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Jun 1, 2017 · 22m · top-founders

677: Talkdesk Passes 50,000 Seats, $25M Raised To Be Your More Efficient Call Center with COO Gadi Shamia

Gadi Shamia · 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

Talkdesk COO Gadi Shamia joins Nathan Latka to discuss how the cloud-based call center platform scaled to 50,000 seats and over 1,200 enterprise customers while maintaining remarkable capital efficiency on $24.5 million raised. Shamia shares operational insights into SaaS pricing, founder dynamics, net negative churn, and displacing legacy telecommunication incumbents.

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 38.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:0020:000:43–3:47 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Gadi Shamia and Talkdesk Nathan digs into Talkdesk's business model and pricing structure. When Gadi hedges on giving an average customer ACV due to wide seat variance, Nathan pushes him to normalize the pricing around per-seat monthly rates.3:47–8:28 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Gadi's Transition to Talkdesk and Founder Dynamics Nathan inquires about Gadi's arrival at Talkdesk, the founder relationship, and the departure of a co-founder. Gadi answers candidly about early metrics and founder transition dynamics without conflict.8:28–13:35 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Scaling to 50,000 Seats and Managing Net Negative Churn Nathan uses Gadi's seat numbers and unit economics to calculate an estimated $3.2M MRR. When Gadi attempts to deflect by saying they don't discuss finances, Nathan firmly pushes back that he is only multiplying the numbers Gadi provided, leading into an analysis of net negative churn and seasonality.13:35–17:11 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Team Structure, Capital Efficiency, and Fundraising Strategy Nathan presses Gadi on capital efficiency, asking whether Talkdesk is preparing for a monster funding round or an acquisition by Salesforce. Gadi outlines their conservative cash burn and upfront annual billing model.17:12–21:11 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar Following a sponsor break, Nathan walks Gadi through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, sleep habits, and early career reflections in a friendly, conversational tone.0:43–3:47 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Gadi Shamia and Talkdesk Nathan digs into Talkdesk's business model and pricing structure. When Gadi hedges on giving an average customer ACV due to wide seat variance, Nathan pushes him to normalize the pricing around per-seat monthly rates.3:47–8:28 · Guest teaching 3/10 Gadi's Transition to Talkdesk and Founder Dynamics Nathan inquires about Gadi's arrival at Talkdesk, the founder relationship, and the departure of a co-founder. Gadi answers candidly about early metrics and founder transition dynamics without conflict.8:28–13:35 · Guest teaching 4/10 Scaling to 50,000 Seats and Managing Net Negative Churn Nathan uses Gadi's seat numbers and unit economics to calculate an estimated $3.2M MRR. When Gadi attempts to deflect by saying they don't discuss finances, Nathan firmly pushes back that he is only multiplying the numbers Gadi provided, leading into an analysis of net negative churn and seasonality.13:35–17:11 · Guest teaching 2/10 Team Structure, Capital Efficiency, and Fundraising Strategy Nathan presses Gadi on capital efficiency, asking whether Talkdesk is preparing for a monster funding round or an acquisition by Salesforce. Gadi outlines their conservative cash burn and upfront annual billing model.17:12–21:11 · Guest teaching 1/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar Following a sponsor break, Nathan walks Gadi through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, sleep habits, and early career reflections in a friendly, conversational tone.0:43–3:47 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Introducing Gadi Shamia and Talkdesk Nathan digs into Talkdesk's business model and pricing structure. When Gadi hedges on giving an average customer ACV due to wide seat variance, Nathan pushes him to normalize the pricing around per-seat monthly rates.3:47–8:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Gadi's Transition to Talkdesk and Founder Dynamics Nathan inquires about Gadi's arrival at Talkdesk, the founder relationship, and the departure of a co-founder. Gadi answers candidly about early metrics and founder transition dynamics without conflict.8:28–13:35 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Scaling to 50,000 Seats and Managing Net Negative Churn Nathan uses Gadi's seat numbers and unit economics to calculate an estimated $3.2M MRR. When Gadi attempts to deflect by saying they don't discuss finances, Nathan firmly pushes back that he is only multiplying the numbers Gadi provided, leading into an analysis of net negative churn and seasonality.13:35–17:11 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Team Structure, Capital Efficiency, and Fundraising Strategy Nathan presses Gadi on capital efficiency, asking whether Talkdesk is preparing for a monster funding round or an acquisition by Salesforce. Gadi outlines their conservative cash burn and upfront annual billing model.17:12–21:11 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar Following a sponsor break, Nathan walks Gadi through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, sleep habits, and early career reflections in a friendly, conversational tone.0:43–3:47 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Introducing Gadi Shamia and Talkdesk Nathan digs into Talkdesk's business model and pricing structure. When Gadi hedges on giving an average customer ACV due to wide seat variance, Nathan pushes him to normalize the pricing around per-seat monthly rates.3:47–8:28 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Gadi's Transition to Talkdesk and Founder Dynamics Nathan inquires about Gadi's arrival at Talkdesk, the founder relationship, and the departure of a co-founder. Gadi answers candidly about early metrics and founder transition dynamics without conflict.8:28–13:35 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Scaling to 50,000 Seats and Managing Net Negative Churn Nathan uses Gadi's seat numbers and unit economics to calculate an estimated $3.2M MRR. When Gadi attempts to deflect by saying they don't discuss finances, Nathan firmly pushes back that he is only multiplying the numbers Gadi provided, leading into an analysis of net negative churn and seasonality.13:35–17:11 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Team Structure, Capital Efficiency, and Fundraising Strategy Nathan presses Gadi on capital efficiency, asking whether Talkdesk is preparing for a monster funding round or an acquisition by Salesforce. Gadi outlines their conservative cash burn and upfront annual billing model.17:12–21:11 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar Following a sponsor break, Nathan walks Gadi through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, sleep habits, and early career reflections in a friendly, conversational tone.

