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Mar 31, 2018 · 19m · top-founders

980 How This Company Uses Free Goodie Boxes and Reviews to Hit $12m in Revenues

Aiden Akar · 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 interview on The Top Entrepreneurs Podcast, Influenster co-founder and CEO Aydin Acar details how the platform leveraged product sampling, organic SEO, and SaaS review syndication to scale past $15 million in revenue.

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 29.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.6 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:000:49–4:37 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Influenster's Founding Story and Business Model Nathan asks clarifying questions regarding user base definition and monetization structure. Aiden explains how the business evolved from market research into a micro-influencer product review platform.4:38–7:55 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Revenue Predictability, Contract Sizes, and Financial Growth Nathan presses on revenue predictability and calculates run-rate revenue from contract sizes and logo counts. Aiden explains their recurring dynamics and clarifies bookings versus revenue recognition.7:56–12:26 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Bootstrapping and Capital Raising History Nathan repeatedly drills into unit economics, asking Aiden how they evaluate CAC versus LTV when spending on marketing. Aiden acknowledges they are still experimenting and lack exact attribution benchmarks.12:29–17:13 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Sponsor Message: Acuity Scheduling Following an ad read, Nathan returns to client lifetime value estimation. Aiden breaks down the negative CAC viral loop driven by physical box distributions.17:15–19:05 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A standard, friendly Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence covering books, sleep habits, and advice to younger self.0:49–4:37 · Guest teaching 3/10 Influenster's Founding Story and Business Model Nathan asks clarifying questions regarding user base definition and monetization structure. Aiden explains how the business evolved from market research into a micro-influencer product review platform.4:38–7:55 · Guest teaching 2/10 Revenue Predictability, Contract Sizes, and Financial Growth Nathan presses on revenue predictability and calculates run-rate revenue from contract sizes and logo counts. Aiden explains their recurring dynamics and clarifies bookings versus revenue recognition.7:56–12:26 · Guest teaching 3/10 Bootstrapping and Capital Raising History Nathan repeatedly drills into unit economics, asking Aiden how they evaluate CAC versus LTV when spending on marketing. Aiden acknowledges they are still experimenting and lack exact attribution benchmarks.12:29–17:13 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Message: Acuity Scheduling Following an ad read, Nathan returns to client lifetime value estimation. Aiden breaks down the negative CAC viral loop driven by physical box distributions.17:15–19:05 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A standard, friendly Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence covering books, sleep habits, and advice to younger self.0:49–4:37 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Influenster's Founding Story and Business Model Nathan asks clarifying questions regarding user base definition and monetization structure. Aiden explains how the business evolved from market research into a micro-influencer product review platform.4:38–7:55 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Revenue Predictability, Contract Sizes, and Financial Growth Nathan presses on revenue predictability and calculates run-rate revenue from contract sizes and logo counts. Aiden explains their recurring dynamics and clarifies bookings versus revenue recognition.7:56–12:26 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Bootstrapping and Capital Raising History Nathan repeatedly drills into unit economics, asking Aiden how they evaluate CAC versus LTV when spending on marketing. Aiden acknowledges they are still experimenting and lack exact attribution benchmarks.12:29–17:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Message: Acuity Scheduling Following an ad read, Nathan returns to client lifetime value estimation. Aiden breaks down the negative CAC viral loop driven by physical box distributions.17:15–19:05 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A standard, friendly Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence covering books, sleep habits, and advice to younger self.0:49–4:37 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Influenster's Founding Story and Business Model Nathan asks clarifying questions regarding user base definition and monetization structure. Aiden explains how the business evolved from market research into a micro-influencer product review platform.4:38–7:55 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Revenue Predictability, Contract Sizes, and Financial Growth Nathan presses on revenue predictability and calculates run-rate revenue from contract sizes and logo counts. Aiden explains their recurring dynamics and clarifies bookings versus revenue recognition.7:56–12:26 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Bootstrapping and Capital Raising History Nathan repeatedly drills into unit economics, asking Aiden how they evaluate CAC versus LTV when spending on marketing. Aiden acknowledges they are still experimenting and lack exact attribution benchmarks.12:29–17:13 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Sponsor Message: Acuity Scheduling Following an ad read, Nathan returns to client lifetime value estimation. Aiden breaks down the negative CAC viral loop driven by physical box distributions.17:15–19:05 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions A standard, friendly Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence covering books, sleep habits, and advice to younger self.

