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Feb 8, 2018 · 19m · top-founders

929 MuleSoft 2.0? Passes $40m in ARR Integration Platform as a Service

George Gallegos · 11m 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 Podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews Jitterbit CEO George Gallegos on how the iPaaS platform scaled from a five-person team to over $40 million in ARR. Gallegos details their freemium customer acquisition funnel, enterprise unit economics, strategic funding, and plans for an impending IPO.

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 36.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 2.6 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 4.0
05100:0010:001:59–6:25 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Product Positioning, iPaaS Capabilities, and SaaS Model Nathan attempts to categorize Jitterbit as an enterprise version of Zapier, but George reframes the positioning to compare Jitterbit directly to MuleSoft.6:26–9:07 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 CEO Recruitment Context and Freemium Distribution George explains his transition into the CEO role and how Jitterbit leveraged freemium distribution inside the Salesforce ecosystem for lead generation.9:10–11:44 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 ARR Scale, Go-to-Market Channels, and Sales Team Structure Nathan calculates ARR based on customer count and ACV, pressing George to give an exact range when George indicates they are slightly under $50 million.11:45–15:33 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Retention Metrics, Payback Period, and Expansion Economics Nathan drills into SaaS unit economics, probing CAC payback calculations and expansion levers after George cites a sub-two-year payback period.15:33–19:31 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Historical ARR Trajectory and IPO Timeline Nathan reverse-engineers historical ARR trajectories using reported growth rates before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questions.1:59–6:25 · Guest teaching 4/10 Product Positioning, iPaaS Capabilities, and SaaS Model Nathan attempts to categorize Jitterbit as an enterprise version of Zapier, but George reframes the positioning to compare Jitterbit directly to MuleSoft.6:26–9:07 · Guest teaching 2/10 CEO Recruitment Context and Freemium Distribution George explains his transition into the CEO role and how Jitterbit leveraged freemium distribution inside the Salesforce ecosystem for lead generation.9:10–11:44 · Guest teaching 3/10 ARR Scale, Go-to-Market Channels, and Sales Team Structure Nathan calculates ARR based on customer count and ACV, pressing George to give an exact range when George indicates they are slightly under $50 million.11:45–15:33 · Guest teaching 2/10 Retention Metrics, Payback Period, and Expansion Economics Nathan drills into SaaS unit economics, probing CAC payback calculations and expansion levers after George cites a sub-two-year payback period.15:33–19:31 · Guest teaching 2/10 Historical ARR Trajectory and IPO Timeline Nathan reverse-engineers historical ARR trajectories using reported growth rates before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questions.1:59–6:25 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Product Positioning, iPaaS Capabilities, and SaaS Model Nathan attempts to categorize Jitterbit as an enterprise version of Zapier, but George reframes the positioning to compare Jitterbit directly to MuleSoft.6:26–9:07 · Guest disagreement 1/10 CEO Recruitment Context and Freemium Distribution George explains his transition into the CEO role and how Jitterbit leveraged freemium distribution inside the Salesforce ecosystem for lead generation.9:10–11:44 · Guest disagreement 3/10 ARR Scale, Go-to-Market Channels, and Sales Team Structure Nathan calculates ARR based on customer count and ACV, pressing George to give an exact range when George indicates they are slightly under $50 million.11:45–15:33 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Retention Metrics, Payback Period, and Expansion Economics Nathan drills into SaaS unit economics, probing CAC payback calculations and expansion levers after George cites a sub-two-year payback period.15:33–19:31 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Historical ARR Trajectory and IPO Timeline Nathan reverse-engineers historical ARR trajectories using reported growth rates before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questions.1:59–6:25 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Product Positioning, iPaaS Capabilities, and SaaS Model Nathan attempts to categorize Jitterbit as an enterprise version of Zapier, but George reframes the positioning to compare Jitterbit directly to MuleSoft.6:26–9:07 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 CEO Recruitment Context and Freemium Distribution George explains his transition into the CEO role and how Jitterbit leveraged freemium distribution inside the Salesforce ecosystem for lead generation.9:10–11:44 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 ARR Scale, Go-to-Market Channels, and Sales Team Structure Nathan calculates ARR based on customer count and ACV, pressing George to give an exact range when George indicates they are slightly under $50 million.11:45–15:33 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Retention Metrics, Payback Period, and Expansion Economics Nathan drills into SaaS unit economics, probing CAC payback calculations and expansion levers after George cites a sub-two-year payback period.15:33–19:31 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Historical ARR Trajectory and IPO Timeline Nathan reverse-engineers historical ARR trajectories using reported growth rates before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 51.7% · guest 48.3%0:00 · Nathan 51.7% · guest 48.3%3:00 · Nathan 23.4% · guest 76.6%3:00 · Nathan 23.4% · guest 76.6%6:00 · Nathan 39.9% · guest 60.1%6:00 · Nathan 39.9% · guest 60.1%9:00 · Nathan 40.6% · guest 59.4%9:00 · Nathan 40.6% · guest 59.4%12:00 · Nathan 28.9% · guest 71.1%12:00 · Nathan 28.9% · guest 71.1%15:00 · Nathan 26.2% · guest 73.8%15:00 · Nathan 26.2% · guest 73.8%18:00 · Nathan 57% · guest 43%18:00 · Nathan 57% · guest 43%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 2:42 Rejecting Zapier analogy

