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Nov 12, 2021 · 17m · top-founders

SheetGo Hits $70k in MRR Helping You Get More out of Google Sheets

Yannick Rolt · 7m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m 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, Nathan Latka sits down with Sheetgo CEO Yannick Rolt to discuss how the company scaled its spreadsheet workflow automation platform to over $70,000 in monthly recurring revenue with a lean, remote-first team.

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 44.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.6 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 2.8 Nathan pushing back 5.6
05100:0010:003:03–6:46 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Pricing, Customer Profiles, and Use Cases Nathan drills down on pricing structure, customer persona, and seat counts, pushing Yannick when answers are vague ('You're not helping me out here, man'). Yannick explains the use cases across education and budgeting while clarifying their shift from single users to team licenses.6:47–10:09 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Revenue Trajectory and Team Composition Nathan calculates past revenue from current growth metrics and pushes on the million-dollar run rate milestone. Yannick is cooperative, acknowledging fatigue from the late hour in Europe and sharing team size and remote setup.10:12–13:35 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Fundraising Strategy, Valuation, and Growth Debate Nathan plays devil's advocate, directly challenging Yannick's claim that they needed more venture capital by highlighting that five years to reach under $1M ARR is too slow for venture backing. Yannick defends his product-first strategy and justifies the decision to prioritize technology over aggressive early commercialization.13:35–16:02 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Retention Metrics and Lead Generation Disagreement A tense standoff occurs when Yannick refuses to disclose monthly lead volume from Google Workspace Marketplace. Nathan challenges the refusal, pointing out that Yannick already shared more sensitive figures like valuation and revenue, leading to an awkward exchange about podcast prep.16:02–17:10 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, quickly moving past a slight point of confusion on online tools. The segment finishes with Nathan delivering his customary wrap-up summary of the business metrics.3:03–6:46 · Guest teaching 3/10 Pricing, Customer Profiles, and Use Cases Nathan drills down on pricing structure, customer persona, and seat counts, pushing Yannick when answers are vague ('You're not helping me out here, man'). Yannick explains the use cases across education and budgeting while clarifying their shift from single users to team licenses.6:47–10:09 · Guest teaching 2/10 Revenue Trajectory and Team Composition Nathan calculates past revenue from current growth metrics and pushes on the million-dollar run rate milestone. Yannick is cooperative, acknowledging fatigue from the late hour in Europe and sharing team size and remote setup.10:12–13:35 · Guest teaching 2/10 Fundraising Strategy, Valuation, and Growth Debate Nathan plays devil's advocate, directly challenging Yannick's claim that they needed more venture capital by highlighting that five years to reach under $1M ARR is too slow for venture backing. Yannick defends his product-first strategy and justifies the decision to prioritize technology over aggressive early commercialization.13:35–16:02 · Guest teaching 4/10 Retention Metrics and Lead Generation Disagreement A tense standoff occurs when Yannick refuses to disclose monthly lead volume from Google Workspace Marketplace. Nathan challenges the refusal, pointing out that Yannick already shared more sensitive figures like valuation and revenue, leading to an awkward exchange about podcast prep.16:02–17:10 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, quickly moving past a slight point of confusion on online tools. The segment finishes with Nathan delivering his customary wrap-up summary of the business metrics.3:03–6:46 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Pricing, Customer Profiles, and Use Cases Nathan drills down on pricing structure, customer persona, and seat counts, pushing Yannick when answers are vague ('You're not helping me out here, man'). Yannick explains the use cases across education and budgeting while clarifying their shift from single users to team licenses.6:47–10:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Revenue Trajectory and Team Composition Nathan calculates past revenue from current growth metrics and pushes on the million-dollar run rate milestone. Yannick is cooperative, acknowledging fatigue from the late hour in Europe and sharing team size and remote setup.10:12–13:35 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Fundraising Strategy, Valuation, and Growth Debate Nathan plays devil's advocate, directly challenging Yannick's claim that they needed more venture capital by highlighting that five years to reach under $1M ARR is too slow for venture backing. Yannick defends his product-first strategy and justifies the decision to prioritize technology over aggressive early commercialization.13:35–16:02 · Guest disagreement 6/10 Retention Metrics and Lead Generation Disagreement A tense standoff occurs when Yannick refuses to disclose monthly lead volume from Google Workspace Marketplace. Nathan challenges the refusal, pointing out that Yannick already shared more sensitive figures like valuation and revenue, leading to an awkward exchange about podcast prep.16:02–17:10 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, quickly moving past a slight point of confusion on online tools. The segment finishes with Nathan delivering his customary wrap-up summary of the business metrics.3:03–6:46 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Pricing, Customer Profiles, and Use Cases Nathan drills down on pricing structure, customer persona, and seat counts, pushing Yannick when answers are vague ('You're not helping me out here, man'). Yannick explains the use cases across education and budgeting while clarifying their shift from single users to team licenses.6:47–10:09 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Revenue Trajectory and Team Composition Nathan calculates past revenue from current growth metrics and pushes on the million-dollar run rate milestone. Yannick is cooperative, acknowledging fatigue from the late hour in Europe and sharing team size and remote setup.10:12–13:35 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Fundraising Strategy, Valuation, and Growth Debate Nathan plays devil's advocate, directly challenging Yannick's claim that they needed more venture capital by highlighting that five years to reach under $1M ARR is too slow for venture backing. Yannick defends his product-first strategy and justifies the decision to prioritize technology over aggressive early commercialization.13:35–16:02 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Retention Metrics and Lead Generation Disagreement A tense standoff occurs when Yannick refuses to disclose monthly lead volume from Google Workspace Marketplace. Nathan challenges the refusal, pointing out that Yannick already shared more sensitive figures like valuation and revenue, leading to an awkward exchange about podcast prep.16:02–17:10 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, quickly moving past a slight point of confusion on online tools. The segment finishes with Nathan delivering his customary wrap-up summary of the business metrics.

