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Feb 17, 2023 · 17m · top-founders

$1m Raised, 800 Users, Here's how he's launching pricing

Adam Stone · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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

Start Adam founder Adam Stone shares how he pivoted from a freelance marketplace to an ecosystem-embedded SaaS, raised over $2 million, and developed an organic distribution and freemium monetization strategy.

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 36.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 4.0
05100:0010:000:37–3:28 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Executive Summary: Start Adam's Wedge and Vision Nathan introduces the company and asks about the origin story of Speedlancer. Adam explains the evolution of freelancing platforms and why COVID pushed them to unbundle and pivot into Start Adam.3:28–6:57 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Navigating Early Pricing Models for Start Adam Nathan probes into funding amounts, cap table mechanics, and dilution history. He challenges Adam on why he chose to keep the legacy entity instead of starting over with a clean cap table.6:58–10:10 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Long-Term Vision: Reintegrating On-Demand Services into Communication Channels Nathan challenges the core thesis, questioning whether embedding marketplace requests into chat tools is a strong enough wedge against incumbents like Upwork, ClickUp, or Asana. Adam explains his long-term distribution wedge strategy.10:11–12:49 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Leveraging App Store Distribution: Trello, Jira, and Teams Nathan investigates how Start Adam generated 700 installs from the Trello App Store. Adam clarifies how Trello's power-up category uses a rotation algorithm that gives steady baseline exposure.12:50–16:13 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Balancing Viral Growth Loops with Monetization Strategy Nathan pushes hard on why Start Adam has not yet monetized, warns Adam against taxing the viral channel loop like Zapier avoids doing, and presses him to define exact power-user criteria.16:13–17:07 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan leads Adam through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up questions covering books, CEOs, tools, and reflections.0:37–3:28 · Guest teaching 3/10 Executive Summary: Start Adam's Wedge and Vision Nathan introduces the company and asks about the origin story of Speedlancer. Adam explains the evolution of freelancing platforms and why COVID pushed them to unbundle and pivot into Start Adam.3:28–6:57 · Guest teaching 2/10 Navigating Early Pricing Models for Start Adam Nathan probes into funding amounts, cap table mechanics, and dilution history. He challenges Adam on why he chose to keep the legacy entity instead of starting over with a clean cap table.6:58–10:10 · Guest teaching 4/10 Long-Term Vision: Reintegrating On-Demand Services into Communication Channels Nathan challenges the core thesis, questioning whether embedding marketplace requests into chat tools is a strong enough wedge against incumbents like Upwork, ClickUp, or Asana. Adam explains his long-term distribution wedge strategy.10:11–12:49 · Guest teaching 4/10 Leveraging App Store Distribution: Trello, Jira, and Teams Nathan investigates how Start Adam generated 700 installs from the Trello App Store. Adam clarifies how Trello's power-up category uses a rotation algorithm that gives steady baseline exposure.12:50–16:13 · Guest teaching 2/10 Balancing Viral Growth Loops with Monetization Strategy Nathan pushes hard on why Start Adam has not yet monetized, warns Adam against taxing the viral channel loop like Zapier avoids doing, and presses him to define exact power-user criteria.16:13–17:07 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan leads Adam through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up questions covering books, CEOs, tools, and reflections.0:37–3:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Executive Summary: Start Adam's Wedge and Vision Nathan introduces the company and asks about the origin story of Speedlancer. Adam explains the evolution of freelancing platforms and why COVID pushed them to unbundle and pivot into Start Adam.3:28–6:57 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Navigating Early Pricing Models for Start Adam Nathan probes into funding amounts, cap table mechanics, and dilution history. He challenges Adam on why he chose to keep the legacy entity instead of starting over with a clean cap table.6:58–10:10 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Long-Term Vision: Reintegrating On-Demand Services into Communication Channels Nathan challenges the core thesis, questioning whether embedding marketplace requests into chat tools is a strong enough wedge against incumbents like Upwork, ClickUp, or Asana. Adam explains his long-term distribution wedge strategy.10:11–12:49 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Leveraging App Store Distribution: Trello, Jira, and Teams Nathan investigates how Start Adam generated 700 installs from the Trello App Store. Adam clarifies how Trello's power-up category uses a rotation algorithm that gives steady baseline exposure.12:50–16:13 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Balancing Viral Growth Loops with Monetization Strategy Nathan pushes hard on why Start Adam has not yet monetized, warns Adam against taxing the viral channel loop like Zapier avoids doing, and presses him to define exact power-user criteria.16:13–17:07 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan leads Adam through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up questions covering books, CEOs, tools, and reflections.0:37–3:28 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Executive Summary: Start Adam's Wedge and Vision Nathan introduces the company and asks about the origin story of Speedlancer. Adam explains the evolution of freelancing platforms and why COVID pushed them to unbundle and pivot into Start Adam.3:28–6:57 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Navigating Early Pricing Models for Start Adam Nathan probes into funding amounts, cap table mechanics, and dilution history. He challenges Adam on why he chose to keep the legacy entity instead of starting over with a clean cap table.6:58–10:10 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Long-Term Vision: Reintegrating On-Demand Services into Communication Channels Nathan challenges the core thesis, questioning whether embedding marketplace requests into chat tools is a strong enough wedge against incumbents like Upwork, ClickUp, or Asana. Adam explains his long-term distribution wedge strategy.10:11–12:49 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Leveraging App Store Distribution: Trello, Jira, and Teams Nathan investigates how Start Adam generated 700 installs from the Trello App Store. Adam clarifies how Trello's power-up category uses a rotation algorithm that gives steady baseline exposure.12:50–16:13 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Balancing Viral Growth Loops with Monetization Strategy Nathan pushes hard on why Start Adam has not yet monetized, warns Adam against taxing the viral channel loop like Zapier avoids doing, and presses him to define exact power-user criteria.16:13–17:07 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan leads Adam through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up questions covering books, CEOs, tools, and reflections.

