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Jun 23, 2018 · 18m · top-founders

1064 AirPR Says "Growing Fast" but won't share revenue #'s, are they?

Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Nathan Latka interviews AirPR CEO Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer about the company's SaaS PR attribution platform, its strategic pivot from a service marketplace to analytics software, and the metrics driving its enterprise expansion.

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 41.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 1.8 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 4.0
05100:0010:002:06–4:56 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 AirPR Value Proposition, Pricing, and Revenue Model Nathan demonstrates strong SaaS business model acumen by asking how AirPR drives expansion revenue when its core tracking metric is offered as unlimited. Sharam clarifies that upsells come from international monitoring and additional media format modules.4:56–8:00 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Company History, Fundraising, and Customer Metrics Debate Nathan intensely challenges Sharam after he refuses to disclose customer counts or revenue, arguing that over 1,200 previous founders have shared metrics and pushing him to agree to a broad customer range.8:00–11:03 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Customer Acquisition Strategies and PR Attribution Mechanics Nathan asks how AirPR validates business ROI from PR mentions. Sharam explains their attribution workflow linking article reads directly to CRM signups and demo requests.11:06–15:37 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Technical Analytics Integrations and Full-Funnel Tracking Nathan probes into the technical integration depth and the strategic pivot of selling AirPR's marketplace to bet on the early-stage analytics tool. Sharam details leveraging third-party web analytics platforms to avoid custom enterprise deployments.15:38–16:49 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, noting his awareness that Sharam's admired CEO sits on AirPR's board.2:06–4:56 · Guest teaching 2/10 AirPR Value Proposition, Pricing, and Revenue Model Nathan demonstrates strong SaaS business model acumen by asking how AirPR drives expansion revenue when its core tracking metric is offered as unlimited. Sharam clarifies that upsells come from international monitoring and additional media format modules.4:56–8:00 · Guest teaching 2/10 Company History, Fundraising, and Customer Metrics Debate Nathan intensely challenges Sharam after he refuses to disclose customer counts or revenue, arguing that over 1,200 previous founders have shared metrics and pushing him to agree to a broad customer range.8:00–11:03 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Acquisition Strategies and PR Attribution Mechanics Nathan asks how AirPR validates business ROI from PR mentions. Sharam explains their attribution workflow linking article reads directly to CRM signups and demo requests.11:06–15:37 · Guest teaching 2/10 Technical Analytics Integrations and Full-Funnel Tracking Nathan probes into the technical integration depth and the strategic pivot of selling AirPR's marketplace to bet on the early-stage analytics tool. Sharam details leveraging third-party web analytics platforms to avoid custom enterprise deployments.15:38–16:49 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, noting his awareness that Sharam's admired CEO sits on AirPR's board.2:06–4:56 · Guest disagreement 1/10 AirPR Value Proposition, Pricing, and Revenue Model Nathan demonstrates strong SaaS business model acumen by asking how AirPR drives expansion revenue when its core tracking metric is offered as unlimited. Sharam clarifies that upsells come from international monitoring and additional media format modules.4:56–8:00 · Guest disagreement 5/10 Company History, Fundraising, and Customer Metrics Debate Nathan intensely challenges Sharam after he refuses to disclose customer counts or revenue, arguing that over 1,200 previous founders have shared metrics and pushing him to agree to a broad customer range.8:00–11:03 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Customer Acquisition Strategies and PR Attribution Mechanics Nathan asks how AirPR validates business ROI from PR mentions. Sharam explains their attribution workflow linking article reads directly to CRM signups and demo requests.11:06–15:37 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Technical Analytics Integrations and Full-Funnel Tracking Nathan probes into the technical integration depth and the strategic pivot of selling AirPR's marketplace to bet on the early-stage analytics tool. Sharam details leveraging third-party web analytics platforms to avoid custom enterprise deployments.15:38–16:49 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, noting his awareness that Sharam's admired CEO sits on AirPR's board.2:06–4:56 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 AirPR Value Proposition, Pricing, and Revenue Model Nathan demonstrates strong SaaS business model acumen by asking how AirPR drives expansion revenue when its core tracking metric is offered as unlimited. Sharam clarifies that upsells come from international monitoring and additional media format modules.4:56–8:00 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Company History, Fundraising, and Customer Metrics Debate Nathan intensely challenges Sharam after he refuses to disclose customer counts or revenue, arguing that over 1,200 previous founders have shared metrics and pushing him to agree to a broad customer range.8:00–11:03 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Customer Acquisition Strategies and PR Attribution Mechanics Nathan asks how AirPR validates business ROI from PR mentions. Sharam explains their attribution workflow linking article reads directly to CRM signups and demo requests.11:06–15:37 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Technical Analytics Integrations and Full-Funnel Tracking Nathan probes into the technical integration depth and the strategic pivot of selling AirPR's marketplace to bet on the early-stage analytics tool. Sharam details leveraging third-party web analytics platforms to avoid custom enterprise deployments.15:38–16:49 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, noting his awareness that Sharam's admired CEO sits on AirPR's board.

