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May 7, 2018 · 23m · top-founders

1017 The New Nielsen? $12m in Revenue Says, Maybe!

Peter Daboll · 14m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, exploring how the company modernized advertising measurement into a profitable, $12 million ARR syndicated SaaS platform. Daboll details their rapid 24-hour creative testing technology, enterprise unit economics, and the imperative for brands to measure creative effectiveness amidst digital video overproduction.

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 32.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.1 Guest teaching 4.3 Guest disagreement 1.4 Nathan pushing back 2.7
05100:0010:0020:001:35–4:17 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Ace Metrix Core Concept and Testing Technology Latka guides the conversation around Ace Metrix's technological approach and data collection methods. Daboll explains how syndicated testing within 24 hours disrupted the traditional 4-to-6-week TV ad testing cycle.4:18–6:40 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Audience Panel Sampling and Industry Differentiation Latka inquires about sample demographics and comparisons with incumbent research giants like Nielsen. Daboll educates Latka on why Nielsen's recall metric conflates media spend with creative effectiveness, positioning his method as a cleaner measurement.6:41–10:55 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Founding Origins and Venture Capital Fundraising Latka interrogates gross margins and venture capital valuation expectations for syndicated data businesses. Daboll draws from his Comscore background to explain how collecting data once and selling multiple times drives margins above 80%.10:55–13:14 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Reaching $1M Monthly Revenue and Video Overproduction Latka calculates monthly revenue and lightly presses Daboll on when the company crossed the $1M/month milestone. Daboll explains the market dynamics of brands overproducing digital video and needing quality control.13:17–16:45 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Predictive Ad Scoring and Cannes Lions Research Latka demonstrates SaaS expertise by quoting industry data on revenue per employee benchmarks ($137k) to validate Daboll's capital efficiency. Daboll shares findings from their Cannes Lions predictive scoring paper.16:45–20:18 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy, Payback, and Churn When Daboll provides general responses on CAC, Latka reframes the question directly toward payback periods and retention. Daboll clarifies their 12-month payback and 90% annual retention metrics.20:18–22:46 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five format and notes overlapping customer metrics with Cirrus Insight's CEO Brandon Bruce. Daboll provides candid personal and business reflections.1:35–4:17 · Guest teaching 5/10 Ace Metrix Core Concept and Testing Technology Latka guides the conversation around Ace Metrix's technological approach and data collection methods. Daboll explains how syndicated testing within 24 hours disrupted the traditional 4-to-6-week TV ad testing cycle.4:18–6:40 · Guest teaching 6/10 Audience Panel Sampling and Industry Differentiation Latka inquires about sample demographics and comparisons with incumbent research giants like Nielsen. Daboll educates Latka on why Nielsen's recall metric conflates media spend with creative effectiveness, positioning his method as a cleaner measurement.6:41–10:55 · Guest teaching 5/10 Founding Origins and Venture Capital Fundraising Latka interrogates gross margins and venture capital valuation expectations for syndicated data businesses. Daboll draws from his Comscore background to explain how collecting data once and selling multiple times drives margins above 80%.10:55–13:14 · Guest teaching 4/10 Reaching $1M Monthly Revenue and Video Overproduction Latka calculates monthly revenue and lightly presses Daboll on when the company crossed the $1M/month milestone. Daboll explains the market dynamics of brands overproducing digital video and needing quality control.13:17–16:45 · Guest teaching 4/10 Predictive Ad Scoring and Cannes Lions Research Latka demonstrates SaaS expertise by quoting industry data on revenue per employee benchmarks ($137k) to validate Daboll's capital efficiency. Daboll shares findings from their Cannes Lions predictive scoring paper.16:45–20:18 · Guest teaching 4/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy, Payback, and Churn When Daboll provides general responses on CAC, Latka reframes the question directly toward payback periods and retention. Daboll clarifies their 12-month payback and 90% annual retention metrics.20:18–22:46 · Guest teaching 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five format and notes overlapping customer metrics with Cirrus Insight's CEO Brandon Bruce. Daboll provides candid personal and business reflections.1:35–4:17 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Ace Metrix Core Concept and Testing Technology Latka guides the conversation around Ace Metrix's technological approach and data collection methods. Daboll explains how syndicated testing within 24 hours disrupted the traditional 4-to-6-week TV ad testing cycle.4:18–6:40 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Audience Panel Sampling and Industry Differentiation Latka inquires about sample demographics and comparisons with incumbent research giants like Nielsen. Daboll educates Latka on why Nielsen's recall metric conflates media spend with creative effectiveness, positioning his method as a cleaner measurement.6:41–10:55 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Founding Origins and Venture Capital Fundraising Latka interrogates gross margins and venture capital valuation expectations for syndicated data businesses. Daboll draws from his Comscore background to explain how collecting data once and selling multiple times drives margins above 80%.10:55–13:14 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Reaching $1M Monthly Revenue and Video Overproduction Latka calculates monthly revenue and lightly presses Daboll on when the company crossed the $1M/month milestone. Daboll explains the market dynamics of brands overproducing digital video and needing quality control.13:17–16:45 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Predictive Ad Scoring and Cannes Lions Research Latka demonstrates SaaS expertise by quoting industry data on revenue per employee benchmarks ($137k) to validate Daboll's capital efficiency. Daboll shares findings from their Cannes Lions predictive scoring paper.16:45–20:18 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy, Payback, and Churn When Daboll provides general responses on CAC, Latka reframes the question directly toward payback periods and retention. Daboll clarifies their 12-month payback and 90% annual retention metrics.20:18–22:46 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five format and notes overlapping customer metrics with Cirrus Insight's CEO Brandon Bruce. Daboll provides candid personal and business reflections.1:35–4:17 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Ace Metrix Core Concept and Testing Technology Latka guides the conversation around Ace Metrix's technological approach and data collection methods. Daboll explains how syndicated testing within 24 hours disrupted the traditional 4-to-6-week TV ad testing cycle.4:18–6:40 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Audience Panel Sampling and Industry Differentiation Latka inquires about sample demographics and comparisons with incumbent research giants like Nielsen. Daboll educates Latka on why Nielsen's recall metric conflates media spend with creative effectiveness, positioning his method as a cleaner measurement.6:41–10:55 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Founding Origins and Venture Capital Fundraising Latka interrogates gross margins and venture capital valuation expectations for syndicated data businesses. Daboll draws from his Comscore background to explain how collecting data once and selling multiple times drives margins above 80%.10:55–13:14 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Reaching $1M Monthly Revenue and Video Overproduction Latka calculates monthly revenue and lightly presses Daboll on when the company crossed the $1M/month milestone. Daboll explains the market dynamics of brands overproducing digital video and needing quality control.13:17–16:45 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Predictive Ad Scoring and Cannes Lions Research Latka demonstrates SaaS expertise by quoting industry data on revenue per employee benchmarks ($137k) to validate Daboll's capital efficiency. Daboll shares findings from their Cannes Lions predictive scoring paper.16:45–20:18 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Customer Acquisition Strategy, Payback, and Churn When Daboll provides general responses on CAC, Latka reframes the question directly toward payback periods and retention. Daboll clarifies their 12-month payback and 90% annual retention metrics.20:18–22:46 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Latka runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five format and notes overlapping customer metrics with Cirrus Insight's CEO Brandon Bruce. Daboll provides candid personal and business reflections.

