StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Mar 31, 2020 · 15m · top-founders

1711 3500 LatAm Salons Pay Him $3.2m in ARR for Customers

Alvaro Larrinaga · 8m 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, Be Pretty founder Alvaro Larrinaga discusses how his dual-sided beauty marketplace and SaaS management platform scaled to 3,500 salons across Latin America and reached $280,000 in monthly recurring revenue. He breaks down the company's early go-to-market execution, merchant monetization, unit economics, and aggressive regional expansion into Mexico.

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 37.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 2.6 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 2.4
05100:0010:001:01–3:09 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Core Value Proposition and Dual-Sided Marketplace Dynamics Latka explores the dual-sided marketplace mechanics and probes why consumers wouldn't just search Google. Larrinaga clarifies how unorganized salon data in Latin America creates demand for a centralized platform.3:10–8:14 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Monetization Structure, Seasonality, and Revenue Growth Latka rapidly calculates monthly revenue and growth rates based on average salon fees and unit volume, then pushes on how the platform solves the cold-start problem. Larrinaga details their concierge onboarding strategy with early VIP salons.8:14–11:22 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Funding History, Team Distribution, and Valuation Expectations Latka cuts past country-level unit economics to pin down total company cash burn, then translates Larrinaga's fundraising target into an 8x ARR multiple. When Latka skeptically asks if he can fetch that valuation, Larrinaga notes it was a best-case scenario figure.11:22–14:03 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Salon Churn Drivers, Acquisition Economics, and Platform Retention Larrinaga explains that their 18% churn is driven by underlying salon business failure rather than product attrition, schooling Latka on regional industry dynamics. Latka immediately calculates a sub-two-month CAC payback period and probes marketplace retention.14:03–15:06 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions The conversation concludes with standard rapid-fire questions covering personal habits, books, and founder background without tension.1:01–3:09 · Guest teaching 3/10 Core Value Proposition and Dual-Sided Marketplace Dynamics Latka explores the dual-sided marketplace mechanics and probes why consumers wouldn't just search Google. Larrinaga clarifies how unorganized salon data in Latin America creates demand for a centralized platform.3:10–8:14 · Guest teaching 3/10 Monetization Structure, Seasonality, and Revenue Growth Latka rapidly calculates monthly revenue and growth rates based on average salon fees and unit volume, then pushes on how the platform solves the cold-start problem. Larrinaga details their concierge onboarding strategy with early VIP salons.8:14–11:22 · Guest teaching 2/10 Funding History, Team Distribution, and Valuation Expectations Latka cuts past country-level unit economics to pin down total company cash burn, then translates Larrinaga's fundraising target into an 8x ARR multiple. When Latka skeptically asks if he can fetch that valuation, Larrinaga notes it was a best-case scenario figure.11:22–14:03 · Guest teaching 4/10 Salon Churn Drivers, Acquisition Economics, and Platform Retention Larrinaga explains that their 18% churn is driven by underlying salon business failure rather than product attrition, schooling Latka on regional industry dynamics. Latka immediately calculates a sub-two-month CAC payback period and probes marketplace retention.14:03–15:06 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions The conversation concludes with standard rapid-fire questions covering personal habits, books, and founder background without tension.1:01–3:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Core Value Proposition and Dual-Sided Marketplace Dynamics Latka explores the dual-sided marketplace mechanics and probes why consumers wouldn't just search Google. Larrinaga clarifies how unorganized salon data in Latin America creates demand for a centralized platform.3:10–8:14 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Monetization Structure, Seasonality, and Revenue Growth Latka rapidly calculates monthly revenue and growth rates based on average salon fees and unit volume, then pushes on how the platform solves the cold-start problem. Larrinaga details their concierge onboarding strategy with early VIP salons.8:14–11:22 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Funding History, Team Distribution, and Valuation Expectations Latka cuts past country-level unit economics to pin down total company cash burn, then translates Larrinaga's fundraising target into an 8x ARR multiple. When Latka skeptically asks if he can fetch that valuation, Larrinaga notes it was a best-case scenario figure.11:22–14:03 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Salon Churn Drivers, Acquisition Economics, and Platform Retention Larrinaga explains that their 18% churn is driven by underlying salon business failure rather than product attrition, schooling Latka on regional industry dynamics. Latka immediately calculates a sub-two-month CAC payback period and probes marketplace retention.14:03–15:06 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions The conversation concludes with standard rapid-fire questions covering personal habits, books, and founder background without tension.1:01–3:09 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Core Value Proposition and Dual-Sided Marketplace Dynamics Latka explores the dual-sided marketplace mechanics and probes why consumers wouldn't just search Google. Larrinaga clarifies how unorganized salon data in Latin America creates demand for a centralized platform.3:10–8:14 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Monetization Structure, Seasonality, and Revenue Growth Latka rapidly calculates monthly revenue and growth rates based on average salon fees and unit volume, then pushes on how the platform solves the cold-start problem. Larrinaga details their concierge onboarding strategy with early VIP salons.8:14–11:22 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Funding History, Team Distribution, and Valuation Expectations Latka cuts past country-level unit economics to pin down total company cash burn, then translates Larrinaga's fundraising target into an 8x ARR multiple. When Latka skeptically asks if he can fetch that valuation, Larrinaga notes it was a best-case scenario figure.11:22–14:03 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Salon Churn Drivers, Acquisition Economics, and Platform Retention Larrinaga explains that their 18% churn is driven by underlying salon business failure rather than product attrition, schooling Latka on regional industry dynamics. Latka immediately calculates a sub-two-month CAC payback period and probes marketplace retention.14:03–15:06 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions The conversation concludes with standard rapid-fire questions covering personal habits, books, and founder background without tension.

