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Jul 18, 2022 · 18m · top-founders

$0 to $2m in 6 months helping SaaS companies hire engineers fast

Chad Ingram · 11m 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

In this episode of Conversations with Nathan Latka, serial entrepreneur Chad Ingram breaks down how Distro.io achieved a $2 million GMV run rate in six months by connecting US startups with vetted international developers.

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 32.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 2.2 Guest disagreement 1.7 Nathan pushing back 3.5
05100:0010:000:47–3:11 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Chad Ingram's Entrepreneurial Origins and Background Nathan introduces Chad and establishes his background, asking exploratory questions about Distro's core value proposition as an alternative to traditional dev shops.3:12–6:23 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Monetization Mechanics, Developer Pricing, and Take Rates Nathan calculates unit economics in real time, catching that Chad's cited $2M ARR is gross marketplace volume (GMV) rather than net revenue, pushing him to admit his actual rake run rate is closer to $1M.6:24–8:54 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Fundraising Plans, Valuation Dynamics, and Profitability Nathan presses Chad on current fundraising targets, market multiples, and profitability, while Chad explains why early-stage multiples have held up better than late-stage.8:55–11:41 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Founder Equity, Capital Investment, and Tech Labor Pressures Nathan inquires about co-founder equity splits and personal capital contributions, with Chad detailing his $250k initial self-funding and tech wage inflation.11:44–16:49 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Geographic Sourcing Shifts and Product Roadmap Focus Nathan tries to extract Chad's proprietary playbook for sourcing foreign recruiters and tests his defenses against circumvention, prompting Chad to guard his secret sauce and educate Nathan on foreign developer psychology.16:50–17:52 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, reading material, and personal routines.0:47–3:11 · Guest teaching 1/10 Chad Ingram's Entrepreneurial Origins and Background Nathan introduces Chad and establishes his background, asking exploratory questions about Distro's core value proposition as an alternative to traditional dev shops.3:12–6:23 · Guest teaching 2/10 Monetization Mechanics, Developer Pricing, and Take Rates Nathan calculates unit economics in real time, catching that Chad's cited $2M ARR is gross marketplace volume (GMV) rather than net revenue, pushing him to admit his actual rake run rate is closer to $1M.6:24–8:54 · Guest teaching 3/10 Fundraising Plans, Valuation Dynamics, and Profitability Nathan presses Chad on current fundraising targets, market multiples, and profitability, while Chad explains why early-stage multiples have held up better than late-stage.8:55–11:41 · Guest teaching 2/10 Founder Equity, Capital Investment, and Tech Labor Pressures Nathan inquires about co-founder equity splits and personal capital contributions, with Chad detailing his $250k initial self-funding and tech wage inflation.11:44–16:49 · Guest teaching 5/10 Geographic Sourcing Shifts and Product Roadmap Focus Nathan tries to extract Chad's proprietary playbook for sourcing foreign recruiters and tests his defenses against circumvention, prompting Chad to guard his secret sauce and educate Nathan on foreign developer psychology.16:50–17:52 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, reading material, and personal routines.0:47–3:11 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Chad Ingram's Entrepreneurial Origins and Background Nathan introduces Chad and establishes his background, asking exploratory questions about Distro's core value proposition as an alternative to traditional dev shops.3:12–6:23 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Monetization Mechanics, Developer Pricing, and Take Rates Nathan calculates unit economics in real time, catching that Chad's cited $2M ARR is gross marketplace volume (GMV) rather than net revenue, pushing him to admit his actual rake run rate is closer to $1M.6:24–8:54 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Fundraising Plans, Valuation Dynamics, and Profitability Nathan presses Chad on current fundraising targets, market multiples, and profitability, while Chad explains why early-stage multiples have held up better than late-stage.8:55–11:41 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Founder Equity, Capital Investment, and Tech Labor Pressures Nathan inquires about co-founder equity splits and personal capital contributions, with Chad detailing his $250k initial self-funding and tech wage inflation.11:44–16:49 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Geographic Sourcing Shifts and Product Roadmap Focus Nathan tries to extract Chad's proprietary playbook for sourcing foreign recruiters and tests his defenses against circumvention, prompting Chad to guard his secret sauce and educate Nathan on foreign developer psychology.16:50–17:52 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, reading material, and personal routines.0:47–3:11 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Chad Ingram's Entrepreneurial Origins and Background Nathan introduces Chad and establishes his background, asking exploratory questions about Distro's core value proposition as an alternative to traditional dev shops.3:12–6:23 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Monetization Mechanics, Developer Pricing, and Take Rates Nathan calculates unit economics in real time, catching that Chad's cited $2M ARR is gross marketplace volume (GMV) rather than net revenue, pushing him to admit his actual rake run rate is closer to $1M.6:24–8:54 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Fundraising Plans, Valuation Dynamics, and Profitability Nathan presses Chad on current fundraising targets, market multiples, and profitability, while Chad explains why early-stage multiples have held up better than late-stage.8:55–11:41 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Founder Equity, Capital Investment, and Tech Labor Pressures Nathan inquires about co-founder equity splits and personal capital contributions, with Chad detailing his $250k initial self-funding and tech wage inflation.11:44–16:49 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Geographic Sourcing Shifts and Product Roadmap Focus Nathan tries to extract Chad's proprietary playbook for sourcing foreign recruiters and tests his defenses against circumvention, prompting Chad to guard his secret sauce and educate Nathan on foreign developer psychology.16:50–17:52 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, reading material, and personal routines.

