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Oct 6, 2017 · 19m · top-founders

804: SaaS: Yapp Passes 80,000 Events Powered

Maria Seidman · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m 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 Maria Seidman, founder and CEO of Yapp, examining how her five-person remote team bootstrapped a SaaS platform powering over 85,000 event applications. The conversation covers Yapp's subscription model, guerilla marketing tactics, churn reduction strategies, and focus on the long-tail conference market.

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 48% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.5 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 2.3 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:003:09–8:31 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Target Market and Value Proposition vs. Social Tools Latka draws on his personal experience with his previous SaaS company Heyo to drill into event seasonality and churn management. Seidman clearly explains her target market in the MICE industry and long-tail conferences over casual social events.8:31–12:55 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Team Structure, Bootstrapping, and Metrics Discussion Tension rises sharply when Latka pushes Seidman on 2016/2017 volume metrics, claiming her refusal to disclose numbers implies poor growth. Seidman stands her ground, reminding him of their pre-interview agreement not to disclose private financials.12:55–15:42 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Guerilla Marketing Tactics and TheTopInbox Announcement The conversation lightens as Seidman shares how she snuck into trade shows without exhibitor passes to pitch Yap. Latka relates warmly with his own guerrilla founder tactics before transitioning into a promotional segment.15:42–18:58 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Questions and Interview Conclusion Standard friendly Famous Five wrap-up with rapid-fire questions regarding Seidman's habits, favorite tools, and background.3:09–8:31 · Guest teaching 4/10 Target Market and Value Proposition vs. Social Tools Latka draws on his personal experience with his previous SaaS company Heyo to drill into event seasonality and churn management. Seidman clearly explains her target market in the MICE industry and long-tail conferences over casual social events.8:31–12:55 · Guest teaching 3/10 Team Structure, Bootstrapping, and Metrics Discussion Tension rises sharply when Latka pushes Seidman on 2016/2017 volume metrics, claiming her refusal to disclose numbers implies poor growth. Seidman stands her ground, reminding him of their pre-interview agreement not to disclose private financials.12:55–15:42 · Guest teaching 2/10 Guerilla Marketing Tactics and TheTopInbox Announcement The conversation lightens as Seidman shares how she snuck into trade shows without exhibitor passes to pitch Yap. Latka relates warmly with his own guerrilla founder tactics before transitioning into a promotional segment.15:42–18:58 · Guest teaching 1/10 The Famous Five Questions and Interview Conclusion Standard friendly Famous Five wrap-up with rapid-fire questions regarding Seidman's habits, favorite tools, and background.3:09–8:31 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Target Market and Value Proposition vs. Social Tools Latka draws on his personal experience with his previous SaaS company Heyo to drill into event seasonality and churn management. Seidman clearly explains her target market in the MICE industry and long-tail conferences over casual social events.8:31–12:55 · Guest disagreement 7/10 Team Structure, Bootstrapping, and Metrics Discussion Tension rises sharply when Latka pushes Seidman on 2016/2017 volume metrics, claiming her refusal to disclose numbers implies poor growth. Seidman stands her ground, reminding him of their pre-interview agreement not to disclose private financials.12:55–15:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Guerilla Marketing Tactics and TheTopInbox Announcement The conversation lightens as Seidman shares how she snuck into trade shows without exhibitor passes to pitch Yap. Latka relates warmly with his own guerrilla founder tactics before transitioning into a promotional segment.15:42–18:58 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Questions and Interview Conclusion Standard friendly Famous Five wrap-up with rapid-fire questions regarding Seidman's habits, favorite tools, and background.3:09–8:31 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Target Market and Value Proposition vs. Social Tools Latka draws on his personal experience with his previous SaaS company Heyo to drill into event seasonality and churn management. Seidman clearly explains her target market in the MICE industry and long-tail conferences over casual social events.8:31–12:55 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Team Structure, Bootstrapping, and Metrics Discussion Tension rises sharply when Latka pushes Seidman on 2016/2017 volume metrics, claiming her refusal to disclose numbers implies poor growth. Seidman stands her ground, reminding him of their pre-interview agreement not to disclose private financials.12:55–15:42 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Guerilla Marketing Tactics and TheTopInbox Announcement The conversation lightens as Seidman shares how she snuck into trade shows without exhibitor passes to pitch Yap. Latka relates warmly with his own guerrilla founder tactics before transitioning into a promotional segment.15:42–18:58 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Questions and Interview Conclusion Standard friendly Famous Five wrap-up with rapid-fire questions regarding Seidman's habits, favorite tools, and background.