George politely but firmly dismisses Nathan's comparison of Jitterbit to consumer-focused tools like Zapier, insisting MuleSoft is the appropriate peer.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:17 Pressing on ARR floor

When George hedges that they are under $50M ARR, Nathan refuses the vague answer and pushes him to specify a tight floor between $40M and $50M.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 2:42 Educating on enterprise iPaaS

George educates Nathan on the difference between lightweight consumer automations and complex enterprise digital transformations handled by cloudy iPaaS platforms.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:17 Multiplying ACV and logo count

Nathan demonstrates command of SaaS math by multiplying 1,000 customers by the $50k ACV to immediately deduce the company's run rate.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Product Positioning, iPaaS Capabilities, and SaaS Model 5434 Nathan attempts to categorize Jitterbit as an enterprise version of Zapier, but George reframes the positioning to compare Jitterbit directly to MuleSoft.
CEO Recruitment Context and Freemium Distribution 4212 George explains his transition into the CEO role and how Jitterbit leveraged freemium distribution inside the Salesforce ecosystem for lead generation.
ARR Scale, Go-to-Market Channels, and Sales Team Structure 6336 Nathan calculates ARR based on customer count and ACV, pressing George to give an exact range when George indicates they are slightly under $50 million.
Retention Metrics, Payback Period, and Expansion Economics 6225 Nathan drills into SaaS unit economics, probing CAC payback calculations and expansion levers after George cites a sub-two-year payback period.
Historical ARR Trajectory and IPO Timeline 5213 Nathan reverse-engineers historical ARR trajectories using reported growth rates before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questions.

Statements from this episode (16)

Opinion
Gallegos: Jitterbit's architecture is more cloud-native than MuleSoft's
“We're very similar to what MuleSoft does but we're more more, more cloudy, if you will, than say MuleSoft.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 3:09
Disclosure
Jitterbit's average customer pays approximately $50K annually
“I would say the average is in the 50,000 per year range, which is why we're not similar to a Zapier, but similar to a Mule.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 3:35
Disclosure
Jitterbit's strategic investors include Salesforce, Autodesk, and KKR
“Salesforce.com was the first strategic investor, followed by Autodesk, and then last year I brought in KKR, the growth side, the technology growth fund of KKR.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 4:46
Disclosure
Jitterbit has raised $25M in total capital
“Twenty five million.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 5:07
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jitterbit revenue grows 70% to 80% year-over-year
“I mean, the market is growing at a very high pace, 50, 60%, depending on who you ask. And we're growing at 70 to 80%.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 5:17
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Gallegos: Jitterbit aims for IPO and positive cashflow in two years
“We've got two years of cash in the bank and our plan is to be cashflow positive and in a position to do an IPO at that time.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 5:29
Disclosure
Jitterbit employs nearly 200 people globally
“We're just shy of 200 folks scattered around the world, headquartered here in Alameda.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 5:52
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jitterbit has over 1,000 paying customers and 50,000 users
“We, they probably had 50 customers when I joined. We have over a thousand paying customers, but 50,000 users on our platform.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 7:32
Disclosure
Jitterbit uses a 10% free freemium model for Salesforce lead gen
“We have about 50,000 customers in the Salesforce ecosystem. And the goal there was lead generation, get our brand name out, let people get to know us, give them 10% of the value for free. Move big amounts of data in and out of Salesforce into flat files, datab…”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 7:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jitterbit's annual recurring revenue is between $40M and $50M
“That's probably still less. Yeah. 40 and 50.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 9:27
Disclosure
Jitterbit maintains a 1:1 ratio of SDRs to account executives
“It's about a one-to-one ratio.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 10:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jitterbit experiences approximately 10% annual customer churn
“About, on an annual basis, about 10% churn.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 11:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jitterbit's net retention rate is around 105% and improving
“And I would say our net retention is somewhere around 105% and improving. We've been improving that over the last year.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 12:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jitterbit achieves CAC payback in under two years
“We're, yeah, we're seeing a return in, in, you know, under two years, which is good.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 12:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Growing Jitterbit clients typically double their spend in year two
“You know, some customers have quadrupled their spend, but I'd say on average, a doubling of spend is, is fairly typical with some of the clients that have the ability to grow.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 14:17
Disclosure
Gallegos: Jitterbit would reject a $500M buyout to pursue an IPO
“No, we, at this point, we've got a big a big growth opportunity and an opportunity to achieve an IPO. So that's the path our investors like to see us on.”
George Gallegos Feb 8, 2018 ▶ 17:35
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