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May 19, 2019 · 19m · top-founders

1394 How he used affiliates to go from Zero to $50k in MRR in 16 Months

Nathan Latka · 9m spoken Mark Thompson · 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

In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs Podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews PayKickstart co-founder Mark Thompson on how he bootstrapped the SaaS platform to $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue in sixteen months. The discussion breaks down PayKickstart's customer acquisition via affiliate networks and a 100,000-person internal buyer list, while examining SaaS unit economics, churn management, and global team operations.

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 56.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 6.2 Guest teaching 1.2 Guest disagreement 0.8 Nathan pushing back 4.2
05100:0010:002:49–6:28 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Mark Thompson and the Digital Kickstart Portfolio Latka categorizes the business model quickly, computing customer count on the fly (500 customers at $100/month for $50k MRR) and dissecting the upfront annual cash flow mechanic of the launch.6:28–12:13 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Bootstrapping Strategy and Resource Allocation When Thompson claims a 20% monthly revenue churn, Latka presses hard, explaining the compounding math of a leaky bucket and challenging whether the company can even be considered SaaS without knowing churn metrics.12:13–14:17 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and the 100k Buyer List Latka drills into unit economics of the affiliate program, breaking down commission margins between one-time launch payouts and lifetime recurring percentages.14:17–17:34 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Unit Economics, Lifetime Value, and Founder Role Division Latka questions Thompson on LTV and paid acquisition instrumentation, bluntly asking what Thompson's role is when he deflects multiple core operational metrics to his co-founder.17:35–19:07 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Managing a Distributed Global Remote Workforce Latka reviews the distributed remote team footprint and moves efficiently through the standardized Famous Five closing questions.2:49–6:28 · Guest teaching 1/10 Mark Thompson and the Digital Kickstart Portfolio Latka categorizes the business model quickly, computing customer count on the fly (500 customers at $100/month for $50k MRR) and dissecting the upfront annual cash flow mechanic of the launch.6:28–12:13 · Guest teaching 1/10 Bootstrapping Strategy and Resource Allocation When Thompson claims a 20% monthly revenue churn, Latka presses hard, explaining the compounding math of a leaky bucket and challenging whether the company can even be considered SaaS without knowing churn metrics.12:13–14:17 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and the 100k Buyer List Latka drills into unit economics of the affiliate program, breaking down commission margins between one-time launch payouts and lifetime recurring percentages.14:17–17:34 · Guest teaching 1/10 Unit Economics, Lifetime Value, and Founder Role Division Latka questions Thompson on LTV and paid acquisition instrumentation, bluntly asking what Thompson's role is when he deflects multiple core operational metrics to his co-founder.17:35–19:07 · Guest teaching 1/10 Managing a Distributed Global Remote Workforce Latka reviews the distributed remote team footprint and moves efficiently through the standardized Famous Five closing questions.2:49–6:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Mark Thompson and the Digital Kickstart Portfolio Latka categorizes the business model quickly, computing customer count on the fly (500 customers at $100/month for $50k MRR) and dissecting the upfront annual cash flow mechanic of the launch.6:28–12:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping Strategy and Resource Allocation When Thompson claims a 20% monthly revenue churn, Latka presses hard, explaining the compounding math of a leaky bucket and challenging whether the company can even be considered SaaS without knowing churn metrics.12:13–14:17 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and the 100k Buyer List Latka drills into unit economics of the affiliate program, breaking down commission margins between one-time launch payouts and lifetime recurring percentages.14:17–17:34 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Unit Economics, Lifetime Value, and Founder Role Division Latka questions Thompson on LTV and paid acquisition instrumentation, bluntly asking what Thompson's role is when he deflects multiple core operational metrics to his co-founder.17:35–19:07 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Managing a Distributed Global Remote Workforce Latka reviews the distributed remote team footprint and moves efficiently through the standardized Famous Five closing questions.2:49–6:28 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Mark Thompson and the Digital Kickstart Portfolio Latka categorizes the business model quickly, computing customer count on the fly (500 customers at $100/month for $50k MRR) and dissecting the upfront annual cash flow mechanic of the launch.6:28–12:13 · Nathan pushing back 9/10 Bootstrapping Strategy and Resource Allocation When Thompson claims a 20% monthly revenue churn, Latka presses hard, explaining the compounding math of a leaky bucket and challenging whether the company can even be considered SaaS without knowing churn metrics.12:13–14:17 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and the 100k Buyer List Latka drills into unit economics of the affiliate program, breaking down commission margins between one-time launch payouts and lifetime recurring percentages.14:17–17:34 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Unit Economics, Lifetime Value, and Founder Role Division Latka questions Thompson on LTV and paid acquisition instrumentation, bluntly asking what Thompson's role is when he deflects multiple core operational metrics to his co-founder.17:35–19:07 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Managing a Distributed Global Remote Workforce Latka reviews the distributed remote team footprint and moves efficiently through the standardized Famous Five closing questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 98.5% · guest 1.5%0:00 · Nathan 98.5% · guest 1.5%3:00 · Nathan 36.7% · guest 63.3%3:00 · Nathan 36.7% · guest 63.3%6:00 · Nathan 48.6% · guest 51.4%6:00 · Nathan 48.6% · guest 51.4%9:00 · Nathan 66.1% · guest 33.9%9:00 · Nathan 66.1% · guest 33.9%12:00 · Nathan 41.7% · guest 58.3%12:00 · Nathan 41.7% · guest 58.3%15:00 · Nathan 37.1% · guest 62.9%15:00 · Nathan 37.1% · guest 62.9%18:00 · Nathan 63.7% · guest 36.3%18:00 · Nathan 63.7% · guest 36.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:50 Thompson pushes back against the 20% revenue loss framing

