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Jun 20, 2018 · 18m · top-founders

1061 We serve 2b impressions a day including MSN homepage

Eric Berry · 10m 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

In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka interviews TripleLift CEO Eric Berry to examine how the programmatic native advertising platform scaled to nearly $100 million in annual net revenue and sustained profitability on only $16.5 million in venture funding.

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 34.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 3.8 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:000:49–5:00 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Welcoming TripleLift CEO Eric Berry Nathan presses Eric on how TripleLift claims the top spot and navigates live to MSN to dissect their native ad placements. Eric educates Nathan on publisher analytics, revenue per pixel, and browser-specific ad rendering differences.5:00–7:22 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 TripleLift Revenue Streams and Business Model Nathan probes TripleLift's revenue scale and fee structures, suggesting sub-1 percent margins like Mediaocean. Eric clarifies industry dynamics, correcting Nathan that digital SSPs like Rubicon Project operate at low double-digit take rates instead.7:22–9:57 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Capital Discipline and Strategic Venture Financing Nathan questions why Eric did not either stay fully bootstrapped or raise massive venture capital given their $100M revenue. Eric explains the risks of over-capitalization and dirty cap tables that historically ruined earlier ad tech companies.9:59–15:20 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Ad Tech Valuation Multiples and Net Revenue Nathan relentlessly challenges Eric with the assumption that he must currently be either fundraising or selling the company. Eric pushes back by defining absolute net income profitability and recounts dealing with unsolicited acquisition offers alongside funding rounds.15:20–18:06 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Founder Lifestyle, Salary, and Personal Risk Nathan inquires about Eric's personal compensation, lifestyle, and how spouse Linda would react to rejected buyouts before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid fire.18:06–18:39 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Episode Summary and Key Growth Takeaways Nathan delivers a solo recap highlighting TripleLift's trajectory from 2012 to over $100M in revenue on $16.5M raised.0:49–5:00 · Guest teaching 5/10 Welcoming TripleLift CEO Eric Berry Nathan presses Eric on how TripleLift claims the top spot and navigates live to MSN to dissect their native ad placements. Eric educates Nathan on publisher analytics, revenue per pixel, and browser-specific ad rendering differences.5:00–7:22 · Guest teaching 6/10 TripleLift Revenue Streams and Business Model Nathan probes TripleLift's revenue scale and fee structures, suggesting sub-1 percent margins like Mediaocean. Eric clarifies industry dynamics, correcting Nathan that digital SSPs like Rubicon Project operate at low double-digit take rates instead.7:22–9:57 · Guest teaching 4/10 Capital Discipline and Strategic Venture Financing Nathan questions why Eric did not either stay fully bootstrapped or raise massive venture capital given their $100M revenue. Eric explains the risks of over-capitalization and dirty cap tables that historically ruined earlier ad tech companies.9:59–15:20 · Guest teaching 5/10 Ad Tech Valuation Multiples and Net Revenue Nathan relentlessly challenges Eric with the assumption that he must currently be either fundraising or selling the company. Eric pushes back by defining absolute net income profitability and recounts dealing with unsolicited acquisition offers alongside funding rounds.15:20–18:06 · Guest teaching 3/10 Founder Lifestyle, Salary, and Personal Risk Nathan inquires about Eric's personal compensation, lifestyle, and how spouse Linda would react to rejected buyouts