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Dec 28, 2017 · 22m · top-founders

887 22 Year Old King of Influencer Marketing?

Victor Ricci · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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Host Nathan Latka interviews twenty-two-year-old entrepreneur Victor Ricci to explore how he bootstrapped his influencer marketing agency, Trendpie, to $900,000 in revenue. Ricci shares insights on his unique distribution strategy of paying mid-tier creators for content shares, campaign pricing, and his transition from a top Vine creator to running a profitable marketing business.

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 42.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 2.7
05100:0010:0020:001:13–3:54 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Introducing Victor Ricci and Trendpie's Model Latka probes the mechanics of paying influencers for shares rather than original posts. Ricci explains the tiering of social media accounts and virality dynamics like the 'Alex from Target' phenomenon.3:54–7:00 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Campaign Pricing, CPM, and B2C Client Case Study Ricci outlines his CPM model and explains why a broad 'shotgun burst' approach on consumer apps is more cost-effective than niche targeting.7:00–11:47 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Victor's Entrepreneurial Background and Vine Success Ricci shares his background building a 1.4M Vine audience and losing money on early developer hires. Latka explores the content creation mechanics behind his viral success.11:47–15:33 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Scaling Trendpie and Revenue Growth Analysis Latka pushes back firmly when Ricci claims he does not actively track his current year revenue, accusing him of feigning indifference despite being a competitive athlete.15:35–20:05 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Sponsor Break: Acuity Scheduling Following the sponsor read, Latka analyzes Trendpie's unit economics and suggests an influencer equity crowdfunding strategy based on Buffer's model.20:05–22:27 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Questions The conversation concludes smoothly with the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, focusing on tools, sleeping habits, and business literature.1:13–3:54 · Guest teaching 3/10 Introducing Victor Ricci and Trendpie's Model Latka probes the mechanics of paying influencers for shares rather than original posts. Ricci explains the tiering of social media accounts and virality dynamics like the 'Alex from Target' phenomenon.3:54–7:00 · Guest teaching 3/10 Campaign Pricing, CPM, and B2C Client Case Study Ricci outlines his CPM model and explains why a broad 'shotgun burst' approach on consumer apps is more cost-effective than niche targeting.7:00–11:47 · Guest teaching 3/10 Victor's Entrepreneurial Background and Vine Success Ricci shares his background building a 1.4M Vine audience and losing money on early developer hires. Latka explores the content creation mechanics behind his viral success.11:47–15:33 · Guest teaching 2/10 Scaling Trendpie and Revenue Growth Analysis Latka pushes back firmly when Ricci claims he does not actively track his current year revenue, accusing him of feigning indifference despite being a competitive athlete.15:35–20:05 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Break: Acuity Scheduling Following the sponsor read, Latka analyzes Trendpie's unit economics and suggests an influencer equity crowdfunding strategy based on Buffer's model.20:05–22:27 · Guest teaching 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Questions The conversation concludes smoothly with the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, focusing on tools, sleeping habits, and business literature.1:13–3:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Victor Ricci and Trendpie's Model Latka probes the mechanics of paying influencers for shares rather than original posts. Ricci explains the tiering of social media accounts and virality dynamics like the 'Alex from Target' phenomenon.3:54–7:00 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Campaign Pricing, CPM, and B2C Client Case Study Ricci outlines his CPM model and explains why a broad 'shotgun burst' approach on consumer apps is more cost-effective than niche targeting.7:00–11:47 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Victor's Entrepreneurial Background and Vine Success Ricci shares his background building a 1.4M Vine audience and losing money on early developer hires. Latka explores the content creation mechanics behind his viral success.11:47–15:33 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Scaling Trendpie and Revenue Growth Analysis Latka pushes back firmly when Ricci claims he does not actively track his current year revenue, accusing him of feigning indifference despite being a competitive athlete.15:35–20:05 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Break: Acuity Scheduling Following the sponsor read, Latka analyzes Trendpie's unit economics and suggests an influencer equity crowdfunding strategy based on Buffer's model.20:05–22:27 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Questions The conversation concludes smoothly with the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, focusing on tools, sleeping habits, and business literature.1:13–3:54 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Victor Ricci and Trendpie's Model Latka probes the mechanics of paying influencers for shares rather than original posts. Ricci explains the tiering of social media accounts and virality dynamics like the 'Alex from Target' phenomenon.3:54–7:00 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Campaign Pricing, CPM, and B2C Client Case Study Ricci outlines his CPM model and explains why a broad 'shotgun burst' approach on consumer apps is more cost-effective than niche targeting.7:00–11:47 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Victor's Entrepreneurial Background and Vine Success Ricci shares his background building a 1.4M Vine audience and losing money on early developer hires. Latka explores the content creation mechanics behind his viral success.11:47–15:33 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Scaling Trendpie and Revenue Growth Analysis Latka pushes back firmly when Ricci claims he does not actively track his current year revenue, accusing him of feigning indifference despite being a competitive athlete.15:35–20:05 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Sponsor Break: Acuity Scheduling Following the sponsor read, Latka analyzes Trendpie's unit economics and suggests an influencer equity crowdfunding strategy based on Buffer's model.20:05–22:27 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid Fire Questions The conversation concludes smoothly with the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, focusing on tools, sleeping habits, and business literature.

