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Nov 26, 2017 · 18m · top-founders

855 How This Bootstrapped CEO is Competing with $400m Raised Qualtrics

Greg Harris · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Greg Harris, founder and CEO of Quantum Workplace, exploring how the bootstrapped HR software company scaled past $7.2 million ARR on track to $10 million while competing against heavily funded venture-backed rivals. Greg details Quantum's enterprise pricing models, net negative revenue churn, four-month CAC payback, and proprietary lead generation partnerships across 45 major metro markets.

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 5.8 Guest teaching 2.2 Guest disagreement 0.5 Nathan pushing back 2.2
05100:0010:001:02–3:33 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Promotion and Waiting List Access Nathan introduces his SaaS database before welcoming Greg to outline Quantum Workplace's business model. Greg explains their HR buyer persona and clarifies they bill annually on ARR rather than monthly MRR.3:33–7:41 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Bootstrapping Strategy vs. Venture Capital and Market Dynamics Greg details his background in investment management and political science, leading into his choice to bootstrap rather than follow the venture playbook of competitors like Qualtrics. Nathan probes into the cap table and affirms the equity retention benefits of bootstrapping.7:43–9:48 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Financial Metrics, Customer Segmentation, and Seat Volume Nathan swiftly breaks down the customer base into enterprise versus freemium tiers, applying the Pareto principle to deduce revenue distribution. He pushes Greg on specific MRR milestones and ARR targets for 2016 and 2017.9:50–13:50 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Gross Logo Churn and Net Negative Revenue Churn Nathan drills down into annual logo churn and net revenue retention before discussing lead generation through Best Places to Work lists. When Nathan asks how they compete with Glassdoor, Greg clarifies how their methodology and data capture fundamentally differ.13:50–15:55 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Marketing Budget, Team Composition, and CAC Payback Analysis Nathan interrogates Greg on paid marketing spend, headcounts, and fully weighted CAC. Using Greg's estimate of 25% first-year CAC on a $30,000 ACV, Nathan instantly calculates a healthy four-month payback period.15:56–18:30 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Greg Harris Nathan navigates through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, tools, and sleep habits before delivering his final summary of Quantum Workplace's metrics.1:02–3:33 · Guest teaching 2/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Promotion and Waiting List Access Nathan introduces his SaaS database before welcoming Greg to outline Quantum Workplace's business model. Greg explains their HR buyer persona and clarifies they bill annually on ARR rather than monthly MRR.3:33–7:41 · Guest teaching 3/10 Bootstrapping Strategy vs. Venture Capital and Market Dynamics Greg details his background in investment management and political science, leading into his choice to bootstrap rather than follow the venture playbook of competitors like Qualtrics. Nathan probes into the cap table and affirms the equity retention benefits of bootstrapping.7:43–9:48 · Guest teaching 2/10 Financial Metrics, Customer Segmentation, and Seat Volume Nathan swiftly breaks down the customer base into enterprise versus freemium tiers, applying the Pareto principle to deduce revenue distribution. He pushes Greg on specific MRR milestones and ARR targets for 2016 and 2017.9:50–13:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 Gross Logo Churn and Net Negative Revenue Churn Nathan drills down into annual logo churn and net revenue retention before discussing lead generation through Best Places to Work lists. When Nathan asks how they compete with Glassdoor, Greg clarifies how their methodology and data capture fundamentally differ.13:50–15:55 · Guest teaching 2/10 Marketing Budget, Team Composition, and CAC Payback Analysis Nathan interrogates Greg on paid marketing spend, headcounts, and fully weighted CAC. Using Greg's estimate of 25% first-year CAC on a $30,000 ACV, Nathan instantly calculates a healthy four-month payback period.15:56–18:30 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Greg Harris Nathan navigates through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, tools, and sleep habits before delivering his final summary of Quantum Workplace's metrics.1:02–3:33 · Guest disagreement 0/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Promotion and Waiting List Access Nathan introduces his SaaS database before welcoming Greg to outline Quantum Workplace's business model. Greg explains their HR buyer persona and clarifies they bill annually on ARR rather than monthly MRR.3:33–7:41 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping Strategy vs. Venture Capital and Market Dynamics Greg details his background in investment management and political science, leading into his choice to bootstrap rather than follow the venture playbook of competitors like Qualtrics. Nathan probes into the cap table and affirms the equity retention benefits of bootstrapping.7:43–9:48 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Financial Metrics, Customer Segmentation, and Seat Volume Nathan swiftly breaks down the customer base into enterprise versus freemium tiers, applying the Pareto principle to deduce revenue distribution. He pushes Greg on specific MRR milestones and ARR targets for 2016 and 2017.9:50–13:50 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Gross Logo Churn and Net Negative Revenue Churn Nathan drills down into annual logo churn and net revenue retention before discussing lead generation through Best Places to Work lists. When Nathan asks how they compete with Glassdoor, Greg clarifies how their methodology and data capture fundamentally differ.13:50–15:55 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Marketing Budget, Team Composition, and CAC Payback Analysis Nathan interrogates Greg on paid marketing spend, headcounts, and fully weighted CAC. Using Greg's estimate of 25% first-year CAC on a $30,000 ACV, Nathan instantly calculates a healthy four-month payback period.15:56–18:30 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Greg Harris Nathan navigates through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, tools, and sleep habits before delivering his final summary of Quantum Workplace's metrics.1:02–3:33 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Promotion and Waiting List Access Nathan introduces his SaaS database before welcoming Greg to outline Quantum Workplace's business model. Greg explains their HR buyer persona and clarifies they bill annually on ARR rather than monthly MRR.3:33–7:41 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Bootstrapping Strategy vs. Venture Capital and Market Dynamics Greg details his background in investment management and political science, leading into his choice to bootstrap rather than follow the venture playbook of competitors like Qualtrics. Nathan probes into the cap table and affirms the equity retention benefits of bootstrapping.7:43–9:48 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Financial Metrics, Customer Segmentation, and Seat Volume Nathan swiftly breaks down the customer base into enterprise versus freemium tiers, applying the Pareto principle to deduce revenue distribution. He pushes Greg on specific MRR milestones and ARR targets for 2016 and 2017.9:50–13:50 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Gross Logo Churn and Net Negative Revenue Churn Nathan drills down into annual logo churn and net revenue retention before discussing lead generation through Best Places to Work lists. When Nathan asks how they compete with Glassdoor, Greg clarifies how their methodology and data capture fundamentally differ.13:50–15:55 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Marketing Budget, Team Composition, and CAC Payback Analysis Nathan interrogates Greg on paid marketing spend, headcounts, and fully weighted CAC. Using Greg's estimate of 25% first-year CAC on a $30,000 ACV, Nathan instantly calculates a healthy four-month payback period.15:56–18:30 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Greg Harris Nathan navigates through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, tools, and sleep habits before delivering his final summary of Quantum Workplace's metrics.

