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Jul 1, 2019 · 17m · top-founders

1437 Social Listening Tool Hits $4.8m in ARR Selling to Governments

Yoav Pridor · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka interviews Yoav Pridor, co-founder and Chairman of Bazilla, exploring how the Israeli social listening platform scaled capital-efficiently to $4.8M in ARR through public sector contracts and a hybrid software-and-services model.

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 48.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.6 Guest teaching 1.9 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 3.3
05100:0010:000:00–2:39 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo host monologue promoting his book and introducing the podcast's metrics-driven format with brief archival teaser clips.2:40–5:38 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Guest Yoav Pridor and Bazilla Nathan introduces Yoav and probes the revenue mix, immediately pressing on how a 40% professional services cut can genuinely be considered recurring revenue.5:38–7:47 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Target Customer Profile and Seat Usage Nathan drills down on the ideal customer profile and forces Yoav to give a precise average seat count rather than vague ranges.7:48–10:52 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Reaching $4.8M ARR and Total Revenue Breakdown Nathan calculates the monthly run rate in real time and challenges Yoav on conflating agency professional services with pure SaaS recurring revenue.10:52–13:09 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Public Sector Case Study: Ministry of Education Nathan drills into churn mechanics, guiding Yoav to clarify between gross churn, net negative churn, and annual net revenue retention rates.13:10–15:35 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Gross Margin Breakdown Nathan computes the customer lifetime value on the fly (42 months at $1,500/mo) and separates the differing gross margins between software and services.15:36–16:51 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard Famous Five rapid-fire segment followed by Nathan's closing recap of Bazilla's core business metrics.0:00–2:39 · Guest teaching 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo host monologue promoting his book and introducing the podcast's metrics-driven format with brief archival teaser clips.2:40–5:38 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Guest Yoav Pridor and Bazilla Nathan introduces Yoav and probes the revenue mix, immediately pressing on how a 40% professional services cut can genuinely be considered recurring revenue.5:38–7:47 · Guest teaching 2/10 Target Customer Profile and Seat Usage Nathan drills down on the ideal customer profile and forces Yoav to give a precise average seat count rather than vague ranges.7:48–10:52 · Guest teaching 3/10 Reaching $4.8M ARR and Total Revenue Breakdown Nathan calculates the monthly run rate in real time and challenges Yoav on conflating agency professional services with pure SaaS recurring revenue.10:52–13:09 · Guest teaching 3/10 Public Sector Case Study: Ministry of Education Nathan drills into churn mechanics, guiding Yoav to clarify between gross churn, net negative churn, and annual net revenue retention rates.13:10–15:35 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Gross Margin Breakdown Nathan computes the customer lifetime value on the fly (42 months at $1,500/mo) and separates the differing gross margins between software and services.15:36–16:51 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard Famous Five rapid-fire segment followed by Nathan's closing recap of Bazilla's core business metrics.0:00–2:39 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo host monologue promoting his book and introducing the podcast's metrics-driven format with brief archival teaser clips.2:40–5:38 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Guest Yoav Pridor and Bazilla Nathan introduces Yoav and probes the revenue mix, immediately pressing on how a 40% professional services cut can genuinely be considered recurring revenue.5:38–7:47 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Target Customer Profile and Seat Usage Nathan drills down on the ideal customer profile and forces Yoav to give a precise average seat count rather than vague ranges.7:48–10:52 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Reaching $4.8M ARR and Total Revenue Breakdown Nathan calculates the monthly run rate in real time and challenges Yoav on conflating agency professional services with pure SaaS recurring revenue.10:52–13:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Public Sector Case Study: Ministry of Education Nathan drills into churn mechanics, guiding Yoav to clarify between gross churn, net negative churn, and annual net revenue retention rates.13:10–15:35 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Gross Margin Breakdown Nathan computes the customer lifetime value on the fly (42 months at $1,500/mo) and separates the differing gross margins between software and services.15:36–16:51 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard Famous Five rapid-fire segment followed by Nathan's closing recap of Bazilla's core business metrics.0:00–2:39 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo host monologue promoting his book and introducing the podcast's metrics-driven format with brief archival teaser clips.2:40–5:38 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Introducing Guest Yoav Pridor and Bazilla Nathan introduces Yoav and probes the revenue mix, immediately pressing on how a 40% professional services cut can genuinely be considered recurring revenue.5:38–7:47 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Target Customer Profile and Seat Usage Nathan drills down on the ideal customer profile and forces Yoav to give a precise average seat count rather than vague ranges.7:48–10:52 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Reaching $4.8M ARR and Total Revenue Breakdown Nathan calculates the monthly run rate in real time and challenges Yoav on conflating agency professional services with pure SaaS recurring revenue.10:52–13:09 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Public Sector Case Study: Ministry of Education Nathan drills into churn mechanics, guiding Yoav to clarify between gross churn, net negative churn, and annual net revenue retention rates.13:10–15:35 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Gross Margin Breakdown Nathan computes the customer lifetime value on the fly (42 months at $1,500/mo) and separates the differing gross margins between software and services.15:36–16:51 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard Famous Five rapid-fire segment followed by Nathan's closing recap of Bazilla's core business metrics.

