10 Institutional Funding Decision, Valuation Debate, and Expansion Plans Nathan scrutinizes Erling's decision to raise $3M at a modest ~7.5x multiple in a down market instead of continuing to bootstrap. Erling defends the raise as necessary capital to fuel North American geographic expansion.14:34–17:40 · Guest teaching 2/10 Independence Strategy, Organizational Scale, and Relocation to Toronto Nathan presses Erling on why he did not pursue an outright M&A exit to players like PandaDoc for a higher multiple. Erling explains that building the business and the operational journey matter more to him than an immediate cash payout.17:40–19:26 · Guest teaching 1/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Erling Lind Standard Famous Five wrap-up covering reading material, mentors, software tools, and Erling's upcoming relocation to Toronto.1:02–4:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 CVPartner Core Offering and Target Client Use Cases Nathan interrupts to synthesize the product pitch with a concrete DLA Piper legal example. Erling validates the concept while clarifying a more standard engineering tender use case.4:11–7:11 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Pricing Architecture, Early Bootstrapping, and Scaling Traction Nathan drills down on ACV tiers and does real-time mental math to verify the current $5.5M to $6M run rate based on 400 customers. Erling cooperatively confirms the numbers.7:12–10:50 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Retention Metrics, Inbound Acquisition, and Competitive Strategy Nathan refuses Erling's vague 'mix' answer regarding customer acquisition and cites live Ahrefs domain rating data to question inbound traffic claims. Erling clarifies how proposal software like Proposify serves as partners rather than direct competitors.10:50–14:33 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Institutional Funding Decision, Valuation Debate, and Expansion Plans Nathan scrutinizes Erling's decision to raise $3M at a modest ~7.5x multiple in a down market instead of continuing to bootstrap. Erling defends the raise as necessary capital to fuel North American geographic expansion.14:34–17:40 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Independence Strategy, Organizational Scale, and Relocation to Toronto Nathan presses Erling on why he did not pursue an outright M&A exit to players like PandaDoc for a higher multiple. Erling explains that building the business and the operational journey matter more to him than an immediate cash payout.17:40–19:26 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Erling Lind Standard Famous Five wrap-up covering reading material, mentors, software tools, and Erling's upcoming relocation to Toronto.1:02–4:09 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 CVPartner Core Offering and Target Client Use Cases Nathan interrupts to synthesize the product pitch with a concrete DLA Piper legal example. Erling validates the concept while clarifying a more standard engineering tender use case.4:11–7:11 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Pricing Architecture, Early Bootstrapping, and Scaling Traction Nathan drills down on ACV tiers and does real-time mental math to verify the current $5.5M to $6M run rate based on 400 customers. Erling cooperatively confirms the numbers.7:12–10:50 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Retention Metrics, Inbound Acquisition, and Competitive Strategy Nathan refuses Erling's vague 'mix' answer regarding customer acquisition and cites live Ahrefs domain rating data to question inbound traffic claims. Erling clarifies how proposal software like Proposify serves as partners rather than direct competitors.10:50–14:33 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Institutional Funding Decision, Valuation Debate, and Expansion Plans Nathan scrutinizes Erling's decision to raise $3M at a modest ~7.5x multiple in a down market instead of continuing to bootstrap. Erling defends the raise as necessary capital to fuel North American geographic expansion.14:34–17:40 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Independence Strategy, Organizational Scale, and Relocation to Toronto Nathan presses Erling on why he did not pursue an outright M&A exit to players like PandaDoc for a higher multiple. Erling explains that building the business and the operational journey matter more to him than an immediate cash payout.17:40–19:26 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Erling Lind Standard Famous Five wrap-up covering reading material, mentors, software tools, and Erling's upcoming relocation to Toronto.