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

0:00 · Nathan 76.7% · guest 23.3%0:00 · Nathan 76.7% · guest 23.3%3:00 · Nathan 12.5% · guest 87.5%3:00 · Nathan 12.5% · guest 87.5%6:00 · Nathan 29.1% · guest 70.9%6:00 · Nathan 29.1% · guest 70.9%9:00 · Nathan 42.8% · guest 57.2%9:00 · Nathan 42.8% · guest 57.2%12:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%12:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%15:00 · Nathan 57.2% · guest 42.8%15:00 · Nathan 57.2% · guest 42.8%18:00 · Nathan 95.9% · guest 4.1%18:00 · Nathan 95.9% · guest 4.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:28 Contrasting survey models with Glassdoor

Greg rejects the comparison to Glassdoor by pointing out Glassdoor relies on external reviews and lists worst places to work, whereas Quantum Workplace runs internal, authorized development surveys.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:14 Pushing back on door-drop campaign failure

Nathan pushes back against Greg calling their historic hotel door drop campaign the dumbest thing ever, arguing it built lasting brand equity and a 10-year sales cycle.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 13:28 Educating on internal HR data vs external reviews

Greg educates Nathan on why media partnerships and internal company data collection create a distinct, defensible channel that Glassdoor cannot displace.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:47 Rapid financial deduction of CAC payback

