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Jul 8, 2017 · 22m · top-founders

714: You Won't Believe What This Divorced Mom Raised $7 Million For

Sherry Atwood · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 9m spoken
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Sherry Atwood, founder and CEO of SupportPay, joins Nathan Latka on 'The Top' podcast to discuss how her personal experience with divorce inspired her to bootstrap and scale an automated child support management platform that raised $7.1 million in venture capital. Atwood details SupportPay's SaaS unit economics, pricing evolution, engineering relocation from Silicon Valley to Sacramento, and strategic enterprise alignment with Salesforce.

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 44.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.9 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 1.7 Nathan pushing back 2.7
05100:0010:0020:001:22–4:04 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Introducing Sherry Atwood and the Mission of SupportPay Nathan begins with a provocative question suggesting Sherry is incentivized to see divorce rates rise to get customers. Sherry immediately shuts down the premise, explaining that her app shows divorce makes things worse and that unmarried millennials having children are the real growing demographic.4:04–6:34 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Bootstrapping SupportPay, Financial Risk, and Raising $7.1 Million Nathan probes into Sherry's personal finances before starting the company and drills down into exact dollar amounts saved. Sherry is completely open, walking through her assets, savings, bootstrapping timeline, and subsequent $7.1M funding.6:34–8:36 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 SupportPay Pricing Tiers, Self-Taught Coding, and Team Relocation Nathan clarifies pricing models, team breakdown, and asks how she learned to code. Sherry explains her self-taught coding background using physical books and describes relocating the team to Sacramento.8:36–12:57 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Talent Retention, Silicon Valley Exit, and Certified Legal Records Nathan spots a discrepancy between reported monthly customer counts, price tiers, and the $100k/month revenue figure. He calculates the math in real time to force a clarification between one-off annual/upfront fees and baseline MRR.12:57–16:18 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Investor Valuation, Funnel Conversion Rates, and Market Scale Nathan asks how investors valued upfront fees versus recurring revenue during fundraising. Sherry pivots to total addressable market scale, explaining the vast number of parents exchanging child support globally.16:18–18:50 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Enterprise Strategic Backing: Salesforce Ventures and Tim Draper Nathan assumes Salesforce invested just for monthly informational updates, but Sherry corrects him by detailing that SupportPay is built on force.com and gives Salesforce strategic entry into state government child support systems.18:51–21:59 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Mid-Roll Interlude: Host Promotion for GetLatka.com This segment begins as a standalone mid-roll promotional ad read for Nathan's database tool GetLatka.com, followed by a lighthearted, standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questionnaire.1:22–4:04 · Guest teaching 4/10 Introducing Sherry Atwood and the Mission of SupportPay Nathan begins with a provocative question suggesting Sherry is incentivized to see divorce rates rise to get customers. Sherry immediately shuts down the premise, explaining that her app shows divorce makes things worse and that unmarried millennials having children are the real growing demographic.4:04–6:34 · Guest teaching 2/10 Bootstrapping SupportPay, Financial Risk, and Raising $7.1 Million Nathan probes into Sherry's personal finances before starting the company and drills down into exact dollar amounts saved. Sherry is completely open, walking through her assets, savings, bootstrapping timeline, and subsequent $7.1M funding.6:34–8:36 · Guest teaching 3/10 SupportPay Pricing Tiers, Self-Taught Coding, and Team Relocation Nathan clarifies pricing models, team breakdown, and asks how she learned to code. Sherry explains her self-taught coding background using physical books and describes relocating the team to Sacramento.8:36–12:57 · Guest teaching 3/10 Talent Retention, Silicon Valley Exit, and Certified Legal Records Nathan spots a discrepancy between reported monthly customer counts, price tiers, and the $100k/month revenue figure. He calculates the math in real time to force a clarification between one-off annual/upfront fees and baseline MRR.12:57–16:18 · Guest teaching 4/10 Investor Valuation, Funnel Conversion Rates, and Market Scale Nathan asks how investors valued upfront fees versus recurring revenue during fundraising. Sherry pivots to total addressable market scale, explaining the vast number of parents exchanging child support globally.16:18–18:50 · Guest teaching 5/10 Enterprise Strategic Backing: Salesforce Ventures and Tim Draper Nathan assumes Salesforce invested just for monthly informational updates, but Sherry corrects him by detailing that SupportPay is built on