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

0:00 · Nathan 52.6% · guest 47.4%0:00 · Nathan 52.6% · guest 47.4%3:00 · Nathan 34.5% · guest 65.5%3:00 · Nathan 34.5% · guest 65.5%6:00 · Nathan 22% · guest 78%6:00 · Nathan 22% · guest 78%9:00 · Nathan 38.9% · guest 61.1%9:00 · Nathan 38.9% · guest 61.1%12:00 · Nathan 23.3% · guest 76.7%12:00 · Nathan 23.3% · guest 76.7%15:00 · Nathan 86.2% · guest 13.8%15:00 · Nathan 86.2% · guest 13.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:07 Clarifying best-case valuation targets

When Latka skeptically asks if he really thinks he will achieve a 25 million dollar valuation on 3.3 million in ARR, Larrinaga directly pushes back that Latka had asked for his best-case scenario.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:26 Challenging marketplace side growth bottlenecks

Latka refuses to accept that consumer adoption should struggle if onboarded salons are already marketing the platform directly to their client databases.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:31 Educating on Latin American salon business mortality

Larrinaga educates Latka on the salon ecosystem in Latin America, demonstrating that their churn is caused by inexperienced operators closing down rather than software churn.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:54 Calculating ARR and revenue multiples on the fly

Latka immediately annualizes the 280,000 dollar monthly revenue into 3.3 million ARR and converts the 25 million target valuation into an approximate 8x multiple.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Core Value Proposition and Dual-Sided Marketplace Dynamics 5312 Latka explores the dual-sided marketplace mechanics and probes why consumers wouldn't just search Google. Larrinaga clarifies how unorganized salon data in Latin America creates demand for a centralized platform.
Monetization Structure, Seasonality, and Revenue Growth 6313 Latka rapidly calculates monthly revenue and growth rates based on average salon fees and unit volume, then pushes on how the platform solves the cold-start problem. Larrinaga details their concierge onboarding strategy with early VIP salons.
Funding History, Team Distribution, and Valuation Expectations 6224 Latka cuts past country-level unit economics to pin down total company cash burn, then translates Larrinaga's fundraising target into an 8x ARR multiple. When Latka skeptically asks if he can fetch that valuation, Larrinaga notes it was a best-case scenario figure.
Salon Churn Drivers, Acquisition Economics, and Platform Retention 6413 Larrinaga explains that their 18% churn is driven by underlying salon business failure rather than product attrition, schooling Latka on regional industry dynamics. Latka immediately calculates a sub-two-month CAC payback period and probes marketplace retention.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 3100 The conversation concludes with standard rapid-fire questions covering personal habits, books, and founder background without tension.

Statements from this episode (13)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Larrinaga: Be Pretty has 3,500 paying salon customers across Latin America
“We have 3500 beauty salons all over Latin America.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 1:33
Assertion Not checkable as stated
90% of Be Pretty's marketplace users are women aged 20 to 45
“90% of our users are women between 20 and 45 years old looking for beauty services.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 1:48
Disclosure
Be Pretty charges salons 8% to 9% commission, averaging $85 monthly
“We charge them, it's around eight to nine percent of all the beauty services they do through our platform, and that's approximately in US dollars, that's 80 dollars a month, 90 dollars a month per salon, depending on the markets, but that's an average.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 3:14
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Larrinaga: Be Pretty grew revenue 3.6x year-over-year
“We grew three times. A bit more. It's 3.6 times exactly our year growth. We opened two new markets this new year.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 4:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Larrinaga: Chile is Be Pretty's best market with 1,400 salons
“Today it's still our best market, but we have 1400 salons.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 6:21
Assertion Supported
Alvaro Larrinaga: Be Pretty has raised $4M in capital
“We've raised over four million dollars. So basically four million, yeah.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 8:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Larrinaga: Be Pretty has reached break-even in Chile
“Chile, it's a market we are already on a break even.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 9:14
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Alvaro Larrinaga: Be Pretty burns $100,000 per month
“A hundred grand a month.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 9:35
Disclosure
Investors offered $7M, but Be Pretty capped the round at $5M
“We don't want more than five million. We are, they want to invest seven. We want five.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 10:23
Disclosure
Larrinaga: Be Pretty is targeting a $25M valuation
“Basically when raising the money right now, we're thinking or thinking Talking about a twenty five million dollar valuation.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 10:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Larrinaga: Be Pretty experiences approximately 18% annual salon churn
“So our churn, it's approximately the 18% annual churn.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 11:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Larrinaga: Be Pretty acquires new salons for approximately $125 each
“No, it's a 125 dollars, more or less, per salon.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 13:11
Disclosure
Larrinaga: Be Pretty only charges fees on platform-generated clients
“Yeah, but we don't charge the fee on, on all of the, on all of our bookings, so we only charge fees on the clients that we generate.”
Alvaro Larrinaga Mar 31, 2020 ▶ 13:37
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