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May 6, 2021 · 16m · top-founders

Writers Make $100k/year on Content SaaS Marketplace Verblio, $9m Revenue

Steve Pockross · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken Eric Yuan · 4s spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Verblio CEO Steve Pacross joins Nathan Latka to discuss how the SaaS-enabled content marketplace scaled to a $9 million revenue run rate by shifting upmarket, curating high-earning freelance talent, and integrating hybrid AI workflows.

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 32.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.3 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 0.5 Nathan pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:001:26–4:20 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Steve Pacross and Verblio's Content SaaS Nathan probes into the marketplace economics and writer payout mechanics. Steve educates Nathan on why shrinking their active writer pool from 10,000 to 1,000 actually improves marketplace quality and earnings per writer.4:21–9:04 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Marketplace Differentiation and Co-Creation Platform Capabilities Nathan demonstrates strong knowledge of Verblio's historical performance, accurately citing past customer counts and ARPU from their prior conversation. Steve outlines their upmarket expansion and churn dynamics across client cohorts.9:04–11:36 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Bootstrapping Team Growth and Automagical Video Integration Nathan asks detailed operational questions regarding hiring pacing, engineering split, and programmatic SEO vs standard content. Steve details the acquisition of Automagical and their AI-assisted drafting workflow.11:36–15:26 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 CEO Background, Marketplace Valuation, and Acquisition Stance Nathan explores valuation multiples across SaaS, marketplace, and service companies, posing an acquisition hypothetical that Steve readily accepts before running through the Famous Five.1:26–4:20 · Guest teaching 4/10 Introducing Steve Pacross and Verblio's Content SaaS Nathan probes into the marketplace economics and writer payout mechanics. Steve educates Nathan on why shrinking their active writer pool from 10,000 to 1,000 actually improves marketplace quality and earnings per writer.4:21–9:04 · Guest teaching 3/10 Marketplace Differentiation and Co-Creation Platform Capabilities Nathan demonstrates strong knowledge of Verblio's historical performance, accurately citing past customer counts and ARPU from their prior conversation. Steve outlines their upmarket expansion and churn dynamics across client cohorts.9:04–11:36 · Guest teaching 3/10 Bootstrapping Team Growth and Automagical Video Integration Nathan asks detailed operational questions regarding hiring pacing, engineering split, and programmatic SEO vs standard content. Steve details the acquisition of Automagical and their AI-assisted drafting workflow.11:36–15:26 · Guest teaching 2/10 CEO Background, Marketplace Valuation, and Acquisition Stance Nathan explores valuation multiples across SaaS, marketplace, and service companies, posing an acquisition hypothetical that Steve readily accepts before running through the Famous Five.1:26–4:20 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Steve Pacross and Verblio's Content SaaS Nathan probes into the marketplace economics and writer payout mechanics. Steve educates Nathan on why shrinking their active writer pool from 10,000 to 1,000 actually improves marketplace quality and earnings per writer.4:21–9:04 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Marketplace Differentiation and Co-Creation Platform Capabilities Nathan demonstrates strong knowledge of Verblio's historical performance, accurately citing past customer counts and ARPU from their prior conversation. Steve outlines their upmarket expansion and churn dynamics across client cohorts.9:04–11:36 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Bootstrapping Team Growth and Automagical Video Integration Nathan asks detailed operational questions regarding hiring pacing, engineering split, and programmatic SEO vs standard content. Steve details the acquisition of Automagical and their AI-assisted drafting workflow.11:36–15:26 · Guest disagreement 0/10 CEO Background, Marketplace Valuation, and Acquisition Stance Nathan explores valuation multiples across SaaS, marketplace, and service companies, posing an acquisition hypothetical that Steve readily accepts before running through the Famous Five.1:26–4:20 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Steve Pacross and Verblio's Content SaaS Nathan probes into the marketplace economics and writer payout mechanics. Steve educates Nathan on why shrinking their active writer pool from 10,000 to 1,000 actually improves marketplace quality and earnings per writer.4:21–9:04 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Marketplace Differentiation and Co-Creation Platform Capabilities Nathan demonstrates strong knowledge of Verblio's historical performance, accurately citing past customer counts and ARPU from their prior conversation. Steve outlines their upmarket expansion and churn dynamics across client cohorts.9:04–11:36 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Bootstrapping Team Growth and Automagical Video Integration Nathan asks detailed operational questions regarding hiring pacing, engineering split, and programmatic SEO vs standard content. Steve details the acquisition of Automagical and their AI-assisted drafting workflow.11:36–15:26 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 CEO Background, Marketplace Valuation, and Acquisition Stance Nathan explores valuation multiples across SaaS, marketplace, and service companies, posing an acquisition hypothetical that Steve readily accepts before running through the Famous Five.

