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Nov 30, 2018 · 15m · top-founders

1224 CrispThinking passes $10m in ARR helping Enterprise Manage Social Media

Adam Hildreth · 6m 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 Crisp Thinking founder and CEO Adam Hildreth on scaling an enterprise brand safety SaaS company past $10 million in ARR through AI and human-verified content moderation.

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 49% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 2.4 Nathan pushing back 4.2
05100:0010:002:07–5:09 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 AI Technology, Human Moderation, and Brand Protection Use Cases Nathan presses for specific client examples and aggressively challenges how Crisp handles rogue social posts. Hildreth clearly educates him on the distinction between owned channels and public feeds, prompting Latka to admit he wrongly assumed Crisp was a traditional security firm rather than marketing risk protection.5:09–7:32 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Enterprise Pricing, Founding Story, and Capital History Latka drills into pricing tiers, capital structure, and whether Hildreth raised debt or equity. When Latka assumes Hildreth lacks insight into the current European funding climate due to not raising recently, Hildreth politely pushes back, noting constant inbound investor engagement.7:33–11:21 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Revenue Growth, Retention Metrics, and Enterprise Scaling Latka calculates run-rate figures on the fly from customer count and ACV, prompting Hildreth to confirm they have already passed $10M ARR. Latka continues drilling down into revenue growth splits and net retention metrics.11:22–14:10 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Unit Economics, CAC Payback, and Sales Expansion Strategy Hildreth repeatedly declines to disclose specific CAC and LTV metrics. Latka shows deep SaaS financial fluency by correcting Hildreth's logic on how hiring sales headcount impacts fully diluted payback periods during ramp-up.14:10–14:58 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A quick run-through of the standard rapid-fire questions where Hildreth bluntly dismisses reading business books before providing brief personal stats.2:07–5:09 · Guest teaching 6/10 AI Technology, Human Moderation, and Brand Protection Use Cases Nathan presses for specific client examples and aggressively challenges how Crisp handles rogue social posts. Hildreth clearly educates him on the distinction between owned channels and public feeds, prompting Latka to admit he wrongly assumed Crisp was a traditional security firm rather than marketing risk protection.5:09–7:32 · Guest teaching 3/10 Enterprise Pricing, Founding Story, and Capital History Latka drills into pricing tiers, capital structure, and whether Hildreth raised debt or equity. When Latka assumes Hildreth lacks insight into the current European funding climate due to not raising recently, Hildreth politely pushes back, noting constant inbound investor engagement.7:33–11:21 · Guest teaching 2/10 Revenue Growth, Retention Metrics, and Enterprise Scaling Latka calculates run-rate figures on the fly from customer count and ACV, prompting Hildreth to confirm they have already passed $10M ARR. Latka continues drilling down into revenue growth splits and net retention metrics.11:22–14:10 · Guest teaching 3/10 Unit Economics, CAC Payback, and Sales Expansion Strategy Hildreth repeatedly declines to disclose specific CAC and LTV metrics. Latka shows deep SaaS financial fluency by correcting Hildreth's logic on how hiring sales headcount impacts fully diluted payback periods during ramp-up.14:10–14:58 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A quick run-through of the standard rapid-fire questions where Hildreth bluntly dismisses reading business books before providing brief personal stats.2:07–5:09 · Guest disagreement 2/10 AI Technology, Human Moderation, and Brand Protection Use Cases Nathan presses for specific client examples and aggressively challenges how Crisp handles rogue social posts. Hildreth clearly educates him on the distinction between owned channels and public feeds, prompting Latka to admit he wrongly assumed Crisp was a traditional security firm rather than marketing risk protection.5:09–7:32 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Enterprise Pricing, Founding Story, and Capital History Latka drills into pricing tiers, capital structure, and whether Hildreth raised debt or equity. When Latka assumes Hildreth lacks insight into the current European funding climate due to not raising recently, Hildreth politely pushes back, noting constant inbound investor engagement.7:33–11:21 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Revenue Growth, Retention Metrics, and Enterprise Scaling Latka calculates run-rate figures on the fly from customer count and ACV, prompting Hildreth to confirm they have already passed $10M ARR. Latka continues drilling down into revenue growth splits and net retention metrics.11:22–14:10 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Unit Economics, CAC Payback, and Sales Expansion Strategy Hildreth repeatedly declines to disclose specific CAC and LTV metrics. Latka shows deep SaaS financial fluency by correcting Hildreth's logic on how hiring sales headcount impacts fully diluted payback periods during ramp-up.14:10–14:58 · Guest disagreement 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A quick run-through of the standard rapid-fire questions where Hildreth bluntly dismisses reading business books before providing brief personal stats.2:07–5:09 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 AI Technology, Human Moderation, and Brand Protection Use Cases Nathan presses for specific client examples and aggressively challenges how Crisp handles rogue social posts. Hildreth clearly educates him on the distinction between owned channels and public feeds, prompting Latka to admit he wrongly assumed Crisp was a traditional security firm rather than marketing risk protection.5:09–7:32 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Enterprise Pricing, Founding Story, and Capital History Latka drills into pricing tiers, capital structure, and whether Hildreth raised debt or equity. When Latka assumes Hildreth lacks insight into the current European funding climate due to not raising recently, Hildreth politely pushes back, noting constant inbound investor engagement.7:33–11:21 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Revenue Growth, Retention Metrics, and Enterprise Scaling Latka calculates run-rate figures on the fly from customer count and ACV, prompting Hildreth to confirm they have already passed $10M ARR. Latka continues drilling down into revenue growth splits and net retention metrics.11:22–14:10 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Unit Economics, CAC Payback, and Sales Expansion Strategy Hildreth repeatedly declines to disclose specific CAC and LTV metrics. Latka shows deep SaaS financial fluency by correcting Hildreth's logic on how hiring sales headcount impacts fully diluted payback periods during ramp-up.14:10–14:58 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A quick run-through of the standard rapid-fire questions where Hildreth bluntly dismisses reading business books before providing brief personal stats.

