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Jun 2, 2018 · 20m · top-founders

1043 HR Tech CEO: I accidently raised $3m!

Ted Elliott · 12m 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 Podcast, Jobscience founder and CEO Ted Elliott reveals how he bootstrapped his recruitment software company to $18 million in ARR on the Salesforce platform using non-dilutive capital, AI-driven sales automation, and strategic market pivots.

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 32.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:0020:000:49–3:44 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Jobscience Origins and the Accidental Three Million Dollar Raise Nathan drills into the mechanics of the accidental initial funding and quickly calculates the implied equity dilution on a twelve million dollar valuation. Ted openly shares the wild origin story of securing three million dollars right before the dot-com crash and blowing off a prominent VC.3:44–7:46 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Structuring Family Debt Financing via the Bank of Terry Ted explains using familial debt capital via arm's-length terms modeled after institutional SaaS lenders to protect cap table equity. Nathan validates the strategy and presses on the revenue numbers and cash flow that funded their transition onto the Salesforce platform.7:47–10:33 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Analyzing Jobscience SaaS Metrics, Pricing, and Retention Nathan displays sharp command of SaaS economics by immediately deconstructing Ted's customer count and average revenue figures, identifying a heavily weighted top end. Nathan also corrects Ted's math on net revenue retention versus negative churn.10:33–12:36 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Global Team Distribution and Executive Talent Strategy Ted details his global team footprint and veteran hires from Salesforce and Monster. Nathan mostly listens and confirms organizational metrics before transitioning into a mid-roll advertisement.12:38–15:51 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Customer Acquisition Payback and AI Lead Qualification with Conversica Nathan clarifies Ted's payback period metric when Ted momentarily confuses CAC with payback months. Ted explains his playbook of replacing inbound SDRs with conversational AI and targeting niche industry conferences.15:51–19:44 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Acquisition Multiples, Rollup Vision, and Blockchain Capital Nathan pushes hypothetical acquisition offers and multiples, asking whether Ted would sell at 4x ARR. Ted dismisses the idea of a Salesforce acquisition based on market focus and shares personal reflections during the Famous Five.0:49–3:44 · Guest teaching 2/10 Jobscience Origins and the Accidental Three Million Dollar Raise Nathan drills into the mechanics of the accidental initial funding and quickly calculates the implied equity dilution on a twelve million dollar valuation. Ted openly shares the wild origin story of securing three million dollars right before the dot-com crash and blowing off a prominent VC.3:44–7:46 · Guest teaching 2/10 Structuring Family Debt Financing via the Bank of Terry Ted explains using familial debt capital via arm's-length terms modeled after institutional SaaS lenders to protect cap table equity. Nathan validates the strategy and presses on the revenue numbers and cash flow that funded their transition onto the Salesforce platform.7:47–10:33 · Guest teaching 3/10 Analyzing Jobscience SaaS Metrics, Pricing, and Retention Nathan displays sharp command of SaaS economics by immediately deconstructing Ted's customer count and average revenue figures, identifying a heavily weighted top end. Nathan also corrects Ted's math on net revenue retention versus negative churn.10:33–12:36 · Guest teaching 1/10 Global Team Distribution and Executive Talent Strategy Ted details his global team footprint and veteran hires from Salesforce and Monster. Nathan mostly listens and confirms organizational metrics before transitioning into a mid-roll advertisement.12:38–15:51 · Guest teaching 3/10 Customer Acquisition Payback and AI Lead Qualification with Conversica Nathan clarifies Ted's payback period metric when Ted momentarily confuses CAC with payback months. Ted explains his playbook of replacing inbound SDRs with conversational AI and targeting niche industry conferences.15:51–19:44 · Guest teaching 1/10 Acquisition Multiples, Rollup Vision, and Blockchain Capital Nathan pushes hypothetical acquisition