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Sep 19, 2018 · 18m · top-founders

1152 How Screenful monopolized Trello marketplace to drive $15k in MRR

Sami Linnanvuo · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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 Podcast, Screenful founder Sami Linnanvuo shares how his agile analytics startup bootstrapped to $15,000 MRR and 300 paying customers through organic Trello marketplace integrations. Linnanvuo discusses his SaaS unit economics, non-dilutive grant funding strategy, and future roadmap while maintaining majority founder ownership.

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 45.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 1.4 Guest disagreement 1.4 Nathan pushing back 3.6
05100:0010:001:56–5:00 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Screenful Product Architecture and SaaS Pricing Nathan explores Screenful's pricing and grant history in Finland. He displays familiarity with startup financing mechanics by praising non-dilutive government grants.5:03–7:16 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Product Hunt Launch and Hitting $15k MRR Breakeven When Sami gives a general response about how product integrations expand reach, Nathan firmly cuts in to steer him back to the specific historical MRR figure from 12 months prior.7:18–10:54 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Trello Power-Up Organic Funnel and Managing Churn Sami explains their monthly churn and how direct integration into Trello drives most organic traffic. The segment also features a lengthy mid-roll advertisement read by Nathan.10:56–13:20 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Customer Lifetime Value, Founder Ownership, and Acquisition Stance Nathan calculates lifetime value on the fly from churn and ARPU, which Sami admits he had not explicitly calculated. Sami firmly rejects Nathan's hypothetical acquisition offer of $300k.13:20–17:09 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Revenue Projections, Funding Plans, and Company Valuation Nathan challenges Sami's low growth targets for the remainder of the year. Sami explains his plans for a priced round rather than convertible notes due to Finnish market norms, followed by the Famous Five.1:56–5:00 · Guest teaching 2/10 Screenful Product Architecture and SaaS Pricing Nathan explores Screenful's pricing and grant history in Finland. He displays familiarity with startup financing mechanics by praising non-dilutive government grants.5:03–7:16 · Guest teaching 1/10 Product Hunt Launch and Hitting $15k MRR Breakeven When Sami gives a general response about how product integrations expand reach, Nathan firmly cuts in to steer him back to the specific historical MRR figure from 12 months prior.7:18–10:54 · Guest teaching 1/10 Trello Power-Up Organic Funnel and Managing Churn Sami explains their monthly churn and how direct integration into Trello drives most organic traffic. The segment also features a lengthy mid-roll advertisement read by Nathan.10:56–13:20 · Guest teaching 1/10 Customer Lifetime Value, Founder Ownership, and Acquisition Stance Nathan calculates lifetime value on the fly from churn and ARPU, which Sami admits he had not explicitly calculated. Sami firmly rejects Nathan's hypothetical acquisition offer of $300k.13:20–17:09 · Guest teaching 2/10 Revenue Projections, Funding Plans, and Company Valuation Nathan challenges Sami's low growth targets for the remainder of the year. Sami explains his plans for a priced round rather than convertible notes due to Finnish market norms, followed by the Famous Five.1:56–5:00 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Screenful Product Architecture and SaaS Pricing Nathan explores Screenful's pricing and grant history in Finland. He displays familiarity with startup financing mechanics by praising non-dilutive government grants.5:03–7:16 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Product Hunt Launch and Hitting $15k MRR Breakeven When Sami gives a general response about how product integrations expand reach, Nathan firmly cuts in to steer him back to the specific historical MRR figure from 12 months prior.7:18–10:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Trello Power-Up Organic Funnel and Managing Churn Sami explains their monthly churn and how direct integration into Trello drives most organic traffic. The segment also features a lengthy mid-roll advertisement read by Nathan.10:56–13:20 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Customer Lifetime Value, Founder Ownership, and Acquisition Stance Nathan calculates lifetime value on the fly from churn and ARPU, which Sami admits he had not explicitly calculated. Sami firmly rejects Nathan's hypothetical acquisition offer of $300k.13:20–17:09 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Revenue Projections, Funding Plans, and Company Valuation Nathan challenges Sami's low growth targets for the remainder of the year. Sami explains his plans for a priced round rather than convertible notes due to Finnish market norms, followed by the Famous Five.1:56–5:00 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Screenful Product Architecture and SaaS Pricing Nathan explores Screenful's pricing and grant history in Finland. He displays familiarity with startup financing mechanics by praising non-dilutive government grants.5:03–7:16 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Product Hunt Launch and Hitting $15k MRR Breakeven When Sami gives a general response about how product integrations expand reach, Nathan firmly cuts in to steer him back to the specific historical MRR figure from 12 months prior.7:18–10:54 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Trello Power-Up Organic Funnel and Managing Churn Sami explains their monthly churn and how direct integration into Trello drives most organic traffic. The segment also features a lengthy mid-roll advertisement read by Nathan.10:56–13:20 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Customer Lifetime Value, Founder Ownership, and Acquisition Stance Nathan calculates lifetime value on the fly from churn and ARPU, which Sami admits he had not explicitly calculated. Sami firmly rejects Nathan's hypothetical acquisition offer of $300k.13:20–17:09 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Revenue Projections, Funding Plans, and Company Valuation Nathan challenges Sami's low growth targets for the remainder of the year. Sami explains his plans for a priced round rather than convertible notes due to Finnish market norms, followed by the Famous Five.

