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Oct 5, 2017 · 23m · top-founders

803: SaaS: Email He Used To Get From $0 to $10k MRR

Spencer Kuhn · 12m 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

Nathan Latka interviews Highbox co-founder Spencer Kuhn to dissect the platform's SaaS metrics, product integration with JoinCube, customer retention tactics via in-app tool Beamer, and creative growth strategies used to scale monthly recurring revenue.

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 39.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 1.8 Guest disagreement 1.7 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:0020:000:00–4:40 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Episode Preview: Highbox's Growth and Metrics Latka conducts an extended intro and then drills into Highbox's pricing model. When Latka misinterprets the seat pricing math, Kuhn gently clarifies that $32 is the total average account ticket, not the per-seat rate.4:40–8:40 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Transition from Banking and Launching in Latin America Kuhn outlines his shift from JPMorgan investment banking in New York and Chile to founding JoinCube in Latin America. The exchange is cooperative with standard background questioning.8:40–13:26 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Fundraising History and European Series A Aspirations Latka pushes Kuhn hard to provide total company revenue figures when Kuhn attempts to keep metrics compartmentalized by plan during VC fundraising talks. Latka cites his experience interviewing hundreds of SaaS founders to demand a unified customer and MRR metric.13:26–15:55 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Addressing Churn with In-App Changelog Tool Beamer When Kuhn shares a 6.2% monthly churn rate and introduces their new changelog tool Beamer as a solution, Latka challenges the assumption that end users will read changelogs and notes its similarity to Intercom.15:55–20:01 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Customer Acquisition Costs and Lean Operating Principles Latka examines Kuhn's $230 CAC and lean operating model, refocusing Kuhn when answering end-of-year revenue targets to combine both JoinCube and Highbox. Kuhn shares an unconventional fake-partner-dispute discount email tactic.20:04–22:38 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Latka delivers a HostGator sponsor ad read before quickly completing the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions with Kuhn.0:00–4:40 · Guest teaching 2/10 Episode Preview: Highbox's Growth and Metrics Latka conducts an extended intro and then drills into Highbox's pricing model. When Latka misinterprets the seat pricing math, Kuhn gently clarifies that $32 is the total average account ticket, not the per-seat rate.4:40–8:40 · Guest teaching 2/10 Transition from Banking and Launching in Latin America Kuhn outlines his shift from JPMorgan investment banking in New York and Chile to founding JoinCube in Latin America. The exchange is cooperative with standard background questioning.8:40–13:26 · Guest teaching 2/10 Fundraising History and European Series A Aspirations Latka pushes Kuhn hard to provide total company revenue figures when Kuhn attempts to keep metrics compartmentalized by plan during VC fundraising talks. Latka cites his experience interviewing hundreds of SaaS founders to demand a unified customer and MRR metric.13:26–15:55 · Guest teaching 3/10 Addressing Churn with In-App Changelog Tool Beamer When Kuhn shares a 6.2% monthly churn rate and introduces their new changelog tool Beamer as a solution, Latka challenges the assumption that end users will read changelogs and notes its similarity to Intercom.15:55–20:01 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Acquisition Costs and Lean Operating Principles Latka examines Kuhn's $230 CAC and lean operating model, refocusing Kuhn when answering end-of-year revenue targets to combine both JoinCube and Highbox. Kuhn shares an unconventional fake-partner-dispute discount email tactic.20:04–22:38 · Guest teaching 0/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Latka delivers a HostGator sponsor ad read before quickly completing the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions with Kuhn.0:00–4:40 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Episode Preview: Highbox's Growth and Metrics Latka conducts an extended intro and then drills into Highbox's pricing model. When Latka misinterprets the seat pricing math, Kuhn gently clarifies that $32 is the total average account ticket, not the per-seat rate.4:40–8:40 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Transition from Banking and Launching in Latin America Kuhn outlines his shift from JPMorgan investment banking in New York and Chile to founding JoinCube in Latin America. The exchange is cooperative with standard background questioning.8:40–13:26 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Fundraising History and European Series A Aspirations Latka pushes Kuhn hard to provide total company revenue figures when Kuhn attempts to keep metrics compartmentalized by plan during VC fundraising talks. Latka cites his experience interviewing hundreds of SaaS founders to demand a unified customer and MRR metric.13:26–15:55 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Addressing Churn with In-App Changelog Tool Beamer When Kuhn shares a 6.2% monthly churn rate and introduces their new changelog tool Beamer as a solution, Latka challenges the assumption that end users will read changelogs and notes its similarity to Intercom.15:55–20:01 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Customer Acquisition Costs and Lean Operating Principles Latka examines Kuhn's $230 CAC and lean operating model, refocusing Kuhn when answering end-of-year revenue targets to combine both JoinCube and Highbox. Kuhn shares an unconventional fake-partner-dispute discount email tactic.20:04–22:38 · Guest disagreement 0/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Latka delivers a HostGator sponsor ad read before quickly completing the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions with Kuhn.0:00–4:40 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Episode Preview: Highbox's Growth and Metrics Latka conducts an extended intro and then drills into Highbox's pricing model. When Latka misinterprets the seat pricing math, Kuhn gently clarifies that $32 is the total average account ticket, not the per-seat rate.4:40–8:40 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Transition from Banking and Launching in Latin America Kuhn outlines his shift from JPMorgan investment banking in New York and Chile to founding JoinCube in Latin America. The exchange is cooperative with standard background questioning.8:40–13:26 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Fundraising History and European Series A Aspirations Latka pushes Kuhn hard to provide total company revenue figures when Kuhn attempts to keep metrics compartmentalized by plan during VC fundraising talks. Latka cites his experience interviewing hundreds of SaaS founders to demand a unified customer and MRR metric.13:26–15:55 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Addressing Churn with In-App Changelog Tool Beamer When Kuhn shares a 6.2% monthly churn rate and introduces their new changelog tool Beamer as a solution, Latka challenges the assumption that end users will read changelogs and notes its similarity to Intercom.15:55–20:01 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Customer Acquisition Costs and Lean Operating Principles Latka examines Kuhn's $230 CAC and lean operating model, refocusing Kuhn when answering end-of-year revenue targets to combine both JoinCube and Highbox. Kuhn shares an unconventional fake-partner-dispute discount email tactic.20:04–22:38 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Latka delivers a HostGator sponsor ad read before quickly completing the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions with Kuhn.

