StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Jun 27, 2018 · 17m · top-founders

1068 SiteCake: We Rely on Whitelabel Partners With Unique Kickback Structure

Nikola Mirčić · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m 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 Sitecake founder Nikola Mirčić to examine how his bootstrapped six-person team powers 8,000 websites via white-label agency partnerships and plans an Ethereum-based Initial Coin Offering.

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 37.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.3
05100:0010:001:59–4:28 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Sitecake's Core Product and White-Label Licensing Model Nathan probes Nikola's business model, distinguishing between downloadable software and SaaS, and pushes Nikola to provide concrete pricing ranges per website license.4:29–6:29 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Founding Backstory and Shift From Open Source Nikola shares the backstory of building the CMS out of a web design agency and transitioning away from open source due to lack of monetization. Nathan keeps the timeline on track.6:30–9:27 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Team Composition and ICO Capital Raising Strategy Nathan asks how the team rationally evaluates whether an ICO is legitimate capital raising versus speculative hype. Nikola details the changing dynamics with exchanges and bank compliance friction.9:29–12:31 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Tokenization Plans, Customer Metrics, and Revenue Overview Nathan performs real-time revenue arithmetic based on customer counts and pushes past Nikola's initial hesitation around calculating churn on annual software licenses.12:31–14:52 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Expansion into SaaS with Sitecake Cloud and B2B2C Strategy Nikola lays out his B2B2C vision for Sitecake Cloud targeting non-English local web builders. Nathan challenges him on channel conflict and pricing floors to prevent reseller undercutting.14:52–16:39 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding with Nikola reflecting on geographical disparities in business opportunity.1:59–4:28 · Guest teaching 3/10 Sitecake's Core Product and White-Label Licensing Model Nathan probes Nikola's business model, distinguishing between downloadable software and SaaS, and pushes Nikola to provide concrete pricing ranges per website license.4:29–6:29 · Guest teaching 3/10 Founding Backstory and Shift From Open Source Nikola shares the backstory of building the CMS out of a web design agency and transitioning away from open source due to lack of monetization. Nathan keeps the timeline on track.6:30–9:27 · Guest teaching 4/10 Team Composition and ICO Capital Raising Strategy Nathan asks how the team rationally evaluates whether an ICO is legitimate capital raising versus speculative hype. Nikola details the changing dynamics with exchanges and bank compliance friction.9:29–12:31 · Guest teaching 2/10 Tokenization Plans, Customer Metrics, and Revenue Overview Nathan performs real-time revenue arithmetic based on customer counts and pushes past Nikola's initial hesitation around calculating churn on annual software licenses.12:31–14:52 · Guest teaching 3/10 Expansion into SaaS with Sitecake Cloud and B2B2C Strategy Nikola lays out his B2B2C vision for Sitecake Cloud targeting non-English local web builders. Nathan challenges him on channel conflict and pricing floors to prevent reseller undercutting.14:52–16:39 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding with Nikola reflecting on geographical disparities in business opportunity.1:59–4:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sitecake's Core Product and White-Label Licensing Model Nathan probes Nikola's business model, distinguishing between downloadable software and SaaS, and pushes Nikola to provide concrete pricing ranges per website license.4:29–6:29 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Founding Backstory and Shift From Open Source Nikola shares the backstory of building the CMS out of a web design agency and transitioning away from open source due to lack of monetization. Nathan keeps the timeline on track.6:30–9:27 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Team Composition and ICO Capital Raising Strategy Nathan asks how the team rationally evaluates whether an ICO is legitimate capital raising versus speculative hype. Nikola details the changing dynamics with exchanges and bank compliance friction.9:29–12:31 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Tokenization Plans, Customer Metrics, and Revenue Overview Nathan performs real-time revenue arithmetic based on customer counts and pushes past Nikola's initial hesitation around calculating churn on annual software licenses.12:31–14:52 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Expansion into SaaS with Sitecake Cloud and B2B2C Strategy Nikola lays out his B2B2C vision for Sitecake Cloud targeting non-English local web builders. Nathan challenges him on channel conflict and pricing floors to prevent reseller undercutting.14:52–16:39 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding with Nikola reflecting on geographical disparities in business opportunity.1:59–4:28 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Sitecake's Core Product and White-Label Licensing Model Nathan probes Nikola's business model, distinguishing between downloadable software and SaaS, and pushes Nikola to provide concrete pricing ranges per website license.4:29–6:29 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Founding Backstory and Shift From Open Source Nikola shares the backstory of building the CMS out of a web design agency and transitioning away from open source due to lack of monetization. Nathan keeps the timeline on track.6:30–9:27 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Team Composition and ICO Capital Raising Strategy Nathan asks how the team rationally evaluates whether an ICO is legitimate capital raising versus speculative hype. Nikola details the changing dynamics with exchanges and bank compliance friction.9:29–12:31 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Tokenization Plans, Customer Metrics, and Revenue Overview Nathan performs real-time revenue arithmetic based on customer counts and pushes past Nikola's initial hesitation around calculating churn on annual software licenses.12:31–14:52 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Expansion into SaaS with Sitecake Cloud and B2B2C Strategy Nikola lays out his B2B2C vision for Sitecake Cloud targeting non-English local web builders. Nathan challenges him on channel conflict and pricing floors to prevent reseller undercutting.14:52–16:39 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding with Nikola reflecting on geographical disparities in business opportunity.

