StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Nov 10, 2021 · 19m · top-founders

Testbox Lets You Try Software Without Sales Calls, Landed 1st Customer, $2.7m Raised at $12m Post Money Cap

Sam Senior · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m 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, TestBox co-founder and CEO Sam Senior explains how his platform revolutionizes enterprise software procurement by replacing prolonged sales calls with hands-on, side-by-side sandbox testing. Senior details TestBox's business model, customer-led philosophy, vendor revenue-sharing agreements, and the operational milestones behind raising $2.7 million at a $12 million valuation cap.

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 40.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 2.3 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 2.6
05100:0010:001:03–3:42 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Sam Senior and Customer-Led Software Buying Nathan probes how TestBox accesses enterprise software without official sales channels, lightly joking about pirating. He demonstrates industry familiarity by referencing past interviews with founders from Freshworks, HubSpot, and Dixa.3:42–6:08 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Selecting the Customer Support Vertical Sam explains why they started in customer support and outlines their 20% affiliate take rate on total contract value. Nathan inquires into whether expansion revenue is captured and audited.6:08–8:59 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Beta Launch, Metrics, and Closing the First Customer Nathan asks for specific signup and closed-deal metrics before suggesting keyword arbitrage and product comparison SEO. Sam clarifies that direct PPC keyword bidding is uneconomic at $120 to $150 CPCs.9:00–11:46 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 MVP Development Costs and Seed Capital After learning how much was spent on MVP development, Nathan aggressively drills into the co-founder equity split, refusing diplomatic generalities until Sam gives the exact two-thirds to one-third ratio.11:48–14:08 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Pre-Seed Valuation Cap and GPT-3 Integration Sam discusses their $12M post-money pre-seed SAFE cap, GPT-3 customization layer, and how VC firm SignalFire assisted them in resolving Zendesk bot detection protocols.14:09–16:57 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Unit Economics of the First Deal: ProfitWell and Zendesk Nathan quickly computes the unit economics and annual revenue generated from TestBox's first closed deal with ProfitWell purchasing Zendesk seats, alongside their $100k monthly burn rate.16:59–19:01 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five and Mental Health in Startups During the Famous Five segment, Sam shares how founder therapy helps him manage startup stress, followed by Nathan delivering his standard closing recap.1:03–3:42 · Guest teaching 3/10 Introducing Sam Senior and Customer-Led Software Buying Nathan probes how TestBox accesses enterprise software without official sales channels, lightly joking about pirating. He demonstrates industry familiarity by referencing past interviews with founders from Freshworks, HubSpot, and Dixa.3:42–6:08 · Guest teaching 2/10 Selecting the Customer Support Vertical Sam explains why they started in customer support and outlines their 20% affiliate take rate on total contract value. Nathan inquires into whether expansion revenue is captured and audited.6:08–8:59 · Guest teaching 4/10 Beta Launch, Metrics, and Closing the First Customer Nathan asks for specific signup and closed-deal metrics before suggesting keyword arbitrage and product comparison SEO. Sam clarifies that direct PPC keyword bidding is uneconomic at $120 to $150 CPCs.9:00–11:46 · Guest teaching 1/10 MVP Development Costs and Seed Capital After learning how much was spent on MVP development, Nathan aggressively drills into the co-founder equity split, refusing diplomatic generalities until Sam gives the exact two-thirds to one-third ratio.11:48–14:08 · Guest teaching 2/10 Pre-Seed Valuation Cap and GPT-3 Integration Sam discusses their $12M post-money pre-seed SAFE cap, GPT-3 customization layer, and how VC firm SignalFire assisted them in resolving Zendesk bot detection protocols.14:09–16:57 · Guest teaching 2/10 Unit Economics of the First Deal: ProfitWell and Zendesk Nathan quickly computes the unit economics and annual revenue