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Jan 24, 2018 · 20m · top-founders

914 Finally Gamers Get Rid of Lag Using New, $6m Funded Tool

Adam Toll · 12m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top Entrepreneurs, host Nathan Latka interviews Adam Toll, co-founder and CEO of Haste, discussing how the company raised over 6 million dollars to solve gaming network latency through proprietary multi-route routing software and influencer-driven SaaS growth.

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 31.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 2.8
05100:0010:0020:001:12–5:08 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Explaining Real-Time Optimization and Latency Adam educates Nathan on the technical nuances of latency, breaking down the difference between hardware, software, and network lag, as well as the role of packet loss and jitter.5:10–7:39 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Haste's Multi-Route Network Architecture Adam walks through Haste's physical and routing infrastructure. Nathan follows along and affirms Adam's multi-route Waze analogy.7:40–10:26 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Monetization Model, Pricing, and User Scale Nathan presses Adam on exact customer counts and calls him out for downplaying their scale when Adam tries to avoid disclosing specific numbers.10:28–15:15 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Promotional Sponsor Break: The Top Inbox Acquisition Following an ad read monologue, Nathan interrogates Adam about fundraising, influencer marketing, and pins him down to an estimated monthly revenue range.15:15–17:45 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Churn Metrics, Acquisition Economics, and Growth Nathan performs rapid mental math on Haste's acquisition economics, pointing out that paying $75k for 35k signups is under $2 per signup and questioning why they paused spending.17:47–19:50 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Segment A collaborative rapid-fire segment where Adam shares his background, habits, and an extended reflection on 19th-century visionary Cyrus Field.1:12–5:08 · Guest teaching 6/10 Explaining Real-Time Optimization and Latency Adam educates Nathan on the technical nuances of latency, breaking down the difference between hardware, software, and network lag, as well as the role of packet loss and jitter.5:10–7:39 · Guest teaching 5/10 Haste's Multi-Route Network Architecture Adam walks through Haste's physical and routing infrastructure. Nathan follows along and affirms Adam's multi-route Waze analogy.7:40–10:26 · Guest teaching 2/10 Monetization Model, Pricing, and User Scale Nathan presses Adam on exact customer counts and calls him out for downplaying their scale when Adam tries to avoid disclosing specific numbers.10:28–15:15 · Guest teaching 2/10 Promotional Sponsor Break: The Top Inbox Acquisition Following an ad read monologue, Nathan interrogates Adam about fundraising, influencer marketing, and pins him down to an estimated monthly revenue range.15:15–17:45 · Guest teaching 2/10 Churn Metrics, Acquisition Economics, and Growth Nathan performs rapid mental math on Haste's acquisition economics, pointing out that paying $75k for 35k signups is under $2 per signup and questioning why they paused spending.17:47–19:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Segment A collaborative rapid-fire segment where Adam shares his background, habits, and an extended reflection on 19th-century visionary Cyrus Field.1:12–5:08 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Explaining Real-Time Optimization and Latency Adam educates Nathan on the technical nuances of latency, breaking down the difference between hardware, software, and network lag, as well as the role of packet loss and jitter.5:10–7:39 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Haste's Multi-Route Network Architecture Adam walks through Haste's physical and routing infrastructure. Nathan follows along and affirms Adam's multi-route Waze analogy.7:40–10:26 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Monetization Model, Pricing, and User Scale Nathan presses Adam on exact customer counts and calls him out for downplaying their scale when Adam tries to avoid disclosing specific numbers.10:28–15:15 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Promotional Sponsor Break: The Top Inbox Acquisition Following an ad read monologue, Nathan interrogates Adam about fundraising, influencer marketing, and pins him down to an estimated monthly revenue range.15:15–17:45 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Churn Metrics, Acquisition Economics, and Growth Nathan performs rapid mental math on Haste's acquisition economics, pointing out that paying $75k for 35k signups is under $2 per signup and questioning why they paused spending.17:47–19:50 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Segment A collaborative rapid-fire segment where Adam shares his background, habits, and an extended reflection on 19th-century visionary Cyrus Field.1:12–5:08 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Explaining Real-Time Optimization and Latency Adam educates Nathan on the technical nuances of latency, breaking down the difference between hardware, software, and network lag, as well as the role of packet loss and jitter.5:10–7:39 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Haste's Multi-Route Network Architecture Adam walks through Haste's physical and routing infrastructure. Nathan follows along and affirms Adam's multi-route Waze analogy.7:40–10:26 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Monetization Model, Pricing, and User Scale Nathan presses Adam on exact customer counts and calls him out for downplaying their scale when Adam tries to avoid disclosing specific numbers.10:28–15:15 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Promotional Sponsor Break: The Top Inbox Acquisition Following an ad read monologue, Nathan interrogates Adam about fundraising, influencer marketing, and pins him down to an estimated monthly revenue range.15:15–17:45 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Churn Metrics, Acquisition Economics, and Growth Nathan performs rapid mental math on Haste's acquisition economics, pointing out that paying $75k for 35k signups is under $2 per signup and questioning why they paused spending.17:47–19:50 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Segment A collaborative rapid-fire segment where Adam shares his background, habits, and an extended reflection on 19th-century visionary Cyrus Field.