force.com and gives Salesforce strategic entry into state government child support systems.18:51–21:59 · Guest teaching 0/10 Mid-Roll Interlude: Host Promotion for GetLatka.com This segment begins as a standalone mid-roll promotional ad read for Nathan's database tool GetLatka.com, followed by a lighthearted, standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questionnaire.1:22–4:04 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Introducing Sherry Atwood and the Mission of SupportPay Nathan begins with a provocative question suggesting Sherry is incentivized to see divorce rates rise to get customers. Sherry immediately shuts down the premise, explaining that her app shows divorce makes things worse and that unmarried millennials having children are the real growing demographic.4:04–6:34 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping SupportPay, Financial Risk, and Raising $7.1 Million Nathan probes into Sherry's personal finances before starting the company and drills down into exact dollar amounts saved. Sherry is completely open, walking through her assets, savings, bootstrapping timeline, and subsequent $7.1M funding.6:34–8:36 · Guest disagreement 1/10 SupportPay Pricing Tiers, Self-Taught Coding, and Team Relocation Nathan clarifies pricing models, team breakdown, and asks how she learned to code. Sherry explains her self-taught coding background using physical books and describes relocating the team to Sacramento.8:36–12:57 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Talent Retention, Silicon Valley Exit, and Certified Legal Records Nathan spots a discrepancy between reported monthly customer counts, price tiers, and the $100k/month revenue figure. He calculates the math in real time to force a clarification between one-off annual/upfront fees and baseline MRR.12:57–16:18 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Investor Valuation, Funnel Conversion Rates, and Market Scale Nathan asks how investors valued upfront fees versus recurring revenue during fundraising. Sherry pivots to total addressable market scale, explaining the vast number of parents exchanging child support globally.16:18–18:50 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Enterprise Strategic Backing: Salesforce Ventures and Tim Draper Nathan assumes Salesforce invested just for monthly informational updates, but Sherry corrects him by detailing that SupportPay is built on force.com and gives Salesforce strategic entry into state government child support systems.18:51–21:59 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Mid-Roll Interlude: Host Promotion for GetLatka.com This segment begins as a standalone mid-roll promotional ad read for Nathan's database tool GetLatka.com, followed by a lighthearted, standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questionnaire.1:22–4:04 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Introducing Sherry Atwood and the Mission of SupportPay Nathan begins with a provocative question suggesting Sherry is incentivized to see divorce rates rise to get customers. Sherry immediately shuts down the premise, explaining that her app shows divorce makes things worse and that unmarried millennials having children are the real growing demographic.4:04–6:34 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Bootstrapping SupportPay, Financial Risk, and Raising $7.1 Million Nathan probes into Sherry's personal finances before starting the company and drills down into exact dollar amounts saved. Sherry is completely open, walking through her assets, savings, bootstrapping timeline, and subsequent $7.1M funding.6:34–8:36 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 SupportPay Pricing Tiers, Self-Taught Coding, and Team Relocation Nathan clarifies pricing models, team breakdown, and asks how she learned to code. Sherry explains her self-taught coding background using physical books and describes relocating the team to Sacramento.8:36–12:57 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Talent Retention, Silicon Valley Exit, and Certified Legal Records Nathan spots a discrepancy between reported monthly customer counts, price tiers, and the $100k/month revenue figure. He calculates the math in real time to force a clarification between one-off annual/upfront fees and baseline MRR.12:57–16:18 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Investor Valuation, Funnel Conversion Rates, and Market Scale Nathan asks how investors valued upfront fees versus recurring revenue during fundraising. Sherry pivots to total addressable market scale, explaining the vast number of parents exchanging child support globally.16:18–18:50 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Enterprise Strategic Backing: Salesforce Ventures and Tim Draper Nathan assumes Salesforce invested just for monthly informational updates, but Sherry corrects him by detailing that SupportPay is built on force.com and gives Salesforce strategic entry into state government child support systems.18:51–21:59 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Mid-Roll Interlude: Host Promotion for GetLatka.com This segment begins as a standalone mid-roll promotional ad read for Nathan's database tool GetLatka.com, followed by a lighthearted, standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questionnaire.

