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Aug 4, 2019 · 18m · top-founders

1471 How to Use a $750K "Affiliate Launch Model" To Juice Your SaaS Offering

Andy Fletcher · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m 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 Convertri founder Andy Fletcher to explore how the bootstrapped SaaS company grew to $50,000 MRR by leveraging a $750,000 affiliate launch, transitioning to pure recurring subscriptions, and managing high churn with fast payback unit economics.

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 43.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.0 Guest teaching 2.3 Guest disagreement 0.9 Nathan pushing back 1.9
05100:0010:000:00–2:26 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo book promotion and podcast intro by Nathan Latka with no live guest interaction.2:26–5:35 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Convertri Overview, Value Proposition, and Origins Latka guides the conversation through Convertri's business model, funding history, and team size, while Fletcher casually details their bootstrapping and Lego hobby.5:35–7:37 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 The $750K Lifetime Launch on JVZoo Latka drills into the mechanics and unit economics of Fletcher's initial lifetime deal launch on JVZoo, performing real-time math on conversions.7:37–10:45 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Affiliate Mechanics, Broker Roles, and SaaS Partnerships Fletcher sets a clear boundary refusing to name or discuss the broker he disliked, then educates Latka on how MarTech launch brokers operate.10:46–14:14 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Transitioning from Lifetime Deals to Pure SaaS Recurring Revenue Fletcher admits high churn rates around 15%, prompting Latka to offer advice on redefining customer onboarding cohorts and churn accounting.14:14–16:39 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Financial Growth, Paid Acquisition, and Fast Payback Unit Economics Latka analyzes Fletcher's blended CAC against ARPU, highlighting the instant payback period despite the high churn risk.16:39–17:32 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire wrapped up quickly and amicably.0:00–2:26 · Guest teaching 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo book promotion and podcast intro by Nathan Latka with no live guest interaction.2:26–5:35 · Guest teaching 1/10 Convertri Overview, Value Proposition, and Origins Latka guides the conversation through Convertri's business model, funding history, and team size, while Fletcher casually details their bootstrapping and Lego hobby.5:35–7:37 · Guest teaching 3/10 The $750K Lifetime Launch on JVZoo Latka drills into the mechanics and unit economics of Fletcher's initial lifetime deal launch on JVZoo, performing real-time math on conversions.7:37–10:45 · Guest teaching 5/10 Affiliate Mechanics, Broker Roles, and SaaS Partnerships Fletcher sets a clear boundary refusing to name or discuss the broker he disliked, then educates Latka on how MarTech launch brokers operate.10:46–14:14 · Guest teaching 4/10 Transitioning from Lifetime Deals to Pure SaaS Recurring Revenue Fletcher admits high churn rates around 15%, prompting Latka to offer advice on redefining customer onboarding cohorts and churn accounting.14:14–16:39 · Guest teaching 3/10 Financial Growth, Paid Acquisition, and Fast Payback Unit Economics Latka analyzes Fletcher's blended CAC against ARPU, highlighting the instant payback period despite the high churn risk.16:39–17:32 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire wrapped up quickly and amicably.0:00–2:26 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo book promotion and podcast intro by Nathan Latka with no live guest interaction.2:26–5:35 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Convertri Overview, Value Proposition, and Origins Latka guides the conversation through Convertri's business model, funding history, and team size, while Fletcher casually details their bootstrapping and Lego hobby.5:35–7:37 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The $750K Lifetime Launch on JVZoo Latka drills into the mechanics and unit economics of Fletcher's initial lifetime deal launch on JVZoo, performing real-time math on conversions.7:37–10:45 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Affiliate Mechanics, Broker Roles, and SaaS Partnerships Fletcher sets a clear boundary refusing to name or discuss the broker he disliked, then educates Latka on how MarTech launch brokers operate.10:46–14:14 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Transitioning from Lifetime Deals to Pure SaaS Recurring Revenue Fletcher admits high churn rates around 15%, prompting Latka to offer advice on redefining customer onboarding cohorts and churn accounting.14:14–16:39 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Financial Growth, Paid Acquisition, and Fast Payback Unit Economics Latka analyzes Fletcher's blended CAC against ARPU, highlighting the instant payback period despite the high churn risk.16:39–17:32 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire wrapped up quickly and amicably.0:00–2:26 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo book promotion and podcast intro by Nathan Latka with no live guest interaction.2:26–5:35 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Convertri Overview, Value Proposition, and Origins Latka guides the conversation through Convertri's business model, funding history, and team size, while Fletcher casually details their bootstrapping and Lego hobby.5:35–7:37 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 The $750K Lifetime Launch on JVZoo Latka drills into the mechanics and unit economics of Fletcher's initial lifetime deal launch on JVZoo, performing real-time math on conversions.7:37–10:45 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Affiliate Mechanics, Broker Roles, and SaaS Partnerships Fletcher sets a clear boundary refusing to name or discuss the broker he disliked, then educates Latka on how MarTech launch brokers operate.10:46–14:14 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Transitioning from Lifetime Deals to Pure SaaS Recurring Revenue Fletcher admits high churn rates around 15%, prompting Latka to offer advice on redefining customer onboarding cohorts and churn accounting.14:14–16:39 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Financial Growth, Paid Acquisition, and Fast Payback Unit Economics Latka analyzes Fletcher's blended CAC against ARPU, highlighting the instant payback period despite the high churn risk.16:39–17:32 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire wrapped up quickly and amicably.