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

0:00 · Nathan 99.1% · guest 0.9%0:00 · Nathan 99.1% · guest 0.9%3:00 · Nathan 28.5% · guest 71.5%3:00 · Nathan 28.5% · guest 71.5%6:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%6:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%9:00 · Nathan 30.8% · guest 69.2%9:00 · Nathan 30.8% · guest 69.2%12:00 · Nathan 41.8% · guest 58.2%12:00 · Nathan 41.8% · guest 58.2%15:00 · Nathan 51.6% · guest 48.4%15:00 · Nathan 51.6% · guest 48.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:26 Defending human insight in recurring research

Yoav firmly defends his methodology, insisting that real business insight requires human brains rather than purely automated software outputs.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:24 Rejecting professional services as pure recurring SaaS

Nathan directly challenges Yoav's assertion that professional services revenue is recurring without a dedicated monthly sales effort.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:01 Explaining government social listening use cases

Yoav educates Nathan on how non-commercial entities like the Ministry of Education use social listening to improve public services rather than generate profit.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 13:43 Triangulating LTV formula live

Nathan demonstrates SaaS financial expertise by multiplying 42 months by $1,500 monthly spend to instantly match Yoav's internal $65,000 LTV calculation.
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 host monologue promoting his book and introducing the podcast's metrics-driven format with brief archival teaser clips.
Introducing Guest Yoav Pridor and Bazilla 5214 Nathan introduces Yoav and probes the revenue mix, immediately pressing on how a 40% professional services cut can genuinely be considered recurring revenue.
Target Customer Profile and Seat Usage 5224 Nathan drills down on the ideal customer profile and forces Yoav to give a precise average seat count rather than vague ranges.
Reaching $4.8M ARR and Total Revenue Breakdown 7336 Nathan calculates the monthly run rate in real time and challenges Yoav on conflating agency professional services with pure SaaS recurring revenue.
Public Sector Case Study: Ministry of Education 6314 Nathan drills into churn mechanics, guiding Yoav to clarify between gross churn, net negative churn, and annual net revenue retention rates.
Customer Lifetime Value and Gross Margin Breakdown 7224 Nathan computes the customer lifetime value on the fly (42 months at $1,500/mo) and separates the differing gross margins between software and services.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2101 Standard Famous Five rapid-fire segment followed by Nathan's closing recap of Bazilla's core business metrics.

Statements from this episode (18)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Pridor: Over 90% of Bazilla revenue is recurring, split 60/40 software to services
“Well, it's about, it's all recurring. Most of it is recurring. Just over 90%. And it's about 60% SaaS and 40% professional services.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 4:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Pridor: Bazilla SaaS product costs roughly $500 per user per month
“Well, it's per seat, and a seat is user is roughly 500 dollars a month.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 5:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bazilla charges large enterprises and governments up to $20,000 monthly
“So large companies can go all the way to 15 or 20,000 dollars a month, and very large companies, and then, or government agencies”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 5:23
Disclosure
Bazilla targets Israeli corporations equivalent to US medium-sized companies
“Most of our clients are the large corporations in the local market that would be I guess, medium-sized companies or smaller medium-sized companies in, in American terms.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 5:46
Disclosure
Bazilla reached its scale on just $1.6M raised in 2012
“We were initially funded, seed funded all in all, 1.6 million dollars last time funded in 2012.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 7:00
Disclosure
Bazilla grew 50% after becoming Israel's sole government social listening vendor
“The growth has been roughly 40 to 50%, but that's because we have become the sole social listening platform for all of Israel's government companies and government agencies.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 7:24
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Pridor: Bazilla has almost 300 customer companies
“There are there are almost 300 companies”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 7:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bazilla generates approximately $400,000 in monthly recurring revenue
“Yeah, it's around 400. It's around 400.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 8:29
Disclosure
Pridor: All Bazilla clients receive recurring human-analyzed reports on subscription
“All of our clients not only get notifications and alerts from the system on a regular basis, they also get analyzed reports on a regular basis in a standardized format, in several standardized formats, and this is something we do for them without, it's a recur…”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 10:04
Insight
Yoav Pridor argues real business insight requires a human brain
“I believe that real insight is, is, has to come from a human brain.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 10:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yoav Pridor: Bazilla Maintains Around -10% Net Churn
“The net is around -10.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 11:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yoav Pridor: Bazilla Experiences Annual Gross Revenue Churn of About 1.2%
“The service itself is is already so fine-tuned that it actually, there's very little turn. It's about 1.2.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 11:46
Disclosure
Bazilla spends just $2,000 per month on online marketing
“Maybe 2000 dollars a month.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 12:52
Disclosure
Pridor: Bazilla employs about 25 people, with four in sales
“Total size is about 25, and we have a sales team of four.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 13:00
Disclosure
Bazilla's average customer lifetime is roughly 3.5 years
“It's about 3.5 years per customer. Ok, that's what it is.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 13:32
Disclosure
Bazilla calculates its customer lifetime value at around $65,000
“We calculated at around 65.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 14:00
Disclosure
Pridor: Bazilla Operates at 80% SaaS and 40% Services Gross Margin
“Professional services are lower. Professional services are around 40%. So it's around 80% and 40%.”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 14:17
Disclosure
Yoav Pridor would reject a $20 million acquisition offer for Bazilla
“I think not. And it's a very general question because my question is always, how can we make it much bigger together so that somebody would have to would have to strategically be a partner that in joint forces will aid us in making this whole company a much bi…”
Yoav Pridor Jul 1, 2019 ▶ 15:13
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