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May 1, 2019 · 19m · top-founders

1376 SMB Marketing space CEO: We're about to close $5m on a $36m valuation

Ricardo Lassa · 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

In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka interviews SiteWit co-founder and CEO Ricardo Lassa to explore how his automated digital marketing platform scaled to over 10,000 SMB customers, generated $300,000 in monthly recurring revenue with a 20-person team, and secured a $5 million Series B round at a $36 million 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 46.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.9 Guest teaching 1.9 Guest disagreement 1.7 Nathan pushing back 3.6
05100:0010:000:00–2:12 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Introductory monologue and book promotion for How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital, followed by a teaser clip of the upcoming interview.2:13–5:59 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Introducing Ricardo Lassa and SiteWit's Platform Latka examines the business model, clarifying that SiteWit is not a flat SaaS fee but a 20% media spend management fee netting $30 to $60 per month per customer.5:59–8:16 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Founding History and Capital Raising Evolution Latka inquires about the company's funding history, pressing to understand whether $7M raised in tranches required separate term sheets or rolling rounds under three main series.8:16–10:44 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Scaling Customer Volume and Platform Integrations Latka runs the numbers on customer volume and ARPU to estimate monthly revenue at roughly $300k while challenging Lassa's claim of being the largest platform in the world.10:45–14:10 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Customer Churn Dynamics and Closed-Loop Marketing Latka pushes hard on annual churn rates, invoking the downfall of Constant Contact, while Lassa argues that closed-loop attribution creates much stickier e-commerce cohorts.14:11–16:54 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Channel Partner Revenue Sharing and Team Structure Latka breaks down the revenue share model with channel partners and does mental math on the Series B valuation, estimating a 10x ARR multiple on a $36M valuation.16:54–18:14 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire closing sequence covering business literature, productivity tools like Airtable, and advice to past selves.0:00–2:12 · Guest teaching 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Introductory monologue and book promotion for How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital, followed by a teaser clip of the upcoming interview.2:13–5:59 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Ricardo Lassa and SiteWit's Platform Latka examines the business model, clarifying that SiteWit is not a flat SaaS fee but a 20% media spend management fee netting $30 to $60 per month per customer.5:59–8:16 · Guest teaching 2/10 Founding History and Capital Raising Evolution Latka inquires about the company's funding history, pressing to understand whether $7M raised in tranches required separate term sheets or rolling rounds under three main series.8:16–10:44 · Guest teaching 2/10 Scaling Customer Volume and Platform Integrations Latka runs the numbers on customer volume and ARPU to estimate monthly revenue at roughly $300k while challenging Lassa's claim of being the largest platform in the world.10:45–14:10 · Guest teaching 4/10 Customer Churn Dynamics and Closed-Loop Marketing Latka pushes hard on annual churn rates, invoking the downfall of Constant Contact, while Lassa argues that closed-loop attribution creates much stickier e-commerce cohorts.14:11–16:54 · Guest teaching 2/10 Channel Partner Revenue Sharing and Team Structure Latka breaks down the revenue share model with channel partners and does mental math on the Series B valuation, estimating a 10x ARR multiple on a $36M valuation.16:54–18:14 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire closing sequence covering business literature, productivity tools like Airtable, and advice to past selves.0:00–2:12 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Introductory monologue and book promotion for How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital, followed by a teaser clip of the upcoming interview.2:13–5:59 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Ricardo Lassa and SiteWit's Platform Latka examines the business model, clarifying that SiteWit is not a flat SaaS fee but a 20% media spend management fee netting $30 to $60 per month per customer.5:59–8:16 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Founding History and Capital Raising Evolution Latka inquires about the company's funding history, pressing to understand whether $7M raised in tranches required separate term sheets or rolling rounds under three main series.8:16–10:44 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Scaling Customer Volume and Platform Integrations Latka runs the numbers on customer volume and ARPU to estimate monthly revenue at roughly $300k while challenging Lassa's claim of being the largest platform in the world.10:45–14:10 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Customer Churn Dynamics and Closed-Loop Marketing Latka pushes hard on annual churn rates, invoking the downfall of Constant Contact, while Lassa argues that closed-loop attribution creates much stickier e-commerce cohorts.14:11–16:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Channel Partner Revenue Sharing and Team Structure Latka breaks down the revenue share model with channel partners and does mental math on the Series B valuation, estimating a 10x ARR multiple on a $36M valuation.16:54–18:14 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire closing sequence covering business literature, productivity tools like Airtable, and advice to past selves.0:00–2:12 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Introductory monologue and book promotion for How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital, followed by a teaser clip of the upcoming interview.2:13–5:59 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Introducing Ricardo Lassa and SiteWit's Platform Latka examines the business model, clarifying that SiteWit is not a flat SaaS fee but a 20% media spend management fee netting $30 to $60 per month per customer.5:59–8:16 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Founding History and Capital Raising Evolution Latka inquires about the company's funding history, pressing to understand whether $7M raised in tranches required separate term sheets or rolling rounds under three main series.8:16–10:44 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Scaling Customer Volume and Platform Integrations Latka runs the numbers on customer volume and ARPU to estimate monthly revenue at roughly $300k while challenging Lassa's claim of being the largest platform in the world.10:45–14:10 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Customer Churn Dynamics and Closed-Loop Marketing Latka pushes hard on annual churn rates, invoking the downfall of Constant Contact, while Lassa argues that closed-loop attribution creates much stickier e-commerce cohorts.14:11–16:54 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Channel Partner Revenue Sharing and Team Structure Latka breaks down the revenue share model with channel partners and does mental math on the Series B valuation, estimating a 10x ARR multiple on a $36M valuation.16:54–18:14 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Standard rapid-fire closing sequence covering business literature, productivity tools like Airtable, and advice to past selves.

