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Sep 10, 2020 · 18m · top-founders

Trend.io Does $60k/mo Helping Brands Find MicroInfluencers

Ramon Berrios · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m 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

In this interview, Trend.io founder Ramon Barrios explains how his marketplace connects direct-to-consumer brands with micro-influencers for user-generated content, scaling to $60,000 in monthly revenue with a lean five-person 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 46.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.3
05100:0010:000:13–4:20 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 GetLatka Subscription Feed Benefits and Accessibility Policy Latka probes into the pricing model and unit economics, pushing Ramon to clarify lifetime value versus average monthly customer spend.4:20–7:00 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Credit Pricing Structure and Commercial Licensing Rights Latka quickly computes the content volume based on credit costs and revenue, while Ramon explains the legal protection and content licensing value proposition.7:00–9:44 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Lean Team Structure, Capital Allocation, and Runway Latka calculates monthly recurring revenue and parses contractor hours, while Ramon details their lean operational structure and capital burn.9:44–14:03 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Organic Search Engine Optimization and Key Opinion Leaders Ramon explains Key Opinion Leaders to Latka, and Latka later pushes back that Trend is acting as an intermediary that should handle attribution.14:03–17:01 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Target Vertical Fit and Creator Marketing Advice Latka pitches his magazine's marketing use case, but Ramon educates him that Trend is strictly for consumer lifestyle brands and recommends an Airtable workaround instead.17:01–17:57 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions A collaborative and straightforward Famous Five closing segment with brief answers and standard sign-off metrics.0:13–4:20 · Guest teaching 2/10 GetLatka Subscription Feed Benefits and Accessibility Policy Latka probes into the pricing model and unit economics, pushing Ramon to clarify lifetime value versus average monthly customer spend.4:20–7:00 · Guest teaching 3/10 Credit Pricing Structure and Commercial Licensing Rights Latka quickly computes the content volume based on credit costs and revenue, while Ramon explains the legal protection and content licensing value proposition.7:00–9:44 · Guest teaching 2/10 Lean Team Structure, Capital Allocation, and Runway Latka calculates monthly recurring revenue and parses contractor hours, while Ramon details their lean operational structure and capital burn.9:44–14:03 · Guest teaching 4/10 Organic Search Engine Optimization and Key Opinion Leaders Ramon explains Key Opinion Leaders to Latka, and Latka later pushes back that Trend is acting as an intermediary that should handle attribution.14:03–17:01 · Guest teaching 5/10 Target Vertical Fit and Creator Marketing Advice Latka pitches his magazine's marketing use case, but Ramon educates him that Trend is strictly for consumer lifestyle brands and recommends an Airtable workaround instead.17:01–17:57 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions A collaborative and straightforward Famous Five closing segment with brief answers and standard sign-off metrics.0:13–4:20 · Guest disagreement 1/10 GetLatka Subscription Feed Benefits and Accessibility Policy Latka probes into the pricing model and unit economics, pushing Ramon to clarify lifetime value versus average monthly customer spend.4:20–7:00 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Credit Pricing Structure and Commercial Licensing Rights Latka quickly computes the content volume based on credit costs and revenue, while Ramon explains the legal protection and content licensing value proposition.7:00–9:44 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Lean Team Structure, Capital Allocation, and Runway Latka calculates monthly recurring revenue and parses contractor hours, while Ramon details their lean operational structure and capital burn.9:44–14:03 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Organic Search Engine Optimization and Key Opinion Leaders Ramon explains Key Opinion Leaders to Latka, and Latka later pushes back that Trend is acting as an intermediary that should handle attribution.14:03–17:01 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Target Vertical Fit and Creator Marketing Advice Latka pitches his magazine's marketing use case, but Ramon educates him that Trend is strictly for consumer lifestyle brands and recommends an Airtable workaround instead.17:01–17:57 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions A collaborative and straightforward Famous Five closing segment with brief answers and standard sign-off metrics.0:13–4:20 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 GetLatka Subscription Feed Benefits and Accessibility Policy Latka probes into the pricing model and unit economics, pushing Ramon to clarify lifetime value versus average monthly customer spend.4:20–7:00 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Credit Pricing Structure and Commercial Licensing Rights Latka quickly computes the content volume based on credit costs and revenue, while Ramon explains the legal protection and content licensing value proposition.7:00–9:44 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Lean Team Structure, Capital Allocation, and Runway Latka calculates monthly recurring revenue and parses contractor hours, while Ramon details their lean operational structure and capital burn.9:44–14:03 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Organic Search Engine Optimization and Key Opinion Leaders Ramon explains Key Opinion Leaders to Latka, and Latka later pushes back that Trend is acting as an intermediary that should handle attribution.14:03–17:01 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Target Vertical Fit and Creator Marketing Advice Latka pitches his magazine's marketing use case, but Ramon educates him that Trend is strictly for consumer lifestyle brands and recommends an Airtable workaround instead.17:01–17:57 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions A collaborative and straightforward Famous Five closing segment with brief answers and standard sign-off metrics.

