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Apr 7, 2019 · 17m · top-founders

1352 B2B Version of Venmo About to Pass $5m in ARR

Jeremy Almond · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs Podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews Paystand founder and CEO Jeremy Almond to examine how the fintech startup is modernizing commercial B2B payments through a flat-rate blockchain network and scaling toward $5 million in ARR.

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 37.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.2
05100:0010:000:00–2:16 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo intro and book promotion by Nathan, followed by podcast intro clip snippets.2:16–5:39 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Guest Introduction and Paystand's Background Nathan probes into Paystand's value proposition and blockchain infrastructure, while Jeremy explains why paper checks and credit card transaction fees burden mid-market B2B transactions.5:40–7:42 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Flat-Fee SaaS Model and Commercial Billing Terms Nathan inquires about pricing structure and take rates, prompting Jeremy to detail their SaaS subscription model and average contract value of $1,500 per month.7:42–10:34 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Two-Sided Network Economics and Receivables Monetization Nathan spots a mathematical discrepancy between total business accounts and stated ARPU, pressing Jeremy to clarify the asymmetry between payable and receivable users on the network.10:34–14:36 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Revenue Growth Trajectory and ARR Targets Nathan drills into ARR growth milestones and explicitly presses Jeremy on reaching the $5M ARR mark, while Jeremy pivots to discussing legacy bank integrations and customer acquisition economics.14:36–16:50 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Negative Revenue Churn and Distributed Team Structure Nathan confirms net negative revenue churn and verifies headcount details across satellite offices before transitioning smoothly into the Famous Five closing segment.0:00–2:16 · Guest teaching 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo intro and book promotion by Nathan, followed by podcast intro clip snippets.2:16–5:39 · Guest teaching 4/10 Guest Introduction and Paystand's Background Nathan probes into Paystand's value proposition and blockchain infrastructure, while Jeremy explains why paper checks and credit card transaction fees burden mid-market B2B transactions.5:40–7:42 · Guest teaching 4/10 Flat-Fee SaaS Model and Commercial Billing Terms Nathan inquires about pricing structure and take rates, prompting Jeremy to detail their SaaS subscription model and average contract value of $1,500 per month.7:42–10:34 · Guest teaching 5/10 Two-Sided Network Economics and Receivables Monetization Nathan spots a mathematical discrepancy between total business accounts and stated ARPU, pressing Jeremy to clarify the asymmetry between payable and receivable users on the network.10:34–14:36 · Guest teaching 4/10 Revenue Growth Trajectory and ARR Targets Nathan drills into ARR growth milestones and explicitly presses Jeremy on reaching the $5M ARR mark, while Jeremy pivots to discussing legacy bank integrations and customer acquisition economics.14:36–16:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 Negative Revenue Churn and Distributed Team Structure Nathan confirms net negative revenue churn and verifies headcount details across satellite offices before transitioning smoothly into the Famous Five closing segment.0:00–2:16 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo intro and book promotion by Nathan, followed by podcast intro clip snippets.2:16–5:39 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Guest Introduction and Paystand's Background Nathan probes into Paystand's value proposition and blockchain infrastructure, while Jeremy explains why paper checks and credit card transaction fees burden mid-market B2B transactions.5:40–7:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Flat-Fee SaaS Model and Commercial Billing Terms Nathan inquires about pricing structure and take rates, prompting Jeremy to detail their SaaS subscription model and average contract value of $1,500 per month.7:42–10:34 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Two-Sided Network Economics and Receivables Monetization Nathan spots a mathematical discrepancy between total business accounts and stated ARPU, pressing Jeremy to clarify the asymmetry between payable and receivable users on the network.10:34–14:36 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Revenue Growth Trajectory and ARR Targets Nathan drills into ARR growth milestones and explicitly presses Jeremy on reaching the $5M ARR mark, while Jeremy pivots to discussing legacy bank integrations and customer acquisition economics.14:36–16:50 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Negative Revenue Churn and Distributed Team Structure Nathan confirms net negative revenue churn and verifies headcount details across satellite offices before transitioning smoothly into the Famous Five closing segment.0:00–2:16 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Book Promotion: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital Solo intro and book promotion by Nathan, followed by podcast intro clip snippets.2:16–5:39 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Guest Introduction and Paystand's Background Nathan probes into Paystand's value proposition and blockchain infrastructure, while Jeremy explains why paper checks and credit card transaction fees burden mid-market B2B transactions.5:40–7:42 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Flat-Fee SaaS Model and Commercial Billing Terms Nathan inquires about pricing structure and take rates, prompting Jeremy to detail their SaaS subscription model and average contract value of $1,500 per month.7:42–10:34 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Two-Sided Network Economics and Receivables Monetization Nathan spots a mathematical discrepancy between total business accounts and stated ARPU, pressing Jeremy to clarify the asymmetry between payable and receivable users on the network.10:34–14:36 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Revenue Growth Trajectory and ARR Targets Nathan drills into ARR growth milestones and explicitly presses Jeremy on reaching the $5M ARR mark, while Jeremy pivots to discussing legacy bank integrations and customer acquisition economics.14:36–16:50 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Negative Revenue Churn and Distributed Team Structure Nathan confirms net negative revenue churn and verifies headcount details across satellite offices before transitioning smoothly into the Famous Five closing segment.