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

0:00 · Nathan 81.7% · guest 18.3%0:00 · Nathan 81.7% · guest 18.3%3:00 · Nathan 23.9% · guest 76.1%3:00 · Nathan 23.9% · guest 76.1%6:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%6:00 · Nathan 17.9% · guest 82.1%9:00 · Nathan 30.9% · guest 69.1%9:00 · Nathan 30.9% · guest 69.1%12:00 · Nathan 32.6% · guest 67.4%12:00 · Nathan 32.6% · guest 67.4%15:00 · Nathan 30.1% · guest 69.9%15:00 · Nathan 30.1% · guest 69.9%18:00 · Nathan 52.8% · guest 47.2%18:00 · Nathan 52.8% · guest 47.2%21:00 · Nathan 46.5% · guest 53.5%21:00 · Nathan 46.5% · guest 53.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:15 Kuhn defends Beamer against Intercom comparison

Kuhn firmly pushes back against Latka's comparison to Intercom, arguing that Intercom lacks a centralized changelog system for users.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:03 Latka rejects segmented tier breakdown

Latka refuses Kuhn's deflection regarding VC confidentiality and tier complexity, insisting on a single aggregated paying customer count.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:20 Kuhn corrects total ticket vs seat pricing

Kuhn corrects Latka's calculation multiplying $32 by eight seats, clarifying that $32 represents the total average bill per company.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:03 Latka cites podcast track record to enforce clarity

