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Jan 16, 2019 · 19m · top-founders

1271 This HR Tech Company Incentivizes Your Current Team to Recruit

Christian Christensen · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Host Nathan Latka interviews Christian Christensen, CEO and co-founder of 50skills, exploring how the bootstrapped Icelandic HR tech startup leverages conversational messaging, employee referral networks, and reseller partnerships to achieve rapid SaaS growth with sub-1% churn.

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 47.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.6 Guest teaching 1.4 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 3.7
05100:0010:000:00–2:09 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Episode Preview: Key Metrics of 50skills Nathan provides an introductory breakdown of the guest's metrics and business model before asking Christian to explain conversational recruiting and monetization.2:10–4:40 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Pricing Economics Based on Employee Count Nathan questions how pricing scales if expansion isn't tied to active recruit volume, probing the core utility and value metrics of the business.4:41–9:17 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Target Market and Enterprise vs. SMB Focus Nathan pushes back strongly on the guest citing percentage growth without baseline figures and demonstrates SaaS expertise by analyzing reseller commission structures.9:20–12:10 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Sponsor Break: Capterra Business Software Solutions After an ad read, Christian explains the operational logic behind building and testing software in Iceland's homogeneous ecosystem.12:10–14:23 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 The Strategy Behind Disclosing Customer Counts Nathan challenges Christian's decision to hide customer counts, arguing that enterprise clients require social proof and validation before signing large annual contracts.14:23–17:12 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Unit Economics, Churn, and Retention Dynamics Nathan digs into financial metrics, correcting misunderstandings on payback period versus lifetime value and drilling into gross versus net logo churn definitions.17:12–18:17 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard rapid-fire questions to wrap up the interview cleanly.0:00–2:09 · Guest teaching 1/10 Episode Preview: Key Metrics of 50skills Nathan provides an introductory breakdown of the guest's metrics and business model before asking Christian to explain conversational recruiting and monetization.2:10–4:40 · Guest teaching 2/10 Pricing Economics Based on Employee Count Nathan questions how pricing scales if expansion isn't tied to active recruit volume, probing the core utility and value metrics of the business.4:41–9:17 · Guest teaching 1/10 Target Market and Enterprise vs. SMB Focus Nathan pushes back strongly on the guest citing percentage growth without baseline figures and demonstrates SaaS expertise by analyzing reseller commission structures.9:20–12:10 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Break: Capterra Business Software Solutions After an ad read, Christian explains the operational logic behind building and testing software in Iceland's homogeneous ecosystem.12:10–14:23 · Guest teaching 2/10 The Strategy Behind Disclosing Customer Counts Nathan challenges Christian's decision to hide customer counts, arguing that enterprise clients require social proof and validation before signing large annual contracts.14:23–17:12 · Guest teaching 2/10 Unit Economics, Churn, and Retention Dynamics Nathan digs into financial metrics, correcting misunderstandings on payback period versus lifetime value and drilling into gross versus net logo churn definitions.17:12–18:17 · Guest teaching 0/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard rapid-fire questions to wrap up the interview cleanly.0:00–2:09 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Preview: Key Metrics of 50skills Nathan provides an introductory breakdown of the guest's metrics and business model before asking Christian to explain conversational recruiting and monetization.2:10–4:40 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Pricing Economics Based on Employee Count Nathan questions how pricing scales if expansion isn't tied to active recruit volume, probing the core utility and value metrics of the business.4:41–9:17 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Target Market and Enterprise vs. SMB Focus Nathan pushes back strongly on the guest citing percentage growth without baseline figures and demonstrates SaaS expertise by analyzing reseller commission structures.9:20–12:10 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Break: Capterra Business Software Solutions After an ad read, Christian explains the operational logic behind building and testing software in Iceland's homogeneous ecosystem.12:10–14:23 · Guest disagreement 3/10 The Strategy Behind Disclosing Customer Counts Nathan challenges Christian's decision to hide customer counts, arguing that enterprise clients require social proof and validation before signing large annual contracts.14:23–17:12 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Unit Economics, Churn, and Retention Dynamics Nathan digs into financial metrics, correcting misunderstandings on payback period versus lifetime value and drilling into gross versus net logo churn definitions.17:12–18:17 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard rapid-fire questions to wrap up the interview cleanly.0:00–2:09 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Episode Preview: Key Metrics of 50skills Nathan provides an introductory breakdown of the guest's metrics and business model before asking Christian to explain conversational recruiting and monetization.2:10–4:40 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Pricing Economics Based on Employee Count Nathan questions how pricing scales if expansion isn't tied to active recruit volume, probing the core utility and value metrics of the business.4:41–9:17 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Target Market and Enterprise vs. SMB Focus Nathan pushes back strongly on the guest citing percentage growth without baseline figures and demonstrates SaaS expertise by analyzing reseller commission structures.9:20–12:10 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Break: Capterra Business Software Solutions After an ad read, Christian explains the operational logic behind building and testing software in Iceland's homogeneous ecosystem.12:10–14:23 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 The Strategy Behind Disclosing Customer Counts Nathan challenges Christian's decision to hide customer counts, arguing that enterprise clients require social proof and validation before signing large annual contracts.14:23–17:12 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Unit Economics, Churn, and Retention Dynamics Nathan digs into financial metrics, correcting misunderstandings on payback period versus lifetime value and drilling into gross versus net logo churn definitions.17:12–18:17 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard rapid-fire questions to wrap up the interview cleanly.

