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Apr 22, 2020 · 18m · top-founders

1733 They're Raising $5m Right Now on $3.6m in ARR

Franz Riedel · 9m 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

Nathan Latka interviews Franz Riedel, co-founder of Styla, detailing how the automated design CMS pivoted to enterprise SaaS, reached $3.6M ARR with net negative churn, and structured its upcoming $5M to $10M funding round.

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 39.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 1.5 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.2
05100:0010:000:00–3:53 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Podcast Schedule Updates and iTunes Review Callout Nathan introduces Styla's high-level SaaS metrics and asks Franz to explain their core revenue model. Franz details the shift toward automated layout CMS and monthly pricing tiers.3:54–7:16 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Styla's B2B Pivot and Revenue Growth Nathan interrupts Franz's technical nuance regarding WYSIWYG to pinpoint the target persona. Nathan then runs the math on customer counts and revenue growth to calculate run rates.7:18–9:36 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Customer Acquisition Channels and Trade Show ROI Nathan redirects Franz away from early historical anecdotes to current acquisition strategies. He pushes Franz to provide concrete unit economics and lead conversion metrics for trade shows.9:38–13:16 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Hosting Nathan quickly computes payback period and annualizes gross churn and net negative churn. When Franz qualifies the annualized figure as aspirational, Nathan insists on focusing strictly on current run-rate reality.13:16–16:21 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Team Footprint and Next Funding Round Plans Nathan evaluates Styla's fundraising readiness by examining their monthly cash burn against their remaining runway. Franz candidly explains why US investors hesitate with European startups lacking local boots on the ground.16:22–17:41 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Franz Riedel Standard Famous Five segment where Franz shares concise personal details, sleep challenges with a newborn, and business takeaways.0:00–3:53 · Guest teaching 2/10 Podcast Schedule Updates and iTunes Review Callout Nathan introduces Styla's high-level SaaS metrics and asks Franz to explain their core revenue model. Franz details the shift toward automated layout CMS and monthly pricing tiers.3:54–7:16 · Guest teaching 2/10 Styla's B2B Pivot and Revenue Growth Nathan interrupts Franz's technical nuance regarding WYSIWYG to pinpoint the target persona. Nathan then runs the math on customer counts and revenue growth to calculate run rates.7:18–9:36 · Guest teaching 1/10 Customer Acquisition Channels and Trade Show ROI Nathan redirects Franz away from early historical anecdotes to current acquisition strategies. He pushes Franz to provide concrete unit economics and lead conversion metrics for trade shows.9:38–13:16 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Hosting Nathan quickly computes payback period and annualizes gross churn and net negative churn. When Franz qualifies the annualized figure as aspirational, Nathan insists on focusing strictly on current run-rate reality.13:16–16:21 · Guest teaching 2/10 Team Footprint and Next Funding Round Plans Nathan evaluates Styla's fundraising readiness by examining their monthly cash burn against their remaining runway. Franz candidly explains why US investors hesitate with European startups lacking local boots on the ground.16:22–17:41 · Guest teaching 0/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Franz Riedel Standard Famous Five segment where Franz shares concise personal details, sleep challenges with a newborn, and business takeaways.0:00–3:53 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Podcast Schedule Updates and iTunes Review Callout Nathan introduces Styla's high-level SaaS metrics and asks Franz to explain their core revenue model. Franz details the shift toward automated layout CMS and monthly pricing tiers.3:54–7:16 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Styla's B2B Pivot and Revenue Growth Nathan interrupts Franz's technical nuance regarding WYSIWYG to pinpoint the target persona. Nathan then runs the math on customer counts and revenue growth to calculate run rates.7:18–9:36 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Customer Acquisition Channels and Trade Show ROI Nathan redirects Franz away from early historical anecdotes to current acquisition strategies. He pushes Franz to provide concrete unit economics and lead conversion metrics for trade shows.9:38–13:16 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Hosting Nathan quickly computes payback period and annualizes gross churn and net negative churn. When Franz qualifies the annualized figure as aspirational, Nathan insists on focusing strictly on current run-rate reality.13:16–16:21 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Team Footprint and Next Funding Round Plans Nathan evaluates Styla's fundraising readiness by examining their monthly cash burn against their remaining runway. Franz candidly explains why US investors hesitate with European startups lacking local boots on the ground.16:22–17:41 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Franz Riedel Standard Famous Five segment where Franz shares concise personal details, sleep challenges with a newborn, and business takeaways.0:00–3:53 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Podcast Schedule Updates and iTunes Review Callout Nathan introduces Styla's high-level SaaS metrics and asks Franz to explain their core revenue model. Franz details the shift toward automated layout CMS and monthly pricing tiers.3:54–7:16 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Styla's B2B Pivot and Revenue Growth Nathan interrupts Franz's technical nuance regarding WYSIWYG to pinpoint the target persona. Nathan then runs the math on customer counts and revenue growth to calculate run rates.7:18–9:36 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Customer Acquisition Channels and Trade Show ROI Nathan redirects Franz away from early historical anecdotes to current acquisition strategies. He pushes Franz to provide concrete unit economics and lead conversion metrics for trade shows.9:38–13:16 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Hosting Nathan quickly computes payback period and annualizes gross churn and net negative churn. When Franz qualifies the annualized figure as aspirational, Nathan insists on focusing strictly on current run-rate reality.13:16–16:21 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Team Footprint and Next Funding Round Plans Nathan evaluates Styla's fundraising readiness by examining their monthly cash burn against their remaining runway. Franz candidly explains why US investors hesitate with European startups lacking local boots on the ground.16:22–17:41 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Franz Riedel Standard Famous Five segment where Franz shares concise personal details, sleep challenges with a newborn, and business takeaways.

