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Jul 29, 2017 · 15m · top-founders

735: Sell Cannabis? He's Raised $3m To Be Your Payroll Management System

Nathan Latka · 7m spoken Keegan Peterson · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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

In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Keegan Peterson, founder and CEO of Würk, who raised $3 million to build a dedicated payroll and HR compliance platform for the legal cannabis sector. Keegan discusses overcoming federal banking barriers, scaling monthly recurring revenue via a per-employee SaaS model, and maintaining near-zero customer churn across 17 states.

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 54.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.4 Guest teaching 3.2 Guest disagreement 0.8 Nathan pushing back 3.6
05100:0010:001:19–4:56 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Keegan Peterson and Raising VC for Cannabis Tech Nathan presses on why competitors like Intuit and Gusto do not dominate this vertical, prompting Keegan to educate him on federal banking regulations and tax liability restrictions that block traditional HR providers.4:57–7:37 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Founding Würk, Market Expansion, and Company Culture Nathan pushes past vague responses to establish a customer bracket, while Keegan clarifies company culture and the scope of ancillary cannabis businesses.7:37–10:52 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Cash Payroll Challenges and Per-Employee Pricing Structure Nathan attempts to calculate MRR from customer count and price, calling out a math discrepancy until Keegan corrects him that pricing is structured per employee seat rather than per business account.10:52–13:39 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Low Churn Metrics, Sales Team Structure, and Quotas Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including CAC, churn percentages, and monthly ARR sales quotas for the five-person sales team.13:41–14:45 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan executes the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format with no contentious exchanges.1:19–4:56 · Guest teaching 5/10 Introducing Keegan Peterson and Raising VC for Cannabis Tech Nathan presses on why competitors like Intuit and Gusto do not dominate this vertical, prompting Keegan to educate him on federal banking regulations and tax liability restrictions that block traditional HR providers.4:57–7:37 · Guest teaching 3/10 Founding Würk, Market Expansion, and Company Culture Nathan pushes past vague responses to establish a customer bracket, while Keegan clarifies company culture and the scope of ancillary cannabis businesses.7:37–10:52 · Guest teaching 6/10 Cash Payroll Challenges and Per-Employee Pricing Structure Nathan attempts to calculate MRR from customer count and price, calling out a math discrepancy until Keegan corrects him that pricing is structured per employee seat rather than per business account.10:52–13:39 · Guest teaching 2/10 Low Churn Metrics, Sales Team Structure, and Quotas Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including CAC, churn percentages, and monthly ARR sales quotas for the five-person sales team.13:41–14:45 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan executes the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format with no contentious exchanges.1:19–4:56 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Keegan Peterson and Raising VC for Cannabis Tech Nathan presses on why competitors like Intuit and Gusto do not dominate this vertical, prompting Keegan to educate him on federal banking regulations and tax liability restrictions that block traditional HR providers.4:57–7:37 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Founding Würk, Market Expansion, and Company Culture Nathan pushes past vague responses to establish a customer bracket, while Keegan clarifies company culture and the scope of ancillary cannabis businesses.7:37–10:52 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Cash Payroll Challenges and Per-Employee Pricing Structure Nathan attempts to calculate MRR from customer count and price, calling out a math discrepancy until Keegan corrects him that pricing is structured per employee seat rather than per business account.10:52–13:39 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Low Churn Metrics, Sales Team Structure, and Quotas Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including CAC, churn percentages, and monthly ARR sales quotas for the five-person sales team.13:41–14:45 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan executes the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format with no contentious exchanges.1:19–4:56 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Introducing Keegan Peterson and Raising VC for Cannabis Tech Nathan presses on why competitors like Intuit and Gusto do not dominate this vertical, prompting Keegan to educate him on federal banking regulations and tax liability restrictions that block traditional HR providers.4:57–7:37 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Founding Würk, Market Expansion, and Company Culture Nathan pushes past vague responses to establish a customer bracket, while Keegan clarifies company culture and the scope of ancillary cannabis businesses.7:37–10:52 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Cash Payroll Challenges and Per-Employee Pricing Structure Nathan attempts to calculate MRR from customer count and price, calling out a math discrepancy until Keegan corrects him that pricing is structured per employee seat rather than per business account.10:52–13:39 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Low Churn Metrics, Sales Team Structure, and Quotas Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including CAC, churn percentages, and monthly ARR sales quotas for the five-person sales team.13:41–14:45 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan executes the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format with no contentious exchanges.

