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Aug 17, 2018 · 22m · top-founders

1119 "Channel partners gave us 200,000 customers, $40m ARR"

Michael Jensen · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 9m 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 interview on The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka speaks with Solo SEO co-founder Michael Jensen about bootstrapping a DIY SEO software company to 200,000 active customers and over $40 million in annual revenue. Jensen details how frictionless web hosting channel partnerships, disciplined unit economics, and an ultra-lean 12-person team drove massive profitability without venture capital.

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 48.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 1.3 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 4.7
05100:0010:0020:001:31–3:55 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Guest Welcome and Opening Banter with Michael Jensen Nathan introduces Michael Jensen and discusses the company's background and pricing model. The tone is collaborative with standard interview fact-finding.3:55–8:24 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Customer Scaling and Multi-Million Monthly Revenue Math Nathan performs top-down revenue calculations based on 200,000 customers and calls out Michael for dodging exact revenue figures. Nathan also demonstrates domain knowledge regarding EIG partnerships and checkout registration flows.8:24–10:28 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Revenue Share Splits and Partner Customer Acquisition Costs Nathan breaks down customer acquisition costs and partner revenue share mechanics. Michael clarifies partner terms and restrictions around upselling hosting customers.10:28–15:06 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Managing a Lean Twelve-Person Team Nathan repeatedly drills into Michael's annual growth rate when Michael is reluctant to share numbers. Nathan explicitly corrects Michael's claim that customer renewals constitute growth, pointing out renewals only maintain flat revenue.15:06–19:36 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Evaluating Potential Acquisition Offers and Outside Capital Nathan challenges Michael on why the company hasn't sold to EIG and pushes him to quantify his decision-making criteria. Nathan pushes past non-answers, urging Michael to articulate concrete valuation inputs.19:36–21:59 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions Nathan runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions and summarizes Solo SEO's key financial and operational takeaways in a closing monologue.1:31–3:55 · Guest teaching 2/10 Guest Welcome and Opening Banter with Michael Jensen Nathan introduces Michael Jensen and discusses the company's background and pricing model. The tone is collaborative with standard interview fact-finding.3:55–8:24 · Guest teaching 1/10 Customer Scaling and Multi-Million Monthly Revenue Math Nathan performs top-down revenue calculations based on 200,000 customers and calls out Michael for dodging exact revenue figures. Nathan also demonstrates domain knowledge regarding EIG partnerships and checkout registration flows.8:24–10:28 · Guest teaching 2/10 Revenue Share Splits and Partner Customer Acquisition Costs Nathan breaks down customer acquisition costs and partner revenue share mechanics. Michael clarifies partner terms and restrictions around upselling hosting customers.10:28–15:06 · Guest teaching 1/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Managing a Lean Twelve-Person Team Nathan repeatedly drills into Michael's annual growth rate when Michael is reluctant to share numbers. Nathan explicitly corrects Michael's claim that customer renewals constitute growth, pointing out renewals only maintain flat revenue.15:06–19:36 · Guest teaching 1/10 Evaluating Potential Acquisition Offers and Outside Capital Nathan challenges Michael on why the company hasn't sold to EIG and pushes him to quantify his decision-making criteria. Nathan pushes past non-answers, urging Michael to articulate concrete valuation inputs.19:36–21:59 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions Nathan runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions and summarizes Solo SEO's key financial and operational takeaways in a closing monologue.1:31–3:55 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Guest Welcome and Opening Banter with Michael Jensen Nathan introduces Michael Jensen and discusses the company's background and pricing model. The tone is collaborative with standard interview fact-finding.3:55–8:24 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Customer Scaling and Multi-Million Monthly Revenue Math Nathan performs top-down revenue calculations based on 200,000 customers and calls out Michael for dodging exact revenue figures. Nathan also demonstrates domain knowledge regarding EIG partnerships and checkout registration flows.8:24–10:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Revenue Share Splits and Partner Customer Acquisition Costs Nathan breaks down customer acquisition costs and partner revenue share mechanics. Michael clarifies partner terms and restrictions around upselling hosting customers.10:28–15:06 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Managing a Lean Twelve-Person Team Nathan repeatedly drills into Michael's annual growth rate when Michael is reluctant to share numbers. Nathan explicitly corrects Michael's claim that customer renewals constitute growth, pointing out renewals only maintain flat revenue.15:06–19:36 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Evaluating Potential Acquisition Offers and Outside Capital Nathan challenges Michael on why the company hasn't sold to EIG and pushes him to quantify his decision-making criteria. Nathan pushes past non-answers, urging Michael to articulate concrete valuation inputs.19:36–21:59 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions Nathan runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions and summarizes Solo SEO's key financial and operational takeaways in a closing monologue.1:31–3:55 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Guest Welcome and Opening Banter with Michael Jensen Nathan introduces Michael Jensen and discusses the company's background and pricing model. The tone is collaborative with standard interview fact-finding.3:55–8:24 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Customer Scaling and Multi-Million Monthly Revenue Math Nathan performs top-down revenue calculations based on 200,000 customers and calls out Michael for dodging exact revenue figures. Nathan also demonstrates domain knowledge regarding EIG partnerships and checkout registration flows.8:24–10:28 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Revenue Share Splits and Partner Customer Acquisition Costs Nathan breaks down customer acquisition costs and partner revenue share mechanics. Michael clarifies partner terms and restrictions around upselling hosting customers.10:28–15:06 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Managing a Lean Twelve-Person Team Nathan repeatedly drills into Michael's annual growth rate when Michael is reluctant to share numbers. Nathan explicitly corrects Michael's claim that customer renewals constitute growth, pointing out renewals only maintain flat revenue.15:06–19:36 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Evaluating Potential Acquisition Offers and Outside Capital Nathan challenges Michael on why the company hasn't sold to EIG and pushes him to quantify his decision-making criteria. Nathan pushes past non-answers, urging Michael to articulate concrete valuation inputs.19:36–21:59 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions Nathan runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions and summarizes Solo SEO's key financial and operational takeaways in a closing monologue.

