StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Nov 28, 2021 · 15m · top-founders

Camera Analytics SaaS Hits $6k MRR, Raised $1.5m at $4m Valuation

Tavi Tamiste · 7m 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, host Nathan Latka speaks with Fima.ai co-founder and CTO Tavi Tamiste about turning standard CCTV cameras into physical space analytics, scaling to $6k MRR, and deploying a €1.5 million seed round.

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 39% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 3.2
05100:0010:000:51–2:56 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Tavi Tamiste and Fima.ai Latka introduces Tamiste and probes how Fima operates without proprietary hardware by tapping existing CCTV feeds. Tamiste explains the computer vision model and training dataset size, keeping the exchange collaborative and explanatory.2:57–6:16 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Pricing Model and Per-Camera Economics Latka pushes back firmly when Tamiste claims customers modify their camera billing day-to-day, pointing out that standard SaaS products do not operate on daily manual upgrades/downgrades. Tamiste defends the claim with temporary real estate experiment use cases before acknowledging baseline cameras run 24/7.6:18–9:22 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 UK Pilot Deployments and Monthly Recurring Revenue Latka calculates Tamiste's revenue at $11,000 MRR based on 50 cameras at $225 per unit, but Tamiste corrects him by revealing many cameras are in discounted pilot phases at roughly $6,000 MRR. Latka quickly pivots to discuss funding rounds.9:23–11:39 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Capital Deployment, Valuation, and Co-Founder Equity Split Latka drills into valuation mechanics for pre-revenue funding and breaks down the cap table equity split between co-founders. Tamiste explains their lead investor's role in setting the $5M valuation.11:40–14:50 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Team Structure, Engineering Headcount, and Customer Retention Latka checks team composition and churn metrics, where Tamiste explains that customer turnover has only occurred on predetermined seasonal pilot projects. The segment concludes with standard rapid-fire questions.0:51–2:56 · Guest teaching 4/10 Introducing Tavi Tamiste and Fima.ai Latka introduces Tamiste and probes how Fima operates without proprietary hardware by tapping existing CCTV feeds. Tamiste explains the computer vision model and training dataset size, keeping the exchange collaborative and explanatory.2:57–6:16 · Guest teaching 4/10 Pricing Model and Per-Camera Economics Latka pushes back firmly when Tamiste claims customers modify their camera billing day-to-day, pointing out that standard SaaS products do not operate on daily manual upgrades/downgrades. Tamiste defends the claim with temporary real estate experiment use cases before acknowledging baseline cameras run 24/7.6:18–9:22 · Guest teaching 6/10 UK Pilot Deployments and Monthly Recurring Revenue Latka calculates Tamiste's revenue at $11,000 MRR based on 50 cameras at $225 per unit, but Tamiste corrects him by revealing many cameras are in discounted pilot phases at roughly $6,000 MRR. Latka quickly pivots to discuss funding rounds.9:23–11:39 · Guest teaching 3/10 Capital Deployment, Valuation, and Co-Founder Equity Split Latka drills into valuation mechanics for pre-revenue funding and breaks down the cap table equity split between co-founders. Tamiste explains their lead investor's role in setting the $5M valuation.11:40–14:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 Team Structure, Engineering Headcount, and Customer Retention Latka checks team composition and churn metrics, where Tamiste explains that customer turnover has only occurred on predetermined seasonal pilot projects. The segment concludes with standard rapid-fire questions.0:51–2:56 