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Jul 4, 2022 · 17m · top-founders

SaaS Bootstrapper Hits $3m Revenue with genius niche product

Alex Fishkinov · 8m 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 interview with Nathan Latka, Splinks co-founder and CEO Alex Fishkinov explains how he bootstrapped a specialized ISP management software platform to three million dollars in annual recurring revenue. He breaks down the company's product evolution, engineering-focused team structure, sales compensation mechanics, and disciplined capital allocation.

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 37.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.3 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 2.8
05100:0010:000:41–3:17 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Splinks and Historical Bootstrapped Revenue Trajectory Nathan performs rapid mental math breaking down customer count, ARPU, and monthly run rate. Alex is extremely cooperative and gives all key SaaS metrics upfront.3:17–5:37 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Solving ISP Operational Challenges and Engineering Team Scaling Alex explains how his software allows regional ISPs to compete against telecom giants. Alex provides a quick minor correction when Nathan mishears the engineering headcount as 25 instead of 35.5:38–8:37 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Churn Retention, Cap Table Equity, and Founder Dividends Nathan probes founder wealth creation, equity breakdown, and dividend distribution. Alex transparently shares their specific cap table percentages and historical dividend figures.8:40–14:27 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Founderpath Valuation Database Tool Promotional Spotlight Nathan interrogates the unit economics of Alex's sales compensation model by calculating quota-to-salary ratios. Alex explains their cost advantage using offshore talent in lower-income regions.0:41–3:17 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Splinks and Historical Bootstrapped Revenue Trajectory Nathan performs rapid mental math breaking down customer count, ARPU, and monthly run rate. Alex is extremely cooperative and gives all key SaaS metrics upfront.3:17–5:37 · Guest teaching 3/10 Solving ISP Operational Challenges and Engineering Team Scaling Alex explains how his software allows regional ISPs to compete against telecom giants. Alex provides a quick minor correction when Nathan mishears the engineering headcount as 25 instead of 35.5:38–8:37 · Guest teaching 4/10 Churn Retention, Cap Table Equity, and Founder Dividends Nathan probes founder wealth creation, equity breakdown, and dividend distribution. Alex transparently shares their specific cap table percentages and historical dividend figures.8:40–14:27 · Guest teaching 3/10 Founderpath Valuation Database Tool Promotional Spotlight Nathan interrogates the unit economics of Alex's sales compensation model by calculating quota-to-salary ratios. Alex explains their cost advantage using offshore talent in lower-income regions.0:41–3:17 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Splinks and Historical Bootstrapped Revenue Trajectory Nathan performs rapid mental math breaking down customer count, ARPU, and monthly run rate. Alex is extremely cooperative and gives all key SaaS metrics upfront.3:17–5:37 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Solving ISP Operational Challenges and Engineering Team Scaling Alex explains how his software allows regional ISPs to compete against telecom giants. Alex provides a quick minor correction when Nathan mishears the engineering headcount as 25 instead of 35.5:38–8:37 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Churn Retention, Cap Table Equity, and Founder Dividends Nathan probes founder wealth creation, equity breakdown, and dividend distribution. Alex transparently shares their specific cap table percentages and historical dividend figures.8:40–14:27 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Founderpath Valuation Database Tool Promotional Spotlight Nathan interrogates the unit economics of Alex's sales compensation model by calculating quota-to-salary ratios. Alex explains their cost advantage using offshore talent in lower-income regions.0:41–3:17 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Introducing Splinks and Historical Bootstrapped Revenue Trajectory Nathan performs rapid mental math breaking down customer count, ARPU, and monthly run rate. Alex is extremely cooperative and gives all key SaaS metrics upfront.3:17–5:37 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Solving ISP Operational Challenges and Engineering Team Scaling Alex explains how his software allows regional ISPs to compete against telecom giants. Alex provides a quick minor correction when Nathan mishears the engineering headcount as 25 instead of 35.5:38–8:37 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Churn Retention, Cap Table Equity, and Founder Dividends Nathan probes founder wealth creation, equity breakdown, and dividend distribution. Alex transparently shares their specific cap table percentages and historical dividend figures.8:40–14:27 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Founderpath Valuation Database Tool Promotional Spotlight Nathan interrogates the unit economics of Alex's sales compensation model by calculating quota-to-salary ratios. Alex explains their cost advantage using offshore talent in lower-income regions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 51.7% · guest 48.3%0:00 · Nathan 51.7% · guest 48.3%3:00 · Nathan 16.9% · guest 83.1%3:00 · Nathan 16.9% · guest 83.1%6:00 · Nathan 38.3% · guest 61.7%6:00 · Nathan 38.3% · guest 61.7%9:00 · Nathan 45.3% · guest 54.7%9:00 · Nathan 45.3% · guest 54.7%12:00 · Nathan 28.7% · guest 71.3%12:00 · Nathan 28.7% · guest 71.3%15:00 · Nathan 51.3% · guest 48.7%15:00 · Nathan 51.3% · guest 48.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:17 Guest pushes back on US compensation assumption