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

0:00 · Nathan 74.8% · guest 25.2%0:00 · Nathan 74.8% · guest 25.2%3:00 · Nathan 13.4% · guest 86.6%3:00 · Nathan 13.4% · guest 86.6%6:00 · Nathan 27.3% · guest 72.7%6:00 · Nathan 27.3% · guest 72.7%9:00 · Nathan 49.7% · guest 50.3%9:00 · Nathan 49.7% · guest 50.3%12:00 · Nathan 33% · guest 67%12:00 · Nathan 33% · guest 67%15:00 · Nathan 35.3% · guest 64.7%15:00 · Nathan 35.3% · guest 64.7%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:22 Franz resists making unbacked expansion projections

Franz refuses to provide a speculative second-year customer expansion figure, openly stating that any estimate would be random guessing due to limited historical data.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:02 Nathan rejects subjective commentary on negative churn

Nathan cuts Franz off after he remarks that 30% net expansion would be amazing, asserting that the interview is strictly about current factual run-rate data.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:45 Franz details the hurdles European SaaS face with US VCs

Franz educates Nathan on why US investors remain hesitant to back European software startups until they establish an in-person office and sign 10 domestic US clients.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:45 Nathan annualizes monthly metrics to calculate net retention

Nathan instantly converts Franz's monthly negative churn of 2.5% into a 30% annual expansion metric and computes customer payback efficiency.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Podcast Schedule Updates and iTunes Review Callout 4211 Nathan introduces Styla's high-level SaaS metrics and asks Franz to explain their core revenue model. Franz details the shift toward automated layout CMS and monthly pricing tiers.
Styla's B2B Pivot and Revenue Growth 6225 Nathan interrupts Franz's technical nuance regarding WYSIWYG to pinpoint the target persona. Nathan then runs the math on customer counts and revenue growth to calculate run rates.
Customer Acquisition Channels and Trade Show ROI 5114 Nathan redirects Franz away from early historical anecdotes to current acquisition strategies. He pushes Franz to provide concrete unit economics and lead conversion metrics for trade shows.
Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Hosting 7226 Nathan quickly computes payback period and annualizes gross churn and net negative churn. When Franz qualifies the annualized figure as aspirational, Nathan insists on focusing strictly on current run-rate reality.
Team Footprint and Next Funding Round Plans 6213 Nathan evaluates Styla's fundraising readiness by examining their monthly cash burn against their remaining runway. Franz candidly explains why US investors hesitate with European startups lacking local boots on the ground.
Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Franz Riedel 2000 Standard Famous Five segment where Franz shares concise personal details, sleep challenges with a newborn, and business takeaways.

Statements from this episode (11)

Disclosure
Styla Generates 97% of Revenue From Pure SaaS Subscriptions
“Well, we have a very, very small portion of professional services, but it's 90 seven percent SaaS technologies. That's revenue.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 2:15
Disclosure
Styla Customers Pay an Average of $3,000 Per Month
“Let's say at 3000. So it ranges from around a thousand to now with our latest product line that we launched up to 25,000 a month. So that's a pretty huge range. Yeah. But on average, 3000.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 3:36
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Riedel: Styla grew revenue from $2M to roughly $3.5M ARR
“Around two million. So we, Grew over the last month from around two million to 3.5 roughly now and a bit of a slow start into the last year, but we're pretty happy with where we are now.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 6:48
Disclosure
Styla Spends $15K-$20K Per Trade Show, Closing At Least One Deal
“It's probably 15 15,000 to 20,000 a month 20,000 per trade show, and well, we usually get at least one deal out of a trade show”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 8:51
Disclosure
Styla's Customer Acquisition Cost is Roughly $25,000
“And the customer acquisition cost, well, it's a bit higher because we have some other channels. It's around 25,000.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 10:37
Disclosure
Riedel: Styla had roughly 2.5% monthly net negative churn
“Last last six months it was probably 2.5 negative per month.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 11:29
Disclosure
Riedel: Styla gross churn averaged around 1.3% monthly last year
“Gross churn on average was around 1.3 last year.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 13:00
Disclosure
Riedel: Styla has raised around $4.5M to date
“Around four and a half million dollars.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 13:56
Disclosure
Riedel: Styla is burning $100K to $150K per month
“No, it's between a hundred and a 150.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 15:00
Disclosure
Riedel: Styla has about six months of cash runway remaining
“And so now we still have about half a year.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 15:24
Disclosure
Riedel: Styla is targeting a $5M to $10M funding round
“Somewhere between five and ten million.”
Franz Riedel Apr 22, 2020 ▶ 15:39
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