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

0:00 · Nathan 67.7% · guest 32.3%0:00 · Nathan 67.7% · guest 32.3%3:00 · Nathan 40.2% · guest 59.8%3:00 · Nathan 40.2% · guest 59.8%6:00 · Nathan 36.3% · guest 63.7%6:00 · Nathan 36.3% · guest 63.7%9:00 · Nathan 47.3% · guest 52.7%9:00 · Nathan 47.3% · guest 52.7%12:00 · Nathan 73.2% · guest 26.8%12:00 · Nathan 73.2% · guest 26.8%15:00 · Nathan 97.6% · guest 2.4%15:00 · Nathan 97.6% · guest 2.4%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:41 Correcting the host's fundamental pricing assumption

When Nathan claims the maximum revenue ceiling must be twenty thousand dollars based on stated numbers, Keegan rejects the premise by clarifying billing is per employee rather than per client.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:30 Demanding clarity on contradictory revenue math

Nathan refuses to accept Keegan's revenue claim without resolving the arithmetic, directly challenging him on which metric is inaccurate.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:11 Detailing national banking hurdles blocking mainstream SaaS

Keegan explains the exact regulatory barrier preventing giants like Gusto and Intuit from entering the space because national underwriting banks cannot process cannabis-derived cash.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:12 Immediate revenue bounds calculation and dilution analysis

Nathan runs real-time SaaS unit economics multiplying ARPU by customer boundaries to evaluate whether the company's valuation and venture financing make financial sense.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Keegan Peterson and Raising VC for Cannabis Tech 5515 Nathan presses on why competitors like Intuit and Gusto do not dominate this vertical, prompting Keegan to educate him on federal banking regulations and tax liability restrictions that block traditional HR providers.
Founding Würk, Market Expansion, and Company Culture 4314 Nathan pushes past vague responses to establish a customer bracket, while Keegan clarifies company culture and the scope of ancillary cannabis businesses.
Cash Payroll Challenges and Per-Employee Pricing Structure 6626 Nathan attempts to calculate MRR from customer count and price, calling out a math discrepancy until Keegan corrects him that pricing is structured per employee seat rather than per business account.
Low Churn Metrics, Sales Team Structure, and Quotas 5203 Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including CAC, churn percentages, and monthly ARR sales quotas for the five-person sales team.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2000 Nathan executes the standard Famous Five rapid-fire format with no contentious exchanges.

Statements from this episode (8)

Disclosure
Peterson: Würk Raised $3M From VCs After Nearly a Year Bootstrapping
“For the longest time, almost a year, I self-financed it. And then we, we've now raised three million of traditional funds from VCs and folks like that.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 2:31
Assertion Supported
Peterson: Why Incumbent Payroll Providers Can't Touch Cannabis Businesses
“So it's not only the PR aspect, but they're backed by big national banks and those banks can't touch cannabis cash and they need those banks to run payroll through. So because of that hurdle, they cannot service this clientele which leaves a big opportunity.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 4:32
Assertion Contradicted
Peterson: Würk Is Only National Payroll HR Tech in Cannabis
“And right now we're the only national reaching payroll HR technology in this industry.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 4:47
Disclosure
Peterson: Würk Operates in 17 Legal Cannabis States
“The number that we share is we're in 17 legal cannabis states right now.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 5:03
Assertion Partly supported
Peterson: 150,000 Work in Plant-Touching Cannabis, Double in Ancillary
“There's a 150,000 employees in the space today that are touching the plant and then almost double that in the ancillary market like myself.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 7:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Peterson: Würk Generates More Than $20,000 in Monthly Revenue
“We're doing more than 20,000 per month.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 9:42
Assertion Partly supported
Peterson: 44 US states have legalized cannabis, 29 allowing medical and recreational
“What will blow your mind is that there's 44 legal states that have some form of cannabis in them today. 29 of them have medical and recreational.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 10:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Peterson: Würk Lost Only Two Customers Over Two Years
“So we've had pretty low churn. I think we've lost like two customers in two years.”
Keegan Peterson Jul 29, 2017 ▶ 11:15
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