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

0:00 · Nathan 95.8% · guest 4.2%0:00 · Nathan 95.8% · guest 4.2%3:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%3:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%6:00 · Nathan 24.1% · guest 75.9%6:00 · Nathan 24.1% · guest 75.9%9:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%9:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%12:00 · Nathan 13.6% · guest 86.4%12:00 · Nathan 13.6% · guest 86.4%15:00 · Nathan 51.3% · guest 48.7%15:00 · Nathan 51.3% · guest 48.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:54 Reframing payable vs receivable economics

Jeremy rejects the host's simple multiplying calculation, explaining that equating accounts payable users with paying receivable clients misunderstands two-sided payment networks.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:37 Challenging the $75M monthly revenue implication

Nathan calls out Jeremy's reported numbers by doing the direct math (50k customers at $1500/mo = $75M/mo) and directly asking where the numbers fall apart.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:54 Explaining asymmetric SaaS billing on network rails

Jeremy explains the difference between the 'vitamin' problem of accounts payable and the 'painkiller' boardroom priority of accounts receivable monetization.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:37 Catching the ARPU and customer count mismatch

Nathan instantly calculates the product of the guest's metrics, proving on the fly that 50k paying customers at $1,500/mo would make Paystand an enterprise giant.
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 intro and book promotion by Nathan, followed by podcast intro clip snippets.
Guest Introduction and Paystand's Background 5412 Nathan probes into Paystand's value proposition and blockchain infrastructure, while Jeremy explains why paper checks and credit card transaction fees burden mid-market B2B transactions.
Flat-Fee SaaS Model and Commercial Billing Terms 6413 Nathan inquires about pricing structure and take rates, prompting Jeremy to detail their SaaS subscription model and average contract value of $1,500 per month.
Two-Sided Network Economics and Receivables Monetization 7526 Nathan spots a mathematical discrepancy between total business accounts and stated ARPU, pressing Jeremy to clarify the asymmetry between payable and receivable users on the network.
Revenue Growth Trajectory and ARR Targets 6426 Nathan drills into ARR growth milestones and explicitly presses Jeremy on reaching the $5M ARR mark, while Jeremy pivots to discussing legacy bank integrations and customer acquisition economics.
Negative Revenue Churn and Distributed Team Structure 5312 Nathan confirms net negative revenue churn and verifies headcount details across satellite offices before transitioning smoothly into the Famous Five closing segment.

Statements from this episode (16)

Disclosure
Almond: Paystand Has Raised About $12M to Date
“I've raised about twelve million to date, more or less.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 3:24
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almond: Most money movement infrastructure uses technology built in the 1970s
“Most of the money movement itself is, is basically using technology before the internet. Most of the technology is sort of built in the seventies.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 3:54
Disclosure
Almond: Paystand operates proprietary payment network built on blockchain
“We actually own our own payment network. We use something called the blockchain which is sort of a really new way to think about financial services in general.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 4:03
Disclosure
Almond: Paystand enables businesses to move money digitally without fees
“What we do is help them move their money automatically, digitally, and without fees.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 5:33
Disclosure
Almond: Paystand uses flat SaaS pricing instead of transaction fees
“We're trying to move the industry from a transactional model, sort of this blockbuster, go in and rent something to a fixed cost SAS model. And so we charge a monthly subscription amount for a customer and it's sort of all you can eat.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 6:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almond: Paystand customers pay an average of $1,500 per month
“Yeah, so on average, our customers pay us about 1500 dollars a month. They go up much higher, and there's a few that's a little lower than that.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 7:08
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almond: Paystand has 50,000 businesses on its payment network
“We have about 50,000 businesses on our payment network.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 8:01
Assertion Supported
Almond: $18T in US commercial payments are still done in paper checks
“There's 18 trillion dollars in commercial payments in the US alone still done in paper checks”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 8:04
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almond: Paystand processes tens of millions of dollars daily
“So at this point we're doing tens of millions a day.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 8:30
Insight
Almond: Accounts payable automation is a vitamin, receivable speed is critical
“Most of the B to B payment industry actually charges for the other side, which is the payable side. We think that that's actually less important. Our sort of point of view is that's a vitamin problem. Meaning you know, it's nice for your AP to not write a pape…”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 9:15
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almond: Paystand grew 5x initially and nearly 4x in the prior year
“So the first couple of years we grew five X this last year we grew at nearly four X”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 10:35
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Almond: Paystand will probably grow 3.5x this year
“This year we'll probably grow at Three and a half x, so.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 10:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almond: Paystand federates with 18,000 commercial banks
“We you know, we still have to, so we federate with 18,000 banks.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 12:17
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Almond: Financial ecosystem will eventually shift to pure blockchain
“Not everything is like this pure blockchain world yet. We think that's eventually where it goes.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 12:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Almond: Paystand maintains net negative revenue churn
“So that's one of the things I think we're really proud of is, you know, from a net basis, we have negative churn.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 14:39
Disclosure
Almond: Paystand has a team of about 30 people
“We're still small, about 30 people.”
Jeremy Almond Apr 7, 2019 ▶ 15:08
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