before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid fire.18:06–18:39 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode Summary and Key Growth Takeaways Nathan delivers a solo recap highlighting TripleLift's trajectory from 2012 to over $100M in revenue on $16.5M raised.0:49–5:00 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Welcoming TripleLift CEO Eric Berry Nathan presses Eric on how TripleLift claims the top spot and navigates live to MSN to dissect their native ad placements. Eric educates Nathan on publisher analytics, revenue per pixel, and browser-specific ad rendering differences.5:00–7:22 · Guest disagreement 2/10 TripleLift Revenue Streams and Business Model Nathan probes TripleLift's revenue scale and fee structures, suggesting sub-1 percent margins like Mediaocean. Eric clarifies industry dynamics, correcting Nathan that digital SSPs like Rubicon Project operate at low double-digit take rates instead.7:22–9:57 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Capital Discipline and Strategic Venture Financing Nathan questions why Eric did not either stay fully bootstrapped or raise massive venture capital given their $100M revenue. Eric explains the risks of over-capitalization and dirty cap tables that historically ruined earlier ad tech companies.9:59–15:20 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Ad Tech Valuation Multiples and Net Revenue Nathan relentlessly challenges Eric with the assumption that he must currently be either fundraising or selling the company. Eric pushes back by defining absolute net income profitability and recounts dealing with unsolicited acquisition offers alongside funding rounds.15:20–18:06 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Founder Lifestyle, Salary, and Personal Risk Nathan inquires about Eric's personal compensation, lifestyle, and how spouse Linda would react to rejected buyouts before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid fire.18:06–18:39 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Summary and Key Growth Takeaways Nathan delivers a solo recap highlighting TripleLift's trajectory from 2012 to over $100M in revenue on $16.5M raised.0:49–5:00 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Welcoming TripleLift CEO Eric Berry Nathan presses Eric on how TripleLift claims the top spot and navigates live to MSN to dissect their native ad placements. Eric educates Nathan on publisher analytics, revenue per pixel, and browser-specific ad rendering differences.5:00–7:22 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 TripleLift Revenue Streams and Business Model Nathan probes TripleLift's revenue scale and fee structures, suggesting sub-1 percent margins like Mediaocean. Eric clarifies industry dynamics, correcting Nathan that digital SSPs like Rubicon Project operate at low double-digit take rates instead.7:22–9:57 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Capital Discipline and Strategic Venture Financing Nathan questions why Eric did not either stay fully bootstrapped or raise massive venture capital given their $100M revenue. Eric explains the risks of over-capitalization and dirty cap tables that historically ruined earlier ad tech companies.9:59–15:20 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Ad Tech Valuation Multiples and Net Revenue Nathan relentlessly challenges Eric with the assumption that he must currently be either fundraising or selling the company. Eric pushes back by defining absolute net income profitability and recounts dealing with unsolicited acquisition offers alongside funding rounds.15:20–18:06 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Founder Lifestyle, Salary, and Personal Risk Nathan inquires about Eric's personal compensation, lifestyle, and how spouse Linda would react to rejected buyouts before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid fire.18:06–18:39 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode Summary and Key Growth Takeaways Nathan delivers a solo recap highlighting TripleLift's trajectory from 2012 to over $100M in revenue on $16.5M raised.