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

0:00 · Nathan 67.6% · guest 32.4%0:00 · Nathan 67.6% · guest 32.4%3:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%3:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%6:00 · Nathan 24% · guest 76%6:00 · Nathan 24% · guest 76%9:00 · Nathan 78.9% · guest 21.1%9:00 · Nathan 78.9% · guest 21.1%12:00 · Nathan 34.9% · guest 65.1%12:00 · Nathan 34.9% · guest 65.1%15:00 · Nathan 49.5% · guest 50.5%15:00 · Nathan 49.5% · guest 50.5%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%18:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:31 Sami firmly refuses acquisition buyout

Sami immediately and definitively shuts down Nathan's proposal of selling the company for 2x ARR, asserting that Screenful is aiming to become a full business intelligence platform.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 14:04 Latka pushes back on modest MRR target

Nathan openly calls out Sami's revenue goal as unaggressive, directly questioning why the team would only plan to add $5k in MRR over the next nine months.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:43 Sami notes convertible notes are uncommon in Finland

Sami educates Nathan on Finnish venture norms when Nathan assumes they might use convertible notes for their upcoming round.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:07 Latka calculates LTV and retention on the fly

Nathan demonstrates command of SaaS unit economics by instantaneously inverting the logo churn rate to derive average retention months and customer lifetime value.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Screenful Product Architecture and SaaS Pricing 5211 Nathan explores Screenful's pricing and grant history in Finland. He displays familiarity with startup financing mechanics by praising non-dilutive government grants.
Product Hunt Launch and Hitting $15k MRR Breakeven 5115 When Sami gives a general response about how product integrations expand reach, Nathan firmly cuts in to steer him back to the specific historical MRR figure from 12 months prior.
Trello Power-Up Organic Funnel and Managing Churn 4112 Sami explains their monthly churn and how direct integration into Trello drives most organic traffic. The segment also features a lengthy mid-roll advertisement read by Nathan.
Customer Lifetime Value, Founder Ownership, and Acquisition Stance 7124 Nathan calculates lifetime value on the fly from churn and ARPU, which Sami admits he had not explicitly calculated. Sami firmly rejects Nathan's hypothetical acquisition offer of $300k.
Revenue Projections, Funding Plans, and Company Valuation 5226 Nathan challenges Sami's low growth targets for the remainder of the year. Sami explains his plans for a priced round rather than convertible notes due to Finnish market norms, followed by the Famous Five.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Screenful's average customer pays $50 per month
“The average customer is paying about 50 dollars per month.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 2:46
Assertion Contradicted
Screenful has raised about €200,000 in total capital
“We've raised a bit more, so now we've raised about 200,000.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 4:33
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Linnanvuo: Screenful has reached approximately 300 paying customers
“We have now about 300 customers.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 6:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Screenful generates $15,000 in MRR and operates at breakeven
“You end up with the MRR, which is about like 15,000, and that means, you know, with the current team, we are about breakeven at the moment.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 6:10
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Screenful has a monthly logo churn rate of 6.5%
“The churn is, I think it's something like 6.5%.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 8:01
Disclosure
Linnanvuo would reject a $300,000 or 2x ARR acquisition offer
“No, no, no, absolutely not.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 12:32
Disclosure
Founder Sami Linnanvuo owns approximately 55% of Screenful
“I own something like 55%.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 13:14
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Screenful expects to reach $20,000 to $30,000 MRR by year-end
“I, by the end of this year, we would be like somewhere between like 20 and 30, something like that.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 13:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Linnanvuo notes that convertible notes are uncommon in Helsinki
“Convertible notes are not common here.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 14:47
Disclosure
Screenful is targeting a $2 million valuation for its next round
“Ah, I think we are talking about something like two million valuation.”
Sami Linnanvuo Sep 19, 2018 ▶ 14:56
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