Alex politely counters Nathan's premise about sales compensation, clarifying that US salary benchmarks do not apply because their team is hired internationally in lower-income markets.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:53 Host presses on sales commission and margin math

Nathan refuses to let vague compensation answers slide, walking through the math of a thousand dollars added MRR per month to check whether the company makes a profit on its reps.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:40 Guest details exact cap table ownership

When Nathan assumes a standard co-founder split with a 30 percent lead, Alex corrects him with the exact four-way split of 48 percent, 24 percent, 20 percent, and 8 percent.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:53 Host analyzes salesperson contribution math

Nathan demonstrates sharp SaaS operational knowledge by converting monthly quota targets directly into annual recurring revenue and analyzing rep payout ratios.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Splinks and Historical Bootstrapped Revenue Trajectory 5211 Nathan performs rapid mental math breaking down customer count, ARPU, and monthly run rate. Alex is extremely cooperative and gives all key SaaS metrics upfront.
Solving ISP Operational Challenges and Engineering Team Scaling 4312 Alex explains how his software allows regional ISPs to compete against telecom giants. Alex provides a quick minor correction when Nathan mishears the engineering headcount as 25 instead of 35.
Churn Retention, Cap Table Equity, and Founder Dividends 5413 Nathan probes founder wealth creation, equity breakdown, and dividend distribution. Alex transparently shares their specific cap table percentages and historical dividend figures.
Founderpath Valuation Database Tool Promotional Spotlight 7325 Nathan interrogates the unit economics of Alex's sales compensation model by calculating quota-to-salary ratios. Alex explains their cost advantage using offshore talent in lower-income regions.

Statements from this episode (13)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Splynx has around 700 paying business customers
“At the moment we have around 700 companies working with us.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 1:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bootstrapped Splynx reaches $3M in annual revenue
“We are currently on a three million dollars annual revenue. And we started six years ago and bootstrapped completely.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 1:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Splynx customers pay around $350 per month on average
“Monthly they pay us around 350 US dollars. So it means like 4000 dollars annually.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 1:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Splynx serves clients in 50 different countries
“We have clients from 50 different countries.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 2:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Splynx grew revenue from $80K to $3M across six years
“It was it was one million. Then we went to two million. So we doubled and always in the previous years, we also doubled the revenue. So we started with like 80,000 dollars. Then we went to two 50. Then we went to 500. Then we went to 1,000,002 million at the m…”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 2:52
Assertion Not checkable as stated
At least 35 of Splynx's 50 employees are engineers
“At least 35.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 5:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Splynx adds 15 customers monthly while losing around two
“So if I can tell you that if we gain 15 customers per month, we lose maybe two customers, but mainly it's a new companies that we're not able to onboard, for example.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 5:46
Disclosure
Splynx equity is split 48%, 24%, 20%, and 8% among four partners
“The biggest one has 48%. Me and my partner, we have 20, 24, and there is one silent partner with eight percent.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 6:49
Disclosure
Splynx pays roughly $200,000 in dividends to its four founders
“200,000 more or less.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 8:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fishkinov: Splynx spent about $4k last month on paid ads
“I think around like 4000 dollars.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 10:23
Disclosure
Splynx pays sales reps a 3% to 5% first-year commission
“They do have some fixed salary and then based on on the sales that they bring or they process we pay them some percentage on annual revenue, first year of the annual revenue... Five three percent and up to five percent depends on, on their involvement.”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 10:32
Disclosure
Splynx reps must close at least $1k new MRR monthly
“The minimum is everyone should have like 1000 dollars monthly revenue, the new one. So if they make it, then we start talking about some kind of bonuses”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 11:09
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fishkinov: Splynx sales reps average $2k to $2.5k new MRR monthly
“Usually they make more. They make like two and a half thousands monthly... So in, in, in general, they make around two, 2.5. Monthly one, each of them”
Alex Fishkinov Jul 4, 2022 ▶ 13:03
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