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Sep 8, 2023 · 17m · top-founders

The King of India Workspaces: How he Logged 20k Bookings Last Month and Took Home $30,000

Nathan Latka · 7m spoken Utkarsh Kawatra · 7m 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, host Nathan Latka speaks with MyHQ founder Utkarsh Kawatra to examine how the Indian on-demand workspace marketplace scaled to $30,000 in monthly revenue, survived pandemic lockdowns, and achieved a strategic acquisition by Anarock.

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 49.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 7.0 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 4.2
05100:0010:001:18–4:00 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Introducing Utkarsh Kawatra and MyHQ's Marketplace Model Nathan structures the explanation of MyHQ's marketplace model, translating the user flow into two-sided marketplace dynamics and computing the 30% take rate.4:00–6:58 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Analyzing Booking Volumes, City Density, and Revenue Growth Nathan works through booking counts, ticket pricing per day versus monthly, and calculates estimated GMV and monthly revenue on the fly.6:58–10:45 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Navigating COVID Lockdowns, Funding, and Acquisition by Anarock Nathan presses on acquisition terms, converting currency, analyzing deal structure, and pointing out the implied revenue multiple based on reported figures.10:46–14:42 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Solving Marketplace Cold Start and Scaling Workspace Supply Nathan untangles a metrics confusion around daily passes versus total monthly volume, pushing the guest until the booking counts are completely clear.14:44–16:31 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Founder Vision, Team Structure, and the Famous Five Nathan calls out the guest for evading a question about whether he intends to stay or launch another company before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.1:18–4:00 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Utkarsh Kawatra and MyHQ's Marketplace Model Nathan structures the explanation of MyHQ's marketplace model, translating the user flow into two-sided marketplace dynamics and computing the 30% take rate.4:00–6:58 · Guest teaching 3/10 Analyzing Booking Volumes, City Density, and Revenue Growth Nathan works through booking counts, ticket pricing per day versus monthly, and calculates estimated GMV and monthly revenue on the fly.6:58–10:45 · Guest teaching 2/10 Navigating COVID Lockdowns, Funding, and Acquisition by Anarock Nathan presses on acquisition terms, converting currency, analyzing deal structure, and pointing out the implied revenue multiple based on reported figures.10:46–14:42 · Guest teaching 4/10 Solving Marketplace Cold Start and Scaling Workspace Supply Nathan untangles a metrics confusion around daily passes versus total monthly volume, pushing the guest until the booking counts are completely clear.14:44–16:31 · Guest teaching 1/10 Founder Vision, Team Structure, and the Famous Five Nathan calls out the guest for evading a question about whether he intends to stay or launch another company before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.1:18–4:00 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Utkarsh Kawatra and MyHQ's Marketplace Model Nathan structures the explanation of MyHQ's marketplace model, translating the user flow into two-sided marketplace dynamics and computing the 30% take rate.4:00–6:58 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Analyzing Booking Volumes, City Density, and Revenue Growth Nathan works through booking counts, ticket pricing per day versus monthly, and calculates estimated GMV and monthly revenue on the fly.6:58–10:45 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Navigating COVID Lockdowns, Funding, and Acquisition by Anarock Nathan presses on acquisition terms, converting currency, analyzing deal structure, and pointing out the implied revenue multiple based on reported figures.10:46–14:42 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Solving Marketplace Cold Start and Scaling Workspace Supply Nathan untangles a metrics confusion around daily passes versus total monthly volume, pushing the guest until the booking counts are completely clear.14:44–16:31 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Founder Vision, Team Structure, and the Famous Five Nathan calls out the guest for evading a question about whether he intends to stay or launch another company before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.1:18–4:00 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Introducing Utkarsh Kawatra and MyHQ's Marketplace Model Nathan structures the explanation of MyHQ's marketplace model, translating the user flow into two-sided marketplace dynamics and computing the 30% take rate.4:00–6:58 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Analyzing Booking Volumes, City Density, and Revenue Growth Nathan works through booking counts, ticket pricing per day versus monthly, and calculates estimated GMV and monthly revenue on the fly.6:58–10:45 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Navigating COVID Lockdowns, Funding, and Acquisition by Anarock Nathan presses on acquisition terms, converting currency, analyzing deal structure, and pointing out the implied revenue multiple based on reported figures.10:46–14:42 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Solving Marketplace Cold Start and Scaling Workspace Supply Nathan untangles a metrics confusion around daily passes versus total monthly volume, pushing the guest until the booking counts are completely clear.14:44–16:31 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Founder Vision, Team Structure, and the Famous Five Nathan calls out the guest for evading a question about whether he intends to stay or launch another company before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 67% · guest 33%0:00 · Nathan 67% · guest 33%3:00 · Nathan 48.6% · guest 51.4%3:00 · Nathan 48.6% · guest 51.4%6:00 · Nathan 34.3% · guest 65.7%6:00 · Nathan 34.3% · guest 65.7%9:00 · Nathan 36.8% · guest 63.2%9:00 · Nathan 36.8% · guest 63.2%12:00 · Nathan 53.6% · guest 46.4%12:00 · Nathan 53.6% · guest 46.4%15:00 · Nathan 61.3% · guest 38.7%15:00 · Nathan 61.3% · guest 38.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:35 Refuting public valuation reporting

