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May 26, 2021 · 15m · top-founders

How his side project hit $200k in revenue, new way to A/B test pricing

Daniel CH · 8m 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 Daniel CH, co-founder of Legit Check by CH, exploring how his bootstrapped authentication platform scaled past $200,000 in annual revenue and inspired his new SaaS pricing optimization tool, Price Unlock.

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 37.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 3.4
05100:0010:002:33–4:36 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Origins and Business Model of Legit Check Nathan asks straightforward questions about the business model, first line of code, and revenue. Daniel clearly explains how a side project bookmark app organically turned into a paid authentication service without any tension.4:36–6:50 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Team Structure, Operations, and Fulfillment Process Nathan presses Daniel on why his team size figure is fuzzy between 8 and 10 people. Daniel explains transparently that some are long-term freelance contractors rather than full-time employees, leading smoothly into fulfillment details.6:50–9:14 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Free Content Strategy and Monthly Revenue Breakdown Nathan tries to verify the website navigation on the fly when Daniel mentions free guides, and tries to calculate the monthly run rate. Daniel corrects his revenue assumptions by mentioning their upsell certificate fees.9:16–13:00 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Sponsor Break: Zendesk for Startups After an ad read, Nathan examines Price Unlock, challenging why Daniel has not launched immediately. Daniel defends his timeline with standard lean release philosophy.13:00–15:21 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Bootstrapping Approach, High Margins, and Acquisition Stance Nathan poses a 1x revenue cash buyout hypothetical, which Daniel immediately brushes off as too low for a bootstrapped, high-margin business before answering the standard closing questions.2:33–4:36 · Guest teaching 2/10 Origins and Business Model of Legit Check Nathan asks straightforward questions about the business model, first line of code, and revenue. Daniel clearly explains how a side project bookmark app organically turned into a paid authentication service without any tension.4:36–6:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 Team Structure, Operations, and Fulfillment Process Nathan presses Daniel on why his team size figure is fuzzy between 8 and 10 people. Daniel explains transparently that some are long-term freelance contractors rather than full-time employees, leading smoothly into fulfillment details.6:50–9:14 · Guest teaching 3/10 Free Content Strategy and Monthly Revenue Breakdown Nathan tries to verify the website navigation on the fly when Daniel mentions free guides, and tries to calculate the monthly run rate. Daniel corrects his revenue assumptions by mentioning their upsell certificate fees.9:16–13:00 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Break: Zendesk for Startups After an ad read, Nathan examines Price Unlock, challenging why Daniel has not launched immediately. Daniel defends his timeline with standard lean release philosophy.13:00–15:21 · Guest teaching 2/10 Bootstrapping Approach, High Margins, and Acquisition Stance Nathan poses a 1x revenue cash buyout hypothetical, which Daniel immediately brushes off as too low for a bootstrapped, high-margin business before answering the standard closing questions.2:33–4:36 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Origins and Business Model of Legit Check Nathan asks straightforward questions about the business model, first line of code, and revenue. Daniel clearly explains how a side project bookmark app organically turned into a paid authentication service without any tension.4:36–6:50 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Team Structure, Operations, and Fulfillment Process Nathan presses Daniel on why his team size figure is fuzzy between 8 and 10 people. Daniel explains transparently that some are long-term freelance contractors rather than full-time employees, leading smoothly into fulfillment details.6:50–9:14 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Free Content Strategy and Monthly Revenue Breakdown Nathan tries to verify the website navigation on the fly when Daniel mentions free guides, and tries to calculate the monthly run rate. Daniel corrects his revenue assumptions by mentioning their upsell certificate fees.9:16–13:00 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Break: Zendesk for Startups After an ad read, Nathan examines Price Unlock, challenging why Daniel has not launched immediately. Daniel defends his timeline with standard lean release philosophy.13:00–15:21 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Bootstrapping Approach, High Margins, and Acquisition Stance Nathan poses a 1x revenue cash buyout hypothetical, which Daniel immediately brushes off as too low for a bootstrapped, high-margin business before answering the standard closing questions.2:33–4:36 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Origins and Business Model of Legit Check Nathan asks straightforward questions about the business model, first line of code, and revenue. Daniel clearly explains how a side project bookmark app organically turned into a paid authentication service without any tension.4:36–6:50 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Team Structure, Operations, and Fulfillment Process Nathan presses Daniel on why his team size figure is fuzzy between 8 and 10 people. Daniel explains transparently that some are long-term freelance contractors rather than full-time employees, leading smoothly into fulfillment details.6:50–9:14 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Free Content Strategy and Monthly Revenue Breakdown Nathan tries to verify the website navigation on the fly when Daniel mentions free guides, and tries to calculate the monthly run rate. Daniel corrects his revenue assumptions by mentioning their upsell certificate fees.9:16–13:00 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Sponsor Break: Zendesk for Startups After an ad read, Nathan examines Price Unlock, challenging why Daniel has not launched immediately. Daniel defends his timeline with standard lean release philosophy.13:00–15:21 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Bootstrapping Approach, High Margins, and Acquisition Stance Nathan poses a 1x revenue cash buyout hypothetical, which Daniel immediately brushes off as too low for a bootstrapped, high-margin business before answering the standard closing questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 62.7% · guest 37.3%0:00 · Nathan 62.7% · guest 37.3%3:00 · Nathan 13.1% · guest 86.9%3:00 · Nathan 13.1% · guest 86.9%6:00 · Nathan 22.9% · guest 77.1%6:00 · Nathan 22.9% · guest 77.1%9:00 · Nathan 51.1% · guest 48.9%9:00 · Nathan 51.1% · guest 48.9%12:00 · Nathan 29.5% · guest 70.5%12:00 · Nathan 29.5% · guest 70.5%15:00 · Nathan 65% · guest 35%15:00 · Nathan 65% · guest 35%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:06 Rejecting 1x revenue sale

