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Jan 21, 2020 · 15m · top-founders

1641 How He Helps Medical Devices Get To Market Faster, 0-$1m in ARR in 12 Months

Jared Seehafer · 9m 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, Enzyme CEO and co-founder Jared Seehafer explains how his company scaled to $1 million in ARR within twelve months by providing a specialized SaaS platform that automates FDA regulatory compliance for medical device and life science startups.

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 30.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 2.8 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 0.8 Nathan pushing back 2.5
05100:0010:000:00–2:43 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Episode Preview and Executive Summary Nathan introduces the company metrics before asking Jared to explain how the business works. Jared gives a comprehensive overview of FDA regulatory requirements and how software replaces manual consultant labor.2:44–5:17 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 SaaS Business Model and Annual Contract Value Nathan presses Jared to pin down a realistic sweet spot ACV rather than broad ranges. Jared agrees on $50,000 and shares his biomedical background in deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's.5:18–7:18 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Scaling Customer Growth and Reaching Million Dollar ARR Nathan checks run rate milestones as the company scales to 21 customers and $1M ARR. Jared explains his serendipitous first customer win at a Launch event.7:19–10:55 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Fundraising Strategy, Y Combinator, and Capitalization Nathan questions why a customer would retain Enzyme once their device achieves FDA approval. Jared educates Nathan that life science regulation is an ongoing operational requirement with periodic audits rather than a one-time event.10:56–14:25 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Enterprise Sales Expansion and Path to Profitability Nathan rejects Jared's black-and-white dichotomy that pursuing profitability causes startups to fall flat on their faces. Nathan calculates that 8 team members against $1M ARR should already be near breakeven and presses on enterprise hiring burn.14:25–15:08 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Host Conclusion and Company Performance Recap Nathan delivers a solo closing recap summarizing Enzyme's customer count, revenue metrics, team size, and funding status.0:00–2:43 · Guest teaching 4/10 Episode Preview and Executive Summary Nathan introduces the company metrics before asking Jared to explain how the business works. Jared gives a comprehensive overview of FDA regulatory requirements and how software replaces manual consultant labor.2:44–5:17 · Guest teaching 3/10 SaaS Business Model and Annual Contract Value Nathan presses Jared to pin down a realistic sweet spot ACV rather than broad ranges. Jared agrees on $50,000 and shares his biomedical background in deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's.5:18–7:18 · Guest teaching 1/10 Scaling Customer Growth and Reaching Million Dollar ARR Nathan checks run rate milestones as the company scales to 21 customers and $1M ARR. Jared explains his serendipitous first customer win at a Launch event.7:19–10:55 · Guest teaching 6/10 Fundraising Strategy, Y Combinator, and Capitalization Nathan questions why a customer would retain Enzyme once their device achieves FDA approval. Jared educates Nathan that life science regulation is an ongoing operational requirement with periodic audits rather than a one-time event.10:56–14:25 · Guest teaching 2/10 Enterprise Sales Expansion and Path to Profitability Nathan rejects Jared's black-and-white dichotomy that pursuing profitability causes startups to fall flat on their faces. Nathan calculates that 8 team members against $1M ARR should already be near breakeven and presses on enterprise hiring burn.14:25–15:08 · Guest teaching 0/10 Host Conclusion and Company Performance Recap Nathan delivers a solo closing recap summarizing Enzyme's customer count, revenue metrics, team size, and funding status.0:00–2:43 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Preview and Executive Summary Nathan introduces the company metrics before asking Jared to explain how the business works. Jared gives a comprehensive overview of FDA regulatory requirements and how software replaces manual consultant labor.2:44–5:17 · Guest disagreement 0/10 SaaS Business Model and Annual Contract Value Nathan presses Jared to pin down a realistic sweet spot ACV rather than broad ranges. Jared agrees on $50,000 and shares his biomedical background in deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's.5:18–7:18 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Scaling Customer Growth and Reaching Million Dollar ARR Nathan checks run rate milestones as the company scales to 21 customers and $1M ARR. Jared explains his serendipitous first customer win at a Launch event.7:19–10:55 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Fundraising Strategy, Y Combinator, and Capitalization Nathan questions why a customer would retain Enzyme once their device achieves FDA approval. Jared educates Nathan that life science regulation is an ongoing operational requirement with periodic audits rather than a one-time event.10:56–14:25 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Enterprise Sales Expansion and Path to Profitability Nathan rejects Jared's black-and-white dichotomy that pursuing profitability causes startups to fall flat on their faces. Nathan calculates that 8 team members against $1M ARR should already be near breakeven and presses on enterprise hiring burn.14:25–15:08 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Host Conclusion and Company Performance Recap Nathan delivers a solo closing recap summarizing Enzyme's customer count, revenue metrics, team size, and funding status.0:00–2:43 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Episode Preview and Executive Summary Nathan introduces the company metrics before asking Jared to explain how the business works. Jared gives a comprehensive overview of FDA regulatory requirements and how software replaces manual consultant labor.2:44–5:17 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 SaaS Business Model and Annual Contract Value Nathan presses Jared to pin down a realistic sweet spot ACV rather than broad ranges. Jared agrees on $50,000 and shares his biomedical background in deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's.5:18–7:18 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Scaling Customer Growth and Reaching Million Dollar ARR Nathan checks run rate milestones as the company scales to 21 customers and $1M ARR. Jared explains his serendipitous first customer win at a Launch event.7:19–10:55 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Fundraising Strategy, Y Combinator, and Capitalization Nathan questions why a customer would retain Enzyme once their device achieves FDA approval. Jared educates Nathan that life science regulation is an ongoing operational requirement with periodic audits rather than a one-time event.10:56–14:25 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Enterprise Sales Expansion and Path to Profitability Nathan rejects Jared's black-and-white dichotomy that pursuing profitability causes startups to fall flat on their faces. Nathan calculates that 8 team members against $1M ARR should already be near breakeven and presses on enterprise hiring burn.14:25–15:08 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Host Conclusion and Company Performance Recap Nathan delivers a solo closing recap summarizing Enzyme's customer count, revenue metrics, team size, and funding status.

