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Sep 5, 2017 · 19m · top-founders

773: Can $1m MRR Company Grow Into $10m Post Money Valuation?

Venkat Nagaswamy · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In Episode 773 of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Mariana IQ co-founder and CEO Venkat Nagaswamy to dissect the startup's rapid growth to an $80,000 monthly recurring revenue run rate, enterprise account-based marketing software, and fundraising strategy at a $10 million valuation.

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 44.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.8 Nathan pushing back 3.5
05100:0010:000:55–3:47 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Announcement Nathan introduces the show, pitches GetLatka database, and introduces Venkat. Venkat clearly explains Mariana IQ's account-based marketing software model and pricing.3:47–5:54 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Company Inception and Revenue Trajectory Nathan rapidly converts Venkat's monthly metrics into ARR run rate and customer counts. The exchange is highly collaborative and focused on straightforward financial reporting.5:54–11:23 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Customer Case Study: Zendesk's ABM Results Nathan challenges Venkat on whether raising $2 million at a $10 million post-money valuation creates valuation creep given sub-$1 million ARR. Venkat counters by explaining market comp multiples for pre-Series A and justifying their valuation positioning.11:24–13:51 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Unconventional Marketing and Viral Shower Video Nathan pushes back against generic inbound marketing answers and demands a truly unconventional tactic. Venkat shares an amusing anecdote about filming himself singing in the shower to generate viral attention.13:51–16:33 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 SaaS Economics: Gross Margins, Churn, and CAC Nathan demonstrates high SaaS fluency by drilling down into gross vs net revenue churn, fully weighted CAC, and instantly deriving payback period and LTV.16:36–18:32 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Following a HostGator sponsor ad read, Nathan conducts the Famous Five lightning round, lightly teasing Venkat when he hesitates to share his age.0:55–3:47 · Guest teaching 2/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Announcement Nathan introduces the show, pitches GetLatka database, and introduces Venkat. Venkat clearly explains Mariana IQ's account-based marketing software model and pricing.3:47–5:54 · Guest teaching 1/10 Company Inception and Revenue Trajectory Nathan rapidly converts Venkat's monthly metrics into ARR run rate and customer counts. The exchange is highly collaborative and focused on straightforward financial reporting.5:54–11:23 · Guest teaching 5/10 Customer Case Study: Zendesk's ABM Results Nathan challenges Venkat on whether raising $2 million at a $10 million post-money valuation creates valuation creep given sub-$1 million ARR. Venkat counters by explaining market comp multiples for pre-Series A and justifying their valuation positioning.11:24–13:51 · Guest teaching 1/10 Unconventional Marketing and Viral Shower Video Nathan pushes back against generic inbound marketing answers and demands a truly unconventional tactic. Venkat shares an amusing anecdote about filming himself singing in the shower to generate viral attention.13:51–16:33 · Guest teaching 2/10 SaaS Economics: Gross Margins, Churn, and CAC Nathan demonstrates high SaaS fluency by drilling down into gross vs net revenue churn, fully weighted CAC, and instantly deriving payback period and LTV.16:36–18:32 · Guest teaching 1/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Following a HostGator sponsor ad read, Nathan conducts the Famous Five lightning round, lightly teasing Venkat when he hesitates to share his age.0:55–3:47 · Guest disagreement 1/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Announcement Nathan introduces the show, pitches GetLatka database, and introduces Venkat. Venkat clearly explains Mariana IQ's account-based marketing software model and pricing.3:47–5:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Company Inception and Revenue Trajectory Nathan rapidly converts Venkat's monthly metrics into ARR run rate and customer counts. The exchange is highly collaborative and focused on straightforward financial reporting.5:54–11:23 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Customer Case Study: Zendesk's ABM Results Nathan challenges Venkat on whether raising $2 million at a $10 million post-money valuation creates valuation creep given sub-$1 million ARR. Venkat counters by explaining market comp multiples for pre-Series A and justifying their valuation positioning.11:24–13:51 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Unconventional Marketing and Viral Shower Video Nathan pushes back against generic inbound marketing answers and demands a truly unconventional tactic. Venkat shares an amusing anecdote about filming himself singing in the shower to generate viral attention.13:51–16:33 · Guest disagreement 1/10 SaaS Economics: Gross Margins, Churn, and CAC Nathan demonstrates high SaaS fluency by drilling down into gross vs net revenue churn, fully weighted CAC, and instantly deriving payback period and LTV.16:36–18:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Following a HostGator sponsor ad read, Nathan conducts the Famous Five lightning round, lightly teasing Venkat when he hesitates to share his age.0:55–3:47 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 GetLatka SaaS Database Announcement Nathan introduces the show, pitches GetLatka database, and introduces Venkat. Venkat clearly explains Mariana IQ's account-based marketing software model and pricing.3:47–5:54 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Company Inception and Revenue Trajectory Nathan rapidly converts Venkat's monthly metrics into ARR run rate and customer counts. The exchange is highly collaborative and focused on straightforward financial reporting.5:54–11:23 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Customer Case Study: Zendesk's ABM Results Nathan challenges Venkat on whether raising $2 million at a $10 million post-money valuation creates valuation creep given sub-$1 million ARR. Venkat counters by explaining market comp multiples for pre-Series A and justifying their valuation positioning.11:24–13:51 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Unconventional Marketing and Viral Shower Video Nathan pushes back against generic inbound marketing answers and demands a truly unconventional tactic. Venkat shares an amusing anecdote about filming himself singing in the shower to generate viral attention.13:51–16:33 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 SaaS Economics: Gross Margins, Churn, and CAC Nathan demonstrates high SaaS fluency by drilling down into gross vs net revenue churn, fully weighted CAC, and instantly deriving payback period and LTV.16:36–18:32 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship Following a HostGator sponsor ad read, Nathan conducts the Famous Five lightning round, lightly teasing Venkat when he hesitates to share his age.

