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Jan 29, 2019 · 18m · top-founders

1284 How He Uses Lifetstyle Business To Fund SaaS Startup

Rok Sever · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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Nathan Latka interviews Rok Sever, co-founder of Predict Leads, who details how he bootstrapped a B2B corporate intelligence API to over $300,000 in ARR by funding early machine learning R&D with cash flow from a separate lifestyle business.

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 43.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.6 Guest teaching 2.6 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:001:29–3:53 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Rok Sever and Filmmaking Aspirations Latka opens with light banter regarding Sever's filmmaking ambition before methodically establishing Predict Leads' business model and pricing tiers. Sever cooperatively explains his competitive intelligence API and contract ranges.3:53–7:12 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Bootstrapping, Accelerator Funding, and Lifestyle Business Support Latka digs into early accelerator equity terms, lifestyle business cash flows, and valuation expectations. When Sever floats an 8 million dollar acquisition figure, Latka presses him on the revenue required to justify that multiple.7:13–10:29 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Overcoming Early Data Hurdles, Team Structure, and Churn Latka presses Sever to detail the tactical changes made to overcome early data inaccuracies during dark times. Sever explains the pivot from raw lead generation to API data feeds and explains why their API customer churn is near zero.10:33–14:45 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Sponsor Break: Asana Project Management Following an ad read, Latka benchmarks the product against competitors like Clearbit and FullContact and sharply questions why a client would pay 12k annually instead of using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for 50 dollars a month. Sever defends their web crawling coverage before Latka frames the difference between leading and lagging intent signals.14:46–17:54 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and Long-Term Value Latka tests Sever's commitment by proposing an immediate 2x ARR buyout, which Sever forcefully rejects. The segment wraps smoothly with the standard Famous Five quickfire questions.1:29–3:53 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Rok Sever and Filmmaking Aspirations Latka opens with light banter regarding Sever's filmmaking ambition before methodically establishing Predict Leads' business model and pricing tiers. Sever cooperatively explains his competitive intelligence API and contract ranges.3:53–7:12 · Guest teaching 2/10 Bootstrapping, Accelerator Funding, and Lifestyle Business Support Latka digs into early accelerator equity terms, lifestyle business cash flows, and valuation expectations. When Sever floats an 8 million dollar acquisition figure, Latka presses him on the revenue required to justify that multiple.7:13–10:29 · Guest teaching 3/10 Overcoming Early Data Hurdles, Team Structure, and Churn Latka presses Sever to detail the tactical changes made to overcome early data inaccuracies during dark times. Sever explains the pivot from raw lead generation to API data feeds and explains why their API customer churn is near zero.10:33–14:45 · Guest teaching 4/10 Sponsor Break: Asana Project Management Following an ad read, Latka benchmarks the product against competitors like Clearbit and FullContact and sharply questions why a client would pay 12k annually instead of using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for 50 dollars a month. Sever defends their web crawling coverage before Latka frames the difference between leading and lagging intent signals.14:46–17:54 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and Long-Term Value Latka tests Sever's commitment by proposing an immediate 2x ARR buyout, which Sever forcefully rejects. The segment wraps smoothly with the standard Famous Five quickfire questions.1:29–3:53 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Rok Sever and Filmmaking Aspirations Latka opens with light banter regarding Sever's filmmaking ambition before methodically establishing Predict Leads' business model and pricing tiers. Sever cooperatively explains his competitive intelligence API and contract ranges.3:53–7:12 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Bootstrapping, Accelerator Funding, and Lifestyle Business Support Latka digs into early accelerator equity terms, lifestyle business cash flows, and valuation expectations. When Sever floats an 8 million dollar acquisition figure, Latka presses him on the revenue required to justify that multiple.7:13–10:29 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Overcoming Early Data Hurdles, Team Structure, and Churn Latka presses Sever to detail the tactical changes made to overcome early data inaccuracies during dark times. Sever explains the pivot from raw lead generation to API data feeds and explains why their API customer churn is near zero.10:33–14:45 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Sponsor Break: Asana Project Management Following an ad read, Latka benchmarks the product against competitors like Clearbit and FullContact and sharply questions why a client would pay 12k annually instead of using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for 50 dollars a month. Sever defends their web crawling coverage before Latka frames the difference between leading and lagging intent signals.14:46–17:54 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and Long-Term Value Latka tests Sever's commitment by proposing an immediate 2x ARR buyout, which Sever forcefully rejects. The segment wraps smoothly with the standard Famous Five quickfire questions.1:29–3:53 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Rok Sever and Filmmaking Aspirations Latka opens with light banter regarding Sever's filmmaking ambition before methodically establishing Predict Leads' business model and pricing tiers. Sever cooperatively explains his competitive intelligence API and contract ranges.3:53–7:12 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Bootstrapping, Accelerator Funding, and Lifestyle Business Support Latka digs into early accelerator equity terms, lifestyle business cash flows, and valuation expectations. When Sever floats an 8 million dollar acquisition figure, Latka presses him on the revenue required to justify that multiple.7:13–10:29 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Overcoming Early Data Hurdles, Team Structure, and Churn Latka presses Sever to detail the tactical changes made to overcome early data inaccuracies during dark times. Sever explains the pivot from raw lead generation to API data feeds and explains why their API customer churn is near zero.10:33–14:45 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Sponsor Break: Asana Project Management Following an ad read, Latka benchmarks the product against competitors like Clearbit and FullContact and sharply questions why a client would pay 12k annually instead of using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for 50 dollars a month. Sever defends their web crawling coverage before Latka frames the difference between leading and lagging intent signals.14:46–17:54 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy and Long-Term Value Latka tests Sever's commitment by proposing an immediate 2x ARR buyout, which Sever forcefully rejects. The segment wraps smoothly with the standard Famous Five quickfire questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 66.4% · guest 33.6%0:00 · Nathan 66.4% · guest 33.6%3:00 · Nathan 35.9% · guest 64.1%3:00 · Nathan 35.9% · guest 64.1%6:00 · Nathan 22.3% · guest 77.7%6:00 · Nathan 22.3% · guest 77.7%9:00 · Nathan 60.3% · guest 39.7%9:00 · Nathan 60.3% · guest 39.7%12:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%12:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%15:00 · Nathan 36% · guest 64%15:00 · Nathan 36% · guest 64%18:00 · Nathan 98.6% · guest 1.4%18:00 · Nathan 98.6% · guest 1.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:52 Adamant refusal of low multiple buyout

