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Mar 7, 2021 · 18m · top-founders

Resume Building Tool Hit $10m in Revenue, 100% YoY Growth after Acquired

Kuba Koziej · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken Eric Yuan · 4s spoken Vivek Bhaskaran · 2s 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, Nathan Latka speaks with Zety founder Kuba Koziej about scaling the resume-building platform from a $200,000 angel round to a $10 million ARR acquisition by Bold, detailing his SEO-driven customer acquisition, SaaS pricing evolution, and upcoming founder sabbatical.

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 40% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 4.5
05100:0010:000:00–3:00 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Episode Preview and GetLatka Subscription Promotion Segment contains Latka's promotional monologue and introductory questioning regarding Zeti's early launch timeline and initial traffic growth.3:00–6:28 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Business Model Evolution and Multi-Brand Portfolio Structure Latka pushes Koziej repeatedly to clarify confusing timelines and explain how multiple front-end brands share a single cap table and tech stack.6:30–10:51 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Revenue Growth and Transitioning to Recurring SaaS Economics Latka forcefully halts Koziej from splitting numbers across separate domains, demanding unified top-line revenue and SaaS transition dates.10:52–13:16 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Subscription Pricing Strategy and Job Seeker Retention Mechanics Latka confronts Koziej with search trends on subscription cancellations, prompting Koziej to explain job search cycles and retention mechanisms.13:16–15:56 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Conversion Economics, Scale at Acquisition, and Post-Sale Trajectory Koziej explains why a 1% conversion rate is viable with free organic SEO traffic, and deflects Latka's aggressive forward revenue calculations.15:56–18:14 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Departure Announcement and Founding Equity Breakdown Koziej reveals his imminent departure from Bold, followed by standard responses during the rapid-fire Famous Five segment.0:00–3:00 · Guest teaching 1/10 Episode Preview and GetLatka Subscription Promotion Segment contains Latka's promotional monologue and introductory questioning regarding Zeti's early launch timeline and initial traffic growth.3:00–6:28 · Guest teaching 2/10 Business Model Evolution and Multi-Brand Portfolio Structure Latka pushes Koziej repeatedly to clarify confusing timelines and explain how multiple front-end brands share a single cap table and tech stack.6:30–10:51 · Guest teaching 2/10 Revenue Growth and Transitioning to Recurring SaaS Economics Latka forcefully halts Koziej from splitting numbers across separate domains, demanding unified top-line revenue and SaaS transition dates.10:52–13:16 · Guest teaching 4/10 Subscription Pricing Strategy and Job Seeker Retention Mechanics Latka confronts Koziej with search trends on subscription cancellations, prompting Koziej to explain job search cycles and retention mechanisms.13:16–15:56 · Guest teaching 4/10 Conversion Economics, Scale at Acquisition, and Post-Sale Trajectory Koziej explains why a 1% conversion rate is viable with free organic SEO traffic, and deflects Latka's aggressive forward revenue calculations.15:56–18:14 · Guest teaching 2/10 Departure Announcement and Founding Equity Breakdown Koziej reveals his imminent departure from Bold, followed by standard responses during the rapid-fire Famous Five segment.0:00–3:00 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Episode Preview and GetLatka Subscription Promotion Segment contains Latka's promotional monologue and introductory questioning regarding Zeti's early launch timeline and initial traffic growth.3:00–6:28 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Business Model Evolution and Multi-Brand Portfolio Structure Latka pushes Koziej repeatedly to clarify confusing timelines and explain how multiple front-end brands share a single cap table and tech stack.6:30–10:51 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Revenue Growth and Transitioning to Recurring SaaS Economics Latka forcefully halts Koziej from splitting numbers across separate domains, demanding unified top-line revenue and SaaS transition dates.10:52–13:16 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Subscription Pricing Strategy and Job Seeker Retention Mechanics Latka confronts Koziej with search trends on subscription cancellations, prompting Koziej to explain job search cycles and retention mechanisms.13:16–15:56 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Conversion Economics, Scale at Acquisition, and Post-Sale Trajectory Koziej explains why a 1% conversion rate is viable with free organic SEO traffic, and deflects Latka's aggressive forward revenue calculations.15:56–18:14 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Departure Announcement and Founding Equity Breakdown Koziej reveals his imminent departure from Bold, followed by standard responses during the rapid-fire Famous Five segment.0:00–3:00 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Episode Preview and GetLatka Subscription Promotion Segment contains Latka's promotional monologue and introductory questioning regarding Zeti's early launch timeline and initial traffic growth.3:00–6:28 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Business Model Evolution and Multi-Brand Portfolio Structure Latka pushes Koziej repeatedly to clarify confusing timelines and explain how multiple front-end brands share a single cap table and tech stack.6:30–10:51 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Revenue Growth and Transitioning to Recurring SaaS Economics Latka forcefully halts Koziej from splitting numbers across separate domains, demanding unified top-line revenue and SaaS transition dates.10:52–13:16 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Subscription Pricing Strategy and Job Seeker Retention Mechanics Latka confronts Koziej with search trends on subscription cancellations, prompting Koziej to explain job search cycles and retention mechanisms.13:16–15:56 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Conversion Economics, Scale at Acquisition, and Post-Sale Trajectory Koziej explains why a 1% conversion rate is viable with free organic SEO traffic, and deflects Latka's aggressive forward revenue calculations.15:56–18:14 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Departure Announcement and Founding Equity Breakdown Koziej reveals his imminent departure from Bold, followed by standard responses during the rapid-fire Famous Five segment.