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

0:00 · Nathan 61.1% · guest 38.9%0:00 · Nathan 61.1% · guest 38.9%3:00 · Nathan 34.6% · guest 65.4%3:00 · Nathan 34.6% · guest 65.4%6:00 · Nathan 50.7% · guest 49.3%6:00 · Nathan 50.7% · guest 49.3%9:00 · Nathan 55.7% · guest 44.3%9:00 · Nathan 55.7% · guest 44.3%12:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%12:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%15:00 · Nathan 49.3% · guest 50.7%15:00 · Nathan 49.3% · guest 50.7%18:00 · Nathan 40.4% · guest 59.6%18:00 · Nathan 40.4% · guest 59.6%21:00 · Nathan 79.3% · guest 20.7%21:00 · Nathan 79.3% · guest 20.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:27 Michael defends renewal volume as built-in business growth

When Nathan warns that listeners will question how a CEO does not know his growth rate, Michael pushes back by insisting renewals provide automatic built-in growth.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 18:34 Nathan bluntly refuses Michael's vague answer on acquisition offers

Nathan directly halts Michael's non-committal answer, telling him it is unhelpful to listeners and demanding an algorithmic breakdown of decision inputs.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:49 Michael details hosting partner restrictions on customer upselling

Michael clarifies the operational dynamics of domain channel partnerships, explaining why hosting companies forbid direct upselling to preserve their customer relationships.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 13:53 Nathan schools the guest on basic SaaS growth mathematics

Nathan intervenes to correct Michael, explaining that subscription renewals merely represent zero churn or staying flat rather than true top-line business growth.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Guest Welcome and Opening Banter with Michael Jensen 4201 Nathan introduces Michael Jensen and discusses the company's background and pricing model. The tone is collaborative with standard interview fact-finding.
Customer Scaling and Multi-Million Monthly Revenue Math 7127 Nathan performs top-down revenue calculations based on 200,000 customers and calls out Michael for dodging exact revenue figures. Nathan also demonstrates domain knowledge regarding EIG partnerships and checkout registration flows.
Revenue Share Splits and Partner Customer Acquisition Costs 6214 Nathan breaks down customer acquisition costs and partner revenue share mechanics. Michael clarifies partner terms and restrictions around upselling hosting customers.
Bootstrapping Philosophy and Managing a Lean Twelve-Person Team 8128 Nathan repeatedly drills into Michael's annual growth rate when Michael is reluctant to share numbers. Nathan explicitly corrects Michael's claim that customer renewals constitute growth, pointing out renewals only maintain flat revenue.
Evaluating Potential Acquisition Offers and Outside Capital 7127 Nathan challenges Michael on why the company hasn't sold to EIG and pushes him to quantify his decision-making criteria. Nathan pushes past non-answers, urging Michael to articulate concrete valuation inputs.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Founder Questions 4101 Nathan runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions and summarizes Solo SEO's key financial and operational takeaways in a closing monologue.

Statements from this episode (11)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jensen: Solo SEO scales to over 200,000 active customers
“We've, we're now over 200,000 active customers.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 4:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jensen: Most Solo SEO customer growth comes from hosting partnerships
“Most of that comes with partnering with hosting companies but we do do a lot of direct customers as well.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 4:15
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jensen: Solo SEO operates with around 12 total employees
“We're about we only have about 12 employees total.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 4:53
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jensen: Solo SEO landed EIG distribution via Bluehost founder Danny Ashworth
“The first one that we landed was with so one of my business partners is Danny Ashworth, and he was, he started Bluehost itself, and then Bluehost got bought out, and so the company that bought them out, that was our first hosting company that we were in.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 6:12
Assertion Supported
Jensen: Solo SEO is integrated into EIG's registration checkout flow
“So we're in their in their reg flow. So so that, that scales well for us because that's, you know, right where people are signing up.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 7:45
Disclosure
Jensen: Solo SEO uses roughly 50-50 revenue splits with hosting partners
“We, we've done mostly fifty-fifty or even 60 or forty-sixty.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 8:52
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jensen: Web hosting channel partners prohibit software providers from upselling customers
“A lot of the hosting companies, they don't want us to upsell the customers cause they're their customers.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 8:57
Assertion Supported
Jensen: Solo SEO has been bootstrapped from the start
“We bootstrapped it from the start.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 10:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Solo SEO grew only 2% to 5% over the past year
“Well, over the past year, we've grown probably between two and five percent is, is what I would say.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 14:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Solo SEO channel partner renewal rate is between 65% and 70%
“So we, for, in terms of renewals, we're somewhere around 65 and 70% of those renewals, and so they stick around.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 15:33
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jensen: Solo SEO direct customer renewal rate is 55% to 60%
“The customers that are with us directly, it's usually about 55 to 60%.”
Michael Jensen Aug 17, 2018 ▶ 15:54
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