StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Dec 2, 2020 · 20m · top-founders

OrderDesk Does $60k Monthly, Profits $10k, Growing Via Shopify App Exchange

Nathan Latka · 8m spoken David Hollander · 8m 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, OrderDesk founder David Hollander discusses how his bootstrapped e-commerce automation platform generates $60,000 in monthly revenue and $10,000 in profit with a lean six-person team. Hollander shares insights on scaling organically through the Shopify App Store, optimizing user onboarding, and preserving founder independence without venture capital.

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 49.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 1.6 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 4.2
05100:0010:0020:000:00–3:49 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Previewing OrderDesk Conversion Rates and Onboarding Focus Nathan introduces the guest after a promo roll and quickly explores OrderDesk's integration model and hybrid pricing structure. The exchange is straightforward and cooperative as David describes base subscription tiers and transaction fees.3:49–7:22 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Analyzing OrderDesk Monthly Revenue and Customer Personas Nathan presses David on the exact breakdown between SaaS subscription fees and per-order transaction fees, correcting David's confusion over top-line revenue versus bottom-line profit. Nathan calculates the real average base fee per user using customer count and volume figures.7:24–13:32 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Sponsor Message: Ping Identity Frictionless Authentication After an ad read, Nathan examines customer acquisition channels, questioning David on why the company hasn't aggressively solicited reviews on the Shopify app store. David admits they lack deliberate marketing and rely almost solely on word of mouth.13:32–19:16 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Customer Retention Dynamics and Bootstrapping Business Philosophy Nathan drills into churn mechanics, correcting his own monthly vs annual calculation while pushing David on revenue churn metrics. The discussion sharpens when Nathan refuses to believe David would turn down a 4 million dollar acquisition, labeling him a control freak.19:17–20:47 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Famous Five Questions and Final Financial Summary Nathan breezes through the Famous Five standard questions before delivering a concise outro summary of OrderDesk's financial performance and head count.0:00–3:49 · Guest teaching 2/10 Previewing OrderDesk Conversion Rates and Onboarding Focus Nathan introduces the guest after a promo roll and quickly explores OrderDesk's integration model and hybrid pricing structure. The exchange is straightforward and cooperative as David describes base subscription tiers and transaction fees.3:49–7:22 · Guest teaching 1/10 Analyzing OrderDesk Monthly Revenue and Customer Personas Nathan presses David on the exact breakdown between SaaS subscription fees and per-order transaction fees, correcting David's confusion over top-line revenue versus bottom-line profit. Nathan calculates the real average base fee per user using customer count and volume figures.7:24–13:32 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Message: Ping Identity Frictionless Authentication After an ad read, Nathan examines customer acquisition channels, questioning David on why the company hasn't aggressively solicited reviews on the Shopify app store. David admits they lack deliberate marketing and rely almost solely on word of mouth.13:32–19:16 · Guest teaching 3/10 Customer Retention Dynamics and Bootstrapping Business Philosophy Nathan drills into churn mechanics, correcting his own monthly vs annual calculation while pushing David on revenue churn metrics. The discussion sharpens when Nathan refuses to believe David would turn down a 4 million dollar acquisition, labeling him a control freak.19:17–20:47 · Guest teaching 0/10 Famous Five Questions and Final Financial Summary Nathan breezes through the Famous Five standard questions before delivering a concise outro summary of OrderDesk's financial performance and head count.0:00–3:49 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Previewing OrderDesk Conversion Rates and Onboarding Focus Nathan introduces the guest after a promo roll and quickly explores OrderDesk's integration model and hybrid pricing structure. The exchange is straightforward and cooperative as David describes base subscription tiers and transaction fees.3:49–7:22 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Analyzing OrderDesk Monthly Revenue and Customer Personas Nathan presses David on the exact breakdown between SaaS subscription fees and per-order transaction fees, correcting David's confusion over top-line revenue versus bottom-line profit. Nathan calculates the real average base fee per user using customer count and volume figures.7:24–13:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Sponsor Message: Ping Identity Frictionless Authentication After an ad read, Nathan examines customer acquisition channels, questioning David on why the company hasn't aggressively solicited reviews on the Shopify app store. David admits they lack deliberate marketing and rely almost solely on word of mouth.13:32–19:16 · Guest disagreement 5/10 Customer Retention Dynamics and Bootstrapping Business Philosophy Nathan drills into churn mechanics, correcting his own monthly vs annual calculation while pushing David on revenue churn metrics. The discussion sharpens when Nathan refuses to believe David would turn down a 4 million dollar acquisition, labeling him a control freak.19:17–20:47 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Famous Five Questions and Final Financial Summary Nathan breezes through the Famous Five standard questions before delivering a concise outro summary of OrderDesk's financial performance and head count.0:00–3:49 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Previewing OrderDesk Conversion Rates and Onboarding Focus Nathan introduces the guest after a promo roll and quickly explores OrderDesk's integration model and hybrid pricing structure. The exchange is straightforward and cooperative as David describes base subscription tiers and transaction fees.3:49–7:22 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Analyzing OrderDesk Monthly Revenue and Customer Personas Nathan presses David on the exact breakdown between SaaS subscription fees and per-order transaction fees, correcting David's confusion over top-line revenue versus bottom-line profit. Nathan calculates the real average base fee per user using customer count and volume figures.7:24–13:32 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Sponsor Message: Ping Identity Frictionless Authentication After an ad read, Nathan examines customer acquisition channels, questioning David on why the company hasn't aggressively solicited reviews on the Shopify app store. David admits they lack deliberate marketing and rely almost solely on word of mouth.13:32–19:16 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Customer Retention Dynamics and Bootstrapping Business Philosophy Nathan drills into churn mechanics, correcting his own monthly vs annual calculation while pushing David on revenue churn metrics. The discussion sharpens when Nathan refuses to believe David would turn down a 4 million dollar acquisition, labeling him a control freak.19:17–20:47 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Famous Five Questions and Final Financial Summary Nathan breezes through the Famous Five standard questions before delivering a concise outro summary of OrderDesk's financial performance and head count.

