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Jun 21, 2018 · 19m · top-founders

1062 I raised $5m to spin the company out of corporate

David Dowhan · 11m 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

David Dowhan, CEO of True Signal, breaks down how he spun his predictive analytics firm out of eBureau with $5 million in funding and transitioned to an embedded 'Intel Inside' MarTech model generating over $5 million in annual revenue.

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 32.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 3.4 Guest disagreement 0.6 Nathan pushing back 1.8
05100:0010:000:49–4:35 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 True Signal's MarTech Analytics and Hybrid Revenue Model Nathan quickly does math on True Signal's monthly revenue run rate based on the 16 customers and 25k minimums. David explains the shift from an agency/media model to a SaaS-inspired data platform with upside revenue-sharing.4:35–7:36 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Spinning True Signal Out of eBureau with $5 Million Nathan presses David on corporate structure, asking specific questions about cap table separation, employee options, and spin-out mechanics from eBureau. David clarifies how the IP and equity arrangements functioned prior to TransUnion's acquisition.7:38–10:15 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Capital-Intensive Data Licensing and Operating Leverage Nathan probes why David did not start a fresh company from scratch rather than spinning out. David explains the capital-intensive nature of licensing multi-million dollar data sets upfront and the fixed-cost operating leverage inherent in that business model.10:17–15:43 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar After an ad read for Hotjar, Nathan and David touch briefly on election polling analytics before reviewing David's customer acquisition costs and conference-driven prospecting strategies.15:44–19:07 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Retention Metrics David details customer LTV and historical annual logo churn, followed by Nathan leading through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions and concluding summary.0:49–4:35 · Guest teaching 3/10 True Signal's MarTech Analytics and Hybrid Revenue Model Nathan quickly does math on True Signal's monthly revenue run rate based on the 16 customers and 25k minimums. David explains the shift from an agency/media model to a SaaS-inspired data platform with upside revenue-sharing.4:35–7:36 · Guest teaching 4/10 Spinning True Signal Out of eBureau with $5 Million Nathan presses David on corporate structure, asking specific questions about cap table separation, employee options, and spin-out mechanics from eBureau. David clarifies how the IP and equity arrangements functioned prior to TransUnion's acquisition.7:38–10:15 · Guest teaching 5/10 Capital-Intensive Data Licensing and Operating Leverage Nathan probes why David did not start a fresh company from scratch rather than spinning out. David explains the capital-intensive nature of licensing multi-million dollar data sets upfront and the fixed-cost operating leverage inherent in that business model.10:17–15:43 · Guest teaching 3/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar After an ad read for Hotjar, Nathan and David touch briefly on election polling analytics before reviewing David's customer acquisition costs and conference-driven prospecting strategies.15:44–19:07 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Retention Metrics David details customer LTV and historical annual logo churn, followed by Nathan leading through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions and concluding summary.0:49–4:35 · Guest disagreement 1/10 True Signal's MarTech Analytics and Hybrid Revenue Model Nathan quickly does math on True Signal's monthly revenue run rate based on the 16 customers and 25k minimums. David explains the shift from an agency/media model to a SaaS-inspired data platform with upside revenue-sharing.4:35–7:36 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Spinning True Signal Out of eBureau with $5 Million Nathan presses David on corporate structure, asking specific questions about cap table separation, employee options, and spin-out mechanics from eBureau. David clarifies how the IP and equity arrangements functioned prior to TransUnion's acquisition.7:38–10:15 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Capital-Intensive Data Licensing and Operating Leverage Nathan probes why David did not start a fresh company from scratch rather than spinning out. David explains the capital-intensive nature of licensing multi-million dollar data sets upfront and the fixed-cost operating leverage inherent in that business model.10:17–15:43 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar After an ad read for Hotjar, Nathan and David touch briefly on election polling analytics before reviewing David's customer acquisition costs and conference-driven prospecting strategies.15:44–19:07 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Retention Metrics David details customer LTV and historical annual logo churn, followed by Nathan leading through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions and concluding summary.0:49–4:35 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 True Signal's MarTech Analytics and Hybrid Revenue Model Nathan quickly does math on True Signal's monthly revenue run rate based on the 16 customers and 25k minimums. David explains the shift from an agency/media model to a SaaS-inspired data platform with upside revenue-sharing.4:35–7:36 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Spinning True Signal Out of eBureau with $5 Million Nathan presses David on corporate structure, asking specific questions about cap table separation, employee options, and spin-out mechanics from eBureau. David clarifies how the IP and equity arrangements functioned prior to TransUnion's acquisition.7:38–10:15 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Capital-Intensive Data Licensing and Operating Leverage Nathan probes why David did not start a fresh company from scratch rather than spinning out. David explains the capital-intensive nature of licensing multi-million dollar data sets upfront and the fixed-cost operating leverage inherent in that business model.10:17–15:43 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar After an ad read for Hotjar, Nathan and David touch briefly on election polling analytics before reviewing David's customer acquisition costs and conference-driven prospecting strategies.15:44–19:07 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Customer Lifetime Value and Retention Metrics David details customer LTV and historical annual logo churn, followed by Nathan leading through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions and concluding summary.