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

0:00 · Nathan 63.2% · guest 36.8%0:00 · Nathan 63.2% · guest 36.8%3:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%3:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%6:00 · Nathan 34.6% · guest 65.4%6:00 · Nathan 34.6% · guest 65.4%9:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%9:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%12:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%12:00 · Nathan 27.4% · guest 72.6%15:00 · Nathan 41.9% · guest 58.1%15:00 · Nathan 41.9% · guest 58.1%18:00 · Nathan 22.7% · guest 77.3%18:00 · Nathan 22.7% · guest 77.3%21:00 · Nathan 89.9% · guest 10.1%21:00 · Nathan 89.9% · guest 10.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:09 Gadi resists revenue extrapolation

When Nathan multiplies seat count by minimum pricing to state Talkdesk is doing $3.2M MRR, Gadi pushes back, asserting that the company does not discuss finances and the math is overly simplified due to seat seasonality.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:13 Nathan insists on derived MRR math

Nathan refuses Gadi's deflection regarding financial disclosures, firmly pointing out that he is merely multiplying Gadi's own stated figures of 50,000 seats and $65 per seat.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:32 Gadi explains managing seasonality in annual SaaS contracts

Gadi breaks down how Talkdesk structures annual contracts with pre-allocated user banks to manage e-commerce holiday surges without suffering net negative churn drops during off-peak months.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:54 Nathan calculates MRR on the fly