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

0:00 · Nathan 42.7% · guest 57.3%0:00 · Nathan 42.7% · guest 57.3%3:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%3:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%6:00 · Nathan 18% · guest 82%6:00 · Nathan 18% · guest 82%9:00 · Nathan 38.9% · guest 61.1%9:00 · Nathan 38.9% · guest 61.1%12:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%12:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%15:00 · Nathan 33.7% · guest 66.3%15:00 · Nathan 33.7% · guest 66.3%18:00 · Nathan 97.4% · guest 2.6%18:00 · Nathan 97.4% · guest 2.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:25 Chad refuses to disclose recruiter sourcing

When Nathan repeatedly presses Chad to reveal how he acquired his initial native recruiters in Latin America, Chad firmly draws a line and refuses to share his proprietary method.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 6:00 Calling out GMV masked as ARR

Nathan immediately halts Chad when he quotes $2M ARR, pointing out that counting total payroll passes through GMV rather than net take rate, forcing Chad to agree.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:52 Chad explains why developers do not circumvent

Chad educates Nathan on why marketplace disintermediation risk is low by framing it through the developer's need for payment stability and reliability in emerging markets.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 5:45 Mental math deconstruction of marketplace revenue

Nathan executes real-time unit math on 26 developers multiplied by take rate to recalculate and correct Chad's reported revenue numbers on the fly.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Chad Ingram's Entrepreneurial Origins and Background 3111 Nathan introduces Chad and establishes his background, asking exploratory questions about Distro's core value proposition as an alternative to traditional dev shops.
Monetization Mechanics, Developer Pricing, and Take Rates 8227 Nathan calculates unit economics in real time, catching that Chad's cited $2M ARR is gross marketplace volume (GMV) rather than net revenue, pushing him to admit his actual rake run rate is closer to $1M.
Fundraising Plans, Valuation Dynamics, and Profitability 6324 Nathan presses Chad on current fundraising targets, market multiples, and profitability, while Chad explains why early-stage multiples have held up better than late-stage.
Founder Equity, Capital Investment, and Tech Labor Pressures 4212 Nathan inquires about co-founder equity splits and personal capital contributions, with Chad detailing his $250k initial self-funding and tech wage inflation.
Geographic Sourcing Shifts and Product Roadmap Focus 7547 Nathan tries to extract Chad's proprietary playbook for sourcing foreign recruiters and tests his defenses against circumvention, prompting Chad to guard his secret sauce and educate Nathan on foreign developer psychology.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2000 Nathan runs through standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, reading material, and personal routines.

Statements from this episode (15)

Opinion
Ingram: Traditional dev shops create lack of control and team misalignment
“And so but you know, that comes with a lot of disadvantages, like, you know, a lot, lack of control. You don't know you're hiring. They're not, you know, they're not like in your team infrastructure. They don't really understand the purpose of the products the…”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 2:27
Disclosure
Ingram: Distro requires no long-term agreements for hiring developers
“Once you make a hire that hires placed through distro, we don't have any like long-term agreements just to use your agreement.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 2:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Distro.io developer placements average $11k to $12k monthly
“I would say, yeah, between 11 and 12, you know, depending on experience.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 3:42
Disclosure
Distro.io targets 25% take rate on developer payroll
“It depends on the geography. So usually in more, more Asian countries in India, we can take a little bit more, but it really just depends on the geography, but we try to get to 25%.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 4:05
Disclosure
Distro.io collects developer payroll rake in perpetuity
“Perpetuity. Yeah.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 4:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ingram: Distro is tracking just under $2 million in annualized run rate
“So we just, we're just a hair under two million of error currently.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 5:30
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ingram: Distro has 25 to 26 active developers placed
“So we are 25 or so, 25 or 26.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 5:43
Disclosure
Distro books full developer salaries as its own top-line revenue
“That would be top line. So that's the full marketplace charge. So like the full salaries and everything. So the way we recognize revenues, we take the whole thing in.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 5:58
Disclosure
Ingram: Distro is targeting a $3M fundraise while profitable
“So we think that three will get us to where we need to go. We can definitely take a smaller number because, you know, a little bit more context, we're profitable right now.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 7:53
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ingram: Distro nets $15k to $20k in monthly profit
“So we'll net, you know, 15 to 20,000 a month right now.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 8:07
Disclosure
Ingram personally invested about $250,000 into Distro
“So about two 50 is what I said.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 9:41
Opinion
Ingram: Startups cannot compete with big tech remote salaries
“Like how do you can't compete with that. Like there's really nothing you can do about that. And it's only getting worse.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 10:44
Insight
Startups prioritize timezone over cost, shifting remote engineering to South America
“What we found is that it wasn't a money thing. Though they're saving money, they were really concerned about, you know, Just getting the right team members with the right experience and time zones. So we're finding that most of our customers right now are, and…”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 12:04
Insight
Ingram: Job ads attract weaker engineers; top talent must be actively recruited
“The problem is, is that only the less qualified people are applying. The really qualified people are happy where they are. They're being recruited.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 14:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ingram: Distro has had zero platform circumvention from clients or developers
“So all VCs I've talked to, even some customers that have asked us, well, you know, like circumvention is your biggest problem, right? Well, we haven't had that happen yet.”
Chad Ingram Jul 18, 2022 ▶ 15:54
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