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Oct 2, 2022 · 16m · top-founders

How he bootstrapped to $45k MRR in under 6 months for Employee Engagement SaaS

Mahir Iskender · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m 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 Digno founder Mahir Iskender, exploring how he bootstrapped an employee performance gamification platform from an internal retail solution into a SaaS business generating $45,000 in monthly recurring revenue in under six months.

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 37.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 1.7 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.7
05100:0010:000:00–2:31 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Episode Preview: Achieving $45K MRR and Scaling Targets Nathan rapidly converts Mahir's pricing model into average revenue per account and customer team sizes. Mahir explains the core psychological metrics behind Digno's employee score.2:32–5:32 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Origin Story: Gamifying Performance from Retail Management Mahir details the backstory of inventing a fake score dashboard for his retail staff. Nathan interrupts several times to keep answers succinct and clarify the development timeline.5:33–7:57 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Commercial Launch at Collision and Trial Conversions Nathan presses on user numbers, distinguishing between total trialing companies and paying customers. He demands specific details on the conversion mechanism and timeline.8:00–10:38 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Kolide Honest Endpoint Security Following an ad read, Nathan challenges Mahir on why only 10 users are on the free tier despite substantial prep. He then validates the current $45k monthly revenue run rate.10:40–13:13 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Development Investment, TkXel Outsourcing, and Team Scale Mahir outlines his $120k self-funding and outsourcing development to TkXel in Pakistan. Nathan demonstrates market knowledge of overseas hourly engineering rates to estimate monthly burn.13:13–15:38 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Founder-Led Outbound Sales and SaaS Conferences Mahir explains his founder-led outbound sales stack and mentions attending Nathan's conference. The episode concludes amicably with the Famous Five questions.0:00–2:31 · Guest teaching 2/10 Episode Preview: Achieving $45K MRR and Scaling Targets Nathan rapidly converts Mahir's pricing model into average revenue per account and customer team sizes. Mahir explains the core psychological metrics behind Digno's employee score.2:32–5:32 · Guest teaching 2/10 Origin Story: Gamifying Performance from Retail Management Mahir details the backstory of inventing a fake score dashboard for his retail staff. Nathan interrupts several times to keep answers succinct and clarify the development timeline.5:33–7:57 · Guest teaching 2/10 Commercial Launch at Collision and Trial Conversions Nathan presses on user numbers, distinguishing between total trialing companies and paying customers. He demands specific details on the conversion mechanism and timeline.8:00–10:38 · Guest teaching 1/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Kolide Honest Endpoint Security Following an ad read, Nathan challenges Mahir on why only 10 users are on the free tier despite substantial prep. He then validates the current $45k monthly revenue run rate.10:40–13:13 · Guest teaching 2/10 Development Investment, TkXel Outsourcing, and Team Scale Mahir outlines his $120k self-funding and outsourcing development to TkXel in Pakistan. Nathan demonstrates market knowledge of overseas hourly engineering rates to estimate monthly burn.13:13–15:38 · Guest teaching 1/10 Founder-Led Outbound Sales and SaaS Conferences Mahir explains his founder-led outbound sales stack and mentions attending Nathan's conference. The episode concludes amicably with the Famous Five questions.0:00–2:31 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Episode Preview: Achieving $45K MRR and Scaling Targets Nathan rapidly converts Mahir's pricing model into average revenue per account and customer team sizes. Mahir explains the core psychological metrics behind Digno's employee score.2:32–5:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Origin Story: Gamifying Performance from Retail Management Mahir details the backstory of inventing a fake score dashboard for his retail staff. Nathan interrupts several times to keep answers succinct and clarify the development timeline.5:33–7:57 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Commercial Launch at Collision and Trial Conversions Nathan presses on user numbers, distinguishing between total trialing companies and paying customers. He demands specific details on the conversion mechanism and timeline.8:00–10:38 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Kolide Honest Endpoint Security Following an ad read, Nathan challenges Mahir on why only 10 users are on the free tier despite substantial prep. He then validates the current $45k monthly revenue run rate.10:40–13:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Development Investment, TkXel Outsourcing, and Team Scale Mahir outlines his $120k self-funding and outsourcing development to TkXel in Pakistan. Nathan demonstrates market knowledge of overseas hourly engineering rates to estimate monthly burn.13:13–15:38 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Founder-Led Outbound Sales and SaaS Conferences Mahir explains his founder-led outbound sales stack and mentions attending Nathan's conference. The episode concludes amicably with the Famous Five questions.0:00–2:31 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Episode Preview: Achieving $45K MRR and Scaling Targets Nathan rapidly converts Mahir's pricing model into average revenue per account and customer team sizes. Mahir explains the core psychological metrics behind Digno's employee score.2:32–5:32 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Origin Story: Gamifying Performance from Retail Management Mahir details the backstory of inventing a fake score dashboard for his retail staff. Nathan interrupts several times to keep answers succinct and clarify the development timeline.5:33–7:57 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Commercial Launch at Collision and Trial Conversions Nathan presses on user numbers, distinguishing between total trialing companies and paying customers. He demands specific details on the conversion mechanism and timeline.8:00–10:38 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Kolide Honest Endpoint Security Following an ad read, Nathan challenges Mahir on why only 10 users are on the free tier despite substantial prep. He then validates the current $45k monthly revenue run rate.10:40–13:13 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Development Investment, TkXel Outsourcing, and Team Scale Mahir outlines his $120k self-funding and outsourcing development to TkXel in Pakistan. Nathan demonstrates market knowledge of overseas hourly engineering rates to estimate monthly burn.13:13–15:38 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Founder-Led Outbound Sales and SaaS Conferences Mahir explains his founder-led outbound sales stack and mentions attending Nathan's conference. The episode concludes amicably with the Famous Five questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 47.8% · guest 52.2%0:00 · Nathan 47.8% · guest 52.2%3:00 · Nathan 12.3% · guest 87.7%3:00 · Nathan 12.3% · guest 87.7%6:00 · Nathan 44.8% · guest 55.2%6:00 · Nathan 44.8% · guest 55.2%9:00 · Nathan 35.5% · guest 64.5%9:00 · Nathan 35.5% · guest 64.5%12:00 · Nathan 42.5% · guest 57.5%12:00 · Nathan 42.5% · guest 57.5%15:00 · Nathan 59.1% · guest 40.9%15:00 · Nathan 59.1% · guest 40.9%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 6:07 Clarifying trial accounts versus paying customers

