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May 23, 2020 · 16m · top-founders

1764 "CoronaVirus Driving Massive Growth At This $2.5m ARR Virtual Event SaaS Company "

Muhammad Younas · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m 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 vFairs CEO Muhammad Yunus about how the bootstrapped virtual event platform rapidly scaled to over $2.5 million ARR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yunus breaks down their surge in global inbound demand, high-touch onboarding model, pricing strategy, and impressive 30% profit margins.

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 40.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:000:27–3:54 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Host Promotion for GetLatka Premium Database Latka references historical data points from their 2018 interview and calculates current ARR and ARPU figures. He pushes Yunus to clarify the difference between total active customer count and new signups.3:55–5:59 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Overview of vFairs Platform Features and Competitive Differentiation Latka suggests competitors like Bizabo and HeySummit, but Yunus explains the distinction between simple ticketing/checkout solutions and full 3D virtual exhibition software like INXPO and ON24.5:59–8:51 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Traffic Surges, Hiring Strategy, and Post-Sales Support Scaling Latka cites Alexa traffic rank movements to measure the inbound surge and breaks down Yunus's headcount across engineering and post-sales support.8:52–11:33 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Bootstrapping Success, High Profitability, and Hypothetical Capital Deployment Latka calculates EBITDA margins and presses Yunus on why he hasn't raised outside capital given the once-in-a-lifetime market timing, forcing a specific breakdown of how capital would be deployed.11:33–13:55 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Organic Inbound Acquisition, Capterra Rankings, and Categorization Latka inspects Capterra live during the interview, citing specific review counts and competitor listings in the web conferencing category. Yunus explains the marketplace's taxonomy limitations.13:56–15:46 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Analyzing Customer Acquisition Cost, Churn Rates, and Revenue Mix Latka drills into unit economics, dissecting the difference between one-off event revenue and recurring annual subscriptions to isolate true recurring ARR.0:27–3:54 · Guest teaching 2/10 Host Promotion for GetLatka Premium Database Latka references historical data points from their 2018 interview and calculates current ARR and ARPU figures. He pushes Yunus to clarify the difference between total active customer count and new signups.3:55–5:59 · Guest teaching 4/10 Overview of vFairs Platform Features and Competitive Differentiation Latka suggests competitors like Bizabo and HeySummit, but Yunus explains the distinction between simple ticketing/checkout solutions and full 3D virtual exhibition software like INXPO and ON24.5:59–8:51 · Guest teaching 2/10 Traffic Surges, Hiring Strategy, and Post-Sales Support Scaling Latka cites Alexa traffic rank movements to measure the inbound surge and breaks down Yunus's headcount across engineering and post-sales support.8:52–11:33 · Guest teaching 2/10 Bootstrapping Success, High Profitability, and Hypothetical Capital Deployment Latka calculates EBITDA margins and presses Yunus on why he hasn't raised outside capital given the once-in-a-lifetime market timing, forcing a specific breakdown of how capital would be deployed.11:33–13:55 · Guest teaching 3/10 Organic Inbound Acquisition, Capterra Rankings, and Categorization Latka inspects Capterra live during the interview, citing specific review counts and competitor listings in the web conferencing category. Yunus explains the marketplace's