Sever instantly shuts down Latka's hypothetical 2x ARR buyout offer with 'No way,' asserting the immense sweat equity invested and long-term potential.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:43 Pushing on enterprise pricing vs cheap alternatives

Latka rejects Sever's initial deflection about crawling LinkedIn and explicitly asks why anyone would pay 12k a year when 50 dollar a month Sales Navigator is available.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 13:57 Educating on career site data vs LinkedIn gaps

Sever clarifies that companies frequently do not list all open job roles on LinkedIn and that crawling company career pages yields direct company-level hiring signals.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:12 Explaining leading vs lagging hiring indicators

Latka showcases his market insight by articulating that updating a LinkedIn profile is a lagging indicator whereas scraping active job postings is a leading growth signal.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Rok Sever and Filmmaking Aspirations 5212 Latka opens with light banter regarding Sever's filmmaking ambition before methodically establishing Predict Leads' business model and pricing tiers. Sever cooperatively explains his competitive intelligence API and contract ranges.
Bootstrapping, Accelerator Funding, and Lifestyle Business Support 6224 Latka digs into early accelerator equity terms, lifestyle business cash flows, and valuation expectations. When Sever floats an 8 million dollar acquisition figure, Latka presses him on the revenue required to justify that multiple.
Overcoming Early Data Hurdles, Team Structure, and Churn 5314 Latka presses Sever to detail the tactical changes made to overcome early data inaccuracies during dark times. Sever explains the pivot from raw lead generation to API data feeds and explains why their API customer churn is near zero.
Sponsor Break: Asana Project Management 7436 Following an ad read, Latka benchmarks the product against competitors like Clearbit and FullContact and sharply questions why a client would pay 12k annually instead of using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for 50 dollars a month. Sever defends their web crawling coverage before Latka frames the difference between leading and lagging intent signals.
Customer Acquisition Strategy and Long-Term Value 5233 Latka tests Sever's commitment by proposing an immediate 2x ARR buyout, which Sever forcefully rejects. The segment wraps smoothly with the standard Famous Five quickfire questions.

Statements from this episode (11)

Disclosure
Sever: Predict Leads contracts range from $6K to $50K annually
“Have annual contracts that start with six K per year and go up to 50 K per year.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 2:56
Disclosure
Sever: Predict Leads average contract is around $12K annually
“Average would be around, I guess, 12 K.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 3:07
Assertion Supported
Sever: Predict Leads gave 8% equity for $15K to Startupbootcamp
“We gave eight percent equity for 15 K.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 4:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sever: Predict Leads funded 18 months R&D via lifestyle business and grants
“European Union has grants for more innovative companies. We also, our previous startup allows, allows us also to work on, on this one full time. So yeah, with the combination of both, we were able to go basically a year and a half without any money basically.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 5:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sever: Previous lifestyle startup generates around $100k annually
“It's a hundreds of thousands, around a 100,000 per year.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 5:30
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sever: Predict Leads has generated around $150,000 in revenue year-to-date
“So basically annual, so till today we've so for We did a 150 K around there.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 6:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sever: Every trial user decides to integrate with Predict Leads
“So basically any client that gives us a try, they decide to take a next step and basically integrate with us.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 8:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sever: Predict Leads has zero churn on its data API product
“So for the data part, we have not yet lost a customer. We pivoted a bit. First, we were providing our clients with leads. Now we're just providing them with data. So those clients that we were providing them with leads, those have churned off a bit, but the on…”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 10:05
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sever: Predict Leads checks over 12 million websites for job openings
“We actually check more than twelve million websites and we check their career, career sites, like job opening sites and extract that information.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 13:06
Disclosure
Sever: Predict Leads would not sell for a 2x ARR all-cash buyout
“No way.”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 15:52
Insight
Sever: Small country founders should target major markets immediately, skipping local
“When we're building out previous startups, they thought we are, since we're based in Slovenia they told us, or even we thought so that it's good to start out locally and as a pro and as a product locally, and if it works, expand to bigger markets. And I would …”
Rok Sever Jan 29, 2019 ▶ 17:27
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