Daniel promptly rejects Nathan's hypothetical acquisition offer of 200k, balking at selling for merely one year of revenue when margins and long-term potential are high.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:00 Pushing on team size discrepancy

Nathan directly challenges Daniel on why he gave an imprecise range of 8 to 10 employees, demanding to know why the distinction between full-time and part-time is fuzzy.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:33 Correcting ARPU and monthly revenue

When Nathan tries doing quick math multiplying 700 checks by 20 dollars to estimate revenue, Daniel corrects him by explaining the higher average revenue per customer from 60 dollar legal certificate upsells.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:08 Connecting SaaS pricing pitfalls

Nathan shares his SaaS pricing perspective, pointing out where founders leave money on the table, which prompts Daniel to validate that exact dynamic as their marketing headline.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Origins and Business Model of Legit Check 4212 Nathan asks straightforward questions about the business model, first line of code, and revenue. Daniel clearly explains how a side project bookmark app organically turned into a paid authentication service without any tension.
Team Structure, Operations, and Fulfillment Process 5325 Nathan presses Daniel on why his team size figure is fuzzy between 8 and 10 people. Daniel explains transparently that some are long-term freelance contractors rather than full-time employees, leading smoothly into fulfillment details.
Free Content Strategy and Monthly Revenue Breakdown 6324 Nathan tries to verify the website navigation on the fly when Daniel mentions free guides, and tries to calculate the monthly run rate. Daniel corrects his revenue assumptions by mentioning their upsell certificate fees.
Sponsor Break: Zendesk for Startups 5214 After an ad read, Nathan examines Price Unlock, challenging why Daniel has not launched immediately. Daniel defends his timeline with standard lean release philosophy.
Bootstrapping Approach, High Margins, and Acquisition Stance 4222 Nathan poses a 1x revenue cash buyout hypothetical, which Daniel immediately brushes off as too low for a bootstrapped, high-margin business before answering the standard closing questions.

Statements from this episode (11)

Disclosure
Daniel CH is building Price Unlock for SaaS pricing A/B testing
“Price Unlock is being built right now because of a need we have. So we need to A, B test prices. To give a practical example, I don't know whether nine 99, nine 99 sharp, or 10 dollars a month is what would work best for us. And then we also need to localize s…”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 2:01
Opinion
Daniel CH: Legit Check is primarily a media company, not tech
“So we are first and foremost a media company, more than a tech company.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 2:41
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daniel CH: Legit Check reached 300,000 users before monetizing
“I think it pulled in a 100,000 users before we made an Android app and then 300,000 users before we made it into a business.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 3:13
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daniel CH: 25% to 40% of Legit Check customers return
“It's a transactional. So one off people pass one time, but. 25, 40% people of the people come back.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 6:22
Assertion Supported
Daniel CH: Legit Check charges $20 to $100 per authentication
“Anywhere between 20 bucks and a hundred bucks depends on the item, but most of our items are priced at 20 dollars. But if you've got a Hermes Berkey and that's going to be a hundred bucks.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 6:34
Disclosure
Legit Check authentication guides have reached six million all-time viewers
“We have six million all time viewers of our guides.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 6:56
Disclosure
Legit Check has published roughly one million words on spotting fakes
“That's where we've written about a million words on how to spot fake items.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 7:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daniel CH: Legit Check reached $200k to $220k revenue from May 2020-2021
“What I've checked for that post was that May to May. So May, 20, 20 to May, 20, 21, it was 200,000 and it should actually be a bit more because we made some charges outside of WooCommerce. So let's say 220,000, something like that.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 10:27
Disclosure
Daniel CH would reject juicy multiples to keep bootstrapping Legit Check
“Well, probably not going to sell regardless of, even if I'm getting a very juicy multiple because in my head, it could be way more. It just needs to be a slow burn because it's bootstrapped, completely bootstrapped, so no VC money.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 13:10
What-if
Daniel CH: Legit Check could reach 95% margins without staff
“Well, it's pretty much, we could operate on 95% margins if we fire everybody and do the authentications ourselves.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 13:25
Insight
Daniel CH: Building wealth is a function of saying no
“Building wealth is a function of saying no.”
Daniel CH May 26, 2021 ▶ 15:14
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