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Jan 12, 2021 · 18m · top-founders

GlobeChain Lists Waste Products, Does $1.6m in ARR in SaaS Enabled Marketplace Model

May Alkaruni · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m spoken Past Guests · 6s spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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

Globechain founder May Alkaruni shares how she bootstrapped and scaled an ESG-focused, SaaS-enabled waste reuse marketplace to $1.6 million in ARR with exceptional capital efficiency and a 98% landfill diversion rate.

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 31.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.4 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.6
05100:0010:002:52–5:43 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Founding Origin Story and First Enterprise Pilot with Topshop Nathan digs into the mechanics of GlobeChain's first enterprise deal with Topshop. May explains how she validated the marketplace model by offering a free trial across initial store locations before transitioning to paid licensing.5:43–8:45 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Contract Monetization, Internal Reuse Software, and International Scale Nathan does rapid arithmetic on contract size and store counts to establish their $50k ACV and ARR run rate. May collaborates smoothly, clarifying her pricing structure and headcount changes during COVID.8:45–12:31 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Non-Profit Logistics Model, Listing Velocities, and Waste Clearance Rates When May accidentally quotes 60,000 to 80,000 listings for a single month, Nathan immediately catches the discrepancy and presses her to clarify listings versus items. May corrects the error to 60 listings across 10,000 products.12:33–16:22 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Unit Economics, COVID-19 Impacts, and Upcoming Series A Strategy Nathan challenges May's fundraising dilution expectations and questions whether an ultra-low CAC of 600 pounds on a 50k ACV contract is genuinely scalable. May defends her valuation based on UK market norms and highlights circular economy TAM.16:22–18:09 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Questions and Episode Conclusion Nathan guides May through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire and concludes with a concise summary of GlobeChain's core business metrics.2:52–5:43 · Guest teaching 3/10 Founding Origin Story and First Enterprise Pilot with Topshop Nathan digs into the mechanics of GlobeChain's first enterprise deal with Topshop. May explains how she validated the marketplace model by offering a free trial across initial store locations before transitioning to paid licensing.5:43–8:45 · Guest teaching 2/10 Contract Monetization, Internal Reuse Software, and International Scale Nathan does rapid arithmetic on contract size and store counts to establish their $50k ACV and ARR run rate. May collaborates smoothly, clarifying her pricing structure and headcount changes during COVID.8:45–12:31 · Guest teaching 3/10 Non-Profit Logistics Model, Listing Velocities, and Waste Clearance Rates When May accidentally quotes 60,000 to 80,000 listings for a single month, Nathan immediately catches the discrepancy and presses her to clarify listings versus items. May corrects the error to 60 listings across 10,000 products.12:33–16:22 · Guest teaching 3/10 Unit Economics, COVID-19 Impacts, and Upcoming Series A Strategy Nathan challenges May's fundraising dilution expectations and questions whether an ultra-low CAC of 600 pounds on a 50k ACV contract is genuinely scalable. May defends her valuation based on UK market norms and highlights circular economy TAM.16:22–18:09 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Questions and Episode Conclusion Nathan guides May through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire and concludes with a concise summary of GlobeChain's core business metrics.2:52–5:43 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Founding Origin Story and First Enterprise Pilot with Topshop Nathan digs into the mechanics of GlobeChain's first enterprise deal with Topshop. May explains how she validated the marketplace model by offering a free trial across initial store locations before transitioning to paid licensing.5:43–8:45 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Contract Monetization, Internal Reuse Software, and International Scale Nathan does rapid arithmetic on contract size and store counts to establish their $50k ACV and ARR run rate. May collaborates smoothly, clarifying her pricing structure and headcount changes during COVID.8:45–12:31 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Non-Profit Logistics Model, Listing Velocities, and Waste Clearance Rates When May accidentally quotes 60,000 to 80,000 listings for a single month, Nathan immediately catches the discrepancy and presses her to clarify listings versus items. May corrects the error to 60 listings across 10,000 products.12:33–16:22 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Unit Economics, COVID-19 Impacts, and Upcoming Series A Strategy Nathan challenges May's fundraising dilution expectations and questions whether an ultra-low CAC of 600 pounds on a 50k ACV contract is genuinely scalable. May defends her valuation based on UK market norms and highlights circular economy TAM.16:22–18:09 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Questions and Episode Conclusion Nathan guides May through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire and concludes with a concise summary of GlobeChain's core business metrics.2:52–5:43 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Founding Origin Story and First Enterprise Pilot with Topshop Nathan digs into the mechanics of GlobeChain's first enterprise deal with Topshop. May explains how she validated the marketplace model by offering a free trial across initial store locations before transitioning to paid licensing.5:43–8:45 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Contract Monetization, Internal Reuse Software, and International Scale Nathan does rapid arithmetic on contract size and store counts to establish their $50k ACV and ARR run rate. May collaborates smoothly, clarifying her pricing structure and headcount changes during COVID.8:45–12:31 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Non-Profit Logistics Model, Listing Velocities, and Waste Clearance Rates When May accidentally quotes 60,000 to 80,000 listings for a single month, Nathan immediately catches the discrepancy and presses her to clarify listings versus items. May corrects the error to 60 listings across 10,000 products.12:33–16:22 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Unit Economics, COVID-19 Impacts, and Upcoming Series A Strategy Nathan challenges May's fundraising dilution expectations and questions whether an ultra-low CAC of 600 pounds on a 50k ACV contract is genuinely scalable. May defends her valuation based on UK market norms and highlights circular economy TAM.16:22–18:09 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Questions and Episode Conclusion Nathan guides May through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire and concludes with a concise summary of GlobeChain's core business metrics.

