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Jun 14, 2018 · 15m · top-founders

1055 Utah CEO: We've Doubled YoY to $10m in ARR

Rob Nelson · 6m 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

In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka interviews Grow.com founder and CEO Rob Nelson to break down the company's journey to $10 million in ARR, exploring its pricing model, paid customer acquisition strategies, SaaS unit economics, and commitment to independent growth.

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 47.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.4 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 2.0
05100:0010:001:20–4:07 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Grow Business Intelligence Platform and Revenue Growth Nathan quickly runs SaaS math on air, calculating monthly and annual recurring revenue from customer counts and contract values while Rob refines the metrics.4:07–7:44 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Paid Acquisition Strategy and Marketing Channel Breakdown Nathan probes Rob on his upcoming funding round size and calculates his customer acquisition cost based on payback months and ACV.7:44–10:06 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Competitive Differentiation Through Dedicated Customer Onboarding Nathan compares Grow directly to competitor Klipfolio, prompting Rob to explain how high-touch human onboarding differentiates them from self-serve tools.10:08–12:27 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Funnel Metric Tracking and Commitment to Independence Nathan tests Rob's resolve by floating a hypothetical sixty-million-dollar acquisition offer, which Rob instantly turns down.12:27–14:34 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Entrepreneurship Questions Nathan conducts his standard rapid-fire Famous Five round, covering favorite software, mentors, family life, and career advice.1:20–4:07 · Guest teaching 2/10 Grow Business Intelligence Platform and Revenue Growth Nathan quickly runs SaaS math on air, calculating monthly and annual recurring revenue from customer counts and contract values while Rob refines the metrics.4:07–7:44 · Guest teaching 1/10 Paid Acquisition Strategy and Marketing Channel Breakdown Nathan probes Rob on his upcoming funding round size and calculates his customer acquisition cost based on payback months and ACV.7:44–10:06 · Guest teaching 4/10 Competitive Differentiation Through Dedicated Customer Onboarding Nathan compares Grow directly to competitor Klipfolio, prompting Rob to explain how high-touch human onboarding differentiates them from self-serve tools.10:08–12:27 · Guest teaching 3/10 Funnel Metric Tracking and Commitment to Independence Nathan tests Rob's resolve by floating a hypothetical sixty-million-dollar acquisition offer, which Rob instantly turns down.12:27–14:34 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Entrepreneurship Questions Nathan conducts his standard rapid-fire Famous Five round, covering favorite software, mentors, family life, and career advice.1:20–4:07 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Grow Business Intelligence Platform and Revenue Growth Nathan quickly runs SaaS math on air, calculating monthly and annual recurring revenue from customer counts and contract values while Rob refines the metrics.4:07–7:44 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Paid Acquisition Strategy and Marketing Channel Breakdown Nathan probes Rob on his upcoming funding round size and calculates his customer acquisition cost based on payback months and ACV.7:44–10:06 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Competitive Differentiation Through Dedicated Customer Onboarding Nathan compares Grow directly to competitor Klipfolio, prompting Rob to explain how high-touch human onboarding differentiates them from self-serve tools.10:08–12:27 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Funnel Metric Tracking and Commitment to Independence Nathan tests Rob's resolve by floating a hypothetical sixty-million-dollar acquisition offer, which Rob instantly turns down.12:27–14:34 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Entrepreneurship Questions Nathan conducts his standard rapid-fire Famous Five round, covering favorite software, mentors, family life, and career advice.1:20–4:07 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Grow Business Intelligence Platform and Revenue Growth Nathan quickly runs SaaS math on air, calculating monthly and annual recurring revenue from customer counts and contract values while Rob refines the metrics.4:07–7:44 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Paid Acquisition Strategy and Marketing Channel Breakdown Nathan probes Rob on his upcoming funding round size and calculates his customer acquisition cost based on payback months and ACV.7:44–10:06 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Competitive Differentiation Through Dedicated Customer Onboarding Nathan compares Grow directly to competitor Klipfolio, prompting Rob to explain how high-touch human onboarding differentiates them from self-serve tools.10:08–12:27 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Funnel Metric Tracking and Commitment to Independence Nathan tests Rob's resolve by floating a hypothetical sixty-million-dollar acquisition offer, which Rob instantly turns down.12:27–14:34 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Entrepreneurship Questions Nathan conducts his standard rapid-fire Famous Five round, covering favorite software, mentors, family life, and career advice.