taxonomy limitations.13:56–15:46 · Guest teaching 2/10 Analyzing Customer Acquisition Cost, Churn Rates, and Revenue Mix Latka drills into unit economics, dissecting the difference between one-off event revenue and recurring annual subscriptions to isolate true recurring ARR.0:27–3:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Host Promotion for GetLatka Premium Database Latka references historical data points from their 2018 interview and calculates current ARR and ARPU figures. He pushes Yunus to clarify the difference between total active customer count and new signups.3:55–5:59 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Overview of vFairs Platform Features and Competitive Differentiation Latka suggests competitors like Bizabo and HeySummit, but Yunus explains the distinction between simple ticketing/checkout solutions and full 3D virtual exhibition software like INXPO and ON24.5:59–8:51 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Traffic Surges, Hiring Strategy, and Post-Sales Support Scaling Latka cites Alexa traffic rank movements to measure the inbound surge and breaks down Yunus's headcount across engineering and post-sales support.8:52–11:33 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping Success, High Profitability, and Hypothetical Capital Deployment Latka calculates EBITDA margins and presses Yunus on why he hasn't raised outside capital given the once-in-a-lifetime market timing, forcing a specific breakdown of how capital would be deployed.11:33–13:55 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Organic Inbound Acquisition, Capterra Rankings, and Categorization Latka inspects Capterra live during the interview, citing specific review counts and competitor listings in the web conferencing category. Yunus explains the marketplace's taxonomy limitations.13:56–15:46 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Analyzing Customer Acquisition Cost, Churn Rates, and Revenue Mix Latka drills into unit economics, dissecting the difference between one-off event revenue and recurring annual subscriptions to isolate true recurring ARR.0:27–3:54 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Host Promotion for GetLatka Premium Database Latka references historical data points from their 2018 interview and calculates current ARR and ARPU figures. He pushes Yunus to clarify the difference between total active customer count and new signups.3:55–5:59 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Overview of vFairs Platform Features and Competitive Differentiation Latka suggests competitors like Bizabo and HeySummit, but Yunus explains the distinction between simple ticketing/checkout solutions and full 3D virtual exhibition software like INXPO and ON24.5:59–8:51 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Traffic Surges, Hiring Strategy, and Post-Sales Support Scaling Latka cites Alexa traffic rank movements to measure the inbound surge and breaks down Yunus's headcount across engineering and post-sales support.8:52–11:33 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Bootstrapping Success, High Profitability, and Hypothetical Capital Deployment Latka calculates EBITDA margins and presses Yunus on why he hasn't raised outside capital given the once-in-a-lifetime market timing, forcing a specific breakdown of how capital would be deployed.11:33–13:55 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Organic Inbound Acquisition, Capterra Rankings, and Categorization Latka inspects Capterra live during the interview, citing specific review counts and competitor listings in the web conferencing category. Yunus explains the marketplace's taxonomy limitations.13:56–15:46 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Analyzing Customer Acquisition Cost, Churn Rates, and Revenue Mix Latka drills into unit economics, dissecting the difference between one-off event revenue and recurring annual subscriptions to isolate true recurring ARR.