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Tavi Tamiste and Fima.ai Latka introduces Tamiste and probes how Fima operates without proprietary hardware by tapping existing CCTV feeds. Tamiste explains the computer vision model and training dataset size, keeping the exchange collaborative and explanatory.2:57–6:16 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Pricing Model and Per-Camera Economics Latka pushes back firmly when Tamiste claims customers modify their camera billing day-to-day, pointing out that standard SaaS products do not operate on daily manual upgrades/downgrades. Tamiste defends the claim with temporary real estate experiment use cases before acknowledging baseline cameras run 24/7.6:18–9:22 · Guest disagreement 2/10 UK Pilot Deployments and Monthly Recurring Revenue Latka calculates Tamiste's revenue at $11,000 MRR based on 50 cameras at $225 per unit, but Tamiste corrects him by revealing many cameras are in discounted pilot phases at roughly $6,000 MRR. Latka quickly pivots to discuss funding rounds.9:23–11:39 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Capital Deployment, Valuation, and Co-Founder Equity Split Latka drills into valuation mechanics for pre-revenue funding and breaks down the cap table equity split between co-founders. Tamiste explains their lead investor's role in setting the $5M valuation.11:40–14:50 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Team Structure, Engineering Headcount, and Customer Retention Latka checks team composition and churn metrics, where Tamiste explains that customer turnover has only occurred on predetermined seasonal pilot projects. The segment concludes with standard rapid-fire questions.0:51–2:56 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Introducing Tavi Tamiste and Fima.ai Latka introduces Tamiste and probes how Fima operates without proprietary hardware by tapping existing CCTV feeds. Tamiste explains the computer vision model and training dataset size, keeping the exchange collaborative and explanatory.2:57–6:16 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Pricing Model and Per-Camera Economics Latka pushes back firmly when Tamiste claims customers modify their camera billing day-to-day, pointing out that standard SaaS products do not operate on daily manual upgrades/downgrades. Tamiste defends the claim with temporary real estate experiment use cases before acknowledging baseline cameras run 24/7.6:18–9:22 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 UK Pilot Deployments and Monthly Recurring Revenue Latka calculates Tamiste's revenue at $11,000 MRR based on 50 cameras at $225 per unit, but Tamiste corrects him by revealing many cameras are in discounted pilot phases at roughly $6,000 MRR. Latka quickly pivots to discuss funding rounds.9:23–11:39 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Capital Deployment, Valuation, and Co-Founder Equity Split Latka drills into valuation mechanics for pre-revenue funding and breaks down the cap table equity split between co-founders. Tamiste explains their lead investor's role in setting the $5M valuation.11:40–14:50 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Team Structure, Engineering Headcount, and Customer Retention Latka checks team composition and churn metrics, where Tamiste explains that customer turnover has only occurred on predetermined seasonal pilot projects. The segment concludes with standard rapid-fire questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 47.9% · guest 52.1%0:00 · Nathan 47.9% · guest 52.1%3:00 · Nathan 21.1% · guest 78.9%3:00 · Nathan 21.1% · guest 78.9%6:00 · Nathan 57.2% · guest 42.8%6:00 · Nathan 57.2% · guest 42.8%9:00 · Nathan 37.5% · guest 62.5%9:00 · Nathan 37.5% · guest 62.5%12:00 · Nathan 24.6% · guest 75.4%12:00 · Nathan 24.6% · guest 75.4%15:00 · Nathan 96.3% · guest 3.7%15:00 · Nathan 96.3% · guest 3.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 3:32 Guest defends daily usage adjustments

