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Nov 8, 2017 · 17m · top-founders

837: SaaS: A Good Reason to Have Flat Growth at $200k MRR

Aseem Badshah · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Host Nathan Latka interviews Socido founder and CEO Asim Badshah to discuss why holding revenue flat at $200K MRR is a deliberate, strategic choice to refine unit economics, eliminate B2C customer churn, and build a sustainable inbound growth engine.

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 36.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 4.3
05100:0010:000:46–5:01 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Exclusive Access to the GetLatka Database Nathan inquires about team structure and AE quotas, challenging Asim on whether moving to a self-serve trial contradicts raising AE quotas. Asim explains that the inbound trial acts as a warmer pipeline feeder for account executives rather than a completely touchless funnel.5:01–9:32 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Eliminating B2C Customers to Maximize B2B Lifetime Value Nathan presses Asim on having flat customer count and flat headcount, questioning why he would link headcount expansion to company success instead of revenue per employee. Asim details their deliberate pause on headcount to eliminate low-LTV B2C churn and nail B2B product-market fit.9:32–13:28 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Differentiating Socido in a Crowded MarTech Ecosystem Nathan rattles off an extensive list of competing MarTech vendors and challenges Socido's defensibility, attempting to summarize the tool as an enterprise Hootsuite. Asim pushes back on the analogy, educating Nathan on how Hootsuite manages existing audiences while Socido automates targeted B2B lead discovery.13:29–17:10 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Nathan Latka Acquires The Top Inbox Following an ad break, Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, catching a shift in tools from Yesware to Outreach, which Asim answers cordially.0:46–5:01 · Guest teaching 3/10 Exclusive Access to the GetLatka Database Nathan inquires about team structure and AE quotas, challenging Asim on whether moving to a self-serve trial contradicts raising AE quotas. Asim explains that the inbound trial acts as a warmer pipeline feeder for account executives rather than a completely touchless funnel.5:01–9:32 · Guest teaching 3/10 Eliminating B2C Customers to Maximize B2B Lifetime Value Nathan presses Asim on having flat customer count and flat headcount, questioning why he would link headcount expansion to company success instead of revenue per employee. Asim details their deliberate pause on headcount to eliminate low-LTV B2C churn and nail B2B product-market fit.9:32–13:28 · Guest teaching 6/10 Differentiating Socido in a Crowded MarTech Ecosystem Nathan rattles off an extensive list of competing MarTech vendors and challenges Socido's defensibility, attempting to summarize the tool as an enterprise Hootsuite. Asim pushes back on the analogy, educating Nathan on how Hootsuite manages existing audiences while Socido automates targeted B2B lead discovery.13:29–17:10 · Guest teaching 1/10 Nathan Latka Acquires The Top Inbox Following an ad break, Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, catching a shift in tools from Yesware to Outreach, which Asim answers cordially.0:46–5:01 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Exclusive Access to the GetLatka Database Nathan inquires about team structure and AE quotas, challenging Asim on whether moving to a self-serve trial contradicts raising AE quotas. Asim explains that the inbound trial acts as a warmer pipeline feeder for account executives rather than a completely touchless funnel.5:01–9:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Eliminating B2C Customers to Maximize B2B Lifetime Value Nathan presses Asim on having flat customer count and flat headcount, questioning why he would link headcount expansion to company success instead of revenue per employee. Asim details their deliberate pause on headcount to eliminate low-LTV B2C churn and nail B2B product-market fit.9:32–13:28 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Differentiating Socido in a Crowded MarTech Ecosystem Nathan rattles off an extensive list of competing MarTech vendors and challenges Socido's defensibility, attempting to summarize the tool as an enterprise Hootsuite. Asim pushes back on the analogy, educating Nathan on how Hootsuite manages existing audiences while Socido automates targeted B2B lead discovery.13:29–17:10 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Nathan Latka Acquires The Top Inbox Following an ad break, Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, catching a shift in tools from Yesware to Outreach, which Asim answers cordially.0:46–5:01 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Exclusive Access to the GetLatka Database Nathan inquires about team structure and AE quotas, challenging Asim on whether moving to a self-serve trial contradicts raising AE quotas. Asim explains that the inbound trial acts as a warmer pipeline feeder for account executives rather than a completely touchless funnel.5:01–9:32 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Eliminating B2C Customers to Maximize B2B Lifetime Value Nathan presses Asim on having flat customer count and flat headcount, questioning why he would link headcount expansion to company success instead of revenue per employee. Asim details their deliberate pause on headcount to eliminate low-LTV B2C churn and nail B2B product-market fit.9:32–13:28 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Differentiating Socido in a Crowded MarTech Ecosystem Nathan rattles off an extensive list of competing MarTech vendors and challenges Socido's defensibility, attempting to summarize the tool as an enterprise Hootsuite. Asim pushes back on the analogy, educating Nathan on how Hootsuite manages existing audiences while Socido automates targeted B2B lead discovery.13:29–17:10 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Nathan Latka Acquires The Top Inbox Following an ad break, Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, catching a shift in tools from Yesware to Outreach, which Asim answers cordially.