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

0:00 · Nathan 56.1% · guest 43.9%0:00 · Nathan 56.1% · guest 43.9%3:00 · Nathan 27.1% · guest 72.9%3:00 · Nathan 27.1% · guest 72.9%6:00 · Nathan 28.1% · guest 71.9%6:00 · Nathan 28.1% · guest 71.9%9:00 · Nathan 35.6% · guest 64.4%9:00 · Nathan 35.6% · guest 64.4%12:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%12:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%15:00 · Nathan 54.3% · guest 45.7%15:00 · Nathan 54.3% · guest 45.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:08 Adam refuses to compete in marketplace customer acquisition

Adam directly rejects competing in paid acquisition against incumbent freelancing platforms, asserting that it is a saturated red ocean and explaining why he refuses to spend money there until distribution is secured.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 15:18 Nathan presses on vague power user definitions

Nathan cuts through Adam's generalized answers about metrics in Amplitude to demand specific, measurable thresholds for defining a billable power user.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:48 Adam explains Trello power-up ranking mechanics

Adam educates Nathan on how Trello's power-up marketplace rotates featured listings randomly across sessions, allowing predictable organic acquisition without review bias.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 13:42 Nathan highlights SaaS viral loop pricing mistake

Nathan draws on SaaS playbook knowledge to warn Adam that charging per channel kills organic product virality, citing Zapier's pricing model as the counterexample.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Executive Summary: Start Adam's Wedge and Vision 4312 Nathan introduces the company and asks about the origin story of Speedlancer. Adam explains the evolution of freelancing platforms and why COVID pushed them to unbundle and pivot into Start Adam.
Navigating Early Pricing Models for Start Adam 6225 Nathan probes into funding amounts, cap table mechanics, and dilution history. He challenges Adam on why he chose to keep the legacy entity instead of starting over with a clean cap table.
Long-Term Vision: Reintegrating On-Demand Services into Communication Channels 6426 Nathan challenges the core thesis, questioning whether embedding marketplace requests into chat tools is a strong enough wedge against incumbents like Upwork, ClickUp, or Asana. Adam explains his long-term distribution wedge strategy.
Leveraging App Store Distribution: Trello, Jira, and Teams 5413 Nathan investigates how Start Adam generated 700 installs from the Trello App Store. Adam clarifies how Trello's power-up category uses a rotation algorithm that gives steady baseline exposure.
Balancing Viral Growth Loops with Monetization Strategy 7227 Nathan pushes hard on why Start Adam has not yet monetized, warns Adam against taxing the viral channel loop like Zapier avoids doing, and presses him to define exact power-user criteria.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2101 Nathan leads Adam through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up questions covering books, CEOs, tools, and reflections.

Statements from this episode (11)

Assertion Contradicted
Adam Stone: Speedlancer was likely the first verticalized freelance marketplace after Fiverr
“And in 2015, there was no verticalized freelancing marketplaces. We were probably the first one after Fiverr, I guess, if you count them as verticalized.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 2:08
Disclosure
Adam Stone: Speedlancer raised under $1M across several funding rounds
“It was less than a million dollars over a number of years. A few different rounds, but we did build amazing technology that we have a paid and pending on and stuff.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 2:29
Disclosure
Start Adam shifts from per-user to communication-based pricing to drive adoption
“Yeah, we were looking at user-based pricing. And now I think we're looking at we want to incentivize all users in a company to use it. So we're not so much looking at user-based pricing. Now it's more communication-based pricing.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 3:51
Disclosure
Adam Stone is winding down Speedlancer to focus on Start Adam SaaS
“It's operating, but to be honest, we're winding it down as we're focusing on the SAS.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 4:17
Assertion Partly supported
Stone: Total funding across Speedlancer and Start Adam is approximately $1.9M
“1.9 or something like that.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 5:37
Disclosure
Start Adam plans to integrate freelance services back into its SaaS
“Although we're building a SAS now, our long-term vision is that we reintegrate services into it.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 7:32
Assertion Supported
Stone: Speedlancer is first freelance marketplace to integrate into Trello
“Speedlancer already plugs into Trello now using StartAtom. And so you can set up a Trello board and send tasks to Speedlancer from Trello. And we're the first marketplace to do that.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 8:39
Disclosure
Adam Stone halts Speedlancer acquisition spend due to crowded freelance market
“Right now, we're in the ramping down stage. So I think it's going to look like this for Speedlancer, like an arc where Speedlancer will come back once we own the distribution channel, because I don't really want to be paying for acquisition right now in such a…”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 9:09
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Start Adam generates 700+ installs from Trello App Store
“We've had like, 700 or more to date over the last couple of months.”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 10:52
Assertion Contradicted
Stone: Trello App Store randomizes listings in communication category
“What I do know about Trello in particular is there's a randomization component, which to me is really nice because it means that they give everyone the opportunity. So if you click on the communication category, I think you said in two categories, they give yo…”
Adam Stone Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 11:54
Insight
Latka: Founders should never charge for features driving viral growth
“You don't want to charge for what's driving your viral coefficient. It's why Zapier doesn't charge by number, like they charge by number of zaps. For a reason, not by number of things you've connected.”
Nathan Latka Feb 17, 2023 ▶ 13:45
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