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

0:00 · Nathan 92.7% · guest 7.3%0:00 · Nathan 92.7% · guest 7.3%3:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%3:00 · Nathan 24.5% · guest 75.5%6:00 · Nathan 13.3% · guest 86.7%6:00 · Nathan 13.3% · guest 86.7%9:00 · Nathan 41% · guest 59%9:00 · Nathan 41% · guest 59%12:00 · Nathan 32% · guest 68%12:00 · Nathan 32% · guest 68%15:00 · Nathan 44.9% · guest 55.1%15:00 · Nathan 44.9% · guest 55.1%18:00 · Nathan 85.4% · guest 14.6%18:00 · Nathan 85.4% · guest 14.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:48 Venkat defends valuation against Nathan's trap

Venkat reframes Nathan's assertion that a $10M post valuation creates dangerous valuation creep, arguing comps were trading higher at $12M to $14M.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:18 Nathan rejects conventional inbound marketing explanation

Nathan cuts off Venkat's standard response about press and inbound marketing, demanding to hear an unconventional, weird tactic that actually landed customers.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:48 Venkat breaks down pre-Series A market pricing

Venkat explains to Nathan how early-stage market dynamics and pre-Series A feelers dictate valuations beyond simple immediate ARR multiples.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 15:15 Nathan calculates unit economics in real time

Nathan instantly connects Venkat's churn rate, ARPU, and $22k CAC to derive an estimated $200k-$250k LTV and a 5-month payback period.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
GetLatka SaaS Database Announcement 5212 Nathan introduces the show, pitches GetLatka database, and introduces Venkat. Venkat clearly explains Mariana IQ's account-based marketing software model and pricing.
Company Inception and Revenue Trajectory 6112 Nathan rapidly converts Venkat's monthly metrics into ARR run rate and customer counts. The exchange is highly collaborative and focused on straightforward financial reporting.
Customer Case Study: Zendesk's ABM Results 7546 Nathan challenges Venkat on whether raising $2 million at a $10 million post-money valuation creates valuation creep given sub-$1 million ARR. Venkat counters by explaining market comp multiples for pre-Series A and justifying their valuation positioning.
Unconventional Marketing and Viral Shower Video 5125 Nathan pushes back against generic inbound marketing answers and demands a truly unconventional tactic. Venkat shares an amusing anecdote about filming himself singing in the shower to generate viral attention.
SaaS Economics: Gross Margins, Churn, and CAC 8213 Nathan demonstrates high SaaS fluency by drilling down into gross vs net revenue churn, fully weighted CAC, and instantly deriving payback period and LTV.
HostGator Website Hosting Sponsorship 4123 Following a HostGator sponsor ad read, Nathan conducts the Famous Five lightning round, lightly teasing Venkat when he hesitates to share his age.

Statements from this episode (11)

Disclosure
Mariana IQ averages $4,000 in monthly revenue per customer
“So right now we're doing about 4000 bucks a month on an average per customer.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 3:41
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mariana IQ grew from zero in 2014 to $550K in 2016
“The first year revenue was zero. I mean, we started, started making our first revenues in late we were doing, we did for month of for the year of 2015, we did one 55,000 2016, we did about five 50 thousand.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 4:36
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Mariana IQ is on track to hit $2M revenue in 2017
“Yeah, we're on track, you know, but that's what and we should be able to hit that.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 5:04
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mariana IQ generates $80K MRR, approaching a $1M ARR
“So last month it was 78, 80, about, essentially tracking close to a million in ARR.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 5:17
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Zendesk quadrupled lead volume using Mariana IQ without increasing costs
“These guys are people who spend something like 50 bucks a click to all the way up to a hundred bucks a click on on Google AdWords for something like Helter software, and they were able to increase their lead volume, like, four times, based on Mariana, while ho…”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 6:51
Disclosure
Mariana IQ raised a $2M seed note at a $6M cap
“It was a convertible note round. Two million note was what we issued.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 8:19
Disclosure
Mariana IQ raised $2M at a $10M post-money valuation
“We did another round in mid last year, about a year ago Xfinity Ventures from India which is made by leaders from Infosys and Wipro those guys led the round, it was a convert, it was a priced round and we converted everything at essentially, ten million posts.…”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 8:45
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Mariana IQ's shower singing marketing video hit one million Twitter views
“And that video, we put it out on, on Twitter, and that got like a million hits or something, or views or something like that.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 13:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Viral shower video came up in 60% of prospective sales meetings
“So, I don't know if there were customers, but I can't, I will tell you, something like, 60% of the meetings that I've had, or at least when that was running, that people would say, you know, this is the first time I'm seeing some guy who actually sang Bon Jovi…”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 13:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mariana IQ experiences roughly 3% monthly customer churn
“So, per month, it's, we're doing trifle high right now. We're about three percent.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 14:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mariana IQ spends $22,000 to acquire a new enterprise customer
“So the exact numbers we just did the math last week. It's like 22,000 bucks.”
Venkat Nagaswamy Sep 5, 2017 ▶ 14:56
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