offers and multiples, asking whether Ted would sell at 4x ARR. Ted dismisses the idea of a Salesforce acquisition based on market focus and shares personal reflections during the Famous Five.0:49–3:44 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Jobscience Origins and the Accidental Three Million Dollar Raise Nathan drills into the mechanics of the accidental initial funding and quickly calculates the implied equity dilution on a twelve million dollar valuation. Ted openly shares the wild origin story of securing three million dollars right before the dot-com crash and blowing off a prominent VC.3:44–7:46 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Structuring Family Debt Financing via the Bank of Terry Ted explains using familial debt capital via arm's-length terms modeled after institutional SaaS lenders to protect cap table equity. Nathan validates the strategy and presses on the revenue numbers and cash flow that funded their transition onto the Salesforce platform.7:47–10:33 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Analyzing Jobscience SaaS Metrics, Pricing, and Retention Nathan displays sharp command of SaaS economics by immediately deconstructing Ted's customer count and average revenue figures, identifying a heavily weighted top end. Nathan also corrects Ted's math on net revenue retention versus negative churn.10:33–12:36 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Global Team Distribution and Executive Talent Strategy Ted details his global team footprint and veteran hires from Salesforce and Monster. Nathan mostly listens and confirms organizational metrics before transitioning into a mid-roll advertisement.12:38–15:51 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Customer Acquisition Payback and AI Lead Qualification with Conversica Nathan clarifies Ted's payback period metric when Ted momentarily confuses CAC with payback months. Ted explains his playbook of replacing inbound SDRs with conversational AI and targeting niche industry conferences.15:51–19:44 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Acquisition Multiples, Rollup Vision, and Blockchain Capital Nathan pushes hypothetical acquisition offers and multiples, asking whether Ted would sell at 4x ARR. Ted dismisses the idea of a Salesforce acquisition based on market focus and shares personal reflections during the Famous Five.0:49–3:44 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Jobscience Origins and the Accidental Three Million Dollar Raise Nathan drills into the mechanics of the accidental initial funding and quickly calculates the implied equity dilution on a twelve million dollar valuation. Ted openly shares the wild origin story of securing three million dollars right before the dot-com crash and blowing off a prominent VC.3:44–7:46 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Structuring Family Debt Financing via the Bank of Terry Ted explains using familial debt capital via arm's-length terms modeled after institutional SaaS lenders to protect cap table equity. Nathan validates the strategy and presses on the revenue numbers and cash flow that funded their transition onto the Salesforce platform.7:47–10:33 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Analyzing Jobscience SaaS Metrics, Pricing, and Retention Nathan displays sharp command of SaaS economics by immediately deconstructing Ted's customer count and average revenue figures, identifying a heavily weighted top end. Nathan also corrects Ted's math on net revenue retention versus negative churn.10:33–12:36 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Global Team Distribution and Executive Talent Strategy Ted details his global team footprint and veteran hires from Salesforce and Monster. Nathan mostly listens and confirms organizational metrics before transitioning into a mid-roll advertisement.12:38–15:51 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Customer Acquisition Payback and AI Lead Qualification with Conversica Nathan clarifies Ted's payback period metric when Ted momentarily confuses CAC with payback months. Ted explains his playbook of replacing inbound SDRs with conversational AI and targeting niche industry conferences.15:51–19:44 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Acquisition Multiples, Rollup Vision, and Blockchain Capital Nathan pushes hypothetical acquisition offers and multiples, asking whether Ted would sell at 4x ARR. Ted dismisses the idea of a Salesforce acquisition based on market focus and shares personal reflections during the Famous Five.