generated from TestBox's first closed deal with ProfitWell purchasing Zendesk seats, alongside their $100k monthly burn rate.16:59–19:01 · Guest teaching 2/10 The Famous Five and Mental Health in Startups During the Famous Five segment, Sam shares how founder therapy helps him manage startup stress, followed by Nathan delivering his standard closing recap.1:03–3:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Sam Senior and Customer-Led Software Buying Nathan probes how TestBox accesses enterprise software without official sales channels, lightly joking about pirating. He demonstrates industry familiarity by referencing past interviews with founders from Freshworks, HubSpot, and Dixa.3:42–6:08 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Selecting the Customer Support Vertical Sam explains why they started in customer support and outlines their 20% affiliate take rate on total contract value. Nathan inquires into whether expansion revenue is captured and audited.6:08–8:59 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Beta Launch, Metrics, and Closing the First Customer Nathan asks for specific signup and closed-deal metrics before suggesting keyword arbitrage and product comparison SEO. Sam clarifies that direct PPC keyword bidding is uneconomic at $120 to $150 CPCs.9:00–11:46 · Guest disagreement 2/10 MVP Development Costs and Seed Capital After learning how much was spent on MVP development, Nathan aggressively drills into the co-founder equity split, refusing diplomatic generalities until Sam gives the exact two-thirds to one-third ratio.11:48–14:08 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Pre-Seed Valuation Cap and GPT-3 Integration Sam discusses their $12M post-money pre-seed SAFE cap, GPT-3 customization layer, and how VC firm SignalFire assisted them in resolving Zendesk bot detection protocols.14:09–16:57 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Unit Economics of the First Deal: ProfitWell and Zendesk Nathan quickly computes the unit economics and annual revenue generated from TestBox's first closed deal with ProfitWell purchasing Zendesk seats, alongside their $100k monthly burn rate.16:59–19:01 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five and Mental Health in Startups During the Famous Five segment, Sam shares how founder therapy helps him manage startup stress, followed by Nathan delivering his standard closing recap.1:03–3:42 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Introducing Sam Senior and Customer-Led Software Buying Nathan probes how TestBox accesses enterprise software without official sales channels, lightly joking about pirating. He demonstrates industry familiarity by referencing past interviews with founders from Freshworks, HubSpot, and Dixa.3:42–6:08 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Selecting the Customer Support Vertical Sam explains why they started in customer support and outlines their 20% affiliate take rate on total contract value. Nathan inquires into whether expansion revenue is captured and audited.6:08–8:59 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Beta Launch, Metrics, and Closing the First Customer Nathan asks for specific signup and closed-deal metrics before suggesting keyword arbitrage and product comparison SEO. Sam clarifies that direct PPC keyword bidding is uneconomic at $120 to $150 CPCs.9:00–11:46 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 MVP Development Costs and Seed Capital After learning how much was spent on MVP development, Nathan aggressively drills into the co-founder equity split, refusing diplomatic generalities until Sam gives the exact two-thirds to one-third ratio.11:48–14:08 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Pre-Seed Valuation Cap and GPT-3 Integration Sam discusses their $12M post-money pre-seed SAFE cap, GPT-3 customization layer, and how VC firm SignalFire assisted them in resolving Zendesk bot detection protocols.14:09–16:57 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Unit Economics of the First Deal: ProfitWell and Zendesk Nathan quickly computes the unit economics and annual revenue generated from TestBox's first closed deal with ProfitWell purchasing Zendesk seats, alongside their $100k monthly burn rate.16:59–19:01 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five and Mental Health in Startups During the Famous Five segment, Sam shares how founder therapy helps him manage startup stress, followed by Nathan delivering his standard closing recap.

