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Nov 18, 2017 · 21m · top-founders

847: SaaS: How DaPulse has 3x'ed Revenue YoY

Roy Mann · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top Podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews daPulse co-founder Roy Mann to examine how the workflow SaaS company tripled its monthly recurring revenue to over $1.1 million through aggressive paid marketing, proprietary business intelligence, and a consumerized B2B sales model.

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 44.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.2 Guest teaching 3.2 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 3.5
05100:0010:0020:000:59–3:53 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Exclusive Access to SaaS Database via GetLatka.com Nathan presses Roy to provide a single average price point despite Roy explaining that wide tier distributions make averages misleading. Roy relents with starting numbers while clarifying expansion dynamics.3:53–5:54 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Scaling daPulse's Team and Venture Capital Funding Nathan quickly computes the cumulative funding total from recent and prior rounds before Roy can do the arithmetic, leading to lighthearted banter.5:54–10:44 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Tripling Monthly Recurring Revenue and B2C Marketing Philosophy Nathan attempts to box Roy into standard CAC payback math based on $1.5M monthly ad spend. Roy pushes back and explains why high-level generalizations fail compared to their proprietary BI platform Big Brain.10:45–14:08 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Churn Metrics and Revenue Retention Dynamics Nathan challenges Roy's initial claim of having no churn by separating gross from net churn, while Roy details their precise cohort methodology and trial filtering.14:08–16:47 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Creative Social Media Campaigns and Unconventional B2B Tactics Roy shares unconventional B2B acquisition strategies via Facebook and Instagram. Nathan live-checks their social channels to verify organic vs paid tactics.16:47–20:19 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 2017 Revenue Targets and Year-End Growth Projections During the Famous Five, Roy playfully corrects Nathan's subtraction math regarding his age before sharing his philosophical takeaway on entrepreneurial mistakes.0:59–3:53 · Guest teaching 3/10 Exclusive Access to SaaS Database via GetLatka.com Nathan presses Roy to provide a single average price point despite Roy explaining that wide tier distributions make averages misleading. Roy relents with starting numbers while clarifying expansion dynamics.3:53–5:54 · Guest teaching 1/10 Scaling daPulse's Team and Venture Capital Funding Nathan quickly computes the cumulative funding total from recent and prior rounds before Roy can do the arithmetic, leading to lighthearted banter.5:54–10:44 · Guest teaching 5/10 Tripling Monthly Recurring Revenue and B2C Marketing Philosophy Nathan attempts to box Roy into standard CAC payback math based on $1.5M monthly ad spend. Roy pushes back and explains why high-level generalizations fail compared to their proprietary BI platform Big Brain.10:45–14:08 · Guest teaching 4/10 Churn Metrics and Revenue Retention Dynamics Nathan challenges Roy's initial claim of having no churn by separating gross from net churn, while Roy details their precise cohort methodology and trial filtering.14:08–16:47 · Guest teaching 3/10 Creative Social Media Campaigns and Unconventional B2B Tactics Roy shares unconventional B2B acquisition strategies via Facebook and Instagram. Nathan live-checks their social channels to verify organic vs paid tactics.16:47–20:19 · Guest teaching 3/10 2017 Revenue Targets and Year-End Growth Projections During the Famous Five, Roy playfully corrects Nathan's subtraction math regarding his age before sharing his philosophical takeaway on entrepreneurial mistakes.0:59–3:53 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Exclusive Access to SaaS Database via GetLatka.com Nathan presses Roy to provide a single average price point despite Roy explaining that wide tier distributions make averages misleading. Roy relents with starting numbers while clarifying expansion dynamics.3:53–5:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Scaling daPulse's Team and Venture Capital Funding Nathan quickly computes the cumulative funding total from recent and prior rounds before Roy can do the arithmetic, leading to lighthearted banter.5:54–10:44 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Tripling Monthly Recurring Revenue and B2C Marketing Philosophy Nathan attempts to box Roy into standard CAC payback math based on $1.5M monthly ad spend. Roy pushes back and explains why high-level generalizations fail compared to their proprietary BI platform Big Brain.10:45–14:08 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Churn Metrics and Revenue Retention Dynamics Nathan challenges Roy's initial claim of having no churn by separating gross from net churn, while Roy details their precise cohort methodology and trial filtering.14:08–16:47 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Creative Social Media Campaigns and Unconventional B2B Tactics Roy shares unconventional B2B acquisition strategies via Facebook and Instagram. Nathan live-checks their social channels to verify organic vs paid tactics.16:47–20:19 · Guest disagreement 2/10 2017 Revenue Targets and Year-End Growth Projections During the Famous Five, Roy playfully corrects Nathan's subtraction math regarding his age before sharing his philosophical takeaway on entrepreneurial mistakes.0:59–3:53 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Exclusive Access to SaaS Database via GetLatka.com Nathan presses Roy to provide a single average price point despite Roy explaining that wide tier distributions make averages misleading. Roy relents with starting numbers while clarifying expansion dynamics.3:53–5:54 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Scaling daPulse's Team and Venture Capital Funding Nathan quickly computes the cumulative funding total from recent and prior rounds before Roy can do the arithmetic, leading to lighthearted banter.5:54–10:44 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Tripling Monthly Recurring Revenue and B2C Marketing Philosophy Nathan attempts to box Roy into standard CAC payback math based on $1.5M monthly ad spend. Roy pushes back and explains why high-level generalizations fail compared to their proprietary BI platform Big Brain.10:45–14:08 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Churn Metrics and Revenue Retention Dynamics Nathan challenges Roy's initial claim of having no churn by separating gross from net churn, while Roy details their precise cohort methodology and trial filtering.14:08–16:47 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Creative Social Media Campaigns and Unconventional B2B Tactics Roy shares unconventional B2B acquisition strategies via Facebook and Instagram. Nathan live-checks their social channels to verify organic vs paid tactics.16:47–20:19 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 2017 Revenue Targets and Year-End Growth Projections During the Famous Five, Roy playfully corrects Nathan's subtraction math regarding his age before sharing his philosophical takeaway on entrepreneurial mistakes.