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

0:00 · Nathan 75.2% · guest 24.8%0:00 · Nathan 75.2% · guest 24.8%3:00 · Nathan 16.5% · guest 83.5%3:00 · Nathan 16.5% · guest 83.5%6:00 · Nathan 16.9% · guest 83.1%6:00 · Nathan 16.9% · guest 83.1%9:00 · Nathan 25.4% · guest 74.6%9:00 · Nathan 25.4% · guest 74.6%12:00 · Nathan 55.4% · guest 44.6%12:00 · Nathan 55.4% · guest 44.6%15:00 · Nathan 32.3% · guest 67.7%15:00 · Nathan 32.3% · guest 67.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:59 Asim counters the Hootsuite analogy

Asim firmly rejects Nathan's simplification that Socido is merely an enterprise Hootsuite, distinguishing broadcast social management from targeted lead discovery.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 10:39 Nathan challenges lack of defensibility

Nathan interrupts to assert that outbound strategies are easily replicated and presses Asim to articulate what makes Socido truly defensible against dozens of rivals.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:05 Asim explains audience management versus audience generation

Asim breaks down the exact mechanics of B2B social selling versus B2C broadcasting, showing why traditional social tools fail for demand generation.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:32 Nathan lists full MarTech landscape

Nathan reels off a dozen specific direct and indirect competitors from memory to challenge Asim's positioning in an overcrowded category.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Exclusive Access to the GetLatka Database 4324 Nathan inquires about team structure and AE quotas, challenging Asim on whether moving to a self-serve trial contradicts raising AE quotas. Asim explains that the inbound trial acts as a warmer pipeline feeder for account executives rather than a completely touchless funnel.
Eliminating B2C Customers to Maximize B2B Lifetime Value 5325 Nathan presses Asim on having flat customer count and flat headcount, questioning why he would link headcount expansion to company success instead of revenue per employee. Asim details their deliberate pause on headcount to eliminate low-LTV B2C churn and nail B2B product-market fit.
Differentiating Socido in a Crowded MarTech Ecosystem 6636 Nathan rattles off an extensive list of competing MarTech vendors and challenges Socido's defensibility, attempting to summarize the tool as an enterprise Hootsuite. Asim pushes back on the analogy, educating Nathan on how Hootsuite manages existing audiences while Socido automates targeted B2B lead discovery.
Nathan Latka Acquires The Top Inbox 2112 Following an ad break, Nathan runs through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format, catching a shift in tools from Yesware to Outreach, which Asim answers cordially.

Statements from this episode (10)

Disclosure
Badshah: Socedo sets Account Executive quotas at $4,000 monthly MRR
“So we're now, I think around about 4000 dollars in MRR per month per AE.”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 2:47
Disclosure
Badshah: Socedo enterprise accounts start at $1,000 monthly license fees
“We do grow our enterprise companies, but they all kind of start there around a thousand dollars per month on their licenses.”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 3:49
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Badshah: Socedo customer count remains flat at approximately 200
“Still hanging out around there.”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 5:05
Disclosure
Badshah: Socedo turns away B2C leads to focus exclusively on B2B
“So that's when we started the segment and say, Hey, listen, on the sales side, we're going to really focus on just selling to B to B companies that can actually leverage this system for their sales team. And we're going to start to turn away the B to C compani…”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 6:17
Disclosure
Badshah: Socedo intentionally paused growth to lock in product-market fit
“So we are, we're continuing to grow and I think we're relatively flat to where we were probably about six months ago. Again, we're kind of going through that cycle of figuring out what we're going to be. Are we playing at the enterprise side of the market, the…”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 6:57
Insight
Badshah: Do not double headcount just to grow top-line revenue
“What you don't want to do is you don't want to say, Hey, we're at 20 employees. We're going to grow to 40 just for the sake of growing top line revenue, but we're going to be running in the wrong direction. We're going to go collect a whole bunch of B to C cus…”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 8:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Badshah: Socedo is at a $2.5M ARR run rate
“I think we were a little bit higher there and, you know, again, are kind of in a two and a half range now.”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 9:09
Insight
Badshah: Outbound SDR models trap SaaS startups in crowded competitive echo chambers
“What we learned is as having an SDR and going completely outbound, that's when you're going to run into all of that competition, right? Because everybody is sitting in that echo chamber. But if you can have a good product with a very simple value prop and let …”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 10:15
Opinion
Badshah: Hootsuite was built to manage audiences, not grow them
“Hootsuite and these other social media management systems have really been built to manage an audience, not to necessarily grow an audience. And so this is great for B to C marketers, where what you're doing is you're publishing content to a very large populat…”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 12:20
Disclosure
Badshah: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is a close mentor
“Hometown hero Satya Nadella, one of my close mentors, and he's just doing some fantastic things.”
Aseem Badshah Nov 8, 2017 ▶ 15:17
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