Nathan demonstrates strong SaaS financial acumen by instantly computing a four-month payback period from Greg's high-level ACV and acquisition percentage figures.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
GetLatka SaaS Database Promotion and Waiting List Access 4201 Nathan introduces his SaaS database before welcoming Greg to outline Quantum Workplace's business model. Greg explains their HR buyer persona and clarifies they bill annually on ARR rather than monthly MRR.
Bootstrapping Strategy vs. Venture Capital and Market Dynamics 5312 Greg details his background in investment management and political science, leading into his choice to bootstrap rather than follow the venture playbook of competitors like Qualtrics. Nathan probes into the cap table and affirms the equity retention benefits of bootstrapping.
Financial Metrics, Customer Segmentation, and Seat Volume 7203 Nathan swiftly breaks down the customer base into enterprise versus freemium tiers, applying the Pareto principle to deduce revenue distribution. He pushes Greg on specific MRR milestones and ARR targets for 2016 and 2017.
Gross Logo Churn and Net Negative Revenue Churn 7313 Nathan drills down into annual logo churn and net revenue retention before discussing lead generation through Best Places to Work lists. When Nathan asks how they compete with Glassdoor, Greg clarifies how their methodology and data capture fundamentally differ.
Marketing Budget, Team Composition, and CAC Payback Analysis 8213 Nathan interrogates Greg on paid marketing spend, headcounts, and fully weighted CAC. Using Greg's estimate of 25% first-year CAC on a $30,000 ACV, Nathan instantly calculates a healthy four-month payback period.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Greg Harris 4101 Nathan navigates through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, tools, and sleep habits before delivering his final summary of Quantum Workplace's metrics.

Statements from this episode (13)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Harris: Quantum Workplace's ACV is $25,000 to $30,000
“Average contract value is probably 25 or 30,000 dollars, but that's really just taking a dart and throwing it at a scatterplot of a large data set of clients.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 3:23
Disclosure
Harris: Quantum Workplace has never raised professional capital
“We've never raised professional money. We we're a Midwestern company. We bootstrapped all the way.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 6:11
What-if
Harris: Venture playbook might have scaled Quantum in 5 years instead of 14
“It took us 14 years to get where maybe it would have taken us five had we done it, the had used used the East Coast or the West Coast playbook.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 6:21
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Harris: Quantum Workplace serves 2,200 paying customers across two segments
“We'll collect 2200 checks from customers. We kind of divide those into two buckets. We have a transactional kind of a freemium to upgrade model, which is probably 1500 of those customers, and then we have about 600 or 700 direct one-to-one, more mid-market to …”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 7:46
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Harris: Quantum Workplace on track for $10M total revenue in 2017
“We'll do 10 this year. Ten million for the total year.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 8:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Harris: Quantum Workplace reached $7.2M in 2016 with 25% 10-year CAGR
“Last year, we did seven two, so we're gonna do mid-thirties. Our, if we look back, that's a good year for us. If we look back for the last 10 years, CAGR is 25%.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 8:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Harris: Quantum Workplace accounts for 160K to 175K enterprise user seats
“We're, we price and we book contracts at the enterprise level, so we don't sell per seat necessarily, but if we counted that, we're probably about a 160 to a 175,000.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 9:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Harris: Quantum Workplace churn is driven by executive changes, not competitors
“If we churn a client, it's not because they're leaving us for a competitor, it's because they, There was a CEO change, or there was a chief human resource officer change”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 10:19
Disclosure
Harris: Quantum Workplace sees about 5% annual gross logo churn
“That's right at five percent, yeah.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 10:47
Assertion Partly supported
Quantum Workplace acquires free data via local business journal partnerships
“We do best places to work programs all over the country, so we partner with weekly business journals in D.C., in the Bay Area, in Boston, Atlanta, and Dallas, 45 total markets, where we will capture data for free.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 12:47
Opinion
Harris: Glassdoor relies on former employees while Quantum surveys current staff
“They're capturing data mostly from external or from former employees as opposed to internal employees. So our surveys are authorized by the companies and actually used for development purposes inside the companies.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 13:40
Disclosure
Quantum Workplace spends $50,000 to $60,000 monthly on paid acquisition
“We'll spend, let me break it out by month, it's probably less than, probably between 50 and 60,000 dollars.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 13:59
Disclosure
Quantum Workplace operates with a total team of 53 people
“Total team, 53 people.”
Greg Harris Nov 26, 2017 ▶ 14:22
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