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May 30, 2020 · 18m · top-founders

BoomTime.com: Hit $2.8m in Revenues, First 100 Customers From Linkedin

Bill Bice · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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BoomTime founder and CEO Bill Bice discusses building a profitable $3 million ARR hybrid SaaS and managed marketing platform for SMBs with host Nathan Latka. He details their $8 million venture capital backing, pricing models, and LinkedIn-driven customer acquisition engine.

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 36.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:000:30–3:01 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Promotion for GetLatka Premium Membership Nathan introduces the company and explores whether BoomTime is fundamentally an agency or a software platform. Bill clarifies why pure SaaS fails SMBs who lack execution bandwidth, establishing their hybrid services-and-tech model.3:02–5:58 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Product Offerings, Pricing Tiers, and Revenue Metrics Nathan drills into customer counts and pricing plans, attempting to calculate top-line revenue by multiplying current pricing by total clients. Bill clarifies the difference between legacy accounts and new $2,000/month tiers to land at $250k MRR.5:59–11:20 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Solving Marketing Execution Challenges for SMB CEOs Nathan challenges Bill on growing only in the teens after raising $8 million in venture capital, pointing out the risk of board friction and down rounds. Bill defends his pace by noting the company has achieved profitability with a four-to-five month payback period.11:20–13:50 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 BoomTime Origins, Leadership Transition, and Funding History Nathan inquires about past executive transitions, historical Series A and B rounds, and lead acquisition. Bill details how BoomTime leverages LinkedIn direct connection campaigns as their core customer acquisition channel.13:50–15:52 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Churn Reduction, Team Structure, and Future Financing When Bill is unable to provide exact churn numbers and tries to exclude historical B2C churn, Nathan pushes back that cohort churn metrics must account for historical data. Nathan also breaks down the headcount across engineering, sales, and service delivery.15:52–17:41 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A collaborative Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering favorite books, leaders, tools, sleep habits, and early career lessons.0:30–3:01 · Guest teaching 3/10 Promotion for GetLatka Premium Membership Nathan introduces the company and explores whether BoomTime is fundamentally an agency or a software platform. Bill clarifies why pure SaaS fails SMBs who lack execution bandwidth, establishing their hybrid services-and-tech model.3:02–5:58 · Guest teaching 3/10 Product Offerings, Pricing Tiers, and Revenue Metrics Nathan drills into customer counts and pricing plans, attempting to calculate top-line revenue by multiplying current pricing by total clients. Bill clarifies the difference between legacy accounts and new $2,000/month tiers to land at $250k MRR.5:59–11:20 · Guest teaching 4/10 Solving Marketing Execution Challenges for SMB CEOs Nathan challenges Bill on growing only in the teens after raising $8 million in venture capital, pointing out the risk of board friction and down rounds. Bill defends his pace by noting the company has achieved profitability with a four-to-five month payback period.11:20–13:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 BoomTime Origins, Leadership Transition, and Funding History Nathan inquires about past executive transitions, historical Series A and B rounds, and lead acquisition. Bill details how BoomTime leverages LinkedIn direct connection campaigns as their core customer acquisition channel.13:50–15:52 · Guest teaching 2/10 Churn Reduction, Team Structure, and Future Financing When Bill is unable to provide exact churn numbers and tries to exclude historical B2C churn, Nathan pushes back that cohort churn metrics must account for historical data. Nathan also breaks down the headcount across engineering, sales, and service delivery.15:52–17:41 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A collaborative Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering favorite books, leaders, tools, sleep habits, and early career lessons.0:30–3:01 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Promotion for GetLatka Premium Membership Nathan introduces the company and explores whether BoomTime is fundamentally an agency or a software platform. Bill clarifies why pure SaaS fails SMBs who lack execution bandwidth, establishing their hybrid services-and-tech model.3:02–5:58 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Product Offerings, Pricing Tiers, and Revenue Metrics Nathan drills into customer counts and pricing plans, attempting to calculate top-line revenue by multiplying current pricing by total clients. Bill clarifies the difference between legacy accounts and new $2,000/month tiers to land at $250k MRR.5:59–11:20 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Solving Marketing Execution Challenges for SMB CEOs Nathan challenges Bill on growing only in the teens after raising $8 million in venture capital, pointing out the risk of board friction and down rounds. Bill defends his pace by noting the company has achieved profitability with a four-to-five month payback period.11:20–13:50 · Guest disagreement 1/10 BoomTime Origins, Leadership Transition, and Funding History Nathan inquires about past executive transitions, historical Series A and B rounds, and lead acquisition. Bill details how BoomTime leverages LinkedIn direct connection campaigns as their core customer acquisition channel.13:50–15:52 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Churn Reduction, Team Structure, and Future Financing When Bill is unable to provide exact churn numbers and tries to exclude historical B2C churn, Nathan pushes back that cohort churn metrics must account for historical data. Nathan also breaks down the headcount across engineering, sales, and service delivery.15:52–17:41 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A collaborative Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering favorite books, leaders, tools, sleep habits, and early career lessons.0:30–3:01 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Promotion for GetLatka Premium Membership Nathan introduces the company and explores whether BoomTime is fundamentally an agency or a software platform. Bill clarifies why pure SaaS fails SMBs who lack execution bandwidth, establishing their hybrid services-and-tech model.3:02–5:58 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Product Offerings, Pricing Tiers, and Revenue Metrics Nathan drills into customer counts and pricing plans, attempting to calculate top-line revenue by multiplying current pricing by total clients. Bill clarifies the difference between legacy accounts and new $2,000/month tiers to land at $250k MRR.5:59–11:20 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Solving Marketing Execution Challenges for SMB CEOs Nathan challenges Bill on growing only in the teens after raising $8 million in venture capital, pointing out the risk of board friction and down rounds. Bill defends his pace by noting the company has achieved profitability with a four-to-five month payback period.11:20–13:50 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 BoomTime Origins, Leadership Transition, and Funding History Nathan inquires about past executive transitions, historical Series A and B rounds, and lead acquisition. Bill details how BoomTime leverages LinkedIn direct connection campaigns as their core customer acquisition channel.13:50–15:52 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Churn Reduction, Team Structure, and Future Financing When Bill is unable to provide exact churn numbers and tries to exclude historical B2C churn, Nathan pushes back that cohort churn metrics must account for historical data. Nathan also breaks down the headcount across engineering, sales, and service delivery.15:52–17:41 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A collaborative Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering favorite books, leaders, tools, sleep habits, and early career lessons.