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

0:00 · Nathan 50.9% · guest 49.1%0:00 · Nathan 50.9% · guest 49.1%3:00 · Nathan 25.7% · guest 74.3%3:00 · Nathan 25.7% · guest 74.3%6:00 · Nathan 45.8% · guest 54.2%6:00 · Nathan 45.8% · guest 54.2%9:00 · Nathan 58.1% · guest 41.9%9:00 · Nathan 58.1% · guest 41.9%12:00 · Nathan 18.9% · guest 81.1%12:00 · Nathan 18.9% · guest 81.1%15:00 · Nathan 46.1% · guest 53.9%15:00 · Nathan 46.1% · guest 53.9%18:00 · Nathan 76.6% · guest 23.4%18:00 · Nathan 76.6% · guest 23.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:23 Sharam refuses to reveal metrics and pushes back on math

Sharam resists Nathan's questioning by stating that multiplying average revenue by customer count reveals exact company figures, which he declines to disclose.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 6:53 Nathan rejects guest evasiveness on customer metrics

Nathan refuses to accept Sharam's silence, citing that 1,200 previous SaaS founders share data and arguing that withholding metrics does a disservice to listeners.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:16 Sharam explains backend analytics integration architecture

Sharam clarifies how AirPR hooks into standardized tools like Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics to track conversions without needing custom enterprise software integrations.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 4:13 Nathan identifies pricing model flaw regarding expansion leverage

Nathan demonstrates domain expertise by identifying that granting unlimited article mentions removes a key metric lever for expansion revenue.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
AirPR Value Proposition, Pricing, and Revenue Model 6214 Nathan demonstrates strong SaaS business model acumen by asking how AirPR drives expansion revenue when its core tracking metric is offered as unlimited. Sharam clarifies that upsells come from international monitoring and additional media format modules.
Company History, Fundraising, and Customer Metrics Debate 6258 Nathan intensely challenges Sharam after he refuses to disclose customer counts or revenue, arguing that over 1,200 previous founders have shared metrics and pushing him to agree to a broad customer range.
Customer Acquisition Strategies and PR Attribution Mechanics 4213 Nathan asks how AirPR validates business ROI from PR mentions. Sharam explains their attribution workflow linking article reads directly to CRM signups and demo requests.
Technical Analytics Integrations and Full-Funnel Tracking 5224 Nathan probes into the technical integration depth and the strategic pivot of selling AirPR's marketplace to bet on the early-stage analytics tool. Sharam details leveraging third-party web analytics platforms to avoid custom enterprise deployments.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 3111 Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, noting his awareness that Sharam's admired CEO sits on AirPR's board.

Statements from this episode (8)

Insight
Fouladgar-Mercer: Startups are for youth; VC fits best later in life
“It also is a, I feel a job that maybe is a better fit later in life. When you've had enough experience where You're, as opposed to the startup world where you're working 120 hour weeks you just don't have a 120 hour weeks in, in BC world. So if you're ever goi…”
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 1:38
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fouladgar-Mercer: AirPR's average customer pays around $50k to $60k annually
“It we're right around the 50, 60,000 dollars a year. But it depends on the customer.”
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 3:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fouladgar-Mercer: Fortune 1000 clients pay AirPR well over $100k annually
“I mean, we have our enterprise deals that I was talking about, the fortune 500 and fortune thousand they're paying us well in six figures.”
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 3:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fouladgar-Mercer: AirPR raised Series A in seven days in 2013
“Raised a seed round in 2012 and then raised our A around in seven days in 2013.”
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 5:05
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latka: About 5 million people listen to his podcast
“And the reason is about five million people listen to the show.”
Nathan Latka Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 7:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fouladgar-Mercer: AirPR Analytics Product Was Almost Pre-Revenue When Marketplace Sold
“It wasn't pre-revenue, but it was pretty close. It wasn't pre-revenue, but it was pretty close to it.”
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 14:07
Insight
Fouladgar-Mercer: Early-Stage Startups Lack Bandwidth to Sell Multiple Products
“When you're a company that's not a fortune, 500 business, trying to sell two products is very difficult. And you really have to, you really don't have time as a company to sell even one of them, let alone multiple products.”
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 15:21
What-if
Fouladgar-Mercer: Young Founders Should Cold-Pitch CEOs for Chief of Staff Roles
“I'd say probably the only difference is I would probably have pinged a couple CEOs that, that I would have no rights to ping and ask them for a chief of staff job.”
Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer Jun 23, 2018 ▶ 16:35
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