Jul 19, 2021 · 20m · top-founders
How this DevOps Tool Plans to Break $1m in First 9 months
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Merge co-founder Gil Feig discusses how the unified B2B API platform solves complex software integrations, scales developer adoption, and aims to reach $1 million in ARR within its first year of monetization.
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 32.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Nathan as informed peer 6.5 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 1.8 Nathan pushing back 4.7
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 16:47 Rejecting the Workato obsolescence premise
Gil rejects Nathan's claim that Merge makes workflow automation tools like Tray and Workato irrelevant, noting that they operate in distinct markets.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 4:57 Demanding concrete enterprise pricing numbersNathan cuts off vague descriptions of variable pricing tiers to force Gil to specify whether contracts are closer to one hundred dollars or one hundred thousand dollars.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:44 Explaining vertical data normalization versus UI workflow toolsGil educates Nathan on why Zapier and Tray are horizontal UI connectors that do not normalize deep vertical API schema models for developers.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 17:07 Applying Finch architecture comparison to FounderPathNathan displays deep technical industry knowledge by citing Finch's payroll data integrations and asking whether Merge directly replaces that layer.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Problem Behind Merge: Unified B2B APIs | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | Nathan explores the origin of Merge and connects it to common engineering integration pain points. Gil clarifies that the product is strictly built for engineers via SDK embeds rather than non-technical users. | |
| Pricing Strategy and Enterprise Plans | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | Nathan refuses to let Gil stay vague on pricing and insists on getting a concrete dollar range for their enterprise and custom onboarding tiers. Gil clarifies that pricing runs in the ballpark of a few thousand dollars a month rather than six figures. | |
| Platform Adoption and Seed Fundraising with NEA | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | Nathan drills into seed round mechanics, noting typical dilution ranges of 15 to 20 percent and questioning why an early-stage startup opted for a priced round over convertible notes. Gil explains that they chose a priced round specifically to avoid downstream cap overhang and uncertainty. | |
| Team Structure and Path to $1M ARR | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | Nathan draws parallels to Snowflake's usage-based pricing model and calculates the monthly run rate required to hit one million ARR by year-end. Gil explains why early customers require hybrid pricing with predictable flat caps alongside per-request models. | |
| Competitive Landscape: Flatfile, Zapier, and Vertical APIs | 8 | 6 | 3 | 5 | Nathan tests Merge's competitive moats against Flatfile, Zapier, Workato, and Finch. Gil provides a technical breakdown of horizontal UI automation versus vertical unified API normalization and pushes back on the premise that they eliminate workflow tools. | |
| Co-Founder Equity Split and Dynamics | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | Nathan breaks down the post-money cap table mechanics and probes how the co-founders manage conflict when split equally. Gil details their 50/50 partnership and mutual deference framework. |
Statements from this episode (19)
Feig: Merge offers single-integration access to dozens of B2B APIs
“What we're building here are unified APIs, and so you integrate once with us, and then you can offer your customers, 20, 30, 40 different integrations in HR, applicant tracking, accounting, and then more categories on the way.”
Embedding Merge's linking flow takes developers 30 minutes
“It takes 30 minutes for someone to embed that.”
Merge charges one cent per API request on pay-as-you-go plan
“We offer our pay as you go plan. So it's one cent per API request.”
Merge charges a couple thousand dollars monthly for supported enterprise plans
“It's on the order of a couple grand a month for our enterprise plan. Or it's not quite enterprise. It's more of like a plan where you require support and customer onboarding.”
Feig: Merge added 20 integrations in its first launch month
“We spent six months just building up the platform. We didn't have a single integration. And then in January alone, we added 20 integrations.”
Feig: Merge maintains 45 to 50 integrations, adding 2-3 weekly
“I believe currently we have around 45 to 50. We add like, I would say probably about two to three a week”
Merge's internal tooling allows non-engineers to build product integrations
“Engineers and non-engineers are able to build integrations here because of a lot of the tooling we've built.”
Merge reaches 280 signups and 40 to 50 embedded paying customers
“So we have 280 organizations that have signed up for the platform. And then order of, I have to, I don't have the latest number on me, but 40 to 50 fully embedded and more and more adding.”
Merge raised $4.5M seed led by NEA with Scott Sandell joining board
“So we raised four and a half million from NEA with Scott Sandell joining our board.”
Merge prevents churn by guaranteeing two-week turnarounds for new API integrations
“We've never lost a customer to not having an integration and we promise free two to three week turnaround on new integration.”
Ten of Merge's twelve full-time early employees are coders
“We're currently five full-time engineers, but 10 of us can code. So 10 out of 12 are coders.”
Merge grew entirely organically with only a $200 paid marketing trial
“All organic, all word of mouth. I think we ran like a 200 dollar trial on paid marketing.”
Merge began generating all revenue in the past two months
“I mean, all revenue started in the past two months. We came at a stall from two and a half to three months ago.”
Feig: Merge has processed hundreds of millions of API requests since launch
“I can tell you since launch, it's been hundreds of millions.”
Merge is pivoting away from usage-based pricing due to volume unpredictability
“We are going to start moving towards instead of API requests, because it can be kind of unpredictable. Certain platforms might require you to make tons. We're going to be moving to more towards a flat rate. So you don't have to worry about like the nuances of …”
Feig says Merge targets a different market than Tray and Workato
“I think that that's like, I think that, you know, it might be a little bit of overlap, but overall it's just a different market and I don't think we're making them irrelevant.”