Latka leverages his database of hundreds of founder interviews to explain why breaking down plans confuses listeners and demands simplified MRR numbers.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Episode Preview: Highbox's Growth and Metrics 5213 Latka conducts an extended intro and then drills into Highbox's pricing model. When Latka misinterprets the seat pricing math, Kuhn gently clarifies that $32 is the total average account ticket, not the per-seat rate.
Transition from Banking and Launching in Latin America 3211 Kuhn outlines his shift from JPMorgan investment banking in New York and Chile to founding JoinCube in Latin America. The exchange is cooperative with standard background questioning.
Fundraising History and European Series A Aspirations 7236 Latka pushes Kuhn hard to provide total company revenue figures when Kuhn attempts to keep metrics compartmentalized by plan during VC fundraising talks. Latka cites his experience interviewing hundreds of SaaS founders to demand a unified customer and MRR metric.
Addressing Churn with In-App Changelog Tool Beamer 5335 When Kuhn shares a 6.2% monthly churn rate and introduces their new changelog tool Beamer as a solution, Latka challenges the assumption that end users will read changelogs and notes its similarity to Intercom.
Customer Acquisition Costs and Lean Operating Principles 4223 Latka examines Kuhn's $230 CAC and lean operating model, refocusing Kuhn when answering end-of-year revenue targets to combine both JoinCube and Highbox. Kuhn shares an unconventional fake-partner-dispute discount email tactic.
HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship 1000 Latka delivers a HostGator sponsor ad read before quickly completing the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions with Kuhn.

Statements from this episode (12)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Average Highbox customer pays $32 monthly for seven to eight seats
“The average customer is paying us around 32 dollars a month. That's our so our average account has around eight people seven to eight people in the account, most people are on our pro plan.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 3:56
Insight
Latin America offers startups low competition and talent at competitive costs
“Latin America is a great place to get started because it's much less competitive than other more mature markets like, you know, North America or Europe. And it's also like very easy to acquire high quality talent at very competitive costs.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 5:42
Disclosure
Highbox raised two $500,000 seed rounds over the past three years
“We were able to raise two, two rounds of around 500 K a piece over the last three years.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 9:10
Disclosure
Highbox plans to raise a 1 million euro Series A in Europe
“Yeah, but actually we're talking right now to a few VCs here in Spain, and we are planning on raising one million euro you know, sort of series A type, type size round for Europe in the next three to six months.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 9:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Highbox claims over 10,000 company sign-ups and 35,000 active users
“So I've had over 10,000 companies to sign up, and we have 35,000 active users.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 10:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Highbox has converted over 300 companies into paying customers
“There's over 300 companies that are paying for high box.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 11:14
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Highbox experiences a gross monthly churn rate of 6.2 percent
“Our monthly term right now is 6.2% monthly.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 13:36
Disclosure
Highbox will launch in-app changelog product Beamer within two weeks
“So we're about to launch in the next Two weeks, a product called Beamer that lets you essentially notify product changes to your user base from within your product by just plugging in a super easy script to essentially like a change log as a service.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 14:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Highbox pays a customer acquisition cost of $230 per paying customer
“So we're paying around 230 dollars. That's our cost of acquisition per paying customer.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 16:00
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Highbox spent approximately $3,000 on paid advertising in the previous month
“On paid advertising, we probably spent Around three K.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 16:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Highbox reached $10,000 in monthly recurring revenue by October 2017
“If we're just going to focus on the high box part which is a 10 right now, if we could triple that by the end of the year, we'd be jumping for joy.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 18:10
Insight
Unconverted past signups represent low-hanging fruit for marketing reactivation campaigns
“Cause these are the best people to target and people that were interested in your products at one point and didn't convert. You know, that's a low hanging fruit.”
Spencer Kuhn Oct 5, 2017 ▶ 19:16
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