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

0:00 · Nathan 60.3% · guest 39.7%0:00 · Nathan 60.3% · guest 39.7%3:00 · Nathan 29.7% · guest 70.3%3:00 · Nathan 29.7% · guest 70.3%6:00 · Nathan 50% · guest 50%6:00 · Nathan 50% · guest 50%9:00 · Nathan 60.2% · guest 39.8%9:00 · Nathan 60.2% · guest 39.8%12:00 · Nathan 34.2% · guest 65.8%12:00 · Nathan 34.2% · guest 65.8%15:00 · Nathan 39% · guest 61%15:00 · Nathan 39% · guest 61%18:00 · Nathan 80.2% · guest 19.8%18:00 · Nathan 80.2% · guest 19.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:23 Refusing to disclose customer figures

Christian stands firm against disclosing customer numbers, asserting that competitors and prospects merely use spreadsheets against companies.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:29 Challenging lack of customer proof

Nathan bluntly dismisses the guest's geographic metric, insisting that operating in multiple countries is meaningless without verifiable active customer proof.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:53 Explaining Iceland's testing advantage

Christian explains how a small, homogenous market like Iceland serves as a strategic sandbox for product iteration based on his prior fintech experience.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:25 Dissecting reseller margin economics

Nathan demonstrates sharp SaaS domain expertise by detailing why capping partner commissions at 12 months protects company margins relative to perpetual kickbacks.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Episode Preview: Key Metrics of 50skills 5101 Nathan provides an introductory breakdown of the guest's metrics and business model before asking Christian to explain conversational recruiting and monetization.
Pricing Economics Based on Employee Count 6214 Nathan questions how pricing scales if expansion isn't tied to active recruit volume, probing the core utility and value metrics of the business.
Target Market and Enterprise vs. SMB Focus 7126 Nathan pushes back strongly on the guest citing percentage growth without baseline figures and demonstrates SaaS expertise by analyzing reseller commission structures.
Sponsor Break: Capterra Business Software Solutions 3201 After an ad read, Christian explains the operational logic behind building and testing software in Iceland's homogeneous ecosystem.
The Strategy Behind Disclosing Customer Counts 7237 Nathan challenges Christian's decision to hide customer counts, arguing that enterprise clients require social proof and validation before signing large annual contracts.
Unit Economics, Churn, and Retention Dynamics 8216 Nathan digs into financial metrics, correcting misunderstandings on payback period versus lifetime value and drilling into gross versus net logo churn definitions.
Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 3001 Nathan runs through the standard rapid-fire questions to wrap up the interview cleanly.

Statements from this episode (6)

Disclosure
50skills prices by total employee headcount rather than active user seats
“So we have a tier based pricing model and it's based on the number of employees that the company has. So it's not based on the number of users they have.”
Christian Christensen Jan 16, 2019 ▶ 2:44
Disclosure
50skills customers pay between $100 and $3,000 per month
“Typically our price, again, the pricing is based on number of employees. So it's, clients are typically paying somewhere between a hundred to 3000 dollars a month for the services.”
Christian Christensen Jan 16, 2019 ▶ 5:17
Disclosure
50skills targets companies with 500 to 5,000 employees
“The hundred is more like the smaller startups that are using it for their hires, but most clients are closer to the maybe 500 to 5000 employee range. So that's our target market.”
Christian Christensen Jan 16, 2019 ▶ 5:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
50skills grows at 30% month-over-month
“We're at about 30% growth rate per month right now.”
Christian Christensen Jan 16, 2019 ▶ 6:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
50skills operates with only five full-time employees
“We're five people full time, but then we have a few entities that are working with us and some of the integrations as backup”
Christian Christensen Jan 16, 2019 ▶ 9:00
Disclosure
50skills remains entirely bootstrapped despite angel investor interest
“It's bootstrapped and self-funded by the team. We've had some investors that have shown interest in coming on board. We've gotten like some small injunction from angels that we were interested about taking on, but we decided not to do it and we're still bootst…”
Christian Christensen Jan 16, 2019 ▶ 11:27
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