When Nathan assumes all 45 companies mentioned are paying, Mahir pushes back to state that many are still on trial.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:30 Challenging low free tier adoption

Nathan directly challenges Mahir's go-to-market pace, questioning why only 10 companies are on the free tier after two years of development.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:20 Explaining the FICO score inspiration for employee productivity

Mahir details how observing Credit Karma and FICO psychology led him to create a gamified performance dashboard for retail staff.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:57 Live validation of $45k MRR calculation

Nathan synthesizes customer count and ARPU metrics on the fly to confirm the company's $45,000 monthly revenue figure.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Episode Preview: Achieving $45K MRR and Scaling Targets 6212 Nathan rapidly converts Mahir's pricing model into average revenue per account and customer team sizes. Mahir explains the core psychological metrics behind Digno's employee score.
Origin Story: Gamifying Performance from Retail Management 4225 Mahir details the backstory of inventing a fake score dashboard for his retail staff. Nathan interrupts several times to keep answers succinct and clarify the development timeline.
Commercial Launch at Collision and Trial Conversions 5226 Nathan presses on user numbers, distinguishing between total trialing companies and paying customers. He demands specific details on the conversion mechanism and timeline.
Sponsor Spotlight: Kolide Honest Endpoint Security 6115 Following an ad read, Nathan challenges Mahir on why only 10 users are on the free tier despite substantial prep. He then validates the current $45k monthly revenue run rate.
Development Investment, TkXel Outsourcing, and Team Scale 6213 Mahir outlines his $120k self-funding and outsourcing development to TkXel in Pakistan. Nathan demonstrates market knowledge of overseas hourly engineering rates to estimate monthly burn.
Founder-Led Outbound Sales and SaaS Conferences 4101 Mahir explains his founder-led outbound sales stack and mentions attending Nathan's conference. The episode concludes amicably with the Famous Five questions.

Statements from this episode (12)

Disclosure
Iskender: Digno charges $59 base plus $7 to $9 per employee
“It's 59 dollars for base subscription, but then there's a seven dollar to nine dollar per, per, per employee fee.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 1:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Iskender: Digno's average customer pays $3,000 to $5,000 per month
“Approximately it's the average is about three to 5000 dollars.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 2:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Iskender: Internal employee scoring prototype increased retail sales by 30%
“Within six months, 30% increase in sales. 40% increase in productivity.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 5:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Iskender: Digno has 45 companies using its platform
“You know, I have 45 companies using it at the moment.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 6:05
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Iskender: Digno has approximately 15 paying customers
“We have approximately 15 paying customers.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 6:15
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Iskender: 17 out of 20 pilot companies converted to paying customers
“And out of 20, we had approximately eight not 18, like 17 convert.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 7:29
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Iskender: Digno aims to hit $82k monthly revenue by year-end
“We're aiming approximately 80, 82,000 dollars by the end of the year.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 10:10
Disclosure
Iskender: Digno has taken no outside funding
“Not a dime from outside.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 10:28
Disclosure
Iskender: Digno's equity is split 90% to Iskender, 10% to his wife
“I own 90% and my partner in life and in the business, my wife, she owns 10%.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 10:33
Disclosure
Iskender invested $120,000 of his personal funds to bootstrap Digno
“We put initially a 120,000 you know just to, we started with 9000 and then we had to add more and obviously so that's how, how we ended up spending.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 10:48
Disclosure
Iskender: Digno relies exclusively on founder-led sales
“It's all me. I'm the salesperson, founder sales.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 13:22
Disclosure
Iskender uses Seamless.AI, Salesflow, and Expandi for Digno's outbound sales
“I use multiple tools. You know, we have we use like seamless, seamless AI, you know, you all heard of I use sales flow and actually I just signed up expand you.”
Mahir Iskender Oct 2, 2022 ▶ 13:29
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