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

0:00 · Nathan 58.8% · guest 41.2%0:00 · Nathan 58.8% · guest 41.2%3:00 · Nathan 41.9% · guest 58.1%3:00 · Nathan 41.9% · guest 58.1%6:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%6:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%9:00 · Nathan 28.8% · guest 71.2%9:00 · Nathan 28.8% · guest 71.2%12:00 · Nathan 30.5% · guest 69.5%12:00 · Nathan 30.5% · guest 69.5%15:00 · Nathan 60.1% · guest 39.9%15:00 · Nathan 60.1% · guest 39.9%18:00 · Nathan 44.4% · guest 55.6%18:00 · Nathan 44.4% · guest 55.6%21:00 · Nathan 63.4% · guest 36.6%21:00 · Nathan 63.4% · guest 36.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:07 Defending revenue tracking superstition

Ricci pushes back against Latka's disbelief by explaining he avoids daily revenue checks because of superstitions tied to past sudden client cancellations.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 13:59 Refusing claim of not knowing current revenue

Latka directly challenges Ricci's claim that he doesn't know his run rate, arguing that competitive founders track their numbers constantly.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:24 Economics of untargeted reach vs targeted campaigns

Ricci educates Latka on why high-volume untargeted reach delivers a higher net subset of conversions at a lower cost than targeted B2B campaigns.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 19:29 Prescribing the Buffer crowdfunding tactic

Latka demonstrates startup fundraising expertise by outlining how inviting influencer-partners into equity financing lowers future distribution costs.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Victor Ricci and Trendpie's Model 4312 Latka probes the mechanics of paying influencers for shares rather than original posts. Ricci explains the tiering of social media accounts and virality dynamics like the 'Alex from Target' phenomenon.
Campaign Pricing, CPM, and B2C Client Case Study 4312 Ricci outlines his CPM model and explains why a broad 'shotgun burst' approach on consumer apps is more cost-effective than niche targeting.
Victor's Entrepreneurial Background and Vine Success 4312 Ricci shares his background building a 1.4M Vine audience and losing money on early developer hires. Latka explores the content creation mechanics behind his viral success.
Scaling Trendpie and Revenue Growth Analysis 5226 Latka pushes back firmly when Ricci claims he does not actively track his current year revenue, accusing him of feigning indifference despite being a competitive athlete.
Sponsor Break: Acuity Scheduling 6212 Following the sponsor read, Latka analyzes Trendpie's unit economics and suggests an influencer equity crowdfunding strategy based on Buffer's model.
The Famous Five Rapid Fire Questions 3212 The conversation concludes smoothly with the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, focusing on tools, sleeping habits, and business literature.

Statements from this episode (10)

Insight
Paying influencers to share existing content is cheaper than original posts
“We found that paying influencer to share content rather than posting it themselves is dramatically cheaper.”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 1:48
Disclosure
Trendpie charges roughly $25 per 100,000 influencer campaign impressions
“So, you know, typically we're around 25 dollars for a 100,000 impressions.”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 4:31
Insight
Untargeted mass-reach influencer campaigns deliver better volume at lower costs
“We found that the, More targeted you get, the more expensive it gets naturally. So kind of going the shotgun burst method has seemed to work better for us where we just hit, you know, millions and millions of people, relatively not targeted people, but of that…”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 5:38
Disclosure
A remote developer stole $12,500 during Trendpie's initial app build
“The initial product cost around 36,000. To build? Yeah. You know. And how long? That was about four or five months. But you know, before that I paid, you know, I hired an online developer remotely. it was him, 12,000 dollars, 12,500 dollars to build this. And…”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 9:18
Disclosure
Victor Ricci funded Trendpie by charging $5,000 per Vine post
“I was an influencer on Vine. I had over 1.4 million followers. So I would get paid, you know, anywhere from three to 5000 dollars to post a video on my Vine channel. And I essentially used all of the money I made from Vine. I quit Vine. I just kind of stopped…”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 9:50
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ricci claims Teens Digest vanished without paying its influencers
“One was Teens Digest, and the other one I think it was MyBikes. They're still around, but they ended up basically just cutting people's earnings in half. One of the first company I mentioned just kind of fell off the face of the earth and didn't pay any of the…”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 12:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Trendpie processed $330,000 in influencer campaign spend during 2015
“In 2015, I think it was 330,000.”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 13:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Trendpie grew campaign spend to nearly $1 million in 2016
“2016 was like two to three X that.”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 13:36
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Trendpie takes a 20% to 30% gross margin on influencer campaigns
“Typically we take between a 20 and 30% margin on our campaigns.”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 16:59
Insight
Trendpie loses money on clients until their third influencer campaign
“So if we run one or two campaigns with an app, we essentially lose money because we're only taking, you know, 20% on that. And a lot of that goes into content creation, you know, managing the influence or spending all the time doing those upfront things. So we…”
Victor Ricci Dec 28, 2017 ▶ 17:07
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