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

0:00 · Nathan 57.8% · guest 42.2%0:00 · Nathan 57.8% · guest 42.2%3:00 · Nathan 19.3% · guest 80.7%3:00 · Nathan 19.3% · guest 80.7%6:00 · Nathan 18.8% · guest 81.2%6:00 · Nathan 18.8% · guest 81.2%9:00 · Nathan 12.9% · guest 87.1%9:00 · Nathan 12.9% · guest 87.1%12:00 · Nathan 63.7% · guest 36.3%12:00 · Nathan 63.7% · guest 36.3%15:00 · Nathan 19.8% · guest 80.2%15:00 · Nathan 19.8% · guest 80.2%18:00 · Nathan 25.2% · guest 74.8%18:00 · Nathan 25.2% · guest 74.8%21:00 · Nathan 48.6% · guest 51.4%21:00 · Nathan 48.6% · guest 51.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:15 Daboll criticizes brand creative overproduction

Daboll aggressively critiques contemporary digital ad strategies, describing brands as just puking out creative without testing quality.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 18:39 Latka redirects after CAC deflection

Latka interrupts the vague explanation of acquisition costs to explicitly demand payback period metrics.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:57 Daboll critiques Nielsen's recall methodology

Daboll details how traditional recall testing gets corrupted by media spend weight rather than measuring pure creative impact.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:16 Latka cites specific SaaS productivity benchmarks

