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Apr 11, 2024 · 19m · top-founders

How Younium Hit 200 Customers Paying $30k ACV For its Billing and Revenue Analytics tool

Nicholas Lillia · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Nathan Latka interviews Younium founder Nicholas Lillia on how the B2B subscription management hub scaled past $6.5 million in ARR across 200 enterprise customers through capital efficiency, disciplined pricing, and targeted CFO outreach.

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 29.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.6 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:001:24–4:10 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Younium Value Proposition and Competitive Positioning Nathan incorrectly assumes Younium does expense management comparable to Ramp or Brex. Nicholas directly corrects him, explaining they handle B2B customer invoicing and contract orchestration sitting between CRM and ERP.4:11–8:34 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Founder Origins and Zuora Market Opportunity Nathan presses on whether Younium hits top-tier SaaS benchmarks like 120-130% NRR. Nicholas admits they are not there yet and reframes the conversation around early-stage new customer acquisition taking priority over pure expansion metrics.8:34–14:22 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Early Customer Acquisition and Targeting CFOs Nathan drills deep into sales team mechanics and quota expectations. When Nicholas mixes up 5x ARR and 5x OTE, Nathan immediately catches the slip and presses for clarification on European versus US salary bases.14:22–17:08 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Scaling Past $6M ARR and Capital Efficiency Nathan computes ARR on the fly by multiplying 200 customers by $30k ACV, leading Nicholas to refine the estimate to $6.5M. Nathan then deduces their capital efficiency strategy based on their $10M raise.17:10–19:16 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering software spend, networking, books, sleep, and advice. Nicholas provides direct, cooperative answers.1:24–4:10 · Guest teaching 6/10 Younium Value Proposition and Competitive Positioning Nathan incorrectly assumes Younium does expense management comparable to Ramp or Brex. Nicholas directly corrects him, explaining they handle B2B customer invoicing and contract orchestration sitting between CRM and ERP.4:11–8:34 · Guest teaching 4/10 Founder Origins and Zuora Market Opportunity Nathan presses on whether Younium hits top-tier SaaS benchmarks like 120-130% NRR. Nicholas admits they are not there yet and reframes the conversation around early-stage new customer acquisition taking priority over pure expansion metrics.8:34–14:22 · Guest teaching 3/10 Early Customer Acquisition and Targeting CFOs Nathan drills deep into sales team mechanics and quota expectations. When Nicholas mixes up 5x ARR and 5x OTE, Nathan immediately catches the slip and presses for clarification on European versus US salary bases.14:22–17:08 · Guest teaching 2/10 Scaling Past $6M ARR and Capital Efficiency Nathan computes ARR on the fly by multiplying 200 customers by $30k ACV, leading Nicholas to refine the estimate to $6.5M. Nathan then deduces their capital efficiency strategy based on their $10M raise.17:10–19:16 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering software spend, networking, books, sleep, and advice. Nicholas provides direct, cooperative answers.1:24–4:10 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Younium Value Proposition and Competitive Positioning Nathan incorrectly assumes Younium does expense management comparable to Ramp or Brex. Nicholas directly corrects him, explaining they handle B2B customer invoicing and contract orchestration sitting between CRM and ERP.4:11–8:34 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Founder Origins and Zuora Market Opportunity Nathan presses on whether Younium hits top-tier SaaS benchmarks like 120-130% NRR. Nicholas admits they are not there yet and reframes the conversation around early-stage new customer acquisition taking priority over pure expansion metrics.8:34–14:22 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Early Customer Acquisition and Targeting CFOs Nathan drills deep into sales team mechanics and quota expectations. When Nicholas mixes up 5x ARR and 5x OTE, Nathan immediately catches the slip and presses for clarification on European versus US salary bases.14:22–17:08 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Scaling Past $6M ARR and Capital Efficiency Nathan computes ARR on the fly by multiplying 200 customers by $30k ACV, leading Nicholas to refine the estimate to $6.5M. Nathan then deduces their capital efficiency strategy based on their $10M raise.17:10–19:16 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering software spend, networking, books, sleep, and advice. Nicholas provides direct, cooperative answers.1:24–4:10 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Younium Value Proposition and Competitive Positioning Nathan incorrectly assumes Younium does expense management comparable to Ramp or Brex. Nicholas directly corrects him, explaining they handle B2B customer invoicing and contract orchestration sitting between CRM and ERP.4:11–8:34 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Founder Origins and Zuora Market Opportunity Nathan presses on whether Younium hits top-tier SaaS benchmarks like 120-130% NRR. Nicholas admits they are not there yet and reframes the conversation around early-stage new customer acquisition taking priority over pure expansion metrics.8:34–14:22 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Early Customer Acquisition and Targeting CFOs Nathan drills deep into sales team mechanics and quota expectations. When Nicholas mixes up 5x ARR and 5x OTE, Nathan immediately catches the slip and presses for clarification on European versus US salary bases.14:22–17:08 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Scaling Past $6M ARR and Capital Efficiency Nathan computes ARR on the fly by multiplying 200 customers by $30k ACV, leading Nicholas to refine the estimate to $6.5M. Nathan then deduces their capital efficiency strategy based on their $10M raise.17:10–19:16 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering software spend, networking, books, sleep, and advice. Nicholas provides direct, cooperative answers.