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

0:00 · Nathan 81.7% · guest 18.3%0:00 · Nathan 81.7% · guest 18.3%3:00 · Nathan 30.9% · guest 69.1%3:00 · Nathan 30.9% · guest 69.1%6:00 · Nathan 34% · guest 66%6:00 · Nathan 34% · guest 66%9:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%9:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%12:00 · Nathan 46.3% · guest 53.7%12:00 · Nathan 46.3% · guest 53.7%15:00 · Nathan 41.9% · guest 58.1%15:00 · Nathan 41.9% · guest 58.1%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:00 Fletcher refuses to name broker

Fletcher flatly refuses Latka's inquiry into the broker's identity, stating he will not give him press and explicitly redirects the conversation.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:40 Latka corrects recurring revenue estimate

Latka pushes back on Fletcher's customer numbers by recalculating monthly recurring revenue down from $70k to $45k based on the mix of annual vs. monthly users.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:34 Fletcher breaks down SaaS launch brokers

Fletcher explains the two distinct broker business models in the JVZoo ecosystem to Latka, who admitted he had never heard of them.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:59 Latka explains customer cohort accounting

Latka demonstrates deep SaaS metric expertise by advising Fletcher on using minimum retention thresholds to filter out refund seekers from churn reporting.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital 0000 Solo book promotion and podcast intro by Nathan Latka with no live guest interaction.
Convertri Overview, Value Proposition, and Origins 3101 Latka guides the conversation through Convertri's business model, funding history, and team size, while Fletcher casually details their bootstrapping and Lego hobby.
The $750K Lifetime Launch on JVZoo 5302 Latka drills into the mechanics and unit economics of Fletcher's initial lifetime deal launch on JVZoo, performing real-time math on conversions.
Affiliate Mechanics, Broker Roles, and SaaS Partnerships 4544 Fletcher sets a clear boundary refusing to name or discuss the broker he disliked, then educates Latka on how MarTech launch brokers operate.
Transitioning from Lifetime Deals to Pure SaaS Recurring Revenue 7414 Fletcher admits high churn rates around 15%, prompting Latka to offer advice on redefining customer onboarding cohorts and churn accounting.
Financial Growth, Paid Acquisition, and Fast Payback Unit Economics 6312 Latka analyzes Fletcher's blended CAC against ARPU, highlighting the instant payback period despite the high churn risk.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 3000 Standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire wrapped up quickly and amicably.

Statements from this episode (12)

Opinion
Fletcher says competing funnel builders produce very slow-loading pages
“So one of the like biggest gaps we found in all the other builders out there is the pages they build are just really, really slow.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 2:43
Disclosure
Most Convertri customers pay $69 per month for the Pro plan
“So the typical customer is 69 dollars a month for the pro plan, which is the habit for yourself, like not like there's an agency plan that's a bit more, which is doing it for other people, but like the majority of the people are on the 69 buck a month plan.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 3:01
Disclosure
Andy Fletcher invested $80,000 of personal savings to launch Convertri
“And I put about 80 K into the company to start with, to like start ramping up development, get some marketing stuff going.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 4:00
Assertion Supported
Convertri paired a $297 lifetime deal with a $37 monthly upsell
“So that was two nine seven for lifetime, and that was access to like the base plan. And then the recurring at the time, I think it was just template club we had, which was like 37 bucks a month upsell, which was like that became pro when we started adding load…”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 6:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Convertri converted 30% of lifetime deal buyers to monthly upsells
“About 30% of them. Sorry, about 30% in launch week, and then more as time went on. So we just ran campaigns to the list to move more of them across.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 7:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Convertri generated $750,000 in five days using an affiliate launch model
“Grand total, we did 750,000 dollars in five days, which was freaking amazing.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 7:38
Disclosure
Convertri gave 60% of launch revenue to affiliates and brokers
“I think it's important to, like, clarify to anyone listening that it's 50% off the top to affiliates, five percent to the, like, affiliate network, five percent to the broker.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 7:44
Insight
Fletcher says early lifetime users became a weight around their neck
“As much as I love those lifetime users that we brought on in the early days and brought us capital, like that's like a thousand people who are a weight around our neck.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 11:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Convertri reached $550,000 ARR with 1,000 active recurring subscribers
“So about 700 monthly and about 300 annual. So it's We're about 505 50 annual recurring, so a little bit less than what you just said.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 11:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fletcher estimates Convertri's monthly customer churn rate at 15 percent
“But I think about 15, but it's one thing we're finding it quite hard to like zero in on and like exactly what to count.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 12:17
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Convertri acquired 60 paying customers from a $3,000 monthly ad spend
“So we spent three K in ads for 196 signups, 105 trials and 60 people who paid the first month.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 15:15
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Fletcher predicts Convertri can reach $1 million MRR without changing strategy
“I think we get to a million bucks a month. Doing like not that much differently.”
Andy Fletcher Aug 4, 2019 ▶ 16:11
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