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Feb 12, 2019 · 23m · top-founders

1298 Conga Passes 11k Customers, $80m ARR, Q1 2019 IPO?

Matt Schiltz · 12m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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Nathan Latka interviews Conga CEO Matt Schiltz to break down the company's growth toward $100 million in ARR, 11,000 customers, and 130% net dollar retention. The conversation explores Conga's end-to-end document platform, unit economics, international team expansion, and potential IPO plans.

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 35% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 2.7
05100:0010:0020:000:00–2:23 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Episode Preview: Conga's Revenue and Metric Milestones Segment 1 is an introductory monologue and bio recap summarizing Conga's growth metrics, funding, and Matt Schiltz's background.2:24–6:00 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Conga's Digital Document Transformation Product Suite Nathan probes Conga's core product suite, ARR milestones, and customer counts, while Matt compares their platform capabilities to DocuSign.6:00–9:04 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Customer Segmentation and 130% Net Dollar Retention Nathan inquires about ARPU and expansion pricing levers, while Matt reframes the conversation to focus on 130% net dollar retention and multi-product suite adoption.9:04–14:15 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Balancing CAC, LTV, and Payback Periods Nathan displays deep SaaS knowledge by challenging standard LTV-to-CAC metrics and highlighting how longer payback periods distort unit economics for sub-scale companies.14:15–16:40 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Team Scaling and Distributed Global Operations Nathan asks if Matt's entry as CEO was forced by investors, allowing Matt to clarify that the buyout with Insight Venture Partners was friendly and founder-driven.16:41–22:09 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Weighing the Trade-offs of a 2019 IPO Nathan presses Matt on potential 2019 IPO timing and demands the counterargument against going public, leading into the Famous Five wrap-up.0:00–2:23 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode Preview: Conga's Revenue and Metric Milestones Segment 1 is an introductory monologue and bio recap summarizing Conga's growth metrics, funding, and Matt Schiltz's background.2:24–6:00 · Guest teaching 2/10 Conga's Digital Document Transformation Product Suite Nathan probes Conga's core product suite, ARR milestones, and customer counts, while Matt compares their platform capabilities to DocuSign.6:00–9:04 · Guest teaching 5/10 Customer Segmentation and 130% Net Dollar Retention Nathan inquires about ARPU and expansion pricing levers, while Matt reframes the conversation to focus on 130% net dollar retention and multi-product suite adoption.9:04–14:15 · Guest teaching 3/10 Balancing CAC, LTV, and Payback Periods Nathan displays deep SaaS knowledge by challenging standard LTV-to-CAC metrics and highlighting how longer payback periods distort unit economics for sub-scale companies.14:15–16:40 · Guest teaching 3/10 Team Scaling and Distributed Global Operations Nathan asks if Matt's entry as CEO was forced by investors, allowing Matt to clarify that the buyout with Insight Venture Partners was friendly and founder-driven.16:41–22:09 · Guest teaching 2/10 Weighing the Trade-offs of a 2019 IPO Nathan presses Matt on potential 2019 IPO timing and demands the counterargument against going public, leading into the Famous Five wrap-up.0:00–2:23 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Preview: Conga's Revenue and Metric Milestones Segment 1 is an introductory monologue and bio recap summarizing Conga's growth metrics, funding, and Matt Schiltz's background.2:24–6:00 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Conga's Digital Document Transformation Product Suite Nathan probes Conga's core product suite, ARR milestones, and customer counts, while Matt compares their platform capabilities to DocuSign.6:00–9:04 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Customer Segmentation and 130% Net Dollar Retention Nathan inquires about ARPU and expansion pricing levers, while Matt reframes the conversation to focus on 130% net dollar retention and multi-product suite adoption.9:04–14:15 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Balancing CAC, LTV, and Payback Periods Nathan displays deep SaaS knowledge by challenging standard LTV-to-CAC metrics and highlighting how longer payback periods distort unit economics for sub-scale companies.14:15–16:40 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Team Scaling and Distributed Global Operations Nathan asks if Matt's entry as CEO was forced by investors, allowing Matt to clarify that the buyout with Insight Venture Partners was friendly and founder-driven.16:41–22:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Weighing the Trade-offs of a 2019 IPO Nathan presses Matt on potential 2019 IPO timing and demands the counterargument against going public, leading into the Famous Five wrap-up.0:00–2:23 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode Preview: Conga's Revenue and Metric Milestones Segment 1 is an introductory monologue and bio recap summarizing Conga's growth metrics, funding, and Matt Schiltz's background.2:24–6:00 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Conga's Digital Document Transformation Product Suite Nathan probes Conga's core product suite, ARR milestones, and customer counts, while Matt compares their platform capabilities to DocuSign.6:00–9:04 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Customer Segmentation and 130% Net Dollar Retention Nathan inquires about ARPU and expansion pricing levers, while Matt reframes the conversation to focus on 130% net dollar retention and multi-product suite adoption.9:04–14:15 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Balancing CAC, LTV, and Payback Periods Nathan displays deep SaaS knowledge by challenging standard LTV-to-CAC metrics and highlighting how longer payback periods distort unit economics for sub-scale companies.14:15–16:40 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Team Scaling and Distributed Global Operations Nathan asks if Matt's entry as CEO was forced by investors, allowing Matt to clarify that the buyout with Insight Venture Partners was friendly and founder-driven.16:41–22:09 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Weighing the Trade-offs of a 2019 IPO Nathan presses Matt on potential 2019 IPO timing and demands the counterargument against going public, leading into the Famous Five wrap-up.