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

0:00 · Nathan 47.7% · guest 52.3%0:00 · Nathan 47.7% · guest 52.3%3:00 · Nathan 19.3% · guest 80.7%3:00 · Nathan 19.3% · guest 80.7%6:00 · Nathan 40% · guest 60%6:00 · Nathan 40% · guest 60%9:00 · Nathan 52.7% · guest 47.3%9:00 · Nathan 52.7% · guest 47.3%12:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%12:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%15:00 · Nathan 43% · guest 57%15:00 · Nathan 43% · guest 57%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:31 Guest clarifies product cannot be used directly by end users

Nikola reframes Nathan's challenge about pricing cannibalization by explaining that Sitecake is merely an engine unusable by consumers without agencies.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:06 Host insists on calculating annual churn rate

When Nikola avoids giving a churn number claiming they are not a SaaS, Nathan rejects the dodge and insists on calculating annual license non-renewals.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:03 Guest explains bank compliance hurdles for token launches

Nikola explains the operational reality of running an ICO, specifically how banks like Silicon Valley Bank require extensive six-month compliance procedures.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:03 Host calculates implied monthly revenue bracket

Nathan demonstrates command of SaaS unit economics by taking the 8,000 customer count and per-site pricing to accurately bound monthly revenue between $8k and $80k.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Sitecake's Core Product and White-Label Licensing Model 5314 Nathan probes Nikola's business model, distinguishing between downloadable software and SaaS, and pushes Nikola to provide concrete pricing ranges per website license.
Founding Backstory and Shift From Open Source 4312 Nikola shares the backstory of building the CMS out of a web design agency and transitioning away from open source due to lack of monetization. Nathan keeps the timeline on track.
Team Composition and ICO Capital Raising Strategy 5413 Nathan asks how the team rationally evaluates whether an ICO is legitimate capital raising versus speculative hype. Nikola details the changing dynamics with exchanges and bank compliance friction.
Tokenization Plans, Customer Metrics, and Revenue Overview 6225 Nathan performs real-time revenue arithmetic based on customer counts and pushes past Nikola's initial hesitation around calculating churn on annual software licenses.
Expansion into SaaS with Sitecake Cloud and B2B2C Strategy 6325 Nikola lays out his B2B2C vision for Sitecake Cloud targeting non-English local web builders. Nathan challenges him on channel conflict and pricing floors to prevent reseller undercutting.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 3101 Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, concluding with Nikola reflecting on geographical disparities in business opportunity.

Statements from this episode (13)

Disclosure
Sitecake Plans to Transition Its Static CMS to the Blockchain
“Sidekick is, is you know, the regular CMS, but we have plans to, you know transfer it and use the possibilities of blockchain.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 1:49
Disclosure
Sitecake Drives Most of Its Revenue From White-Label Agency Licensing
“White label, because, you know now websites are sold to the community, to the vertical, to people that, you know, for example, you know, if you are you know vertical, like lawyers of medical doctors, then you have already people that, that you're providing som…”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 2:52
Disclosure
Sitecake Charges $1 to $10 Per Site for White-Label Licensing
“Something between, you know dollar and 10 dollars depending. I cannot disclose, you know.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 4:19
Insight
Mirčić: 90% of CMS Users Only Need Basic Text and Image Features
“Because in 90% of cases, people use only the basics, you know, image, video, and text, you know. So they don't need old bells and whistles of WordPress or, you know, The more advanced CMSs.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 4:49
Opinion
Mirčić: Open-Source Software Revenue Models Are Inherently Poor
“There is no revenue in open source model, you know, or the revenue models with open source are really, really poor compared to some other, you know, business models.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 5:33
Disclosure
Sitecake has raised no outside capital and remains bootstrapped
“So, so far, you know, we are bootstrapped.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 6:41
Disclosure
Sitecake operates with a total team of six people
“Total team size is small as six people.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 7:05
Assertion Supported
Mirčić: Crypto exchanges are offering capital for ICOs
“Now, even these days, you know, exchanges are offering capital for ICOs.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 7:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
SVB Required Six Months of Compliance for a 2018 ICO
“If you want to go with a bank, like for example, Silicon Valley bank, you know, you need to go through six months of compliance in order to do an ICO.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 8:08
Disclosure
Bootstrapped CMS Sitecake Targeted a $2M ICO in 2018
“You know, for what we have in mind, you know a couple of million will be enough.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 10:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sitecake Has Reached Approximately 8,000 Customers
“We have like 8000 customers.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 10:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sitecake Has Under 100 White-Label Agency Partners
“But it's a boat, but you know, white label partners we have much, much less. So, so it's a kind of a less than a hundred.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 10:53
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Sitecake White-Label Partner Churn Is Around 15%
“It's a little bit more than that. So, so like 15%, something like that.”
Nikola Mirčić Jun 27, 2018 ▶ 12:24
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more