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

0:00 · Nathan 89% · guest 11%0:00 · Nathan 89% · guest 11%3:00 · Nathan 18.5% · guest 81.5%3:00 · Nathan 18.5% · guest 81.5%6:00 · Nathan 24.6% · guest 75.4%6:00 · Nathan 24.6% · guest 75.4%9:00 · Nathan 37% · guest 63%9:00 · Nathan 37% · guest 63%12:00 · Nathan 43.8% · guest 56.2%12:00 · Nathan 43.8% · guest 56.2%15:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%15:00 · Nathan 21% · guest 79%18:00 · Nathan 62.8% · guest 37.2%18:00 · Nathan 62.8% · guest 37.2%21:00 · Nathan 66.8% · guest 33.2%21:00 · Nathan 66.8% · guest 33.2%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 2:37 Sherry dismisses the divorce incentive assumption

When Nathan claims she is financially incentivized to see people get divorced, Sherry firmly pushes back with 'absolutely not' and explains unmarried demographics.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 11:11 Nathan challenges the revenue and ARPU figures

Nathan refuses to accept the $100k/month revenue figure at face value, pointing out that 2,000 customers at $10/month only equals $20k MRR, forcing Sherry to clarify upfront fees.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 17:23 Sherry details Salesforce Ventures' strategic interest

When Nathan assumes Salesforce only invested to get quarterly update reports, Sherry corrects him by revealing the app is built on force.com to unlock a multi-billion dollar government contract niche.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:11 Nathan breaks down pure-play SaaS metrics in real-time

Nathan shows strong SaaS domain knowledge by recalculating ARPU, demonstrating how upfront annual billing distorts recurring revenue metrics.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Sherry Atwood and the Mission of SupportPay 3443 Nathan begins with a provocative question suggesting Sherry is incentivized to see divorce rates rise to get customers. Sherry immediately shuts down the premise, explaining that her app shows divorce makes things worse and that unmarried millennials having children are the real growing demographic.
Bootstrapping SupportPay, Financial Risk, and Raising $7.1 Million 4212 Nathan probes into Sherry's personal finances before starting the company and drills down into exact dollar amounts saved. Sherry is completely open, walking through her assets, savings, bootstrapping timeline, and subsequent $7.1M funding.
SupportPay Pricing Tiers, Self-Taught Coding, and Team Relocation 4312 Nathan clarifies pricing models, team breakdown, and asks how she learned to code. Sherry explains her self-taught coding background using physical books and describes relocating the team to Sacramento.
Talent Retention, Silicon Valley Exit, and Certified Legal Records 7326 Nathan spots a discrepancy between reported monthly customer counts, price tiers, and the $100k/month revenue figure. He calculates the math in real time to force a clarification between one-off annual/upfront fees and baseline MRR.
Investor Valuation, Funnel Conversion Rates, and Market Scale 5424 Nathan asks how investors valued upfront fees versus recurring revenue during fundraising. Sherry pivots to total addressable market scale, explaining the vast number of parents exchanging child support globally.
Enterprise Strategic Backing: Salesforce Ventures and Tim Draper 4522 Nathan assumes Salesforce invested just for monthly informational updates, but Sherry corrects him by detailing that SupportPay is built on force.com and gives Salesforce strategic entry into state government child support systems.
Mid-Roll Interlude: Host Promotion for GetLatka.com 0000 This segment begins as a standalone mid-roll promotional ad read for Nathan's database tool GetLatka.com, followed by a lighthearted, standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questionnaire.

Statements from this episode (13)

Assertion Supported
Millennials having children unmarried expands SupportPay's market beyond divorce.
“Because these millennials these days actually aren't getting married anymore. They're just having babies. So it's actually not the divorce.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 2:48
Assertion Supported
SupportPay has raised $7.1 million total, including a recent Series A.
“Yes, we've raised about 7.1 million dollars. We just closed our series A in December.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 5:42
Disclosure
Atwood moved SupportPay out of Silicon Valley to sustain operations.
“After I raised my first three million in capital, I realized I could not sustain a business in Silicon Valley.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 8:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tech investors shifted focus from active users to revenue in early 2016.
“Right in June, March of last year, the whole world when it came to investment changed and it went from active users or a number of customers to amount of revenue.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 9:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
SupportPay processes $14 million per month in child support transactions.
“We're looking at about fourteen million a month in child support.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 10:18
Assertion Not checkable as stated
SupportPay has over 43,000 total users and nearly 2,000 paying customers.
“Today we have over 43,000 customers, and we have about almost 2000 paying customers.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 10:29
Insight
SupportPay's real value is long-term legal proof, not daily expense tracking.
“The value to them is not the day to day submitting the expenses. The value is that longtime history and proof.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 12:51
Assertion Not checkable as stated
SupportPay has an annual churn rate of about 3% on active users.
“Churn on an active user is about three percent right now.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 13:33
Assertion Not checkable as stated
SupportPay converts 12% of website visitors into paid users.
“Well, right now our conversion rate to an active user for the new users from, let's see, from all the way to, if you look at the entire marketing funnel, we're getting about a 12% from visitor to paid user.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 13:53
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Globally, 300 million separated parents exchange $900 billion in child support.
“Globally, there's three hundred million parents that are exchanging over nine hundred billion dollars.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 15:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
SupportPay generated a couple hundred thousand dollars in revenue during 2016.
“2016 revenue. I don't have those at the top of my head. A couple 100,000.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 16:22
Assertion Partly supported
US taxpayers spend $6 billion annually maintaining fragmented child support systems.
“You and I as taxpayers, we spend six billion dollars every year to build and maintain child support systems in the US alone.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 16:38
Assertion Supported
US state child support systems run on custom mainframes averaging 10+ years.
“Every state has their own system. They're all custom built, and they're all on average 10 years or older and made on mainframe.”
Sherry Atwood Jul 8, 2017 ▶ 16:56
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