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

0:00 · Nathan 63% · guest 37%0:00 · Nathan 63% · guest 37%3:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%3:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%6:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%6:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%9:00 · Nathan 21.1% · guest 78.9%9:00 · Nathan 21.1% · guest 78.9%12:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%12:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%15:00 · Nathan 62.1% · guest 37.9%15:00 · Nathan 62.1% · guest 37.9%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 2:39 Steve rejects the assumption that more writers equals growth

Steve counters standard marketplace scaling assumptions by explaining that purposefully slashing their writer pool from 10k down to 1k creates a more lucrative, high-quality ecosystem.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 6:03 Nathan challenges the customer churn dynamics

Nathan presses Steve to explain what specific content strategies failed for customers who churned off the platform.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 2:39 Steve breaks down marketplace right-sizing mechanics

Steve clarifies that reducing supply concentration allows remaining writers to earn up to six figures and improves client retention through higher quality.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 5:57 Nathan cites historical customer count and ARPU data

Nathan demonstrates mastery of Verblio's historical numbers by matching the exact customer count of 1,002 and $500 ARPU from their discussion a year prior.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Steve Pacross and Verblio's Content SaaS 5412 Nathan probes into the marketplace economics and writer payout mechanics. Steve educates Nathan on why shrinking their active writer pool from 10,000 to 1,000 actually improves marketplace quality and earnings per writer.
Marketplace Differentiation and Co-Creation Platform Capabilities 6313 Nathan demonstrates strong knowledge of Verblio's historical performance, accurately citing past customer counts and ARPU from their prior conversation. Steve outlines their upmarket expansion and churn dynamics across client cohorts.
Bootstrapping Team Growth and Automagical Video Integration 5302 Nathan asks detailed operational questions regarding hiring pacing, engineering split, and programmatic SEO vs standard content. Steve details the acquisition of Automagical and their AI-assisted drafting workflow.
CEO Background, Marketplace Valuation, and Acquisition Stance 5202 Nathan explores valuation multiples across SaaS, marketplace, and service companies, posing an acquisition hypothetical that Steve readily accepts before running through the Famous Five.

Statements from this episode (10)

Prediction Not checkable as stated
Verblio expects to produce 80,000 pieces of content in 2021
“And we're, we've got, I think we're going to create 80,000 pieces of unique content this year with 3000 writers working on our SaaS platform.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 2:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
A Verblio freelance writer earned $100,000 on the platform in 2020
“We actually had our first writer make a 100,000 dollars last year on the Verblio platform, which I'm incredibly proud of.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 3:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Verblio generated $6.1M in 2020 revenue, paying $3M to freelancers
“So we paid about half of what we are. We paid out a flat half. So our company brought in six million or 6.1 million last year. And so three million went to freelancers.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 3:41
Assertion Not checkable as stated
One Verblio client orders 1,200 content pieces per month
“So we have a client doing 1200 unique pieces of content per month on our platform.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 5:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Verblio serves 1,030 active monthly business customers
“A 1030.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 5:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Verblio's average customer spend reached $800 per month
“Our average customer now spends 800 dollars a month.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 6:36
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Verblio enterprise accounts over $1,000 see 2% monthly churn
“The churn on those accounts that are basically, we consider enterprise a thousand dollars and above churn at two percent per month.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 6:50
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Verblio expects to reach $840k MRR within two months
“We're crossing seven 50 and we should be at eight 38 40 within the next two months.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 7:50
Disclosure
Verblio acquired AI video generation startup Automagical
“So we bought a company called Automagical, which is very similar to sorry. Been out of it for a while. So similar to other players in the market that are trying to take existing content and turn them into videos by using AI.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 10:54
Opinion
Pacross: AI video should prioritize cutting costs over perfecting quality
“The twist that we put on it is I think that the main goal of those of that video technology should be to dramatically reduce the cost of creating the video as opposed to fine tuning the quality.”
Steve Pockross May 6, 2021 ▶ 11:10
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