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

0:00 · Nathan 34.6% · guest 65.4%0:00 · Nathan 34.6% · guest 65.4%3:00 · Nathan 32% · guest 68%3:00 · Nathan 32% · guest 68%6:00 · Nathan 51.3% · guest 48.7%6:00 · Nathan 51.3% · guest 48.7%9:00 · Nathan 19.9% · guest 80.1%9:00 · Nathan 19.9% · guest 80.1%12:00 · Nathan 42.2% · guest 57.8%12:00 · Nathan 42.2% · guest 57.8%15:00 · Nathan 30.9% · guest 69.1%15:00 · Nathan 30.9% · guest 69.1%18:00 · Nathan 42.7% · guest 57.3%18:00 · Nathan 42.7% · guest 57.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:44 Guest rejects purely financial exit framing

Erling counters Nathan's suggestion that raising dilution was foolish compared to an outright sale, stating the founders are not in it purely for the money.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:12 Host demands specific acquisition channel

Nathan cuts off Erling's non-committal answer, explicitly forbidding 'it was a mix' and demanding the single top growth driver.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:07 Differentiating deep CV management from generic proposal tools

Erling educates Nathan on why platforms like PandaDoc or Proposify are integration partners rather than direct competitors due to specialized CV and case-study depth.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 13:00 Host calculates dilution and multiple compression

Nathan breaks down the math on a sub-7.5x multiple raise compared to 2021 market highs, challenging the company's capital allocation strategy.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
CVPartner Core Offering and Target Client Use Cases 5312 Nathan interrupts to synthesize the product pitch with a concrete DLA Piper legal example. Erling validates the concept while clarifying a more standard engineering tender use case.
Pricing Architecture, Early Bootstrapping, and Scaling Traction 6113 Nathan drills down on ACV tiers and does real-time mental math to verify the current $5.5M to $6M run rate based on 400 customers. Erling cooperatively confirms the numbers.
Retention Metrics, Inbound Acquisition, and Competitive Strategy 7327 Nathan refuses Erling's vague 'mix' answer regarding customer acquisition and cites live Ahrefs domain rating data to question inbound traffic claims. Erling clarifies how proposal software like Proposify serves as partners rather than direct competitors.
Institutional Funding Decision, Valuation Debate, and Expansion Plans 7238 Nathan scrutinizes Erling's decision to raise $3M at a modest ~7.5x multiple in a down market instead of continuing to bootstrap. Erling defends the raise as necessary capital to fuel North American geographic expansion.
Independence Strategy, Organizational Scale, and Relocation to Toronto 6226 Nathan presses Erling on why he did not pursue an outright M&A exit to players like PandaDoc for a higher multiple. Erling explains that building the business and the operational journey matter more to him than an immediate cash payout.
Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Erling Lind 4101 Standard Famous Five wrap-up covering reading material, mentors, software tools, and Erling's upcoming relocation to Toronto.

Statements from this episode (9)

Disclosure
CVPartner counts Capgemini, PwC, WSP, and DLA Piper among its clients
“Our clients, they are professional service firms. So that means IT consultancies like Capgemini or CGI. It could be management consultancies like BDO or PwC. It could be engineering firms like WSP, and even law firms like DLA Piper. All those logos are clients…”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 1:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
CVPartner has roughly 30 to 50 enterprise customers
“I would say we have probably 30 to 50 enterprises.”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 4:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
CVPartner has over 400 customers and grew approximately 47% last year
“Today we have more than 400 customers. And we grew around 47% last year.”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 6:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
CVPartner ARR run rate is currently between $5M and $6M
“Five and between five and six. That's the Currently are.”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 7:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
CVPartner reached 215% net revenue retention last year
“Our NRR was like 215% last year”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 7:27
Opinion
Proposal platforms like Proposify and Lupio are partners, not competitors
“No, no, those are more for us, those are more partner potential. So so we they would typically like when you're a proposal can consist of multiple parts and multiple documents and typically like there would be some intro about your companies and financials, ho…”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 10:08
Disclosure
CVPartner bootstrapped for 10 years before its first round
“So we basically bootstrapped for 10 years until we raised our first round last year in September.”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 11:16
Disclosure
Lind: CVPartner opened Toronto office for North American expansion
“But we have offices in the UK, and now we started an office in Toronto, Canada to spearhead the North American expansion, and I guess we were seeing more traction in North America, and also a huge market, of course, for us.”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 13:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
CVPartner has nearly 40 employees across five countries
“There are almost 40 now in five countries.”
Erling Lind Sep 3, 2024 ▶ 16:11
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