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

0:00 · Nathan 43.6% · guest 56.4%0:00 · Nathan 43.6% · guest 56.4%3:00 · Nathan 29.2% · guest 70.8%3:00 · Nathan 29.2% · guest 70.8%6:00 · Nathan 25.9% · guest 74.1%6:00 · Nathan 25.9% · guest 74.1%9:00 · Nathan 58.1% · guest 41.9%9:00 · Nathan 58.1% · guest 41.9%12:00 · Nathan 12.8% · guest 87.2%12:00 · Nathan 12.8% · guest 87.2%15:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%15:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%18:00 · Nathan 92.2% · guest 7.8%18:00 · Nathan 92.2% · guest 7.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:41 Rejecting binary fundraise or acquisition framing

Eric firmly rejects Nathan's assertion that the company must be in the middle of selling or raising capital, stating they are self-sustaining on absolute net income.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:55 Pressing for specific acquisition multiples

Nathan repeatedly refuses Eric's vague answers around buyouts, demanding exact multiple figures and price points.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:55 Schooling on digital take rates vs TV planning

Eric educates Nathan on why comparing digital programmatic SSP margins to legacy TV planning software like Mediaocean is flawed.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:04 Differentiating net revenue versus EBITDA accounting

Nathan demonstrates financial domain mastery by drawing distinctions between SaaS net income metrics and ad tech publisher payouts.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Welcoming TripleLift CEO Eric Berry 5524 Nathan presses Eric on how TripleLift claims the top spot and navigates live to MSN to dissect their native ad placements. Eric educates Nathan on publisher analytics, revenue per pixel, and browser-specific ad rendering differences.
TripleLift Revenue Streams and Business Model 6625 Nathan probes TripleLift's revenue scale and fee structures, suggesting sub-1 percent margins like Mediaocean. Eric clarifies industry dynamics, correcting Nathan that digital SSPs like Rubicon Project operate at low double-digit take rates instead.
Capital Discipline and Strategic Venture Financing 5414 Nathan questions why Eric did not either stay fully bootstrapped or raise massive venture capital given their $100M revenue. Eric explains the risks of over-capitalization and dirty cap tables that historically ruined earlier ad tech companies.
Ad Tech Valuation Multiples and Net Revenue 6537 Nathan relentlessly challenges Eric with the assumption that he must currently be either fundraising or selling the company. Eric pushes back by defining absolute net income profitability and recounts dealing with unsolicited acquisition offers alongside funding rounds.
Founder Lifestyle, Salary, and Personal Risk 4313 Nathan inquires about Eric's personal compensation, lifestyle, and how spouse Linda would react to rejected buyouts before transitioning into the Famous Five rapid fire.
Episode Summary and Key Growth Takeaways 0000 Nathan delivers a solo recap highlighting TripleLift's trajectory from 2012 to over $100M in revenue on $16.5M raised.

Statements from this episode (11)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Berry: TripleLift serves over two billion ad impressions daily
“We serve over two billion ad impressions a day.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 2:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Berry: MSN testing proved native ads outperform traditional display
“We were able to make a really strong case that native will outperform traditional display and it's correct. And it bore out. And so they tested it and they have rigorous AB testing capabilities.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 3:33
Disclosure
Berry: TripleLift did just under $100M revenue in 2017 and was profitable
“The company did just under a hundred million last year. In revenue, we were profitable.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 6:00
Disclosure
Berry: Two-thirds of TripleLift's revenue comes from programmatic business
“Probably about two thirds of that came through the programmatic business. Most of the rest came from the PMP business. And then. Oh, I'm sorry. Private marketplace. And then a relatively small percent came through the ad server”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 6:05
Disclosure
Berry: TripleLift generated roughly $50M in revenue in 2016
“2016. We did about half of that.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 6:32
Assertion Supported
Berry: Digital ad exchange take-rate fee margins are in low double digits
“In digital, you'll see slightly higher. They'll be in the low double digits.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 7:14
Disclosure
TripleLift accepted a lower valuation to keep deal terms and board clean.
“So we took less than we could have, and we also took it at a lower evaluation than we could have because we wanted to keep the terms as simple as we could. So we have a very clean cap table, very clean terms. And a very straightforward board relationship.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 8:42
Disclosure
Berry: TripleLift sold around 15% equity in 2015 round
“Around that, yeah.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 10:22
Insight
Berry: Ad tech valuations are generally based on net revenue multiples
“Well, you know, for us an ad tech company will generally be on a net revenue. So you were kind of asking about gross versus net. So gross being the total advertiser billings net being what we make after we pay the amount of publishers before, before an SG and …”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 10:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
TripleLift received an acquisition offer concurrently with every single fundraising round.
“Every single time that we've had a round of financing we've had an acquisition offer at the same exact time”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 13:24
Insight
Berry: Financial fortune is determinative in whether someone can be an entrepreneur
“There's an increasing amount of literature about how being fortunate from a financial perspective is really determinative in terms of whether or not someone can be an entrepreneur, and I would buy that a hundred percent.”
Eric Berry Jun 20, 2018 ▶ 15:57
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