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

0:00 · Nathan 81.6% · guest 18.4%0:00 · Nathan 81.6% · guest 18.4%3:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%3:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%6:00 · Nathan 44.5% · guest 55.5%6:00 · Nathan 44.5% · guest 55.5%9:00 · Nathan 15.1% · guest 84.9%9:00 · Nathan 15.1% · guest 84.9%12:00 · Nathan 16.7% · guest 83.3%12:00 · Nathan 16.7% · guest 83.3%15:00 · Nathan 45.8% · guest 54.2%15:00 · Nathan 45.8% · guest 54.2%18:00 · Nathan 64.3% · guest 35.7%18:00 · Nathan 64.3% · guest 35.7%21:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%21:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:02 Roy dismisses broad CAC generalizations

Roy rejects Nathan's back-of-the-envelope CAC math, pointing out that customer expansion and granular campaign tracking make such high-level formulas inaccurate.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 3:15 Nathan demands a concrete average

When Roy avoids giving a specific ARPU figure due to customer variance, Nathan refuses the deflection and insists on a single average number.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:08 Roy explains Big Brain campaign-level tracking

Roy educates Nathan on how direct API integration with ad networks allows daPulse to evaluate profitability at the individual campaign level rather than relying on blended CAC.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:42 Nathan's instantaneous unit economic calculations