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

0:00 · Nathan 56.8% · guest 43.2%0:00 · Nathan 56.8% · guest 43.2%3:00 · Nathan 24.3% · guest 75.7%3:00 · Nathan 24.3% · guest 75.7%6:00 · Nathan 31.9% · guest 68.1%6:00 · Nathan 31.9% · guest 68.1%9:00 · Nathan 32% · guest 68%9:00 · Nathan 32% · guest 68%12:00 · Nathan 29.9% · guest 70.1%12:00 · Nathan 29.9% · guest 70.1%15:00 · Nathan 36.3% · guest 63.7%15:00 · Nathan 36.3% · guest 63.7%18:00 · Nathan 93.4% · guest 6.6%18:00 · Nathan 93.4% · guest 6.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:47 Bill rejects traditional VC growth pressure

Bill pushes back on the conventional VC expectation of rapid scaling at all costs, arguing that building a solid foundation first prevents fatal structural flaws.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:33 Nathan grills Bill on venture expectations

Nathan bluntly tells Bill that growing in the teens on an $8M funding base creates dangerous board dynamics, down-round risks, and punitive recapitalization terms.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 1:35 Bill explains the structural failure of SMB SaaS

Bill educates Nathan on why self-serve software alone fails SMBs due to a lack of internal talent, necessitating an integrated tech-enabled service model.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:16 Nathan calculates CAC and unit economics live