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

0:00 · Nathan 58.4% · guest 41.6%0:00 · Nathan 58.4% · guest 41.6%3:00 · Nathan 5.6% · guest 94.4%3:00 · Nathan 5.6% · guest 94.4%6:00 · Nathan 31.2% · guest 68.8%6:00 · Nathan 31.2% · guest 68.8%9:00 · Nathan 24.4% · guest 75.6%9:00 · Nathan 24.4% · guest 75.6%12:00 · Nathan 25.5% · guest 74.5%12:00 · Nathan 25.5% · guest 74.5%15:00 · Nathan 44% · guest 56%15:00 · Nathan 44% · guest 56%18:00 · Nathan 84.7% · guest 15.3%18:00 · Nathan 84.7% · guest 15.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:40 May counters channel saturation premise

May pushes back against Nathan's skepticism regarding acquisition channel depth, pointing out the multi-trillion circular economy market opportunity.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:28 Nathan halts interview to resolve listing numbers

Nathan refuses to accept a mathematical contradiction when May confuses total products with listing counts, demanding immediate clarification.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:58 May explains two-sided logistics psychology

May explains the mechanics of her marketplace model, clarifying that non-profits take goods for free while logistics fees create skin in the game to eliminate no-shows.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 15:29 Nathan analyzes CAC payback efficiency

Nathan demonstrates financial acumen by analyzing the unit economics of a 600-pound CAC on a 50,000-dollar annual contract and probing its channel scalability limits.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Founding Origin Story and First Enterprise Pilot with Topshop 4313 Nathan digs into the mechanics of GlobeChain's first enterprise deal with Topshop. May explains how she validated the marketplace model by offering a free trial across initial store locations before transitioning to paid licensing.
Contract Monetization, Internal Reuse Software, and International Scale 6213 Nathan does rapid arithmetic on contract size and store counts to establish their $50k ACV and ARR run rate. May collaborates smoothly, clarifying her pricing structure and headcount changes during COVID.
Non-Profit Logistics Model, Listing Velocities, and Waste Clearance Rates 7326 When May accidentally quotes 60,000 to 80,000 listings for a single month, Nathan immediately catches the discrepancy and presses her to clarify listings versus items. May corrects the error to 60 listings across 10,000 products.
Unit Economics, COVID-19 Impacts, and Upcoming Series A Strategy 7325 Nathan challenges May's fundraising dilution expectations and questions whether an ultra-low CAC of 600 pounds on a 50k ACV contract is genuinely scalable. May defends her valuation based on UK market norms and highlights circular economy TAM.
The Famous Five Questions and Episode Conclusion 3101 Nathan guides May through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire and concludes with a concise summary of GlobeChain's core business metrics.

Statements from this episode (12)

Disclosure
Globechain charges enterprise clients between £500 and £2,000 per location
“It ranges depending on the sector, because we work in retail, commercial, and hospitality, construction, and anything from 500 pounds to 2000 pounds per location. And we work, obviously, on volumes of locations to do with stores, restaurants, hotels, and so on…”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 2:29
Disclosure
May Alkaruni built Globechain's first MVP for just £800
“And I initially kept my job and put 800 pounds into a freelance developer and built my very first MVP and went to get out to market to see Who would take it on?”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 4:19
Disclosure
Globechain piloted for free across 60 Topshop stores to validate reuse
“So initially it was we did it for free for them the first year because this is a new model, remember? So no one had ever come across like a reuse platform where we give items for free and we generate ESG data as the value of the software, if you like. And so w…”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 5:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Globechain typically charges clients around $50,000 per year
“And actually it works out around 50,000 per year per clients usually.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 6:21
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Globechain claims 34 UK enterprise customers and 10,000 taker members
“We have around 34 customers in the UK. We've got 10,000 members. So they're the taking members the people that take the items and we're in UK, Spain. We actually just launched in New York last month. Just before Christmas. And we're in the UAE. We have a partn…”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 6:49
Disclosure
Globechain has operated on a $750,000 seed round since late 2018
“I only got VC funding late 2018 and we got 750,000 from VC and we've been running off that since actually.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 7:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Globechain finished 2019 with $200,000 in revenue
“That was only 200,000 because I just got the money in the VC side and growing the team to around eight people.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 7:58
Disclosure
Requiring recipients to pay for transport eliminated no-shows on Globechain
“So the taking member always pays for the transportation and delivery of the goods. And that way we have almost no shows turn up.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 9:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Items listed on Globechain are typically requested in under 24 hours
“Things get requested literally in less than 24 hours and at the moment it's like 20 minutes.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 10:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Globechain sees a 98% claim rate for corporate waste listings
“So 98% of the stuff does go. Straight away. The only thing that is more difficult to go is usually broken electricals, and that's an industry problem because most people recycle them.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 12:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Globechain maintained 100% enterprise customer retention through 2020
“Actually it's based on the enterprise side. So how much they're paying and up to December, we've had a hundred percent retention, which has been really interesting.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 13:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Globechain spends just £600 to acquire a $50,000 annual enterprise client
“It actually costs our business development people around 600 pounds to bring on board that client.”
May Alkaruni Jan 12, 2021 ▶ 15:01
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