Nathan rapidly converts ARPU and monthly marketing spend into the exact number of annual customers required to achieve a 12-month payback.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Exclusive Access to SaaS Database via GetLatka.com 5324 Nathan presses Roy to provide a single average price point despite Roy explaining that wide tier distributions make averages misleading. Roy relents with starting numbers while clarifying expansion dynamics.
Scaling daPulse's Team and Venture Capital Funding 5112 Nathan quickly computes the cumulative funding total from recent and prior rounds before Roy can do the arithmetic, leading to lighthearted banter.
Tripling Monthly Recurring Revenue and B2C Marketing Philosophy 6535 Nathan attempts to box Roy into standard CAC payback math based on $1.5M monthly ad spend. Roy pushes back and explains why high-level generalizations fail compared to their proprietary BI platform Big Brain.
Churn Metrics and Revenue Retention Dynamics 6435 Nathan challenges Roy's initial claim of having no churn by separating gross from net churn, while Roy details their precise cohort methodology and trial filtering.
Creative Social Media Campaigns and Unconventional B2B Tactics 5313 Roy shares unconventional B2B acquisition strategies via Facebook and Instagram. Nathan live-checks their social channels to verify organic vs paid tactics.
2017 Revenue Targets and Year-End Growth Projections 4322 During the Famous Five, Roy playfully corrects Nathan's subtraction math regarding his age before sharing his philosophical takeaway on entrepreneurial mistakes.

Statements from this episode (15)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
daPulse Customers Start at $70 Monthly and Double Spend Annually
“So it's it started 70 dollars and after a year it grows more than doubles, but the average is misleading because there are way more small companies out there.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 3:23
Disclosure
daPulse Has Scaled Its Team to 70 Employees
“70.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 4:03
Disclosure
daPulse Has Grown to 15,000 Customers
“15.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 4:56
Disclosure
daPulse Raised $25M Led by Insight Venture Partners
“Yeah, so this in the beginning of the year, we raised twenty-five million dollars from Insight and Insight Venture Partners and our existing investors.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 5:08
Assertion Supported
daPulse Surpasses $1M MRR and Reaches Over $13M ARR
“So we're now at over one million in MRR. In ARR, it's 13 point something million.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 6:24
Insight
daPulse Drives B2B Growth With a B2C Marketing Approach
“We're a B to B company, but we, our entire approach is very much B to C, like we, our tone of voice, how we contact people, how we relate to them is very, you know, we are emotional about what we do. We feel it's like something that is very close to our hearts…”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 6:42
Disclosure
daPulse Spends $1.5M per Month on Online Advertising
“1.5 million dollars.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 7:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
daPulse Recoups Its Online Ad Spend in Under One Year
“Well, let's say within a year we get all of it back, but it's faster. It's faster.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 8:36
Disclosure
daPulse Built a Proprietary BI Tool for Campaign-Level ROI Tracking
“We developed our own BI tool that is called Big Brain. Big Brain, yeah, it's like a really good name for a BI system. I like it. And it has every cent we spend, and every cent that goes in, we hook up to the API of Facebook and Google, and really, we know on t…”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 9:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
daPulse Monthly Logo Churn Rate Is Between 1.5% and 2%
“So it's it changes slightly, but it's between a 1.5% to two. You know, that's like the range.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 11:39
Assertion Not checkable as stated
daPulse Maintains a Net Revenue Churn of Roughly -0.5%
“No, no, no. Like close to zero. It's a .5, -.5.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 14:00
Assertion Not checkable as stated
daPulse Acquires Enterprise Customers at Scale via Social Media Ads
“What everyone tells us all the time that is impossible and we somehow keep Are able to keep doing it in the scale is sell to large corporates on Instagram and Facebook”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 14:15
Insight
Enterprise B2B Social Media Ads Should Be Funny and Viral
“And when you address them on Facebook, you don't need to necessarily do it in a way that is, or you have to do it not in a way that you would do it if you meet them. It's not rational. It's funny. It's viral. It's interesting.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 15:11
Prediction Held up
daPulse Targets $17M ARR by December 2017
“About seventeen million.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 16:57
Assertion Supported
daPulse Reached $6.5M ARR in December 2016
“And December so 6.5.”
Roy Mann Nov 18, 2017 ▶ 17:30
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