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

0:00 · Nathan 35.3% · guest 64.7%0:00 · Nathan 35.3% · guest 64.7%3:00 · Nathan 10.6% · guest 89.4%3:00 · Nathan 10.6% · guest 89.4%6:00 · Nathan 20.8% · guest 79.2%6:00 · Nathan 20.8% · guest 79.2%9:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%9:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%12:00 · Nathan 57% · guest 43%12:00 · Nathan 57% · guest 43%15:00 · Nathan 22.4% · guest 77.6%15:00 · Nathan 22.4% · guest 77.6%18:00 · Nathan 43.9% · guest 56.1%18:00 · Nathan 43.9% · guest 56.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:26 Aiden defends lack of rigid unit metrics

Aiden resists Nathan's framing that marketing decisions must be tied to strict LTV:CAC formulas, explaining they are still at an experimental stage.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:02 Nathan demands decision-making guideposts

Nathan refuses to let Aiden bypass the unit economics question, insisting that founders need a framework to decide spend aggressiveness.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:54 Explaining the negative consumer CAC flywheel

Aiden educates Nathan on why conventional CAC models do not fit their business, as brand campaigns generate consumer acquisition profits rather than costs.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 6:48 Nathan synthesizes logos into revenue run-rate

Nathan swiftly does the math on 150 logos paying 80k minimum to estimate the company's baseline annual revenue.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Influenster's Founding Story and Business Model 5312 Nathan asks clarifying questions regarding user base definition and monetization structure. Aiden explains how the business evolved from market research into a micro-influencer product review platform.
Revenue Predictability, Contract Sizes, and Financial Growth 7214 Nathan presses on revenue predictability and calculates run-rate revenue from contract sizes and logo counts. Aiden explains their recurring dynamics and clarifies bookings versus revenue recognition.
Bootstrapping and Capital Raising History 7326 Nathan repeatedly drills into unit economics, asking Aiden how they evaluate CAC versus LTV when spending on marketing. Aiden acknowledges they are still experimenting and lack exact attribution benchmarks.
Sponsor Message: Acuity Scheduling 6213 Following an ad read, Nathan returns to client lifetime value estimation. Aiden breaks down the negative CAC viral loop driven by physical box distributions.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 3000 A standard, friendly Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence covering books, sleep habits, and advice to younger self.

Statements from this episode (12)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Akar: Influenster has 4 million micro-influencer users
“We have around four million users at the moment.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 2:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Akar: Influenster shipped 2M products across 200 campaigns in 12 months
“We have around 200 campaigns you know, over 150 logos. We sent over two million products in the past 12 months.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 4:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Akar: Influenster holds 21M reviews, second only to Amazon
“The largest product reviews outside of Amazon. So we have around twenty one million product reviews on our site.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 4:57
Disclosure
Akar: Influenster's typical contract size is $80K to $150K
“No, I would say a typical contract size is anywhere between 80 to 150,000 dollars.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 6:15
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Akar: Influenster tracking to $15M-$16M in fiscal revenue
“Currently we are at twelve million dollars in bookings and around 10, eleven million dollars in revenue, so we're tracking to around 17, eighteen million dollars in bookings to around 15, sixteen million dollar revenue.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 7:13
Disclosure
Akar: Influenster bootstrapped for four years before Series A
“We bootstrapped initially first for four years. It was friends and family around all of our savings, all of that.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 7:58
Disclosure
Akar: Ebates invested $8M into Influenster for Series A
“They put eight million dollars.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 8:31
Disclosure
Akar: Influenster raised $1M in friends-and-family capital around 2012
“I would say there was around 2012, 2013, some friends and family round around like a million dollars.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 8:50
Disclosure
Akar: Influenster spends $500K annually on marketing, entirely on B2B
“Our marketing budget annually is at the moment around half a million dollars. This is mostly B to B. We spend almost nothing for B to C again, because we acquire new members based on. I mean, people talk about, you know, products.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 10:10
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Akar: Fewer than 10% of Influenster clients churn after first campaign
“If they're not retaining them for the longterm, like, you know, if they, if a client is not coming back after one campaign, we decide, we deem that as like a failure. But again, that, that happens less than 10% of the time.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 14:48
Insight
Akar: Influenster has negative CAC because monetized product boxes drive signups
“Customer acquisition for members, our marketing budget for that is almost negative, because we are making money by sending these boxes, which in turn brings us a lot of new members. So what our, what we make money from is actually making our Platform much bigg…”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 15:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Akar: Influenster sees 10% MoM traffic growth post-Google partnership
“You know, we grow around 10% month over month, our traffic since our partnership with Google, and I just want to make sure that that is solid growth that's happening at all times, so I'm always on it.”
Aiden Akar Mar 31, 2018 ▶ 18:04
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