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

0:00 · Nathan 58.7% · guest 41.3%0:00 · Nathan 58.7% · guest 41.3%3:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%3:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%6:00 · Nathan 28.3% · guest 71.7%6:00 · Nathan 28.3% · guest 71.7%9:00 · Nathan 36.4% · guest 63.6%9:00 · Nathan 36.4% · guest 63.6%12:00 · Nathan 34.7% · guest 65.3%12:00 · Nathan 34.7% · guest 65.3%15:00 · Nathan 76.7% · guest 23.3%15:00 · Nathan 76.7% · guest 23.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 4:59 Rejection of competitor comparison

Yunus reframes Latka's comparison with Bizabo and HeySummit, pointing out that vFairs operates in an entirely different tier of immersive 3D virtual conferences alongside ON24.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 10:31 Reframing the fundraising question

Latka refuses to let Yunus dismiss fundraising opportunities casually, challenging him to state precisely how he would deploy $5M to capture surging demand.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:41 Explaining Capterra categorization limits

Yunus educates Latka on why vFairs appears next to basic web meeting tools like Zoho and Free Conference Call, explaining Capterra lacks a dedicated virtual events tag.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:23 Citing live Capterra review data and competitors

Latka proves his research depth by pulling up vFairs' exact review count (108) and reading through the specific category competitors listed alongside them.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Host Promotion for GetLatka Premium Database 6214 Latka references historical data points from their 2018 interview and calculates current ARR and ARPU figures. He pushes Yunus to clarify the difference between total active customer count and new signups.
Overview of vFairs Platform Features and Competitive Differentiation 5422 Latka suggests competitors like Bizabo and HeySummit, but Yunus explains the distinction between simple ticketing/checkout solutions and full 3D virtual exhibition software like INXPO and ON24.
Traffic Surges, Hiring Strategy, and Post-Sales Support Scaling 6212 Latka cites Alexa traffic rank movements to measure the inbound surge and breaks down Yunus's headcount across engineering and post-sales support.
Bootstrapping Success, High Profitability, and Hypothetical Capital Deployment 6214 Latka calculates EBITDA margins and presses Yunus on why he hasn't raised outside capital given the once-in-a-lifetime market timing, forcing a specific breakdown of how capital would be deployed.
Organic Inbound Acquisition, Capterra Rankings, and Categorization 7313 Latka inspects Capterra live during the interview, citing specific review counts and competitor listings in the web conferencing category. Yunus explains the marketplace's taxonomy limitations.
Analyzing Customer Acquisition Cost, Churn Rates, and Revenue Mix 6213 Latka drills into unit economics, dissecting the difference between one-off event revenue and recurring annual subscriptions to isolate true recurring ARR.

Statements from this episode (16)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs Leads Surged to Nearly 1,000 Weekly During Pandemic
“Our number of leads you know, in companies, they used to be four or five a day, and now they are you know, close to a thousand you know, over the past one week you know, and that's what we have been seeing for the past six weeks already.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 1:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
vFairs Lost a Government Client Accounting for One-Third of 2018 Revenue
“And again, we lost one big government customer out there, which was you know, a good one third of our 2018 revenue.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 2:19
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs Tracking at Least 70% Growth in 2020
“But again, 220, the way we are starting right now is you know, at least, if not more, 70% growth from what we are seeing from 2019 because of the coronavirus.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 2:25
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs Will Finish 2020 with at Least 250 Customers
“So we believe that we will end the year with at least two 50 customers, if not more.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 2:50
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs Customers Pay an Average of $15,000 Annually
“On average, our customers right now are paying 15,000 dollars between the two types of pricing.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 3:45
Opinion
Yunus: vFairs' Primary Competitors Are INXPO and ON24
“So, so our competitors mainly are in Expo and on 24.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 4:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
vFairs surges customer acquisition from 10-12 monthly to 40-50 per month
“When we go back to one 19, we were signing around, on average, you know, between new and renewals, around 10 to 12 customers a day, a month, right? Right now, that has already turned into a week, whereby, you know, rather than 10 customers in a month, we will …”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 6:49
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs grew headcount from 28 to 45 people in one month
“We ended in 19 with close to 28, 29 people, but just in the past one month we have doubled this team to 45 people already right now.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 7:26
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs operates with 5-6 engineers and 25-30 post-sales managers
“Our engineers are around five or six only. But again, the big bulk of our team is, which is close to our 25 to 30 people, are purely post sales product managers.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 7:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs has only two quota-carrying sales reps
“Quota carrying reps are just too high. It's just between me and one other person.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 8:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
vFairs Achieved 30% Profit Margins in 2019
“Last year, we were 30% profitable already”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 9:04
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Yunus: vFairs will reach $300k MRR by end of 2020
“My gut is that it will go all the way up to 300 MRR you know, yeah, 300 thousand yeah, kind of, 300,000 dollars in an MRR pretty much, you know, by end of the year.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 9:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
vFairs Cannot Serve 80% of Inbound Leads Due to Capacity Constraints
“We are hardly being able to handle 10 to 20% of the incoming leads. So I'm not being able to serve more than 80% of the incoming request, right?”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 10:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yunus: 70% to 80% of vFairs Inbound Leads Come From Organic Channels
“We still see that a good 70 to 80% of the leads that are coming to us are purely coming through you know, just purely again, direct or through referrals or through, you know just again SEO ranking, right?”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 13:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
vFairs Experiences 30% to 40% Gross Churn Due to Event Model
“I think we have close to 30 to 40%, again, just purely because of the industry we are in, right? So again, not every, It's not a typical SaaS where, you know, everyone who want to run event right now will run exactly the same time next year. We get a lot of an…”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 14:24
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yunus: Annual contracts make up roughly half of vFairs' revenue
“That would be around half of that. So again, you know, roughly it's half and half.”
Muhammad Younas May 23, 2020 ▶ 14:48
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