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Dec 18, 2018 · 18m · top-founders

1242 How AdRoll Launched New RollWorks Product, Added $2m in ARR in 4 Months

Toby Gabriner · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m spoken
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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, AdRoll Group CEO Toby Gabriner discusses how his company scaled past a $300 million run rate, transitioned to a hybrid SaaS model, and launched RollWorks to generate over $2 million in ARR in four months.

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 33.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.4 Guest teaching 3.6 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:001:50–6:13 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 AdRoll's Core Growth Platform and Value Proposition Latka probes AdRoll's revenue model and business scale, pressing Gabriner to clarify whether their $300M figure was pure SaaS or ad spend run rate. Gabriner politely explains the hybrid evolution while deflecting exact 2017 revenue figures.6:16–9:32 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Differentiating RollWorks in the B2B ABM Market Latka demonstrates domain knowledge by asking how RollWorks differentiates from data enrichment tools like Clearbit and FullContact. Gabriner educates him on their intent data layer and explains that RollWorks is broader than pure ABM.9:33–12:46 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Builder Following a sponsor read, Latka misinterprets pricing tiers as $3,000 annually. Gabriner corrects him, clarifying that typical annualized SaaS contract sizes are between $35,000 and $45,000.12:48–15:14 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Scaling RollWorks to Two Million ARR Latka attempts to extrapolate monthly revenue to $550k/month based on customer counts, prompting Gabriner to correct the calculation and clarify that RollWorks has surpassed $2M in ARR.15:14–18:10 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Churn, Funding History, and Company Profitability Latka briskly interviews Gabriner on churn, capital raised ($90M), profitability milestones, and potential secondary offerings before moving through his standard Famous Five questions.1:50–6:13 · Guest teaching 3/10 AdRoll's Core Growth Platform and Value Proposition Latka probes AdRoll's revenue model and business scale, pressing Gabriner to clarify whether their $300M figure was pure SaaS or ad spend run rate. Gabriner politely explains the hybrid evolution while deflecting exact 2017 revenue figures.6:16–9:32 · Guest teaching 4/10 Differentiating RollWorks in the B2B ABM Market Latka demonstrates domain knowledge by asking how RollWorks differentiates from data enrichment tools like Clearbit and FullContact. Gabriner educates him on their intent data layer and explains that RollWorks is broader than pure ABM.9:33–12:46 · Guest teaching 5/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Builder Following a sponsor read, Latka misinterprets pricing tiers as $3,000 annually. Gabriner corrects him, clarifying that typical annualized SaaS contract sizes are between $35,000 and $45,000.12:48–15:14 · Guest teaching 4/10 Scaling RollWorks to Two Million ARR Latka attempts to extrapolate monthly revenue to $550k/month based on customer counts, prompting Gabriner to correct the calculation and clarify that RollWorks has surpassed $2M in ARR.15:14–18:10 · Guest teaching 2/10 Churn, Funding History, and Company Profitability Latka briskly interviews Gabriner on churn, capital raised ($90M), profitability milestones, and potential secondary offerings before moving through his standard Famous Five questions.1:50–6:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 AdRoll's Core Growth Platform and Value Proposition Latka probes AdRoll's revenue model and business scale, pressing Gabriner to clarify whether their $300M figure was pure SaaS or ad spend run rate. Gabriner politely explains the hybrid evolution while deflecting exact 2017 revenue figures.6:16–9:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Differentiating RollWorks in the B2B ABM Market Latka demonstrates domain knowledge by asking how RollWorks differentiates from data enrichment tools like Clearbit and FullContact. Gabriner educates him on their intent data layer and explains that RollWorks is broader than pure ABM.9:33–12:46 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Builder Following a sponsor read, Latka misinterprets pricing tiers as $3,000 annually. Gabriner corrects him, clarifying that typical annualized SaaS contract sizes are between $35,000 and $45,000.12:48–15:14 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Scaling RollWorks to Two Million ARR Latka attempts to extrapolate monthly revenue to $550k/month based on customer counts, prompting Gabriner to correct the calculation and clarify that RollWorks has surpassed $2M in ARR.15:14–18:10 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Churn, Funding History, and Company Profitability Latka briskly interviews Gabriner on churn, capital raised ($90M), profitability milestones, and potential secondary offerings before moving through his standard Famous Five questions.1:50–6:13 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 AdRoll's Core Growth Platform and Value Proposition Latka probes AdRoll's revenue model and business scale, pressing Gabriner to clarify whether their $300M figure was pure SaaS or ad spend run rate. Gabriner politely explains the hybrid evolution while deflecting exact 2017 revenue figures.6:16–9:32 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Differentiating RollWorks in the B2B ABM Market Latka demonstrates domain knowledge by asking how RollWorks differentiates from data enrichment tools like Clearbit and FullContact. Gabriner educates him on their intent data layer and explains that RollWorks is broader than pure ABM.9:33–12:46 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Builder Following a sponsor read, Latka misinterprets pricing tiers as $3,000 annually. Gabriner corrects him, clarifying that typical annualized SaaS contract sizes are between $35,000 and $45,000.12:48–15:14 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Scaling RollWorks to Two Million ARR Latka attempts to extrapolate monthly revenue to $550k/month based on customer counts, prompting Gabriner to correct the calculation and clarify that RollWorks has surpassed $2M in ARR.15:14–18:10 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Churn, Funding History, and Company Profitability Latka briskly interviews Gabriner on churn, capital raised ($90M), profitability milestones, and potential secondary offerings before moving through his standard Famous Five questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 59.9% · guest 40.1%0:00 · Nathan 59.9% · guest 40.1%3:00 · Nathan 18.1% · guest 81.9%3:00 · Nathan 18.1% · guest 81.9%6:00 · Nathan 23.9% · guest 76.1%6:00 · Nathan 23.9% · guest 76.1%9:00 · Nathan 38.6% · guest 61.4%9:00 · Nathan 38.6% · guest 61.4%12:00 · Nathan 24.2% · guest 75.8%12:00 · Nathan 24.2% · guest 75.8%15:00 · Nathan 26% · guest 74%15:00 · Nathan 26% · guest 74%18:00 · Nathan 85.6% · guest 14.4%18:00 · Nathan 85.6% · guest 14.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:08 Direct correction on ARR calculation