Nathan instantly deduces the underlying customer acquisition cost ($4,000) and unit economics by calculating the relationship between stated MRR, customer counts, and payback periods.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Promotion for GetLatka Premium Membership 4312 Nathan introduces the company and explores whether BoomTime is fundamentally an agency or a software platform. Bill clarifies why pure SaaS fails SMBs who lack execution bandwidth, establishing their hybrid services-and-tech model.
Product Offerings, Pricing Tiers, and Revenue Metrics 6314 Nathan drills into customer counts and pricing plans, attempting to calculate top-line revenue by multiplying current pricing by total clients. Bill clarifies the difference between legacy accounts and new $2,000/month tiers to land at $250k MRR.
Solving Marketing Execution Challenges for SMB CEOs 7437 Nathan challenges Bill on growing only in the teens after raising $8 million in venture capital, pointing out the risk of board friction and down rounds. Bill defends his pace by noting the company has achieved profitability with a four-to-five month payback period.
BoomTime Origins, Leadership Transition, and Funding History 5313 Nathan inquires about past executive transitions, historical Series A and B rounds, and lead acquisition. Bill details how BoomTime leverages LinkedIn direct connection campaigns as their core customer acquisition channel.
Churn Reduction, Team Structure, and Future Financing 6226 When Bill is unable to provide exact churn numbers and tries to exclude historical B2C churn, Nathan pushes back that cohort churn metrics must account for historical data. Nathan also breaks down the headcount across engineering, sales, and service delivery.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2101 A collaborative Famous Five rapid-fire segment covering favorite books, leaders, tools, sleep habits, and early career lessons.

Statements from this episode (11)

Insight
Bice: Pure SaaS fails for SMB marketing without managed service execution
“We couldn't actually solve the problem without adding the service onto it because it, you know, the whole problem is that the vast majority of businesses Just don't have the resources and the expertise to do the day-to-day execution that is required to do this…”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 2:05
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bice: BoomTime serves 3,000 total clients and several hundred hybrid customers
“So we've got 3000 clients total, but that includes people that are using just the technology piece. So in terms of what we really do today at several hundred where we're providing the combination of both the technology and the service.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 4:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bice: BoomTime generates about $250,000 in monthly recurring revenue
“So we're doing we're doing about 250 in MRR right now.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 5:13
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bice: BoomTime uses 300 external writers and no in-house content creators
“So we have 300 writers that we use. So we don't do any of the content creation internally. That's part of the workflow that our platform manages.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 5:41
Disclosure
Bice: BoomTime has raised $8 million in venture capital
“So we've raised a total of eight million in BC in order to build this platform.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 8:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bice: BoomTime is profitable
“One is we're profitable.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 10:03
Disclosure
Bice: BoomTime sees $2,000 monthly ARPU with five-month CAC payback
“Our average new customer today is, is at 2000 dollars a month. And so we're, when you take the fully loaded cost of acquiring that customer and delivering the service to them, we're currently at a five month payback and we see the ability to get that to four m…”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 10:28
Disclosure
Bice: BoomTime's primary customer acquisition route is LinkedIn audience expansion
“So our primary route is the same thing we do for our clients, which is expanding our audience on LinkedIn.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 12:43
Opinion
Bice: LinkedIn for B2B is what Facebook was for B2C
“So if you're in B to B, you know, LinkedIn, this is like Facebook was in B to C 10 years ago. I mean, it's just it's an open area. The growth is tremendous. You know, it is the place to be if you want to grow in B to B.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 12:48
Insight
Bice: B2B companies only need a website, LinkedIn, and email
“You can create real growth out of just three channels in B to B. You've got your website, LinkedIn and email. You tie those together, understand the customer journey. You've got the whole model of what you need in order to grow your business.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 13:37
Insight
Bice: Pure outbound sales fails at BoomTime's current price point
“So just pure outbound sales is not going to work at this price point.”
Bill Bice May 30, 2020 ▶ 15:08
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