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Mar 20, 2021 · 15m · top-founders

He Did $170k Last Year, Shared Profits with 6 person Team Using This Algorithm

Daniel Bassana · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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

Nathan Latka interviews Daniel Bassana, founder of WPOK, exploring how he bootstrapped a productized WordPress maintenance service to €15K in MRR and €170K in annual revenue. The conversation covers WPOK's tiered subscription model, customer retention dynamics, and an innovative algorithmic profit-sharing system for its distributed team.

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 30.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 1.2 Guest disagreement 0.7 Nathan pushing back 2.0
05100:0010:000:13–2:43 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Podcast Promotion and Subscriber Access Overview After an introductory promo, Nathan asks whether the company is a SaaS or agency, and Daniel clarifies that it is a productized service before walking through customer use cases.2:44–4:58 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Customer Metrics, Tiered Pricing, and Revenue Breakdown Nathan drills into customer counts, pricing tiers in euros, and monthly recurring revenue, quickly clarifying whether the MRR was 15k or 50k.4:59–8:06 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Freelance Origins and the Decision to Focus Solely on WPOK Nathan prompts Daniel on his early freelancing background and why he decided to shut down multiple side projects to double down on a single WordPress business.8:06–10:23 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Team Composition and Algorithmic Profit-Sharing Model Nathan inquires about team size, profitability, and bonus structure, prompting Daniel to explain his algorithmic bonus distribution model tied to top-line revenue.10:24–12:52 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Revenue Trajectory, Bootstrapping Strategy, and Churn Metrics Nathan aggressively challenges Daniel's churn claim of 5% per year, pointing out that 5% monthly equates to over 50% annually in the SMB space, leading Daniel to admit his mistake.12:52–15:18 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Expansion Revenue and Upsell Service Offerings Daniel describes upsell opportunities like custom development and SEO packages before moving through Nathan's standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up.0:13–2:43 · Guest teaching 2/10 Podcast Promotion and Subscriber Access Overview After an introductory promo, Nathan asks whether the company is a SaaS or agency, and Daniel clarifies that it is a productized service before walking through customer use cases.2:44–4:58 · Guest teaching 1/10 Customer Metrics, Tiered Pricing, and Revenue Breakdown Nathan drills into customer counts, pricing tiers in euros, and monthly recurring revenue, quickly clarifying whether the MRR was 15k or 50k.4:59–8:06 · Guest teaching 1/10 Freelance Origins and the Decision to Focus Solely on WPOK Nathan prompts Daniel on his early freelancing background and why he decided to shut down multiple side projects to double down on a single WordPress business.8:06–10:23 · Guest teaching 2/10 Team Composition and Algorithmic Profit-Sharing Model Nathan inquires about team size, profitability, and bonus structure, prompting Daniel to explain his algorithmic bonus distribution model tied to top-line revenue.10:24–12:52 · Guest teaching 1/10 Revenue Trajectory, Bootstrapping Strategy, and Churn Metrics Nathan aggressively challenges Daniel's churn claim of 5% per year, pointing out that 5% monthly equates to over 50% annually in the SMB space, leading Daniel to admit his mistake.12:52–15:18 · Guest teaching 0/10 Expansion Revenue and Upsell Service Offerings Daniel describes upsell opportunities like custom development and SEO packages before moving through Nathan's standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up.0:13–2:43 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Podcast Promotion and Subscriber Access Overview After an introductory promo, Nathan asks whether the company is a SaaS or agency, and Daniel clarifies that it is a productized service before walking through customer use cases.2:44–4:58 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Customer Metrics, Tiered Pricing, and Revenue Breakdown Nathan drills into customer counts, pricing tiers in euros, and monthly recurring revenue, quickly clarifying whether the MRR was 15k or 50k.4:59–8:06 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Freelance Origins and the Decision to Focus Solely on WPOK Nathan prompts Daniel on his early freelancing background and why he decided to shut down multiple side projects to double down on a single WordPress business.8:06–10:23 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Team Composition and Algorithmic Profit-Sharing Model Nathan inquires about team size, profitability, and bonus structure, prompting Daniel to explain his algorithmic bonus distribution model tied to top-line revenue.10:24–12:52 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Revenue Trajectory, Bootstrapping Strategy, and Churn Metrics Nathan aggressively challenges Daniel's churn claim of 5% per year, pointing out that 5% monthly equates to over 50% annually in the SMB space, leading Daniel to admit his mistake.12:52–15:18 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Expansion Revenue and Upsell Service Offerings Daniel describes upsell opportunities like custom development and SEO packages before moving through Nathan's standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up.0:13–2:43 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Podcast Promotion and Subscriber Access Overview After an introductory promo, Nathan asks whether the company is a SaaS or agency, and Daniel clarifies that it is a productized service before walking through customer use cases.2:44–4:58 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Customer Metrics, Tiered Pricing, and Revenue Breakdown Nathan drills into customer counts, pricing tiers in euros, and monthly recurring revenue, quickly clarifying whether the MRR was 15k or 50k.4:59–8:06 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Freelance Origins and the Decision to Focus Solely on WPOK Nathan prompts Daniel on his early freelancing background and why he decided to shut down multiple side projects to double down on a single WordPress business.8:06–10:23 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Team Composition and Algorithmic Profit-Sharing Model Nathan inquires about team size, profitability, and bonus structure, prompting Daniel to explain his algorithmic bonus distribution model tied to top-line revenue.10:24–12:52 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Revenue Trajectory, Bootstrapping Strategy, and Churn Metrics Nathan aggressively challenges Daniel's churn claim of 5% per year, pointing out that 5% monthly equates to over 50% annually in the SMB space, leading Daniel to admit his mistake.12:52–15:18 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Expansion Revenue and Upsell Service Offerings Daniel describes upsell opportunities like custom development and SEO packages before moving through Nathan's standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up.