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

0:00 · Nathan 86% · guest 14%0:00 · Nathan 86% · guest 14%3:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%3:00 · Nathan 26.6% · guest 73.4%6:00 · Nathan 13.5% · guest 86.5%6:00 · Nathan 13.5% · guest 86.5%9:00 · Nathan 53.6% · guest 46.4%9:00 · Nathan 53.6% · guest 46.4%12:00 · Nathan 57.3% · guest 42.7%12:00 · Nathan 57.3% · guest 42.7%15:00 · Nathan 46.3% · guest 53.7%15:00 · Nathan 46.3% · guest 53.7%18:00 · Nathan 63.2% · guest 36.8%18:00 · Nathan 63.2% · guest 36.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:08 Seidman firmly refuses Latka's demand for metrics

Seidman asserts strict boundaries, pushing back on Latka's insinuations by stating she agreed only to discuss event tech and business, not confidential numbers.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:38 Latka presses Seidman on lack of growth disclosure

Latka aggressively challenges Seidman, claiming her unwillingness to share annual volume implies she is dissatisfied with the company's growth rate.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:28 Seidman defines the MICE industry vs. Facebook events

Seidman clarifies how enterprise B2B event needs diverge completely from casual Facebook events, detailing schedules, networking, and polling requirements.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:55 Latka analyzes convertible debt implications for a bootstrapped company

Latka demonstrates sharp financial expertise by highlighting the friction of raising convertible debt and then deciding to bootstrap without a subsequent valuation round.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Target Market and Value Proposition vs. Social Tools 6412 Latka draws on his personal experience with his previous SaaS company Heyo to drill into event seasonality and churn management. Seidman clearly explains her target market in the MICE industry and long-tail conferences over casual social events.
Team Structure, Bootstrapping, and Metrics Discussion 6378 Tension rises sharply when Latka pushes Seidman on 2016/2017 volume metrics, claiming her refusal to disclose numbers implies poor growth. Seidman stands her ground, reminding him of their pre-interview agreement not to disclose private financials.
Guerilla Marketing Tactics and TheTopInbox Announcement 4211 The conversation lightens as Seidman shares how she snuck into trade shows without exhibitor passes to pitch Yap. Latka relates warmly with his own guerrilla founder tactics before transitioning into a promotional segment.
The Famous Five Questions and Interview Conclusion 2101 Standard friendly Famous Five wrap-up with rapid-fire questions regarding Seidman's habits, favorite tools, and background.

Statements from this episode (9)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Seidman: Yapp has powered 85,000 published apps since launch
“So since we started, we've had 85,000 apps published on our platform, mostly around events and groups.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 2:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Seidman: Real Conferences Do Not Use Facebook Events
“Real conferences and don't really use Facebook events for their events. As you know, use it for social things. Hey, we're getting together in the park, et cetera.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 3:30
Assertion Supported
Seidman: National Pole Dancing Championship Uses Yapp for Tour Events
“Our customer, the National Pole Dancing Champion. Exactly. You know, they just had their national championships. They took it around the country, around the world, and they had a YAP app for each of those events.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 4:12
Disclosure
Seidman: Yapp's largest package to date is 50 apps
“Our largest package to date has been 50 apps.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 5:04
Disclosure
Seidman: Yapp's smallest annual plan is $400 per app
“The smallest plan is 400 dollars per app per year.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 7:01
Assertion Partly supported
Seidman: There are 2 million conferences annually in the US alone
“There are two million different conferences in the U S alone.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 8:08
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Yapp reached SaaS profitability by bootstrapping after a seed round
“The current version of the business, which is a SaaS, you know, a SaaS business that's profitable so we continue to bootstrap.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 9:21
Disclosure
Seidman: Yapp targets ARPU and enterprise expansion over app count
“We're not necessarily focused on the number of apps and that's how we count it, not necessarily events, but we are focused on increasing our average revenue per user, and we are focused on going further and further deeper into the enterprise.”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 12:37
Disclosure
Seidman acquired early customers by pitching in trade show bars
“Well, very, very early on in the business we couldn't afford to go to trade shows as an exhibitor, because, you know, that, like, can set you back six grand or more to have a booth, so I would just sneak in as an attendee, especially because a lot of times att…”
Maria Seidman Oct 6, 2017 ▶ 13:12
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