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Aug 29, 2019 · 15m · top-founders

1496 Employee Engagement Platform in Brazil Passes $1.8M ARR, Raising $3m on $10m Pre

Alessandro Garcia · 7m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Host Nathan Latka interviews Alessandro Garcia, CEO of Brazilian SaaS company Sólides, examining how the bootstrapped HR platform scaled to $1.8 million ARR across 1,000 customers using behavioral AI. Garcia outlines the company's capital-efficient unit economics, 50-person sales team, and plans to raise up to $3 million at a $10 million pre-money valuation.

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 43.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.6 Guest teaching 1.4 Guest disagreement 0.2 Nathan pushing back 2.2
05100:0010:001:02–3:11 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Product Offering, Pricing Model, and Revenue Growth Latka quickly converts Brazilian reais to USD and runs the basic monthly revenue math ($150 ARPU across 1,000 customers). Garcia cooperatively confirms his pricing and revenue doubling trajectory.3:12–6:43 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Evolution into SaaS and Behavioral Algorithm Differentiation Latka presses Garcia on product differentiation against giants like IBM Watson, calculates CAC payback period immediately, and catches a mix-up regarding team size.6:47–10:50 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Mid-Episode Promotional Announcement for SaaStock West Coast Latka challenges how a bootstrapped startup with $150k MRR pays 100 employees, deriving the exact average salary ($1,200/month). He also presses to clarify monthly churn vs annualized churn and customer expansion vs retention spend.10:51–14:56 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Fundraising Strategy and Valuation Targets Garcia outlines his target fundraising round of $3M on a $10M pre-money valuation based on 6x ARR multiples in Brazil, which Latka validates before walking through the Famous Five questions.14:56–15:36 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Metrics Recap Latka delivers an outro monologue recapping Solides' core SaaS metrics and traction before thanking the guest.1:02–3:11 · Guest teaching 1/10 Product Offering, Pricing Model, and Revenue Growth Latka quickly converts Brazilian reais to USD and runs the basic monthly revenue math ($150 ARPU across 1,000 customers). Garcia cooperatively confirms his pricing and revenue doubling trajectory.3:12–6:43 · Guest teaching 2/10 Evolution into SaaS and Behavioral Algorithm Differentiation Latka presses Garcia on product differentiation against giants like IBM Watson, calculates CAC payback period immediately, and catches a mix-up regarding team size.6:47–10:50 · Guest teaching 2/10 Mid-Episode Promotional Announcement for SaaStock West Coast Latka challenges how a bootstrapped startup with $150k MRR pays 100 employees, deriving the exact average salary ($1,200/month). He also presses to clarify monthly churn vs annualized churn and customer expansion vs retention spend.10:51–14:56 · Guest teaching 2/10 Fundraising Strategy and Valuation Targets Garcia outlines his target fundraising round of $3M on a $10M pre-money valuation based on 6x ARR multiples in Brazil, which Latka validates before walking through the Famous Five questions.14:56–15:36 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Metrics Recap Latka delivers an outro monologue recapping Solides' core SaaS metrics and traction before thanking the guest.1:02–3:11 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Product Offering, Pricing Model, and Revenue Growth Latka quickly converts Brazilian reais to USD and runs the basic monthly revenue math ($150 ARPU across 1,000 customers). Garcia cooperatively confirms his pricing and revenue doubling trajectory.3:12–6:43 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Evolution into SaaS and Behavioral Algorithm Differentiation Latka presses Garcia on product differentiation against giants like IBM Watson, calculates CAC payback period immediately, and catches a mix-up regarding team size.6:47–10:50 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Mid-Episode Promotional Announcement for SaaStock West Coast Latka challenges how a bootstrapped startup with $150k MRR pays 100 employees, deriving the exact average salary ($1,200/month). He also presses to clarify monthly churn vs annualized churn and customer expansion vs retention spend.10:51–14:56 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Fundraising Strategy and Valuation Targets Garcia outlines his target fundraising round of $3M on a $10M pre-money valuation based on 6x ARR multiples in Brazil, which Latka validates before walking through the Famous Five questions.14:56–15:36 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Metrics Recap Latka delivers an outro monologue recapping Solides' core SaaS metrics and traction before thanking the guest.1:02–3:11 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Product Offering, Pricing Model, and Revenue Growth Latka quickly converts Brazilian reais to USD and runs the basic monthly revenue math ($150 ARPU across 1,000 customers). Garcia cooperatively confirms his pricing and revenue doubling trajectory.3:12–6:43 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Evolution into SaaS and Behavioral Algorithm Differentiation Latka presses Garcia on product differentiation against giants like IBM Watson, calculates CAC payback period immediately, and catches a mix-up regarding team size.6:47–10:50 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Mid-Episode Promotional Announcement for SaaStock West Coast Latka challenges how a bootstrapped startup with $150k MRR pays 100 employees, deriving the exact average salary ($1,200/month). He also presses to clarify monthly churn vs annualized churn and customer expansion vs retention spend.10:51–14:56 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Fundraising Strategy and Valuation Targets Garcia outlines his target fundraising round of $3M on a $10M pre-money valuation based on 6x ARR multiples in Brazil, which Latka validates before walking through the Famous Five questions.14:56–15:36 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode Conclusion and Metrics Recap Latka delivers an outro monologue recapping Solides' core SaaS metrics and traction before thanking the guest.