Latka showcases deep domain mastery by comparing Daboll's team output against exact $137k revenue-per-employee dataset averages.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Ace Metrix Core Concept and Testing Technology 4512 Latka guides the conversation around Ace Metrix's technological approach and data collection methods. Daboll explains how syndicated testing within 24 hours disrupted the traditional 4-to-6-week TV ad testing cycle.
Audience Panel Sampling and Industry Differentiation 4622 Latka inquires about sample demographics and comparisons with incumbent research giants like Nielsen. Daboll educates Latka on why Nielsen's recall metric conflates media spend with creative effectiveness, positioning his method as a cleaner measurement.
Founding Origins and Venture Capital Fundraising 5513 Latka interrogates gross margins and venture capital valuation expectations for syndicated data businesses. Daboll draws from his Comscore background to explain how collecting data once and selling multiple times drives margins above 80%.
Reaching $1M Monthly Revenue and Video Overproduction 5424 Latka calculates monthly revenue and lightly presses Daboll on when the company crossed the $1M/month milestone. Daboll explains the market dynamics of brands overproducing digital video and needing quality control.
Predictive Ad Scoring and Cannes Lions Research 7412 Latka demonstrates SaaS expertise by quoting industry data on revenue per employee benchmarks ($137k) to validate Daboll's capital efficiency. Daboll shares findings from their Cannes Lions predictive scoring paper.
Customer Acquisition Strategy, Payback, and Churn 6425 When Daboll provides general responses on CAC, Latka reframes the question directly toward payback periods and retention. Daboll clarifies their 12-month payback and 90% annual retention metrics.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 5211 Latka runs through the rapid-fire Famous Five format and notes overlapping customer metrics with Cirrus Insight's CEO Brandon Bruce. Daboll provides candid personal and business reflections.

Statements from this episode (14)

Insight
Daboll: Ad effectiveness can only be understood by benchmarking against all ads
“Our philosophy is you only know if an ad's good if you know how good every ad is good because we're all being bombarded with ads every day.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 2:17
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ace Metrix cuts ad testing turnaround from six weeks to 24 hours
“We build a technology solution that basically grabs every ad that airs, tests it, put it in syndicated database in 24 hours as opposed to the four to six weeks it used to take.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 2:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Nielsen and Millward Brown rely on pre-automation recall testing
“So Nielsen and Milward Brown and some of these other copy testing outfits are really pre-automation guys. And so, Our fundamental difference was on the technology and the normative data and all of the competitive assets. Nielsen measures more on a recall basis…”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 5:58
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daboll: Ace Metrix holds the world's largest scored ad database
“We have, like, the largest ad database in the world now.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 7:07
Disclosure
Daboll: Ace Metrix has raised about $20 million in venture funding
“We've made raised about twenty million.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 8:25
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daboll: Ace Metrix Is Profitable and Making Money
“We're actually making money now, so, so.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 8:45
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ace Metrix maintains gross margins over 80 percent despite client services
“It drives it down a little, but still over 80.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 9:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daboll: Ace Metrix Has 95 to 100 Top Advertisers on Platform
“We've got 95 to a hundred top advertisers on the platform, you know, banging on it every day.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 9:53
Disclosure
Ace Metrix has surpassed $1 million in monthly revenue
“Well, yeah, we've broken that.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 11:03
Insight
Daboll: Digital video advertising will be won by fewer, higher-quality creatives
“So the question is, what's going to win in this battle is going to be fewer and better.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 11:48
Disclosure
Ace Metrix is growing revenue 20 to 30 percent year-over-year
“You know, we're growing at about around 20, you know, around 20 to 20 to 30”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 15:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daboll: Traditional advertising agency groups are seeing sharp cutbacks
“And if you see like some of the agency Martin Sorrell, for example, and other agency groups are seeing really sharp cutbacks in, in the traditional agency model.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 15:22
Opinion
Daboll: Big brands are consolidating ad spend into Google and Facebook
“The other thing is you've got some consolidation where, where a lot of the big brands are sick of the ad tech stuff. They just want to deal with like a Google or a Facebook or, you know, a big vendor and concentrate their spend there.”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 16:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ace Metrix achieves 90 percent customer retention and 10 percent churn
“We budget around 85% retention, and so we usually beat that, but it's around 90% retention, 10% churn, and”
Peter Daboll May 7, 2018 ▶ 19:49
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