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

0:00 · Nathan 36.8% · guest 63.2%0:00 · Nathan 36.8% · guest 63.2%3:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%3:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%6:00 · Nathan 23.9% · guest 76.1%6:00 · Nathan 23.9% · guest 76.1%9:00 · Nathan 24% · guest 76%9:00 · Nathan 24% · guest 76%12:00 · Nathan 41.7% · guest 58.3%12:00 · Nathan 41.7% · guest 58.3%15:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%15:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:03 Pushing back on YC profitability mandate

Jared firmly dismisses the premise of forcing cash flow positivity if doing so causes a startup to fall flat on its face.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:27 Refusing black-and-white growth framing

Nathan directly counters Jared's polarized view, arguing that a company with 8 employees and $1M in ARR can easily achieve profitability without failing.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:57 Explaining continuous medical device regulation

Jared systematically corrects Nathan's assumption that FDA compliance ends at initial product approval, detailing mandatory ongoing audits and data management.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:40 Dissecting headcount economics versus burn

Nathan leverages SaaS operational benchmarks to challenge Jared on where company capital is actually being burned given low headcount.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Episode Preview and Executive Summary 2401 Nathan introduces the company metrics before asking Jared to explain how the business works. Jared gives a comprehensive overview of FDA regulatory requirements and how software replaces manual consultant labor.
SaaS Business Model and Annual Contract Value 3302 Nathan presses Jared to pin down a realistic sweet spot ACV rather than broad ranges. Jared agrees on $50,000 and shares his biomedical background in deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's.
Scaling Customer Growth and Reaching Million Dollar ARR 2101 Nathan checks run rate milestones as the company scales to 21 customers and $1M ARR. Jared explains his serendipitous first customer win at a Launch event.
Fundraising Strategy, Y Combinator, and Capitalization 4625 Nathan questions why a customer would retain Enzyme once their device achieves FDA approval. Jared educates Nathan that life science regulation is an ongoing operational requirement with periodic audits rather than a one-time event.
Enterprise Sales Expansion and Path to Profitability 6236 Nathan rejects Jared's black-and-white dichotomy that pursuing profitability causes startups to fall flat on their faces. Nathan calculates that 8 team members against $1M ARR should already be near breakeven and presses on enterprise hiring burn.
Host Conclusion and Company Performance Recap 0000 Nathan delivers a solo closing recap summarizing Enzyme's customer count, revenue metrics, team size, and funding status.

Statements from this episode (12)

Assertion Supported
Seehafer: Life science startups spend hundreds of thousands on regulatory compliance
“You're talking of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, in addition to the development cost of your product, for your product to ever see the light of day.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 2:21
Disclosure
Seehafer: Enzyme aims to radically automate life science regulatory documentation
“What we're trying to do at Enzyme is to use software to radically simplify the amount of human labor that goes into making all of this documentation that the government needs to say yes or no.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 2:28
Disclosure
Enzyme's annual contract values range from five to seven figures
“So it's anywhere depending on company size from a five figure to a seven figure a year type of situation.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 3:06
Insight
Seehafer: Medtech failures often stem from market delays, not product quality
“What I found is being an engineer that it would take forever to get your products on the market, and it was very expensive, and you saw a lot of failures that weren't necessarily related to whether the product was any good or not, or did what it said”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 4:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Seehafer: Enzyme has 21 production customers across startups and enterprises
“We've got 21 companies that are using the platform in production of various sizes, everything from sort of, you know, product teams, the large organizations, enterprise organizations, to like I said, kind of a garage startup.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 5:24
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Seehafer: Enzyme landed its first customer from an impromptu 15-minute demo
“All basically sort of when the space, 15 minutes had the demo, the product was a total mess, but it was doing enough that they found it valuable and we've been working with it ever since.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 7:07
Disclosure
Enzyme has raised a couple million dollars in total capital
“Couple million, yeah.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 7:44
Disclosure
Seehafer: Enzyme operates with an eight-person team
“So we've got eight, eight people on staff here and we've various kind of mix of developers and sort of regulatory experts.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 8:07
Insight
Seehafer: SF cost of living favors building quasi-remote teams
“It's just that the cost of living situation has sort of made it advantageous to really try to make a quasi remote organization from the ground up.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 8:23
Disclosure
Enzyme experiences zero customer churn unless a client gets acquired
“Well, so, for the nature of our business is such that we don't really see churn. Churn for us is, is a customer getting bought or acquired, and so.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 8:40
Disclosure
Enzyme will increase burn to build an enterprise sales force
“No, I mean, so where we are going to be burning money is going to be, as we sort of drive from you know, transitioning the company is something that's serving these small organizations to larger enterprises, going to necessitate an enterprise sales force. And …”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 11:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Enzyme is close to achieving cash-flow positivity
“Not quite, but close.”
Jared Seehafer Jan 21, 2020 ▶ 12:14
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