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Sep 20, 2021 · 17m · top-founders

Translation Tool Breaks $1.2m Run Rate, 3,000 Customers, New Raise Soon?

Marco Hojan · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of Conversations with Nathan Latka, TAIA co-founder and CEO Marco Hojan breaks down how his company scaled from a traditional translation agency into a hybrid localization SaaS platform generating a $1.2 million annual run rate across 3,000 customers while preparing for a $3 million funding 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 31.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.6 Guest teaching 1.4 Guest disagreement 1.4 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:001:10–3:43 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Origin Story: Transitioning from Agency to Tech Platform Latka questions Marco on transitioning from a traditional language service agency to a SaaS and machine translation platform. Marco explains their two-tier pricing model between word-based usage and subscription software.3:43–8:43 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Capital Raised, Revenue Trajectory, and Team Composition Latka immediately calculates the post-money valuation and probes team structure and cold-calling lead generation. Marco shares details about target industries and their dissatisfaction with B2B lead databases.8:43–12:00 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Current Runway, Next Fundraising Target, and Equity Structure Latka presses Marco repeatedly to pin down target valuation and runway, catching Marco slightly off guard. Nathan also quickly calculates the cap table dilution breakdown between the co-founders and investors.12:00–15:01 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Unit Economics: Hybrid Churn and Customer Acquisition Cost Marco admits not knowing exact churn figures, prompting Latka to explain how hybrid usage-plus-SaaS models distort standard churn metrics. Latka then calculates Marco's CAC live and challenges Marco's assumption that acquisition costs are high by showing a fast payback period.15:01–16:38 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the standard rapid-fire questions. Marco hesitates to pick a favorite software tool before settling on TransferWise.1:10–3:43 · Guest teaching 2/10 Origin Story: Transitioning from Agency to Tech Platform Latka questions Marco on transitioning from a traditional language service agency to a SaaS and machine translation platform. Marco explains their two-tier pricing model between word-based usage and subscription software.3:43–8:43 · Guest teaching 2/10 Capital Raised, Revenue Trajectory, and Team Composition Latka immediately calculates the post-money valuation and probes team structure and cold-calling lead generation. Marco shares details about target industries and their dissatisfaction with B2B lead databases.8:43–12:00 · Guest teaching 1/10 Current Runway, Next Fundraising Target, and Equity Structure Latka presses Marco repeatedly to pin down target valuation and runway, catching Marco slightly off guard. Nathan also quickly calculates the cap table dilution breakdown between the co-founders and investors.12:00–15:01 · Guest teaching 1/10 Unit Economics: Hybrid Churn and Customer Acquisition Cost Marco admits not knowing exact churn figures, prompting Latka to explain how hybrid usage-plus-SaaS models distort standard churn metrics. Latka then calculates Marco's CAC live and challenges Marco's assumption that acquisition costs are high by showing a fast payback period.15:01–16:38 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the standard rapid-fire questions. Marco hesitates to pick a favorite software tool before settling on TransferWise.1:10–3:43 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Origin Story: Transitioning from Agency to Tech Platform Latka questions Marco on transitioning from a traditional language service agency to a SaaS and machine translation platform. Marco explains their two-tier pricing model between word-based usage and subscription software.3:43–8:43 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Capital Raised, Revenue Trajectory, and Team Composition Latka immediately calculates the post-money valuation and probes team structure and cold-calling lead generation. Marco shares details about target industries and their dissatisfaction with B2B lead databases.8:43–12:00 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Current Runway, Next Fundraising Target, and Equity Structure Latka presses Marco repeatedly to pin down target valuation and runway, catching Marco slightly off guard. Nathan also quickly calculates the cap table dilution breakdown between the co-founders and investors.12:00–15:01 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Unit Economics: Hybrid Churn and Customer Acquisition Cost Marco admits not knowing exact churn figures, prompting Latka to explain how hybrid usage-plus-SaaS models distort standard churn metrics. Latka then calculates Marco's CAC live and challenges Marco's assumption that acquisition costs are high by showing a fast payback period.15:01–16:38 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the standard rapid-fire questions. Marco hesitates to pick a favorite software tool before settling on TransferWise.1:10–3:43 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Origin Story: Transitioning from Agency to Tech Platform Latka questions Marco on transitioning from a traditional language service agency to a SaaS and machine translation platform. Marco explains their two-tier pricing model between word-based usage and subscription software.3:43–8:43 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Capital Raised, Revenue Trajectory, and Team Composition Latka immediately calculates the post-money valuation and probes team structure and cold-calling lead generation. Marco shares details about target industries and their dissatisfaction with B2B lead databases.8:43–12:00 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Current Runway, Next Fundraising Target, and Equity Structure Latka presses Marco repeatedly to pin down target valuation and runway, catching Marco slightly off guard. Nathan also quickly calculates the cap table dilution breakdown between the co-founders and investors.12:00–15:01 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Unit Economics: Hybrid Churn and Customer Acquisition Cost Marco admits not knowing exact churn figures, prompting Latka to explain how hybrid usage-plus-SaaS models distort standard churn metrics. Latka then calculates Marco's CAC live and challenges Marco's assumption that acquisition costs are high by showing a fast payback period.15:01–16:38 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the standard rapid-fire questions. Marco hesitates to pick a favorite software tool before settling on TransferWise.