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

0:00 · Nathan 85.7% · guest 14.3%0:00 · Nathan 85.7% · guest 14.3%3:00 · Nathan 31.8% · guest 68.2%3:00 · Nathan 31.8% · guest 68.2%6:00 · Nathan 23.5% · guest 76.5%6:00 · Nathan 23.5% · guest 76.5%9:00 · Nathan 34.2% · guest 65.8%9:00 · Nathan 34.2% · guest 65.8%12:00 · Nathan 23.1% · guest 76.9%12:00 · Nathan 23.1% · guest 76.9%15:00 · Nathan 20.6% · guest 79.4%15:00 · Nathan 20.6% · guest 79.4%18:00 · Nathan 11.7% · guest 88.3%18:00 · Nathan 11.7% · guest 88.3%21:00 · Nathan 52.6% · guest 47.4%21:00 · Nathan 52.6% · guest 47.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:07 Matt rejects the pricing leverage premise

Matt politely dismisses Nathan's premise about pricing levers, explaining that expansion is driven entirely by suite adoption rather than fee increases.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 17:51 Nathan forces the anti-IPO argument

Nathan refuses to accept generic optimism about going public and explicitly demands the single reason why an IPO would make zero sense.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:14 Matt explains the primacy of net dollar retention

Matt explains why gross logo churn is secondary in SaaS, educating on how 130% net dollar retention fundamentally alters company economics.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:39 Nathan breaks down misleading early-stage LTV:CAC metrics

Nathan demonstrates command of SaaS benchmarks by explaining how companies sub-$10M ARR fool themselves with 5:1 LTV:CAC ratios while ignoring multi-year payback delays.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Episode Preview: Conga's Revenue and Metric Milestones 0000 Segment 1 is an introductory monologue and bio recap summarizing Conga's growth metrics, funding, and Matt Schiltz's background.
Conga's Digital Document Transformation Product Suite 5212 Nathan probes Conga's core product suite, ARR milestones, and customer counts, while Matt compares their platform capabilities to DocuSign.
Customer Segmentation and 130% Net Dollar Retention 6523 Nathan inquires about ARPU and expansion pricing levers, while Matt reframes the conversation to focus on 130% net dollar retention and multi-product suite adoption.
Balancing CAC, LTV, and Payback Periods 8324 Nathan displays deep SaaS knowledge by challenging standard LTV-to-CAC metrics and highlighting how longer payback periods distort unit economics for sub-scale companies.
Team Scaling and Distributed Global Operations 5313 Nathan asks if Matt's entry as CEO was forced by investors, allowing Matt to clarify that the buyout with Insight Venture Partners was friendly and founder-driven.
Weighing the Trade-offs of a 2019 IPO 5214 Nathan presses Matt on potential 2019 IPO timing and demands the counterargument against going public, leading into the Famous Five wrap-up.

Statements from this episode (11)

Opinion
Schiltz: DocuSign's $9B market cap is fair and potentially undervalued
“Absolutely. I mean, if you look at the comparables in the marketplace you know, I think you could make a, and people are making a pretty good argument that they're actually undervalued at this point.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 3:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schiltz: Conga has reached nearly 11,000 customers and 800,000 users
“Close to 11,000 now. Yeah, definitely strong growth. Close to 800,000 users now.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 4:03
Disclosure
Schiltz: Conga has raised over $130 million to date
“Total to date a little north of a hundred and thirty million.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 5:45
Disclosure
Schiltz: Conga's customer mix is 60% SMBs and 40% Global 2000
“We have about 60% of our business are small and medium sized companies and about 40% are the global 2000.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 6:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schiltz: Conga achieves 130% net dollar retention
“We're at a 130% net dollar retention.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 7:57
Insight
Schiltz: SaaS buyers increasingly favor product suites over point solutions
“Customers are really more and more looking to buy a suite of products and not a point solution.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 8:12
Insight
Schiltz: Sub-$10M SaaS companies often see CAC skyrocket when scaling
“Smaller companies, let's say under your example, under a ten million dollar run rate, they've never really tried to scale to reach a bigger percentage of the market. And when they do that, their cat costs can skyrocket and their LTV ratio can plummet.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 11:29
Insight
Schiltz: Net dollar retention matters more than logo retention in SaaS
“So when you look at the quality of a SaaS company, it's not just purely logo retention, really net dollar retention is, is a much more indicative measure of how sticky is this product and how much do customers love it and grow their usage over time.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 13:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schiltz: Conga's gross churn is well under 10%
“The gross turns under 10, under 10%. So we don't release that exact number, but it's under, you know, 10%, sort of an eyeball SAS number. We're well under that number.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 14:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schiltz: Conga grew from 60 to 500 employees in 2.5 years
“We're about 500 employees now. When I took over the company two and a half years ago, about 60 employees.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 14:57
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Schiltz: Conga may take steps toward an IPO in 2019
“You know, it wouldn't be a shock if you see the company taking steps toward that in 2019.”
Matt Schiltz Feb 12, 2019 ▶ 17:47
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