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

0:00 · Nathan 41% · guest 59%0:00 · Nathan 41% · guest 59%3:00 · Nathan 48.2% · guest 51.8%3:00 · Nathan 48.2% · guest 51.8%6:00 · Nathan 29.8% · guest 70.2%6:00 · Nathan 29.8% · guest 70.2%9:00 · Nathan 51.5% · guest 48.5%9:00 · Nathan 51.5% · guest 48.5%12:00 · Nathan 26.4% · guest 73.6%12:00 · Nathan 26.4% · guest 73.6%15:00 · Nathan 47.3% · guest 52.7%15:00 · Nathan 47.3% · guest 52.7%18:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%18:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:07 Reframing paid search arbitrage feasibility

Sam rejects Nathan's suggestion to buy competitor search ads by explaining the punitive $120 to $150 CPCs that destroy affiliate unit economics.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:31 Demanding exact co-founder equity numbers

Nathan cuts through Sam's narrative explanation about future commitment levels and demands concrete percentage figures.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:07 Educating on enterprise SaaS search CPCs

Sam details the prohibitive ad auction economics for enterprise software terms, explaining why organic product SEO is viable while paid arbitrage is not.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:47 Rapid calculation of seat pricing and referral revenue

Nathan rapidly converts license counts, list prices, and take-rate percentages into monthly and annualized net revenue figures.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Sam Senior and Customer-Led Software Buying 5313 Nathan probes how TestBox accesses enterprise software without official sales channels, lightly joking about pirating. He demonstrates industry familiarity by referencing past interviews with founders from Freshworks, HubSpot, and Dixa.
Selecting the Customer Support Vertical 4212 Sam explains why they started in customer support and outlines their 20% affiliate take rate on total contract value. Nathan inquires into whether expansion revenue is captured and audited.
Beta Launch, Metrics, and Closing the First Customer 5423 Nathan asks for specific signup and closed-deal metrics before suggesting keyword arbitrage and product comparison SEO. Sam clarifies that direct PPC keyword bidding is uneconomic at $120 to $150 CPCs.
MVP Development Costs and Seed Capital 4125 After learning how much was spent on MVP development, Nathan aggressively drills into the co-founder equity split, refusing diplomatic generalities until Sam gives the exact two-thirds to one-third ratio.
Pre-Seed Valuation Cap and GPT-3 Integration 4212 Sam discusses their $12M post-money pre-seed SAFE cap, GPT-3 customization layer, and how VC firm SignalFire assisted them in resolving Zendesk bot detection protocols.
Unit Economics of the First Deal: ProfitWell and Zendesk 5212 Nathan quickly computes the unit economics and annual revenue generated from TestBox's first closed deal with ProfitWell purchasing Zendesk seats, alongside their $100k monthly burn rate.
The Famous Five and Mental Health in Startups 3211 During the Famous Five segment, Sam shares how founder therapy helps him manage startup stress, followed by Nathan delivering his standard closing recap.

Statements from this episode (18)

Disclosure
TestBox Allows Buyers to Test Enterprise Software Without Sales Calls
“We basically built an app that allows people to test and compare enterprise software before they buy without needing to talk to a salesperson with a hands-on experience with real data in there and all the use case configures. They can do a side-by-side compari…”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 1:45
Assertion Partly supported
TestBox Integrates Vendors Representing Over Half of the Customer Support Market
“So we've got about six on the platform at the moment, three more in discussion, but we've got more than 50% of the market share of the top platforms already partnered in and integrated with us.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 2:25
Assertion Contradicted
Zendesk Holds Over 20% Market Share in Help Desk Software
“I think if you take revenue, for example, like Zendesk and help desk space has 20 plus percent of the market share.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 2:41
Assertion Supported
Customer Support Software Is a $10.5 Billion Market Growing Over 10%
“Plus it's a hugely growing market. That's like 10 and a half billion today growing at 10 plus percent and it's getting more and more important.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 4:14
Disclosure
TestBox Takes 20% of Customer Lifetime Contract Value on HubSpot Deals
“So with HubSpot it's about, it's 20% of total contract value. So not just first year, but actually the entire contract value that we get paid.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 5:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TestBox Generated Fewer Than Ten New Signups in September 2021
“So it's less than 10. I think we're at like sort of eight, that sort of number. So it's still small, but it's continuing to grow every single month.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 7:05
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TestBox Had Closed Only One Customer Deal as of November 2021
“So we've closed, we've only closed one deal so far”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 7:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
A 100,000-Employee Enterprise Is Using TestBox to Evaluate Software Purchases
“We've had a hundred person company use our platform, but we've also had a 100,000 person company use our platform. So at the moment, there's a company that's a 100,000 sort of FTEs using Testbox to make a decision on a new platform.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 7:28
Assertion Contradicted
High-Intent Enterprise Software Search Keywords Cost $120 to $150 Per Click
“I think if you look at the cost for these sorts of ads, you're talking at least a 120, a 150 dollars for some of these ads on those keywords.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 8:10
Disclosure
TestBox Relies on Software Comparison SEO Pages to Acquire Users
“Yeah, that's exactly what we're doing at the moment.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 8:34
Disclosure
TestBox Vendor Agreements Permit Outranking Partners in Comparison Search Results
“Yeah, that isn't a competitive term in our agreements with them.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 8:40
Disclosure
TestBox Spent Approximately $700,000 to Launch Its Minimum Viable Product
“So we've probably spent something like 700,000 dollars to get the MVP live.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 9:06
Disclosure
TestBox Raised $2.7 Million in Seed Funding
“And we raised 2.7.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 9:10
Disclosure
Senior and His Co-Founder Split TestBox Equity Two-Thirds to One-Third
“It's sort of two thirds, one third.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 11:37
Disclosure
TestBox Raised Its Pre-Seed Round at a $12 Million Post-Money Cap
“It's a post of 12.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 12:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
SignalFire Connected TestBox to Zendesk Security Leadership to Fix Bot Issues
“So we were having some interesting challenges with the security protocols that Zendesk has on their platform. Basically, like, they're just creating some bot detection issues, and so they actually went straight to the chief of security at Zendesk and help us r…”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 13:45
Disclosure
TestBox Landed ProfitWell as Its First Customer Buying Zendesk
“So, it was Zendesk, and it was a company called ProfitWell, who I think you've spoken to before in your podcast.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 14:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TestBox Spends Approximately $100,000 Per Month on Ten Employees
“About a hundred K.”
Sam Senior Nov 10, 2021 ▶ 16:32
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