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

0:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%0:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%3:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%3:00 · Nathan 23% · guest 77%6:00 · Nathan 12.5% · guest 87.5%6:00 · Nathan 12.5% · guest 87.5%9:00 · Nathan 39.7% · guest 60.3%9:00 · Nathan 39.7% · guest 60.3%12:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%12:00 · Nathan 39.3% · guest 60.7%15:00 · Nathan 16.4% · guest 83.6%15:00 · Nathan 16.4% · guest 83.6%18:00 · Nathan 53% · guest 47%18:00 · Nathan 53% · guest 47%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:51 Dismissing Salesforce acquisition premise

Ted bluntly rejects Nathan's hypothetical question about Marc Benioff buying the company, explaining that Salesforce has zero interest in entering the staffing niche.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 10:07 Challenging net negative churn calculation

Nathan refuses to let Ted conflate 105 percent gross revenue retention with net negative churn, forcing a step-by-step subtraction down to 95 percent.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:00 Educating on arm's-length family venture debt

Ted explains the governance and legal necessity of structuring family-backed loans on commercially standard SaaS debt terms with third-party board oversight.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:59 Recomputing real ARPU across customer base

Nathan instantly divides eighteen million dollars in ARR by Ted's five hundred customers to reveal a three thousand dollar monthly average despite Ted quoting a higher headline tier.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Jobscience Origins and the Accidental Three Million Dollar Raise 6212 Nathan drills into the mechanics of the accidental initial funding and quickly calculates the implied equity dilution on a twelve million dollar valuation. Ted openly shares the wild origin story of securing three million dollars right before the dot-com crash and blowing off a prominent VC.
Structuring Family Debt Financing via the Bank of Terry 6211 Ted explains using familial debt capital via arm's-length terms modeled after institutional SaaS lenders to protect cap table equity. Nathan validates the strategy and presses on the revenue numbers and cash flow that funded their transition onto the Salesforce platform.
Analyzing Jobscience SaaS Metrics, Pricing, and Retention 8327 Nathan displays sharp command of SaaS economics by immediately deconstructing Ted's customer count and average revenue figures, identifying a heavily weighted top end. Nathan also corrects Ted's math on net revenue retention versus negative churn.
Global Team Distribution and Executive Talent Strategy 4101 Ted details his global team footprint and veteran hires from Salesforce and Monster. Nathan mostly listens and confirms organizational metrics before transitioning into a mid-roll advertisement.
Customer Acquisition Payback and AI Lead Qualification with Conversica 6313 Nathan clarifies Ted's payback period metric when Ted momentarily confuses CAC with payback months. Ted explains his playbook of replacing inbound SDRs with conversational AI and targeting niche industry conferences.
Acquisition Multiples, Rollup Vision, and Blockchain Capital 5124 Nathan pushes hypothetical acquisition offers and multiples, asking whether Ted would sell at 4x ARR. Ted dismisses the idea of a Salesforce acquisition based on market focus and shares personal reflections during the Famous Five.

Statements from this episode (15)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Washington Post, Tribune, and IBM offered $12M for Jobscience in 1999
“And the Washington Post, the Tribune, and IBM offered to buy it from me when it was six kids in my parents' attic with a cocktail napkin. For twelve million dollars.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 1:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
VC offered term sheet on condition founder fire his dad and sister
“I was in his office and he offered to sign a term sheet with me, but he had one provision. He wanted me to fire my sister and my dad.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 2:39
Disclosure
Original 1999 dot-com investors still hold 30% of Jobscience
“So they're with preferred preferences, they're about 30%, but yeah, they, I've carried them the whole time.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 3:30
Disclosure
Founder and father funded company via debt with liquidation preference
“My dad and I have provided debt capital to the business occasionally. But it's always been so that we have a preferred position over all the equity in the event of a total shit show.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 3:45
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jobscience reached $18M ARR building entirely on the Salesforce platform
“We literally went from zero dollars in sales and sales for today. We're about eighteen million.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 7:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jobscience operates at Rule of 36 with 33% year-over-year revenue growth
“I'd say we're rule of 36 right now. We have a little EBITDA lots, it's a SaaS business, so there's not lots of nice positive cash flow, but from an EBITDA standpoint you know, you're talking about three, four percent EBITDA, and then 33, Revenue of the busines…”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 7:56
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jobscience has 500 customers, with 80% of revenue in top 200
“No, we have about 500 customers but we have about 80% of the revenue weighted to the top 200.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 9:08
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jobscience maintains annual logo churn of slightly under 12%
“A logo basis is a little less than 12%.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 9:52
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jobscience generates 42% of its revenue outside the United States
“I'm 42% of our revenue comes from outside the United States.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 10:53
Disclosure
Jobscience replaced almost all of its inbound SDRs with an AI bot
“I actually fired almost all the inbound SDRs we had and I replaced them with something called Conversica, which is a, an AI bot.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 13:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jobscience gets 800 monthly inbounds, but mostly unqualified
“What we've seen from using that tool is that we're generating 800 inbound leads a month, but of those 800 inbounds, four or 500 of them were just not even in the right category for us, either the wrong countries or not large enough as a buyer.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 14:12
Disclosure
Industry conferences drive less than 25% of Jobscience's deal flow
“Driving less than, you know, 20%, 25% of the deal flow.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 14:41
Insight
Only 15% of enterprise staffing buyers are actively purchasing in any year
“In our market, we believe 15 to 16% Of the buyers that we're targeting are in active purchase mode in any given year. We think there's about 2500 buyers in that fit, you know, that, that, that we're targeting what 15 or six, there are 250 buyers, maybe 300 buy…”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 14:45
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Salesforce has no desire to enter the staffing software vertical
“This is not a space Salesforce wants to be in. And it's a subspace within the space. They don't want to be in the staffing industry. We have new corporate and staffing, but it's still not a space they want to be in.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 15:56
Disclosure
Jobscience aims to become a rollup platform within the next year
“We're at an interesting point where I think we have to look at ourselves within a year as a hub for rolling up other companies.”
Ted Elliott Jun 2, 2018 ▶ 17:05
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