Thompson attempts to counter Latka's math by pointing out their top-line MRR grew from $10k to $50k despite the high churn figure he previously cited.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:25 Latka rejects SaaS classification under 20% monthly churn

Latka forcefully rejects the premise that a company losing 20% monthly revenue can qualify as a predictable SaaS business.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 13:43 Thompson explains building a 100k buyer list over 10 years

Thompson educates Latka on how his portfolio of digital product launches accumulated a 100,000-subscriber buyer list that delivers zero-CAC organic traffic.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:26 Latka breaks down net MRR growth formula

Latka explains basic SaaS accounting fundamentals, illustrating how starting MRR minus lost MRR plus additions calculates net growth when Thompson admits he does not track churn.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Mark Thompson and the Digital Kickstart Portfolio 6112 Latka categorizes the business model quickly, computing customer count on the fly (500 customers at $100/month for $50k MRR) and dissecting the upfront annual cash flow mechanic of the launch.
Bootstrapping Strategy and Resource Allocation 8119 When Thompson claims a 20% monthly revenue churn, Latka presses hard, explaining the compounding math of a leaky bucket and challenging whether the company can even be considered SaaS without knowing churn metrics.
Customer Acquisition Strategy and the 100k Buyer List 6212 Latka drills into unit economics of the affiliate program, breaking down commission margins between one-time launch payouts and lifetime recurring percentages.
Unit Economics, Lifetime Value, and Founder Role Division 7117 Latka questions Thompson on LTV and paid acquisition instrumentation, bluntly asking what Thompson's role is when he deflects multiple core operational metrics to his co-founder.
Managing a Distributed Global Remote Workforce 4101 Latka reviews the distributed remote team footprint and moves efficiently through the standardized Famous Five closing questions.

Statements from this episode (7)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Digital Kickstart's top revenue generator is an Adobe AIR app, not SaaS
“That's our biggest revenue generator, but it's actually not a SAS company. It's actually an Adobe air app.”
Mark Thompson May 19, 2019 ▶ 3:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
PayKickstart: 75% of vendors are on the $99 per month plan
“The majority, about 75% of our vendors are on the 99 dollar a month plan.”
Mark Thompson May 19, 2019 ▶ 4:15
Assertion Supported
PayKickstart reached its current scale as a fully bootstrapped company
“It's all been bootstrapped.”
Mark Thompson May 19, 2019 ▶ 6:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
PayKickstart grew monthly recurring revenue from $10k to $50k in one year
“Our monthly recurring started at 10, around 10,000 last year, and now it's at 50,000.”
Mark Thompson May 19, 2019 ▶ 8:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Despite the launch strategy, affiliates drive only 10-15% of PayKickstart's revenue
“Probably around 10 or 15%. It's fairly low.”
Mark Thompson May 19, 2019 ▶ 13:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Digital Kickstart built an internal buyer email list of over 100,000
“There's a little over a 100,000 people.”
Mark Thompson May 19, 2019 ▶ 13:57
Disclosure
PayKickstart pays affiliates 30% recurring or 50% upfront on $1,000 plans
“Yeah, on the recurring chart, on the recurring, the 99 dollar a month plan, it's 30%. From that initial thousand dollar investment, it's 50%.”
Mark Thompson May 19, 2019 ▶ 15:07
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