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Apr 16, 2018 · 18m · top-founders

996 Guess Why This $600m Man Came out of "Martha Vineyard" Retirement

Mark Daniels · 9m 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 veteran tech executive Mark Daniels about leaving retirement after a $660 million exit with Diligent to become CEO of Results.com. Daniels breaks down his strategic turnaround playbook for the B2B SaaS platform, detailing how he resolved severe churn issues, optimized acquisition economics, and structured a global workforce.

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 39.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 3.3
05100:0010:000:49–3:41 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Mark Daniels' Career History and Diligent Exit Latka explores Mark's background with Diligent's exit, clarifying New Zealand dollars versus USD conversions. Mark details Diligent's cloud board management product and its trajectory from IPO to private equity buyout.3:42–6:57 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Unretiring from Martha's Vineyard for Results.com Latka probes why Mark exited retirement to lead Results.com and asks about the syndicate capital structure. Latka playfully challenges Mark's self-critical phrasing around having 'only' 500 customers.6:57–10:39 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Analyzing Results.com Financials, Churn, and Retention Latka performs live SaaS math on contract sizes and run rates, pressing Mark on flat revenue growth and logo versus net revenue retention. Mark openly acknowledges historical churn issues and details software stability fixes.10:42–15:36 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Sponsor Break: SignEasy Document Management Following an ad read, Latka pushes back against Mark's claim that an $8,000 CAC is terrible by pointing out the healthy 8-month payback period. Mark defends his standard based on Diligent's enterprise direct mail efficiency.0:49–3:41 · Guest teaching 3/10 Mark Daniels' Career History and Diligent Exit Latka explores Mark's background with Diligent's exit, clarifying New Zealand dollars versus USD conversions. Mark details Diligent's cloud board management product and its trajectory from IPO to private equity buyout.3:42–6:57 · Guest teaching 2/10 Unretiring from Martha's Vineyard for Results.com Latka probes why Mark exited retirement to lead Results.com and asks about the syndicate capital structure. Latka playfully challenges Mark's self-critical phrasing around having 'only' 500 customers.6:57–10:39 · Guest teaching 2/10 Analyzing Results.com Financials, Churn, and Retention Latka performs live SaaS math on contract sizes and run rates, pressing Mark on flat revenue growth and logo versus net revenue retention. Mark openly acknowledges historical churn issues and details software stability fixes.10:42–15:36 · Guest teaching 3/10 Sponsor Break: SignEasy Document Management Following an ad read, Latka pushes back against Mark's claim that an $8,000 CAC is terrible by pointing out the healthy 8-month payback period. Mark defends his standard based on Diligent's enterprise direct mail efficiency.0:49–3:41 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Mark Daniels' Career History and Diligent Exit Latka explores Mark's background with Diligent's exit, clarifying New Zealand dollars versus USD conversions. Mark details Diligent's cloud board management product and its trajectory from IPO to private equity buyout.3:42–6:57 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Unretiring from Martha's Vineyard for Results.com Latka probes why Mark exited retirement to lead Results.com and asks about the syndicate capital structure. Latka playfully challenges Mark's self-critical phrasing around having 'only' 500 customers.6:57–10:39 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Analyzing Results.com Financials, Churn, and Retention Latka performs live SaaS math on contract sizes and run rates, pressing Mark on flat revenue growth and logo versus net revenue retention. Mark openly acknowledges historical churn issues and details software stability fixes.10:42–15:36 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Sponsor Break: SignEasy Document Management Following an ad read, Latka pushes back against Mark's claim that an $8,000 CAC is terrible by pointing out the healthy 8-month payback period. Mark defends his standard based on Diligent's enterprise direct mail efficiency.0:49–3:41 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Mark Daniels' Career History and Diligent Exit Latka explores Mark's background with Diligent's exit, clarifying New Zealand dollars versus USD conversions. Mark details Diligent's cloud board management product and its trajectory from IPO to private equity buyout.3:42–6:57 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Unretiring from Martha's Vineyard for Results.com Latka probes why Mark exited retirement to lead Results.com and asks about the syndicate capital structure. Latka playfully challenges Mark's self-critical phrasing around having 'only' 500 customers.6:57–10:39 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Analyzing Results.com Financials, Churn, and Retention Latka performs live SaaS math on contract sizes and run rates, pressing Mark on flat revenue growth and logo versus net revenue retention. Mark openly acknowledges historical churn issues and details software stability fixes.10:42–15:36 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Sponsor Break: SignEasy Document Management Following an ad read, Latka pushes back against Mark's claim that an $8,000 CAC is terrible by pointing out the healthy 8-month payback period. Mark defends his standard based on Diligent's enterprise direct mail efficiency.