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

0:00 · Nathan 66.3% · guest 33.7%0:00 · Nathan 66.3% · guest 33.7%3:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%3:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%6:00 · Nathan 40.7% · guest 59.3%6:00 · Nathan 40.7% · guest 59.3%9:00 · Nathan 52.2% · guest 47.8%9:00 · Nathan 52.2% · guest 47.8%12:00 · Nathan 46.5% · guest 53.5%12:00 · Nathan 46.5% · guest 53.5%15:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%15:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:50 Hildreth stonewalls LTV metric

Hildreth firmly declines to provide an LTV figure, arguing dismissively that calculating LTV is a misleading and unhelpful metric for their retention profile.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:59 Latka challenges payback assumptions against sales headcount growth

Latka refuses Hildreth's assertion that adding sales headcount wouldn't impact payback periods, reminding him that payback is fully diluted and sales reps need ramp time.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:30 Hildreth clarifies marketing risk protection versus cybersecurity

Hildreth systematically explains how CMOs purchase their service to protect brand reputation rather than IT security, leading Latka to realize his core assumption was incorrect.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:59 Latka demonstrates mastery of SaaS unit economics

Latka flexes his understanding of SaaS accounting by explaining how sales rep salaries and quota ramp-up schedules directly dilute CAC payback times.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
AI Technology, Human Moderation, and Brand Protection Use Cases 5625 Nathan presses for specific client examples and aggressively challenges how Crisp handles rogue social posts. Hildreth clearly educates him on the distinction between owned channels and public feeds, prompting Latka to admit he wrongly assumed Crisp was a traditional security firm rather than marketing risk protection.
Enterprise Pricing, Founding Story, and Capital History 5334 Latka drills into pricing tiers, capital structure, and whether Hildreth raised debt or equity. When Latka assumes Hildreth lacks insight into the current European funding climate due to not raising recently, Hildreth politely pushes back, noting constant inbound investor engagement.
Revenue Growth, Retention Metrics, and Enterprise Scaling 6214 Latka calculates run-rate figures on the fly from customer count and ACV, prompting Hildreth to confirm they have already passed $10M ARR. Latka continues drilling down into revenue growth splits and net retention metrics.
Unit Economics, CAC Payback, and Sales Expansion Strategy 7347 Hildreth repeatedly declines to disclose specific CAC and LTV metrics. Latka shows deep SaaS financial fluency by correcting Hildreth's logic on how hiring sales headcount impacts fully diluted payback periods during ramp-up.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2121 A quick run-through of the standard rapid-fire questions where Hildreth bluntly dismisses reading business books before providing brief personal stats.

Statements from this episode (9)

Disclosure
Hildreth: Crisp's AI processes 99% of content with human verification
“AI does all the heavy lifting for 99% of the content, and sometimes we just verify it with a human to make sure that AI isn't making those mistakes.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 2:43
Disclosure
Hildreth: Crisp works with Coca-Cola, Disney, and Chanel
“So we work with Coca-Cola. We work with Disney. We work with Chanel. So again, large global brands.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 3:00
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hildreth: Crisp Thinking operates profitably while reinvesting all profits into growth
“And today we are essentially profitable. Albeit that we push all profits back into the growth as you'd expect.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 6:36
Assertion Contradicted
Hildreth: Crisp raised approximately £7M in total capital
“We did in the region of seven million UK.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 6:46
Disclosure
Hildreth: Crisp has roughly 100 billing customers and 75-80 employees
“We probably have in the region of a hundred core billing customers and then worked Throughout all of their global organization. Business wise, we are 75, 80 core people.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 7:43
Disclosure
Hildreth: Crisp has passed $10M in annualized run rate
“Yeah, we'll be above ten million. Annualized, yeah.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 8:32
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Hildreth: Crisp is growing at ~70% and expects 100%+ growth ahead
“So we're growing at circa 70% year on year. We expect to be growing further than that, going into the hundred percent plus from this point forward.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 8:52
Disclosure
Hildreth: Crisp has approximately 110% net revenue retention
“Let's say a 110%.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 10:53
Insight
Hildreth: Crisp avoids LTV metric because churn is so low
“We don't at the moment because our churn is so low and it's annualized and they're recurring and it's not a product that tends to leave it. So it said it's a, it would be a bad number for us to be looking at.”
Adam Hildreth Nov 30, 2018 ▶ 14:01
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