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

0:00 · Nathan 61.5% · guest 38.5%0:00 · Nathan 61.5% · guest 38.5%3:00 · Nathan 34.8% · guest 65.2%3:00 · Nathan 34.8% · guest 65.2%6:00 · Nathan 32.5% · guest 67.5%6:00 · Nathan 32.5% · guest 67.5%9:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%9:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%12:00 · Nathan 27.1% · guest 72.9%12:00 · Nathan 27.1% · guest 72.9%15:00 · Nathan 45.4% · guest 54.6%15:00 · Nathan 45.4% · guest 54.6%18:00 · Nathan 96.9% · guest 3.1%18:00 · Nathan 96.9% · guest 3.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:31 Rejecting SaaS and business audience fit

Ramon directly turns down Latka's business concept, explaining that Trend would pass on SaaS micro-influencer requests because it is outside their vertical.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:24 Pushing on attribution requirements

Latka challenges Ramon's assertion that Trend doesn't handle attribution, pointing out that facilitating ad runs through the platform logically requires measurement.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:44 Explaining Key Opinion Leaders concept

Ramon educates Latka on KOLs, explaining how the concept originated in China and differs from traditional micro-influencers.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 5:31 Immediate unit economic deduction

Latka rapidly synthesizes the customer volume and credit pricing numbers to instantly deduce the exact average content piece output per client.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
GetLatka Subscription Feed Benefits and Accessibility Policy 4214 Latka probes into the pricing model and unit economics, pushing Ramon to clarify lifetime value versus average monthly customer spend.
Credit Pricing Structure and Commercial Licensing Rights 5313 Latka quickly computes the content volume based on credit costs and revenue, while Ramon explains the legal protection and content licensing value proposition.
Lean Team Structure, Capital Allocation, and Runway 5213 Latka calculates monthly recurring revenue and parses contractor hours, while Ramon details their lean operational structure and capital burn.
Organic Search Engine Optimization and Key Opinion Leaders 5425 Ramon explains Key Opinion Leaders to Latka, and Latka later pushes back that Trend is acting as an intermediary that should handle attribution.
Target Vertical Fit and Creator Marketing Advice 4524 Latka pitches his magazine's marketing use case, but Ramon educates him that Trend is strictly for consumer lifestyle brands and recommends an Airtable workaround instead.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions 2101 A collaborative and straightforward Famous Five closing segment with brief answers and standard sign-off metrics.

Statements from this episode (9)

Disclosure
Trend.io abandoned traditional SaaS subscription pricing for a usage-based model
“In the past, we were your traditional SaaS model, but we noticed that that wasn't going to work well in the space just from trial and error.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 3:09
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Trend.io's average customer lifetime value is around $2,000
“We've been with this revenue model for about six months now, so our average lifetime value right now is around the 2000 range so far.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 3:20
Disclosure
Trend.io eliminated its sales team to invest fully in product
“We got rid of the sales team. We invest a hundred percent of the products into the product.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 4:40
Assertion Supported
Trend.io charges $100 per post including full licensing and distribution rights
“All credits are standardized, they're a hundred dollars, and that gets you know, a post from the micro-influencer on their social, but you also get the video or the image with licensing and distribution rights.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 5:09
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Trend.io generated $60k in a month from 60 brands spending $1,000
“That's accurate, yeah.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 5:43
Assertion Supported
Trend.io assumes legal liability for brands repurposing influencer content
“Trend is the liable party in between. So it relieves the brand from, you know, Hey, we're good to use this on other channels.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 6:14
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Trend.io is currently burning $20,000 to $30,000 per month
“We are burning right now. Anywhere from 20 to 30.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 7:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Trend.io built its v1 iOS app via a 500-hour design barter
“My Partner exchange, 500 hours of design with him in order to get our V one for free.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 9:13
Insight
China's Key Opinion Leader marketing model is expanding into the US
“So key opinion leaders that's really taken off in China. And now it's taken over here where it's like, Hey, it's not just an influencer. It's actually someone who is entitled to give an opinion on this specific product because they're an expert of that matter.”
Ramon Berrios Sep 10, 2020 ▶ 9:56
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