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

0:00 · Nathan 55.3% · guest 44.7%0:00 · Nathan 55.3% · guest 44.7%3:00 · Nathan 19.5% · guest 80.5%3:00 · Nathan 19.5% · guest 80.5%6:00 · Nathan 62.2% · guest 37.8%6:00 · Nathan 62.2% · guest 37.8%9:00 · Nathan 41.8% · guest 58.2%9:00 · Nathan 41.8% · guest 58.2%12:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%12:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%15:00 · Nathan 97.6% · guest 2.4%15:00 · Nathan 97.6% · guest 2.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:01 Garcia reframing expansion revenue as retention spend

Garcia pushes back against Latka's definition of account expansion, clarifying that they allocate 15% of customer revenue directly into retention efforts.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:59 Nathan challenges headcount math against monthly revenue

Latka pushes back on how a bootstrapped company can sustain 100 employees on $150k/month MRR, forcing Garcia to explain the low cost of Brazilian tech labor.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:47 Garcia educates Nathan on Brazilian SaaS ARR multiples

Garcia explains local valuation dynamics in Brazil, informing Latka that local tech companies trade at roughly 6x ARR multiples.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 7:59 Nathan deduces exact unit economics of headcount

Latka demonstrates his financial mastery by immediately computing that the company is spending an average of roughly $1,200 per employee per month.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Product Offering, Pricing Model, and Revenue Growth 5101 Latka quickly converts Brazilian reais to USD and runs the basic monthly revenue math ($150 ARPU across 1,000 customers). Garcia cooperatively confirms his pricing and revenue doubling trajectory.
Evolution into SaaS and Behavioral Algorithm Differentiation 6203 Latka presses Garcia on product differentiation against giants like IBM Watson, calculates CAC payback period immediately, and catches a mix-up regarding team size.
Mid-Episode Promotional Announcement for SaaStock West Coast 7215 Latka challenges how a bootstrapped startup with $150k MRR pays 100 employees, deriving the exact average salary ($1,200/month). He also presses to clarify monthly churn vs annualized churn and customer expansion vs retention spend.
Fundraising Strategy and Valuation Targets 5202 Garcia outlines his target fundraising round of $3M on a $10M pre-money valuation based on 6x ARR multiples in Brazil, which Latka validates before walking through the Famous Five questions.
Episode Conclusion and Metrics Recap 0000 Latka delivers an outro monologue recapping Solides' core SaaS metrics and traction before thanking the guest.

Statements from this episode (9)

Disclosure
Garcia: Sólides charges SMB customers approximately $150 per month
“In reais 600 reais, it's closer to one and a half hundred dollars a month.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 1:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Garcia: Sólides is doubling its annual revenue year-over-year
“We are growing this year two times what we got last year.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 2:59
Disclosure
Garcia: Sólides has scaled entirely through bootstrapping
“All via bootstrap.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 3:08
Opinion
Garcia: No other company globally uses behavioral algorithms beyond hiring
“I believe no one in the world is using behavior algorithm to make that. It's only to see how people works in hiring process.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 4:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Garcia: Sólides' fully weighted customer acquisition cost is close to $500
“It's close to 500 dollars.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 5:21
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Garcia: Sólides employs 100 people total, with 50 in sales
“100 in total the team. 50 is in the sales.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 6:17
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Garcia: Sólides has 1.2% monthly revenue churn
“That's low churn. Revenue churn is 1.2% a month.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 9:16
Disclosure
Garcia: Sólides seeks $2M to $3M in first funding round
“Two, three million dollars at the first round.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 11:19
Assertion Supported
Garcia: Brazilian SaaS startups average a 6x ARR valuation multiple
“We are looking the market here in Brazil, they are paying six times in average of the ARR.”
Alessandro Garcia Aug 29, 2019 ▶ 11:48
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