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

0:00 · Nathan 45.7% · guest 54.3%0:00 · Nathan 45.7% · guest 54.3%3:00 · Nathan 10.9% · guest 89.1%3:00 · Nathan 10.9% · guest 89.1%6:00 · Nathan 9.1% · guest 90.9%6:00 · Nathan 9.1% · guest 90.9%9:00 · Nathan 63.3% · guest 36.7%9:00 · Nathan 63.3% · guest 36.7%12:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%12:00 · Nathan 17% · guest 83%15:00 · Nathan 42.3% · guest 57.7%15:00 · Nathan 42.3% · guest 57.7%18:00 · Nathan 36.4% · guest 63.6%18:00 · Nathan 36.4% · guest 63.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:11 Adam refuses to disclose exact customer figures

Adam pushes back against Nathan's direct probing into their subscriber base, declining to share exact figures due to commercial sensitivities.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:34 Nathan calls out Adam's misleading framing

Nathan refuses Adam's narrative that Haste is struggling to get early users, pointing out that having thousands of paying subscribers contradicts that portrayal.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:51 Adam clarifies the technical causes of network lag

Adam corrects Nathan's assumption about simple connection strength by breaking down latency, packet loss, and jitter in real-time interactions.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 16:57 Nathan breaks down acquisition economics on the fly

Nathan instantly calculates that Adam was acquiring signups for under two dollars each from his $75k monthly spend and presses him on why he would halt such efficient acquisition.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Explaining Real-Time Optimization and Latency 3611 Adam educates Nathan on the technical nuances of latency, breaking down the difference between hardware, software, and network lag, as well as the role of packet loss and jitter.
Haste's Multi-Route Network Architecture 4511 Adam walks through Haste's physical and routing infrastructure. Nathan follows along and affirms Adam's multi-route Waze analogy.
Monetization Model, Pricing, and User Scale 5236 Nathan presses Adam on exact customer counts and calls him out for downplaying their scale when Adam tries to avoid disclosing specific numbers.
Promotional Sponsor Break: The Top Inbox Acquisition 5225 Following an ad read monologue, Nathan interrogates Adam about fundraising, influencer marketing, and pins him down to an estimated monthly revenue range.
Churn Metrics, Acquisition Economics, and Growth 6224 Nathan performs rapid mental math on Haste's acquisition economics, pointing out that paying $75k for 35k signups is under $2 per signup and questioning why they paused spending.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Segment 2300 A collaborative rapid-fire segment where Adam shares his background, habits, and an extended reflection on 19th-century visionary Cyrus Field.

Statements from this episode (11)

Prediction Not checkable as stated
Interactive social games and experiences will suffer significant network lag
“What I'm suggesting is that the minute this thing goes social, right? The minute people start interacting over the internet in games or other social experiences, they're going to hit network lag, right? And it's, you know, to get under the hood, it's a combina…”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 4:01
Disclosure
Toll: Haste co-locates server infrastructure at Chicago's Cermak data hub
“Three 60 CERMAC is the sort of beating heart of the internet in Chicago. And we're right in the same place where the game servers are, right? So we're all leasing space and bandwidth.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 5:47
Assertion Supported
Toll: Haste transmits gaming data across multiple internet routes simultaneously
“When we route traffic, we use many of those routes, right? So think of it as like ways for the internet, except instead of having to pick one route that you're going to drive, we actually drive all of your data on all of those routes simultaneously. And then r…”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 7:06
Disclosure
Toll: Haste charges $6.99 per month for its gaming network service
“So right now it's a monthly fee. You can subscribe on a monthly basis or have an annual subscription. Right now it's six 99 a month.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 8:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Toll: Haste has thousands of paying subscribers
“We, but we are, we have, you know, thousands of people who are paying us.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 9:30
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Haste reached nearly 350,000 registered users during its beta
“Well, bear in mind that we have I was just getting the stats this morning, since we went into beta and open beta in January. We've got, we have almost 350,000 people who've signed up and who are using Haze. Now, to put that in context you know, on a weekly bas…”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 9:46
Disclosure
Haste raises over $6M to solve gaming network latency
“Yes, we've raised capital. We've actually raised over six million dollars.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 13:08
Disclosure
Toll personally invested $150,000 into Haste as pre-seed capital
“Personally, I put in 150,000.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 14:30
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Toll: Haste monthly churn is between 4% and 5%
“It's around four, between four and five percent.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 15:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Toll: Haste peaked at $75,000 in monthly marketing spend
“We got up to about 75,000.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 16:41
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Haste generated up to 50,000 monthly signups during its beta peak
“Typical month was 35,000 our peak month during beta, and this is when we were giving it away, and was close to 50,000.”
Adam Toll Jan 24, 2018 ▶ 17:00
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