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

0:00 · Nathan 62% · guest 38%0:00 · Nathan 62% · guest 38%3:00 · Nathan 18.7% · guest 81.3%3:00 · Nathan 18.7% · guest 81.3%6:00 · Nathan 45% · guest 55%6:00 · Nathan 45% · guest 55%9:00 · Nathan 34.1% · guest 65.9%9:00 · Nathan 34.1% · guest 65.9%12:00 · Nathan 21.2% · guest 78.8%12:00 · Nathan 21.2% · guest 78.8%15:00 · Nathan 41.5% · guest 58.5%15:00 · Nathan 41.5% · guest 58.5%18:00 · Nathan 95.9% · guest 4.1%18:00 · Nathan 95.9% · guest 4.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:35 Mark insists CAC is terrible despite Latka's favorable math

Mark resists Latka's optimistic framing of an 8-month payback period by repeatedly insisting that Results.com's acquisition cost is subpar compared to his previous enterprise benchmarks.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:35 Latka challenges Mark's pessimistic CAC assessment

Latka refuses Mark's framing that an $8,000 customer acquisition cost is bad, directly countering that an 8-month payback on a $1,000/month contract represents solid SaaS economics.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:57 Mark explains Fortune 500 direct mail ROI and near-zero churn

Mark educates Latka on enterprise board sales, illustrating how high-ticket direct mail campaigns to Fortune 500 CEOs yielded near 99% retention and superior unit economics.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:55 Latka articulates SaaS onboarding triggers and guarantee mechanics

Latka demonstrates his SaaS expertise by synthesizing customer onboarding requirements into actionable milestones that derisk money-back guarantees and maximize lifetime value.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Mark Daniels' Career History and Diligent Exit 4311 Latka explores Mark's background with Diligent's exit, clarifying New Zealand dollars versus USD conversions. Mark details Diligent's cloud board management product and its trajectory from IPO to private equity buyout.
Unretiring from Martha's Vineyard for Results.com 5223 Latka probes why Mark exited retirement to lead Results.com and asks about the syndicate capital structure. Latka playfully challenges Mark's self-critical phrasing around having 'only' 500 customers.
Analyzing Results.com Financials, Churn, and Retention 7214 Latka performs live SaaS math on contract sizes and run rates, pressing Mark on flat revenue growth and logo versus net revenue retention. Mark openly acknowledges historical churn issues and details software stability fixes.
Sponsor Break: SignEasy Document Management 7325 Following an ad read, Latka pushes back against Mark's claim that an $8,000 CAC is terrible by pointing out the healthy 8-month payback period. Mark defends his standard based on Diligent's enterprise direct mail efficiency.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Contradicted
Diligent reached $80M ARR and one-third of Fortune 500 by 2012
“When I stepped away from the company in 2012 we were up to that 8070 to eighty million dollars a year in reoccurring revenue. And serving about one third of the Fortune 500 companies.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 2:31
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Mark Daniels: Launched first online store in 1985 on CompuServe
“I launched my first online store in 1985. People always challenged me on that, but it was part of CompuServe's electronic mall before the internet.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 3:12
Disclosure
Mark Daniels: Results.com raised $13M total, including under $1M of his own
“Well, overall, we brought in thirteen million dollars. Personally, I've only put in a little bit less than a million.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 5:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mark Daniels: Results.com has slightly under 500 active customers
“We're only at about 500 to shy 500 right now.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 6:41
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daniels: Results.com generates just under $5 million in annual revenue
“We're at about just shy of five million in total yearly revenue, so yes.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 7:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daniels: Results.com historical logo retention was 50% in the US
“Retention in New Zealand was in the 70 percentile, and in the U.S. It was in the 50 percentile, so very low.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 8:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daniels: Results.com customer retention averages just above 80%
“I had one rep in Q four, pulled a 100% retention rate which is great, but we're averaging just above 80% right now.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 10:17
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Daniels: Results.com customer acquisition cost is around $8,000
“Probably gosh, terrible, probably 8000 dollars customer acquisition cost.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 12:27
Assertion Supported
Daniels: Diligent maintained a 98.5% customer retention rate
“We were, you know, that, that company had a 99, 98.5% client retention rate.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 13:29
Disclosure
Results.com refunds $12,000 annual contracts if a client fails to grow
“We have just instituted a money back guarantee, which is probably unheard of, I think in the SaaS business, like, you know, pay us for 12,000 dollars, pay us 12,000 dollars over a year, and if your company doesn't grow, we'll give you your money back.”
Mark Daniels Apr 16, 2018 ▶ 14:10
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