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

0:00 · Nathan 85.4% · guest 14.6%0:00 · Nathan 85.4% · guest 14.6%3:00 · Nathan 30.2% · guest 69.8%3:00 · Nathan 30.2% · guest 69.8%6:00 · Nathan 31.7% · guest 68.3%6:00 · Nathan 31.7% · guest 68.3%9:00 · Nathan 34.7% · guest 65.3%9:00 · Nathan 34.7% · guest 65.3%12:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%12:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%15:00 · Nathan 37.9% · guest 62.1%15:00 · Nathan 37.9% · guest 62.1%18:00 · Nathan 76.2% · guest 23.8%18:00 · Nathan 76.2% · guest 23.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:24 Reframing churn segmentation

Lassa resists Latka's conclusion that SiteWit suffers from identical churn problems as Constant Contact, insisting that high-retention e-commerce shopping tools must be evaluated separately from broader SEM services.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:20 Latka calls out churn metric contradictions

Latka challenges Lassa's theoretical attribution advantage by confronting him with his own 30% to 40% annual logo churn figures.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:44 Explaining closed-loop marketing attribution

Lassa educates Latka on why closed-loop marketing in e-commerce produces clear ROI attribution that prevents the high churn suffered by broadcast newsletter platforms like Constant Contact.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:23 Citing Constant Contact market precedent

Latka demonstrates deep industry awareness by citing Constant Contact's public-market struggle with 3% monthly SMB churn that ultimately forced its sale to Endurance International Group.
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 Introductory monologue and book promotion for How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital, followed by a teaser clip of the upcoming interview.
Introducing Ricardo Lassa and SiteWit's Platform 6214 Latka examines the business model, clarifying that SiteWit is not a flat SaaS fee but a 20% media spend management fee netting $30 to $60 per month per customer.
Founding History and Capital Raising Evolution 6224 Latka inquires about the company's funding history, pressing to understand whether $7M raised in tranches required separate term sheets or rolling rounds under three main series.
Scaling Customer Volume and Platform Integrations 7236 Latka runs the numbers on customer volume and ARPU to estimate monthly revenue at roughly $300k while challenging Lassa's claim of being the largest platform in the world.
Customer Churn Dynamics and Closed-Loop Marketing 7447 Latka pushes hard on annual churn rates, invoking the downfall of Constant Contact, while Lassa argues that closed-loop attribution creates much stickier e-commerce cohorts.
Channel Partner Revenue Sharing and Team Structure 6213 Latka breaks down the revenue share model with channel partners and does mental math on the Series B valuation, estimating a 10x ARR multiple on a $36M valuation.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2111 Standard rapid-fire closing sequence covering business literature, productivity tools like Airtable, and advice to past selves.

Statements from this episode (12)

Disclosure
Lassa: SiteWit charges a 20% management fee on ad spend
“And then how we make money with, we charge a percentage management fee for the platform. 20% of the retail price. So for example, if you're spending 200 dollars on Google we, for it goes towards our platform and the rest goes into Google ad spend.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 3:39
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lassa: SiteWit marketing platform operates with zero human intervention
“So there's no human intervention whatsoever. It's all machine based.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 4:05
Disclosure
Lassa: SiteWit customers pay an average net of $30 to $60 monthly
“So, so our customers end up paying us on average between, I would say, 30 to 60 dollars.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 5:51
Disclosure
SiteWit CEO: SiteWit has raised about $7M in total capital
“So total today, we've raised about a seven million dollars.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 6:58
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lassa: SiteWit will probably be world's largest independent marketing platform in 2019
“We're probably going to be the largest independent marketing platform in the world 2019.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 8:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lassa: SiteWit has 1.5M customers on its stats product
“We have a stats product, but we have a 1.5 million customers on the product.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 9:07
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lassa: SiteWit revenue has more than doubled annually
“It's been more than double you know, probably like every year, something like that.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 10:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lassa: SiteWit paid customer annual churn averages 30% to 45%
“We're seeing an average churn of, let's say between 30 to 45%.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 11:40
Insight
Lassa: Closed-loop marketing attribution drastically reduces customer churn
“Companies that actually know exactly how much money they put in and how much money they put out, Tend to churn way less.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 12:48
Disclosure
Lassa: Almost all of SiteWit's business is driven by revenue-share partnerships
“Almost all our business through partnerships, but we have a revenue share model between everybody.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 14:20
Disclosure
Lassa: SiteWit is closing a $5M Series B round
“So we're actually on the final stages of closing a series B and it's going to be a total of about five million dollars.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 15:20
Disclosure
Lassa: SiteWit's Series B pre-money valuation is about $36M
“So it's about that.”
Ricardo Lassa May 1, 2019 ▶ 15:59
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