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

0:00 · Nathan 58.8% · guest 41.2%0:00 · Nathan 58.8% · guest 41.2%3:00 · Nathan 39.1% · guest 60.9%3:00 · Nathan 39.1% · guest 60.9%6:00 · Nathan 30.8% · guest 69.2%6:00 · Nathan 30.8% · guest 69.2%9:00 · Nathan 52.2% · guest 47.8%9:00 · Nathan 52.2% · guest 47.8%12:00 · Nathan 51.7% · guest 48.3%12:00 · Nathan 51.7% · guest 48.3%15:00 · Nathan 97.3% · guest 2.7%15:00 · Nathan 97.3% · guest 2.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:04 Flat rejection of buyout proposal

Rob immediately dismisses Nathan's hypothetical sixty-million-dollar buyout proposal with a firm and prompt refusal.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:36 Pressing to reveal undisclosed Series B round

Nathan attempts to bypass Rob's secrecy around his unannounced Series B by promising an embargoed release schedule.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:38 Explaining the necessity of onboarding in SMB BI

Rob educates Nathan on why self-serve software fails in SMB business intelligence without hands-on data consultants.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 3:34 Calculating revenue metrics and unit economics in real time

Nathan demonstrates mastery of SaaS economics by recalculating Grow's MRR and ARR directly from customer count and ACV figures.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Grow Business Intelligence Platform and Revenue Growth 7212 Nathan quickly runs SaaS math on air, calculating monthly and annual recurring revenue from customer counts and contract values while Rob refines the metrics.
Paid Acquisition Strategy and Marketing Channel Breakdown 6123 Nathan probes Rob on his upcoming funding round size and calculates his customer acquisition cost based on payback months and ACV.
Competitive Differentiation Through Dedicated Customer Onboarding 5412 Nathan compares Grow directly to competitor Klipfolio, prompting Rob to explain how high-touch human onboarding differentiates them from self-serve tools.
Funnel Metric Tracking and Commitment to Independence 6323 Nathan tests Rob's resolve by floating a hypothetical sixty-million-dollar acquisition offer, which Rob instantly turns down.
The Famous Five Rapid Fire Entrepreneurship Questions 3000 Nathan conducts his standard rapid-fire Famous Five round, covering favorite software, mentors, family life, and career advice.

Statements from this episode (17)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Grow.com reaches approximately 1,300 customers
“We've got about 1300.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 3:26
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Grow.com more than doubles customer base in 12 months
“We've more than doubled in the last 12 months.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 3:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Grow.com averages $8,100 in annual contract value
“Average deal size ends up being about 8100 a year in ACV, annual contract value.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 3:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Grow.com is approaching $10M in ARR
“We're just about to.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 4:04
Disclosure
Nelson: Grow.com employs 35 to 40 people on its sales team
“I mean, we've got around 40 on the sales team 35 to 40 on the sales team.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 4:20
Disclosure
Nelson: Grow.com has a 60/40 customer acquisition split between paid and organic
“I'd say we've got about a sixty-forty split between organic paid versus organic.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 4:31
Disclosure
Nelson: Grow.com spends $100k to $120k monthly on paid advertising
“We spend about a hundred, a 120 unpaid.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 4:45
Disclosure
Facebook drives bulk of Grow.com's paid acquisition due to lower costs
“Facebook has always done really well for us. You know, it doesn't perform as well as like Google, but you know, it's a lot less expensive. But still the bulk of what we do comes from Facebook.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 4:55
Disclosure
Grow.com is wrapping up its Series B funding round
“No, we've we're just wrapping up the series B and we're coming out and doing a whole press release with that in about two to three weeks.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 5:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Rob Nelson: Grow.com maintains about 2% monthly logo churn
“You know, we're about two percent. You know, I think healthy SMB churn. So yeah, that's what we've been targeting.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 6:00
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Grow.com achieves a 6 to 7 month CAC payback period
“You know, we've got a payback period of about six to seven months.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 6:36
Assertion Supported
Grow.com has just over 100 employees, including eight in London
“We've got about just over a hundred people. And this past year we opened an office in London. And so we have maybe eight people in London and they're cranking and exceeding targets and doing well.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 7:15
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Nelson predicts the business intelligence market will undergo future consolidation
“I think that the market, our space will go through a consolidation, but we're not there yet.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 8:01
Disclosure
Nelson: Grow.com aims to become the HubSpot of business intelligence
“We feel like we can own and dominate this SMB space in BI. What we're looking to do is become the hub spot of BI. You know, and really own and dominate that area.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 8:20
Opinion
Dedicated onboarding teams differentiate Grow.com from Klipfolio in SMB market
“I think one of the things that sets us apart from Clipfolio is you know, BI is complex especially I think for SMBs without IT departments. Without a lot of technical resources. And so we have a whole onboarding team, a whole client success team. It's been, I t…”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 8:39
Insight
Nelson: Grow's top B2B users track the entire acquisition funnel
“What we're seeing our customers, our most successful customers track is all around the customer acquisition process, right? With, you know, and B in the B to B world, it's, you know, starting with ad spend leads generated sales opportunities and the conversion…”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 11:29
Assertion Supported
Nelson: Traeger CEO Jeremy Andrus sits on Grow's board
“I'm a big fan of Jeremy Andrus, CEO of Traeger. He's a consumer products guy, but knows branding, knows how to scale a business. And he's on our board.”
Rob Nelson Jun 14, 2018 ▶ 13:01
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