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

0:00 · Nathan 36.6% · guest 63.4%0:00 · Nathan 36.6% · guest 63.4%3:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%3:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%6:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%6:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%9:00 · Nathan 50.7% · guest 49.3%9:00 · Nathan 50.7% · guest 49.3%12:00 · Nathan 13.8% · guest 86.2%12:00 · Nathan 13.8% · guest 86.2%15:00 · Nathan 32.3% · guest 67.7%15:00 · Nathan 32.3% · guest 67.7%18:00 · Nathan 49.7% · guest 50.3%18:00 · Nathan 49.7% · guest 50.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:16 Clarifying ownership ambiguity

David pushes back gently against Nathan's suggestion that the parent company owned 100% of the equity, clarifying the distinct 80/20 equity structure.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:36 Pressing on entrepreneurial motivation

Nathan directly challenges David on why an experienced founder would accept VC-heavy dilution instead of starting independently from scratch.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:52 Explaining the data licensing moat

David educates Nathan on why bootstrapping is prohibitive in large-scale data analytics due to upfront multimillion-dollar fixed licensing fees.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 3:28 Instant recurring revenue calculation

Nathan demonstrates mastery of SaaS metrics by instantly deducing the baseline $400k+ monthly run rate from customer count and minimum pricing tiers.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
True Signal's MarTech Analytics and Hybrid Revenue Model 6312 Nathan quickly does math on True Signal's monthly revenue run rate based on the 16 customers and 25k minimums. David explains the shift from an agency/media model to a SaaS-inspired data platform with upside revenue-sharing.
Spinning True Signal Out of eBureau with $5 Million 5413 Nathan presses David on corporate structure, asking specific questions about cap table separation, employee options, and spin-out mechanics from eBureau. David clarifies how the IP and equity arrangements functioned prior to TransUnion's acquisition.
Capital-Intensive Data Licensing and Operating Leverage 5512 Nathan probes why David did not start a fresh company from scratch rather than spinning out. David explains the capital-intensive nature of licensing multi-million dollar data sets upfront and the fixed-cost operating leverage inherent in that business model.
Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar 4301 After an ad read for Hotjar, Nathan and David touch briefly on election polling analytics before reviewing David's customer acquisition costs and conference-driven prospecting strategies.
Customer Lifetime Value and Retention Metrics 4201 David details customer LTV and historical annual logo churn, followed by Nathan leading through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions and concluding summary.

Statements from this episode (9)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
True Signal averages a $25,000 monthly minimum per customer.
“The average kind of minimums that we see across the board, about 25,000 dollars per month.”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 2:24
Assertion Not checkable as stated
True Signal has approximately 16 active enterprise customers.
“So we have 16 or so active customers.”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 2:37
Disclosure
True Signal raised $5M to spin out from eBureau in 2017.
“So we raised a five million round and spun it off as a separate independent company back in October of 2017.”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 5:10
Disclosure
Pre-spinout, True Signal's equity was split 80% board and 20% employees.
“It was roughly kind of an eighty-twenty split, right? So 80% was kind of owned by kind of the board, really as well as the 20% was employees.”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 6:57
Disclosure
True Signal spends approximately $2M annually on data licensing.
“So we're licensing, you know, on, on the order of, you know, a couple million dollars worth of data every single year. That's just kind of a fixed cost of operating, right?”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 8:04
Assertion Not checkable as stated
True Signal's average customer acquisition cost is $40,000 to $50,000.
“No, if I had to average it out, I would say probably closer to kind of the 40 to 50,000 dollars is kind of what it would be.”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 12:43
Disclosure
True Signal does not plan to raise capital beyond its spin-out funding.
“Nope, have not. And you know, don't intend to, knock on wood, right?”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 13:01
Disclosure
True Signal targets a minimum customer lifetime value of $600,000.
“A minimum that we want to see is, is 600,000, right? If you think about kind of one year, the recurring revenue, six, 600,000 is really kind of what we would like to shoot for from a minimum perspective.”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 15:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
True Signal's annual logo churn rate is roughly 8%.
“If I had to look back over the last year and a half, our churn would be roughly like, you know, eight percent on an annual basis.”
David Dowhan Jun 21, 2018 ▶ 16:44
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