Tamiste counters Latka's skepticism about SaaS usage flexibility by outlining specific short-term real estate experiments like food truck tracking.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 3:37 Latka rejects daily billing premise

Latka directly challenges Tamiste's claim that customers alter their subscription daily, asserting no typical SaaS customer operates with daily tier adjustments.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:10 Correcting revenue calculation to reflect pilot rates

Tamiste educates Latka on the reality of their revenue, showing that multiplying camera count by list price overestimates revenue because most deployments are discounted pilots.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 3:37 Latka brings SaaS operational reality check

Latka draws on his broad SaaS experience to challenge unrealistic claims about customer subscription modification habits.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Tavi Tamiste and Fima.ai 5411 Latka introduces Tamiste and probes how Fima operates without proprietary hardware by tapping existing CCTV feeds. Tamiste explains the computer vision model and training dataset size, keeping the exchange collaborative and explanatory.
Pricing Model and Per-Camera Economics 7436 Latka pushes back firmly when Tamiste claims customers modify their camera billing day-to-day, pointing out that standard SaaS products do not operate on daily manual upgrades/downgrades. Tamiste defends the claim with temporary real estate experiment use cases before acknowledging baseline cameras run 24/7.
UK Pilot Deployments and Monthly Recurring Revenue 6624 Latka calculates Tamiste's revenue at $11,000 MRR based on 50 cameras at $225 per unit, but Tamiste corrects him by revealing many cameras are in discounted pilot phases at roughly $6,000 MRR. Latka quickly pivots to discuss funding rounds.
Capital Deployment, Valuation, and Co-Founder Equity Split 6313 Latka drills into valuation mechanics for pre-revenue funding and breaks down the cap table equity split between co-founders. Tamiste explains their lead investor's role in setting the $5M valuation.
Team Structure, Engineering Headcount, and Customer Retention 5312 Latka checks team composition and churn metrics, where Tamiste explains that customer turnover has only occurred on predetermined seasonal pilot projects. The segment concludes with standard rapid-fire questions.

Statements from this episode (15)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tamiste: Fima.ai Is Among First Hardware-Free Computer Vision Startups
“So we're one of the first companies out there who doesn't deal in any hardware. We take your existing CCTV cameras push the stream to our AI brain and give you data out.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 1:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tamiste: Fima.ai Training Dataset Exceeds 200k to 300k Images
“So I think our data sets now are above 200,300 thousand images at the moment.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 2:45
Disclosure
Fima.ai Charges 200 Euros Per Camera Per Month
“So right now we charge 200 euros per camera per month.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 4:20
Disclosure
Tamiste: Fima.ai Customers Average Around 20 Cameras at Onboarding
“I think the last average I looked at is around 20 cameras but it can be one, it can be 50.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 4:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tamiste: Fima.ai deploys camera analytics in 20 seconds
“And now with FIMA, you can do it in 20 seconds, basically.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 5:46
Insight
Tamiste: Computer vision requires narrow niches because general vision AI does not exist
“You can only do it in a specific niche. And in computer vision, we're doing it in the CCTV camera angle because you can at least not yet make an AI algorithm that can, you know, look at everything.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 6:00
Disclosure
Fima.ai is working with 10 to 15 customers
“So right now I think we're working with about 10 to 15 customers but we are running a bunch of pilots in the UK at the moment.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 6:22
Disclosure
Fima.ai had around 50 paid cameras on its network last month
“I think around 50.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 7:01
Disclosure
Fima.ai generates around $5,500 monthly revenue due to pilot phase pricing
“Not that much, because the thing is that most of these are still in pilot phase. So we're doing around half that, I think.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 7:22
Disclosure
Fima.ai Raised €250k Pre-Seed and €1.5M Seed Round
“No, we have raised two rounds, so we raised our pre-seed round of 250 K, I think in 2019, and we raised a seed round of 1.5 five million euros December last year.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 7:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tamiste: Fyma had zero paying customers one year ago
“I think a year ago we were launching our first version of the web application and we didn't have any paying customers.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 10:11
Disclosure
Fyma Raised Pre-Revenue Seed Round at Around 5M Valuation
“Don't quote me on this because I don't remember by heart, but I think it was around five million.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 11:00
Disclosure
Tamiste: Fyma co-founders split equity 50/50 at founding
“Yes.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 11:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tamiste: Fima.ai has a team of around 12 to 13 people
“I think at the moment, the entire team is around 12, 13 people.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 12:04
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tamiste: Fima.ai has experienced zero unplanned customer churn
“Churn currently has only been for, you know, short term projects that were meant to be short term projects. But no one has actually churned from being a customer to not being a customer yet.”
Tavi Tamiste Nov 28, 2021 ▶ 13:04
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more