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

0:00 · Nathan 55.8% · guest 44.2%0:00 · Nathan 55.8% · guest 44.2%3:00 · Nathan 19% · guest 81%3:00 · Nathan 19% · guest 81%6:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%6:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%9:00 · Nathan 18.9% · guest 81.1%9:00 · Nathan 18.9% · guest 81.1%12:00 · Nathan 24.7% · guest 75.3%12:00 · Nathan 24.7% · guest 75.3%15:00 · Nathan 28.7% · guest 71.3%15:00 · Nathan 28.7% · guest 71.3%18:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%18:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:48 Pushback on hyper-focus on NRR

Nicholas resists Nathan's framing around elite net retention rates, arguing that for companies at their stage, net new customer acquisition matters just as much if not more.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:55 Clarifying OTE versus ARR quota multiplier

Nathan refuses to let Nicholas glide past a quota metric error, pressing him repeatedly until Nicholas clarifies that reps are assigned quotas equal to 5x OTE rather than 5x ARR.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 2:13 Core value proposition correction

Nicholas patiently corrects Nathan's mistaken comparison to spend management platforms like Brex and Ramp, teaching him where subscription management and invoicing fit in the software stack.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 15:21 Real-time ARR derivation

Nathan applies mental math to Nicholas's customer count and average contract value figures to accurately peg the company's run-rate around six to six-and-a-half million dollars.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Younium Value Proposition and Competitive Positioning 4622 Nathan incorrectly assumes Younium does expense management comparable to Ramp or Brex. Nicholas directly corrects him, explaining they handle B2B customer invoicing and contract orchestration sitting between CRM and ERP.
Founder Origins and Zuora Market Opportunity 5434 Nathan presses on whether Younium hits top-tier SaaS benchmarks like 120-130% NRR. Nicholas admits they are not there yet and reframes the conversation around early-stage new customer acquisition taking priority over pure expansion metrics.
Early Customer Acquisition and Targeting CFOs 6325 Nathan drills deep into sales team mechanics and quota expectations. When Nicholas mixes up 5x ARR and 5x OTE, Nathan immediately catches the slip and presses for clarification on European versus US salary bases.
Scaling Past $6M ARR and Capital Efficiency 6213 Nathan computes ARR on the fly by multiplying 200 customers by $30k ACV, leading Nicholas to refine the estimate to $6.5M. Nathan then deduces their capital efficiency strategy based on their $10M raise.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2001 Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering software spend, networking, books, sleep, and advice. Nicholas provides direct, cooperative answers.

Statements from this episode (13)

Disclosure
Lillia: Younium operates between CRMs and accounting software to manage subscriptions
“We typically sit between like a Salesforce and a HubSpot and a backend like a NetSuite or a QuickBooks and perhaps your own service and how to get that orchestrated and done in a good way, all the way from, you know, quoting, Dealing with the subscription over…”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 2:31
Disclosure
Lillia: Younium focuses exclusively on complex B2B deals rather than standardized B2C
“We are focused only on B to B, so we don't do any B to C. So you definitely have some players, you know, doing a bit of B to C, and also like B to small B, where it's very, very standardized. Maybe it's an online, 99 dollars a month, very standardized. They ar…”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 3:25
Assertion Supported
Latka: Zuora is getting killed in the public markets
“They're getting killed in the public markets though. I mean, they're very, they're down a lot.”
Nathan Latka Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 5:36
Disclosure
Lillia: Younium has an average price point around $30,000 per year
“So typically I would say like an average price point is around 30,000 dollars a year a year that is, right? So so that's some average, but you know, quite, quite a big spread from small companies to big companies as well.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 6:14
Insight
Lillia: Early-stage SaaS should prioritize new customer acquisition over net retention
“But I think also, when you are, you know, when you're not super, super big, I think, like, new customer growth, Is equally, if not more important as well. I, if you do the math, I definitely see, you know, a ramping effect if you accumulate over years. But als…”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 8:05
Insight
Lillia: Subscription billing problems ultimately land on CFOs, not sales
“Our thesis is what the, you know, you can sort of get by with a lot of things, but in the end, it all falls down into the lap of the CFO and they have to figure out the solution. But if you're in sales, you can do something and then you can just push it downst…”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 9:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lillia: Younium has close to 60 full-time employees
“So we're currently close to 60.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 10:36
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lillia: Younium has six quota-carrying sales reps
“So at the moment, I think we are six code of the carrying reps.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 11:07
Disclosure
Lillia: Younium sets sales quotas at five times OTE
“The AR they bring in should be five times the OT.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 13:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lillia: Younium has surpassed 200 paying customers
“So we crossed 200.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 14:37
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lillia: Younium targets reaching cash flow positivity by end of 2024
“So I'm targeting cashflow positive by, you know, end of 24.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 15:10
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lillia: Younium generates around $6.5M in ARR
“No, the 30 K per customer is probably 31 or 32. I know something, but when you multiply with 200, it's still sort of something. So, so, so I would say around like six and a half million views dollars, something like that.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 15:51
Disclosure
Lillia: Younium has raised around $10 million in funding
“Around Ten million US dollars.”
Nicholas Lillia Apr 11, 2024 ▶ 16:16
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