Utkarsh directly pushes back on Nathan's multiple calculations by stating the press reporting around the acquisition valuation was inaccurate.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 15:00 Calling out an evasive answer

Nathan refuses to accept Utkarsh's generic positive answer about company expansion, calling out that he dodged the question about staying vs leaving.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 13:35 Correcting booking duration definitions

Utkarsh educates Nathan on the difference between daily pass transactions and monthly enterprise transactions after Nathan misinterprets the 20,000 count.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 6:10 Live revenue and GMV reconstruction

Nathan demonstrates financial mastery by synthesizing booking volume, unit pricing, and take rate to accurately derive MyHQ's monthly topline revenue.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Utkarsh Kawatra and MyHQ's Marketplace Model 7213 Nathan structures the explanation of MyHQ's marketplace model, translating the user flow into two-sided marketplace dynamics and computing the 30% take rate.
Analyzing Booking Volumes, City Density, and Revenue Growth 8314 Nathan works through booking counts, ticket pricing per day versus monthly, and calculates estimated GMV and monthly revenue on the fly.
Navigating COVID Lockdowns, Funding, and Acquisition by Anarock 8225 Nathan presses on acquisition terms, converting currency, analyzing deal structure, and pointing out the implied revenue multiple based on reported figures.
Solving Marketplace Cold Start and Scaling Workspace Supply 7425 Nathan untangles a metrics confusion around daily passes versus total monthly volume, pushing the guest until the booking counts are completely clear.
Founder Vision, Team Structure, and the Famous Five 5124 Nathan calls out the guest for evading a question about whether he intends to stay or launch another company before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.

Statements from this episode (9)

Assertion Supported
WeWork partners with MyHQ to offer workspace bookings in India
“WeWork is one of our partners, so WeWork would be, let's, we are a marketplace, WeWork is one of the space providers, so you can just download the MyHQ, just download and you can book any of the WeWorks in India as an example, it's as simple as that.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 2:41
Disclosure
MyHQ takes a 30% cut on $200 monthly workspace bookings
“So we make roughly about 60 in that.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 3:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
myHQ converts roughly 1,000 users to $120 monthly workspace bookings
“So from that 20,000, there'll be about a thousand who also take up per month bookings, which will be roughly translating to about a 120 dollars a month.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 5:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
myHQ tripled its monthly revenue between June 2022 and June 2023
“So one year ago, we were roughly at one third of this.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 6:49
Disclosure
MyHQ raised $1.5 million in capital prior to its acquisition
“So we had raised about a million and a half.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 10:01
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Press reports of MyHQ's $15M acquisition price were inaccurate
“The number on the press was a bit wrong, I would say.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 10:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
myHQ has roughly 2,000 workspace location providers on its platform
“Oh, we would have about 2000.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 12:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
myHQ has approximately 1,000 active corporate clients
“Currently we would have about a thousand companies who are using us right now.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 12:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
myHQ logged roughly 25,000 total workspace bookings in June 2023
“Total would be about 25,000, yeah. And the monthly bookings will have a higher ticket sense.”
Utkarsh Kawatra Sep 8, 2023 ▶ 13:46
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