Nathan demonstrates domain fluency by immediately combining Gadi's pricing floor and seat volume metrics to compute an estimated $3.2M monthly recurring run rate.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Gadi Shamia and Talkdesk 5224 Nathan digs into Talkdesk's business model and pricing structure. When Gadi hedges on giving an average customer ACV due to wide seat variance, Nathan pushes him to normalize the pricing around per-seat monthly rates.
Gadi's Transition to Talkdesk and Founder Dynamics 4313 Nathan inquires about Gadi's arrival at Talkdesk, the founder relationship, and the departure of a co-founder. Gadi answers candidly about early metrics and founder transition dynamics without conflict.
Scaling to 50,000 Seats and Managing Net Negative Churn 7446 Nathan uses Gadi's seat numbers and unit economics to calculate an estimated $3.2M MRR. When Gadi attempts to deflect by saying they don't discuss finances, Nathan firmly pushes back that he is only multiplying the numbers Gadi provided, leading into an analysis of net negative churn and seasonality.
Team Structure, Capital Efficiency, and Fundraising Strategy 5224 Nathan presses Gadi on capital efficiency, asking whether Talkdesk is preparing for a monster funding round or an acquisition by Salesforce. Gadi outlines their conservative cash burn and upfront annual billing model.
Sponsor Break: Website Analytics with Hotjar 3112 Following a sponsor break, Nathan walks Gadi through the Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite tools, sleep habits, and early career reflections in a friendly, conversational tone.

Statements from this episode (16)

Disclosure
Shamia: Talkdesk's customers range from 3 to 850 users
“We have customers with three users, and we have customers with 850 users”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 3:17
Disclosure
Talkdesk charges up to $125 per seat plus $40 for telephony
“The per user cost per month is between 65 dollars to one 25 dollars, depending on the depending on the subscription. Then the typical customer will spend another 30 to 40 dollars on telephony a month.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 3:29
Assertion Partly supported
Shamia: Call center market is $22B dominated by legacy incumbents
“The call center space is a twenty-two billion dollar market. It's still dominated by old players like Avaya and Cisco and Genesis that sell the same system for 2030 years.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 4:18
Insight
Shamia: Co-founder departures are healthier than staying in conflict
“In the best of companies as you mentioned, founders some founders leave, and they usually do because either they don't find what they do exciting enough, or they couldn't find themselves in a position where they can make the same impact they did in the early s…”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 5:45
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Shamia: Talkdesk crossed $1M ARR before he joined as COO
“No, it did break the million dollar AR, which was amazing to me. Seeing such a small team doing so well was again, one of the other attractive, attracting points to talk to us because.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 6:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Talkdesk CEO Tiago Paiva was the sole salesperson for two years
“In the first two years of the company or a year and a half after selling the product, because the product was actually sold maybe from the mid-twenty 13, even after the first day of the company, Tiago was the only salesperson. He was running around positioning…”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 7:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Talkdesk reaches roughly 1,200 business customers
“About 1200.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 8:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Talkdesk platform scales to approximately 50,000 total seats
“It's about 50,000.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 8:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Talkdesk operates at net negative revenue churn
“So we're definitely in a net negative churn world.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 10:32
Insight
Top SaaS companies typically cap out at 120% net revenue expansion
“I think best of breed companies do over a hundred percent, so they don't lose revenue, and the best companies will get to typically one 10 to one 20. It's pretty hard to get much more than this just because of natural growth of companies et cetera.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 12:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DoorDash grew from 40 to 800 seats on Talkdesk
“The size was probably 40 seats, and they're now at 800.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 13:12
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Talkdesk operates with 250 employees, 50% in R&D
“We're about 250 people in the company. About half of them are in R&D.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 13:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Competitors in the contact center space invest maximum 15% in R&D
“Most of our competitors in the cost of the space wouldn't invest more than 15%.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 13:55
Opinion
Shamia: Five9, inContact, Genesys, Avaya operate in maintenance mode
“You know, five, nine in contact, Genesis, Avaya are the main competitors. Most of them are more maintenance mode than an innovation.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 14:02
Disclosure
Talkdesk has raised $24.5M in total funding
“24 and a half million.”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 14:56
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Talkdesk plans to raise a new funding round in 2017
“We're definitely going to raise around sometime this year”
Gadi Shamia Jun 1, 2017 ▶ 15:55
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