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

0:00 · Nathan 63.2% · guest 36.8%0:00 · Nathan 63.2% · guest 36.8%3:00 · Nathan 51.8% · guest 48.2%3:00 · Nathan 51.8% · guest 48.2%6:00 · Nathan 53.3% · guest 46.7%6:00 · Nathan 53.3% · guest 46.7%9:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%9:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%12:00 · Nathan 43.3% · guest 56.7%12:00 · Nathan 43.3% · guest 56.7%15:00 · Nathan 47.2% · guest 52.8%15:00 · Nathan 47.2% · guest 52.8%18:00 · Nathan 59.5% · guest 40.5%18:00 · Nathan 59.5% · guest 40.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 18:10 Refusing acquisition offer and defending independence

David adamantly rejects taking a hypothetical four million dollar acquisition offer, asserting that selling out would kill the golden egg and strip him of control.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 18:18 Calling out founder's financial motivations

Nathan openly challenges David's claim that he isn't motivated by money, pointing out that David prominently highlighted monthly revenue in his founder bio.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:40 Explaining Q4 e-commerce seasonality spikes

David educates Nathan on why flat revenue churn numbers do not tell the full story due to massive 60 percent seasonal spikes during Q4 retail volume.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 4:15 Deconstructing hybrid SaaS unit economics

Nathan walks through the arithmetic of customer tiers and transaction fees to correct David's blended ARPU assumptions.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Previewing OrderDesk Conversion Rates and Onboarding Focus 5212 Nathan introduces the guest after a promo roll and quickly explores OrderDesk's integration model and hybrid pricing structure. The exchange is straightforward and cooperative as David describes base subscription tiers and transaction fees.
Analyzing OrderDesk Monthly Revenue and Customer Personas 8126 Nathan presses David on the exact breakdown between SaaS subscription fees and per-order transaction fees, correcting David's confusion over top-line revenue versus bottom-line profit. Nathan calculates the real average base fee per user using customer count and volume figures.
Sponsor Message: Ping Identity Frictionless Authentication 6225 After an ad read, Nathan examines customer acquisition channels, questioning David on why the company hasn't aggressively solicited reviews on the Shopify app store. David admits they lack deliberate marketing and rely almost solely on word of mouth.
Customer Retention Dynamics and Bootstrapping Business Philosophy 7357 Nathan drills into churn mechanics, correcting his own monthly vs annual calculation while pushing David on revenue churn metrics. The discussion sharpens when Nathan refuses to believe David would turn down a 4 million dollar acquisition, labeling him a control freak.
Famous Five Questions and Final Financial Summary 4001 Nathan breezes through the Famous Five standard questions before delivering a concise outro summary of OrderDesk's financial performance and head count.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Supported
Hollander: OrderDesk has 230 third-party API integrations
“We have 230 integrations with different, different APIs, different third parties.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 2:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hollander says most of OrderDesk's platform volume goes through Shopify
“I would say we'd see probably the majority of our platform goes through Shopify. That's probably what we see most of it.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 2:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
OrderDesk generates $60,000 monthly gross revenue and $10,000 monthly profit
“We've grossed 60. And we've got we're and about 10 K a month in profit right now.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 3:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hollander: OrderDesk has approximately 750 customers
“We have about 750 customers.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 4:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hollander: OrderDesk averages $75 monthly revenue per customer
“We're actually averaging 75 dollars a month per customer.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 5:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hollander: OrderDesk processes about 500,000 orders per month
“So right now we're doing about 500,000 orders a month.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 6:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
OrderDesk grew from $38,000 to $60,000 in monthly revenue over one year
“A year ago, we were doing about 38 right now.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 8:29
Disclosure
OrderDesk acquires all customers without advertising or sales teams
“We don't do any sales, so we don't do any advertising. So we get all of our, all, everybody comes through people who are searching for something that we do, or they're coming from a marketplace like the Shopify marketplace or the big commerce marketplace for i…”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 9:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
OrderDesk sees revenue jump 60% in Q4 due to e-commerce seasonality
“So what happens in Q four, because we're very, very seasonal Q four, our numbers go through the roof. We actually get Our numbers go up like 60% in Q four.”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 14:52
Disclosure
Hollander calls venture capital risky and prefers slow, healthy bootstrapped growth
“No, no. I'm very happy to bootstrap. I'm pretty risk averse, and to me, raising venture capital feels pretty risky. I would much rather grow the company slowly at the risk of growing fast. I'd rather do what's Healthy for the company and not focus so much on g…”
David Hollander Dec 2, 2020 ▶ 17:36
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more