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

0:00 · Nathan 61.2% · guest 38.8%0:00 · Nathan 61.2% · guest 38.8%3:00 · Nathan 29.3% · guest 70.7%3:00 · Nathan 29.3% · guest 70.7%6:00 · Nathan 38.9% · guest 61.1%6:00 · Nathan 38.9% · guest 61.1%9:00 · Nathan 40.2% · guest 59.8%9:00 · Nathan 40.2% · guest 59.8%12:00 · Nathan 20.6% · guest 79.4%12:00 · Nathan 20.6% · guest 79.4%15:00 · Nathan 47% · guest 53%15:00 · Nathan 47% · guest 53%18:00 · Nathan 84.4% · guest 15.6%18:00 · Nathan 84.4% · guest 15.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:44 Koziej distances himself from Latka's revenue math

Koziej firmly pushes back against Latka's aggressive forward revenue projections, reminding him that Latka is the one doing the math.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:52 Latka refuses fragmented brand reporting

Latka rejects Koziej's brand-by-brand breakdown, cutting in to insist on looking at total consolidated business revenue.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:35 Koziej explains job hunting duration to justify recurring billing

Koziej educates Latka on the reality of job hunting, explaining that candidates take two to six months and repeatedly customize resumes.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 5:37 Latka clarifies cap table vs multi-brand marketing strategy

Latka cuts through the confusion by demonstrating how multi-brand SEO strategies operate on a unified cap table and underlying tech product.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Episode Preview and GetLatka Subscription Promotion 3112 Segment contains Latka's promotional monologue and introductory questioning regarding Zeti's early launch timeline and initial traffic growth.
Business Model Evolution and Multi-Brand Portfolio Structure 5226 Latka pushes Koziej repeatedly to clarify confusing timelines and explain how multiple front-end brands share a single cap table and tech stack.
Revenue Growth and Transitioning to Recurring SaaS Economics 6238 Latka forcefully halts Koziej from splitting numbers across separate domains, demanding unified top-line revenue and SaaS transition dates.
Subscription Pricing Strategy and Job Seeker Retention Mechanics 6425 Latka confronts Koziej with search trends on subscription cancellations, prompting Koziej to explain job search cycles and retention mechanisms.
Conversion Economics, Scale at Acquisition, and Post-Sale Trajectory 6434 Koziej explains why a 1% conversion rate is viable with free organic SEO traffic, and deflects Latka's aggressive forward revenue calculations.
Departure Announcement and Founding Equity Breakdown 4212 Koziej reveals his imminent departure from Bold, followed by standard responses during the rapid-fire Famous Five segment.

Statements from this episode (9)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koziej: Zety Grew to Almost 4M Monthly Visitors via SEO
“We focused on on SEO and we went from zero to almost four million users monthly. I mean, actually visitors. So so, so Zeddy went through this.”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 2:34
Insight
Koziej: Running multiple brands maximizes Google search real estate for one product
“So like we mostly use search traffic which we monetize. So in our case, it makes a lot of sense. To occupy a lot of real estate in Google, be it organic traffic or be it paid traffic. So we basically have a lot of different websites for career seekers, but at …”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 6:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koziej: Zety was doing around $15,000 monthly when raising angel capital in 2016
“Back in 2016 at the time, like when we when we acquire when we when we got the investment, it was around like 15,000 dollars a month.”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 6:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koziej: Zety grew revenue around 300% per year for three consecutive years
“At that time, like we were growing at around like 300% a year for the next for the next three years.”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 7:27
Insight
Koziej: Zety's switch to subscriptions massively increased LTV despite fewer buyers
“When we started running tests we started running tests on the on ZECOM and like, and obviously we the number the number of subscriptions went down slightly but our LTV made up for it massively. So so, so, so we basically started making like three or four times…”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 10:29
Disclosure
Koziej: Zety consolidated pricing tiers into single $25 monthly plan
“So back in the day, like we had three of three plans, five, five, 10, 15. We consolidate and consolidate them, you know, into one plan, which is like 25 dollars per month.”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 11:05
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koziej: Zety reached a $10M run rate at acquisition
“Like I said I wouldn't be I wouldn't be able to give you to give you specific specific numbers, but we were on a, at the time when we were acquired, we were on a ten million dollar run rate.”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 13:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koziej: Zety converted about 1% of unique website visitors to paid
“No, it was it was it was way lower than that. It was it was around like one per one percent.”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 14:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koziej: Zety has maintained over triple-digit growth post-acquisition
“Yeah, massively, massively, massively increased. I would say like we've been, we've still been growing at over at three digits.”
Kuba Koziej Mar 7, 2021 ▶ 15:15
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