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

0:00 · Nathan 46.5% · guest 53.5%0:00 · Nathan 46.5% · guest 53.5%3:00 · Nathan 34.5% · guest 65.5%3:00 · Nathan 34.5% · guest 65.5%6:00 · Nathan 39.5% · guest 60.5%6:00 · Nathan 39.5% · guest 60.5%9:00 · Nathan 53.8% · guest 46.2%9:00 · Nathan 53.8% · guest 46.2%12:00 · Nathan 39% · guest 61%12:00 · Nathan 39% · guest 61%15:00 · Nathan 55.8% · guest 44.2%15:00 · Nathan 55.8% · guest 44.2%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:38 Guest refuses to share lead acquisition numbers

Yannick directly pushes back against Latka's line of questioning, stating he is not comfortable sharing lead figures and was not privy to the scope of questions beforehand.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 14:41 Host challenges guest on confidential data hypocrisy

Nathan refuses to accept Yannick's secrecy, arguing that revenue and valuation are far more sensitive metrics than monthly lead volume.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:24 Guest explains product-led stealth strategy vs early commercialization

Yannick reframes Nathan's critique of their slow growth by detailing why enterprise spreadsheet workflows require heavy foundational tech and product investment before scaling commercial teams.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:59 Host dismantles venture funding excuse using growth metrics

Nathan uses the company's five-year timeline and sub-$1M revenue run rate to argue that raising more venture capital would not have solved fundamentally slow growth.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Pricing, Customer Profiles, and Use Cases 6326 Nathan drills down on pricing structure, customer persona, and seat counts, pushing Yannick when answers are vague ('You're not helping me out here, man'). Yannick explains the use cases across education and budgeting while clarifying their shift from single users to team licenses.
Revenue Trajectory and Team Composition 5214 Nathan calculates past revenue from current growth metrics and pushes on the million-dollar run rate milestone. Yannick is cooperative, acknowledging fatigue from the late hour in Europe and sharing team size and remote setup.
Fundraising Strategy, Valuation, and Growth Debate 7248 Nathan plays devil's advocate, directly challenging Yannick's claim that they needed more venture capital by highlighting that five years to reach under $1M ARR is too slow for venture backing. Yannick defends his product-first strategy and justifies the decision to prioritize technology over aggressive early commercialization.
Retention Metrics and Lead Generation Disagreement 6468 A tense standoff occurs when Yannick refuses to disclose monthly lead volume from Google Workspace Marketplace. Nathan challenges the refusal, pointing out that Yannick already shared more sensitive figures like valuation and revenue, leading to an awkward exchange about podcast prep.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 4112 Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, quickly moving past a slight point of confusion on online tools. The segment finishes with Nathan delivering his customary wrap-up summary of the business metrics.

Statements from this episode (11)

Opinion
Sheetgo builds on existing spreadsheets unlike Airtable
“The difference would be that we work with the legacy systems at companies rather than have to implement something completely new, AKA Excel, Google Sheets.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 1:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sheetgo has over 1,000 customer logos
“We have more in the, in over a thousand.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 3:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sheetgo averages 10 to 100 seats per customer logo
“No, it's the average is in the, it's above 10, below a hundred, really depends. We're still not moving up market to that far level yet.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 6:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Two-thirds of Sheetgo staff are engineers
“I'd say that two thirds of the company's engineers, and we only have a less than a handful of folks in the commercial team, including marketing and sales.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 7:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sheetgo is approaching a $1M annual run rate
“Oh, we're just, we're almost there.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 7:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sheetgo operates profitably after minimal fundraising
“We raised a little bit of capital and but here in, in, well, in Spain, the team is divided between Brazil and Spain. Mostly we raised a little bit of capital in Spain not much. So we're actually run as a profitable company.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 8:27
Disclosure
Sheetgo has raised about $1M in total capital
“About a million.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 10:15
What-if
Sheetgo founder regrets not raising significantly more capital in the US
“I think we should have raised money in the U S I live in Europe and I'm American, so we should have raised in the U S and a lot more capital for the kind of market we're going after.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 10:53
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sheetgo operates at roughly 100% net retention
“We're about a hundred percent net retention.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 13:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sheetgo has roughly 3% monthly gross churn
“We're at about industry average, which is at three percent or so net three percent of the gross monthly.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 13:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Google Workspace Marketplace drives about half of Sheetgo's leads
“I mean, I'd say it's probably half or so of our leads.”
Yannick Rolt Nov 12, 2021 ▶ 14:30
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