Gabriner directly refutes Latka's calculation of $550k/month in revenue, stepping in to clarify total contract value and provide the actual $2M ARR milestone.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:57 Drilling into exact revenue totals

Latka pushes Gabriner to disclose exact 2017 figures rather than letting vague double-digit percentages pass without clarification.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:51 Clarifying contract ACV magnitude

Gabriner corrects Latka's assumption of $3,000 annual pricing, explaining that enterprise SaaS contracts actually range between $35,000 and $45,000 annually.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 6:15 Comparing RollWorks to Clearbit and FullContact

Latka shows acute market awareness by immediately comparing RollWorks' value proposition to specific CRM enrichment competitors in the market.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
AdRoll's Core Growth Platform and Value Proposition 5313 Latka probes AdRoll's revenue model and business scale, pressing Gabriner to clarify whether their $300M figure was pure SaaS or ad spend run rate. Gabriner politely explains the hybrid evolution while deflecting exact 2017 revenue figures.
Differentiating RollWorks in the B2B ABM Market 5423 Latka demonstrates domain knowledge by asking how RollWorks differentiates from data enrichment tools like Clearbit and FullContact. Gabriner educates him on their intent data layer and explains that RollWorks is broader than pure ABM.
Sponsor Break: HostGator Website Builder 4523 Following a sponsor read, Latka misinterprets pricing tiers as $3,000 annually. Gabriner corrects him, clarifying that typical annualized SaaS contract sizes are between $35,000 and $45,000.
Scaling RollWorks to Two Million ARR 4423 Latka attempts to extrapolate monthly revenue to $550k/month based on customer counts, prompting Gabriner to correct the calculation and clarify that RollWorks has surpassed $2M in ARR.
Churn, Funding History, and Company Profitability 4213 Latka briskly interviews Gabriner on churn, capital raised ($90M), profitability milestones, and potential secondary offerings before moving through his standard Famous Five questions.

Statements from this episode (12)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: AdRoll has 37,000 clients, 80% of which use self-serve
“We operate in a 120 different countries. We've got 37,000 clients on our platform. 80% of them are self-serve.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 5:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: AdRoll sees double-digit revenue growth on $300M run rate
“We're seeing good double digit percentage growth.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 6:05
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks has 1.2B digital profiles and over 300M emails
“What we've got are 1.2 billion digital profiles we have north of three hundred million emails”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 7:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks launched by migrating around 200 existing AdRoll customers
“We launched it with about 200 customers, so I think it's important, you know, going back to the heritage, we, it was one of the fastest growing segments in the company and we really saw an opportunity to lean in. We brought over about 200 customers”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 10:36
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks media spend starts around $10K, reaching millions annually
“Typically our minimums are around 10 grand, but we have customers that are spending, you know, millions of dollars on an annualized basis.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 11:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks typical SaaS annual contracts range from $35,000 to $45,000
“On the SaaS side, I would say our typical contract sizes are probably between 35 and 45,000 on an annualized basis.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 11:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks operates with a 100-person dedicated business unit
“We have a as I alluded to before, we stood up a full business unit. That, that business unit makes a hundred people.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 13:00
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks expands customer base by 10% month-over-month
“So we've been scaling about 10% a month in terms of new customers.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 13:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks quickly surpassed $2 million in ARR after launch
“The way I would look at it, Nathan, is, is what we've already tipped over into over two million dollars in ARR.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 14:14
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gabriner: RollWorks has experienced no customer churn to date
“No, early days on that were knock on wood.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 15:25
Disclosure
Gabriner: AdRoll has raised $90 million to date, last raising in 2014
“We've raised ninety million to date. Last round we did is in 2014.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 16:20
Disclosure
Gabriner: AdRoll hit profitability in 2017 and is not raising capital
“We are not. We're we dipped into profitability in 2017. That was a big milestone for us.”
Toby Gabriner Dec 18, 2018 ▶ 16:27
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