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

0:00 · Nathan 59.5% · guest 40.5%0:00 · Nathan 59.5% · guest 40.5%3:00 · Nathan 12.6% · guest 87.4%3:00 · Nathan 12.6% · guest 87.4%6:00 · Nathan 13.8% · guest 86.2%6:00 · Nathan 13.8% · guest 86.2%9:00 · Nathan 25.7% · guest 74.3%9:00 · Nathan 25.7% · guest 74.3%12:00 · Nathan 34% · guest 66%12:00 · Nathan 34% · guest 66%15:00 · Nathan 97.4% · guest 2.6%15:00 · Nathan 97.4% · guest 2.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 1:52 Correcting business classification

Daniel politely rejects Nathan's binary framing of SaaS versus agency to assert that his business is a productized service.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:20 Interrogating churn metrics

Nathan refuses to accept the claim of 5% annual churn for SMBs, challenging the guest until Daniel realizes he misstated monthly churn as annual.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 1:52 Defining productized services

Daniel educates Nathan on why neither the SaaS nor agency label accurately captures his WordPress maintenance model.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:30 Catching mathematical churn discrepancy

Nathan demonstrates SaaS benchmarking expertise by explaining how monthly compounding affects annual churn rates, forcing Daniel to correct his figure.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Podcast Promotion and Subscriber Access Overview 3211 After an introductory promo, Nathan asks whether the company is a SaaS or agency, and Daniel clarifies that it is a productized service before walking through customer use cases.
Customer Metrics, Tiered Pricing, and Revenue Breakdown 4112 Nathan drills into customer counts, pricing tiers in euros, and monthly recurring revenue, quickly clarifying whether the MRR was 15k or 50k.
Freelance Origins and the Decision to Focus Solely on WPOK 4101 Nathan prompts Daniel on his early freelancing background and why he decided to shut down multiple side projects to double down on a single WordPress business.
Team Composition and Algorithmic Profit-Sharing Model 4211 Nathan inquires about team size, profitability, and bonus structure, prompting Daniel to explain his algorithmic bonus distribution model tied to top-line revenue.
Revenue Trajectory, Bootstrapping Strategy, and Churn Metrics 7117 Nathan aggressively challenges Daniel's churn claim of 5% per year, pointing out that 5% monthly equates to over 50% annually in the SMB space, leading Daniel to admit his mistake.
Expansion Revenue and Upsell Service Offerings 3000 Daniel describes upsell opportunities like custom development and SEO packages before moving through Nathan's standard rapid-fire Famous Five wrap-up.

Statements from this episode (9)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bassana: WPOK manages around 200 websites across 150 active customers
“So now we are managing around 200 websites. That means 150 active customers, because we have customers and some agency that have multiple websites.”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 2:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bassana: WPOK has serviced over 500 customers since 2015
“We service in total over 500 customers since we started, and we started in 2015.”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 3:04
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bassana: WPOK recently reached €15,000 in MRR
“So we just reached the 15,000 15 K in MRR.”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 4:26
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bassana: Almost 90% of WPOK revenue comes from subscriptions
“And so let's say almost 90% of the revenue are from the subscriptions.”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 4:36
Disclosure
Bassana: WPOK operates with eight employees across technical support, sales, and CS
“Yeah, I'm the, I founded myself and I am the sole proprietor. I have six technical guys that are taking care of the tickets that are coming in every day. Then there is one guy that is doing the sales part. And since a couple of months, I have a person dedicate…”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 8:12
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bassana: WPOK closed the previous year with a six percent profit margin
“Last year we closed with six percent profit”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 8:49
Disclosure
Bassana shares 1% of WPOK's quarterly revenue with team via algorithm
“At the end I decide every quarter to allocate, it's roughly one percent of the revenue, I divide this among the people in the team, and I put together an algorithm that takes in consideration how many hours they work for me, how long they've been in the compan…”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 9:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bassana: WPOK closed 2020 with €170,000 in total revenue
“Revenue, we close at one 71 70 thousand K.”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 10:28
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Bassana: WPOK will generate between €230k and €250k in 2021
“Well, it looks it looks like, I think we can close around to 30 to 50.”
Daniel Bassana Mar 20, 2021 ▶ 10:37
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