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

0:00 · Nathan 49% · guest 51%0:00 · Nathan 49% · guest 51%3:00 · Nathan 26% · guest 74%3:00 · Nathan 26% · guest 74%6:00 · Nathan 17.4% · guest 82.6%6:00 · Nathan 17.4% · guest 82.6%9:00 · Nathan 18.4% · guest 81.6%9:00 · Nathan 18.4% · guest 81.6%12:00 · Nathan 28% · guest 72%12:00 · Nathan 28% · guest 72%15:00 · Nathan 56.5% · guest 43.5%15:00 · Nathan 56.5% · guest 43.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:35 Defending high CAC perception

Marco pushes back against Latka's positive assessment of unit economics by citing external industry benchmarks.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:31 Refusing vague valuation answer

Latka refuses Marco's noncommittal answer regarding target valuation and insists on getting a specific multiple or figure.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:12 Explaining decentralized translation purchasing

Marco educates Latka on enterprise buying behaviors, explaining how non-centralized companies order translations across disparate departments.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:21 Proving healthy CAC payback math

Latka runs the math on marketing spend against customer additions and ARPU to prove that a three-to-four month payback period is strong rather than poor.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Origin Story: Transitioning from Agency to Tech Platform 5212 Latka questions Marco on transitioning from a traditional language service agency to a SaaS and machine translation platform. Marco explains their two-tier pricing model between word-based usage and subscription software.
Capital Raised, Revenue Trajectory, and Team Composition 6214 Latka immediately calculates the post-money valuation and probes team structure and cold-calling lead generation. Marco shares details about target industries and their dissatisfaction with B2B lead databases.
Current Runway, Next Fundraising Target, and Equity Structure 6125 Latka presses Marco repeatedly to pin down target valuation and runway, catching Marco slightly off guard. Nathan also quickly calculates the cap table dilution breakdown between the co-founders and investors.
Unit Economics: Hybrid Churn and Customer Acquisition Cost 8126 Marco admits not knowing exact churn figures, prompting Latka to explain how hybrid usage-plus-SaaS models distort standard churn metrics. Latka then calculates Marco's CAC live and challenges Marco's assumption that acquisition costs are high by showing a fast payback period.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 3112 Latka runs through the standard rapid-fire questions. Marco hesitates to pick a favorite software tool before settling on TransferWise.

Statements from this episode (15)

Opinion
Marco Hojan claims traditional translation providers compete only on price
“We quickly saw that we could only compete with price and that the whole market is competing with price and that the market is really outdated.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 1:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TAIA reached 3,000 paying customers for its machine translation platform
“3000.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 3:33
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TAIA had fewer than 1,000 paying customers in September 2020
“Less than a thousand.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 3:41
Assertion Supported
TAIA raised a $1.2 million seed round in October 2020
“So, last year, October, 1.2 million, and before that, 200 case altogether, one .1 plus 201.4 altogether.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 3:52
Disclosure
TAIA targets $1.5 million in revenue for 2021
“So, in two 2300 thousand, and our plan for this year is 1.5 mil.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 4:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TAIA reached $100,000 in monthly recurring revenue in August 2021
“Around a 100,000.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 4:38
Disclosure
TAIA drove its early revenue growth through outbound cold calling
“Actually, the growth was mostly due to old school cold call sales.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 5:17
Disclosure
TAIA pays approximately $10,000 annually for its ZoomInfo subscription
“We pay yearly about 10 K.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 7:58
Opinion
Marco Hojan claims ZoomInfo suffers from poor contact data accuracy
“Just the quality of data. So for example, you get a phone number, you call, and they say the person is not working there anymore, or you get an email, and it should be accurate, but it's not. Just the quality of data, the most important thing that they should …”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 8:26
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TAIA has sufficient cash runway to last until early 2022
“So we have enough for until the beginning of 2022.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 8:53
Disclosure
TAIA aims to raise a $3 million funding round in 2022
“This is not clear yet. It depends on our results this next six months, but around three million.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 9:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Marco Hojan claims there is no standard platform for software translation
“There is no standard when it comes to translating software, web pages, and so on, and we want to become the standard.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 11:48
Insight
Marco Hojan says improved machine translation reduces reliance on skilled translators
“The trend is that the companies translate more and more by themselves. The reasons are technical knowledge, SEO optimization, security, and so on. And machine, with machine translation, actually you don't need such good translators anymore.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 13:07
Disclosure
TAIA spends approximately $30,000 per month on paid marketing
“Let me give you a number around 30 K. This number is increasing month by month.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 13:37
Disclosure
TAIA adds 300 new users monthly with an 80% conversion rate
“We gained approximately 300 users, but it's not necessarily that each user becomes a customer, you know, because some you, they, some users just come on the platform, this will see. So I would say that about 80% of users definitely become customers.”
Marco Hojan Sep 20, 2021 ▶ 13:57
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