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May 18, 2017 · 21m · top-founders

663: How He Gets Mega-Brands to Pay Him $5,000 To Test Their Ads Before Going Live with Delivv.io CEO Trevor Wolfe

Trevor Wolfe · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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On this episode of The Top Podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews Delivv.io CEO Trevor Wolfe about building a pre-launch ad testing platform, scaling enterprise marketplace sales to $80,000 per month, and leveraging South Africa's geographic arbitrage to bootstrap a high-margin business.

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 47.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.0 Guest teaching 1.5 Guest disagreement 0.3 Nathan pushing back 0.8
05100:0010:0020:000:27–4:29 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Host Travel Nutrition and Juice Packets Promotion Nathan introduces Trevor and inquires about the dual marketplace and SaaS business model of Delivv.io. Trevor explains the mechanics of peer review for advertising campaigns and pricing per seat.4:29–7:20 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Marketplace Unit Economics, Ad Testing, and Enterprise Clients Nathan drills deep into the unit economics of a typical $5,000 enterprise contract, breaking down contractor payouts and gross profit margins. Trevor provides exact COGS numbers and historical client revenue.7:20–11:05 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Operating Advantages and Power Outages in Johannesburg Trevor details the operational cost benefits of basing the team in Johannesburg while informing Nathan about the regular infrastructure challenge of rolling power load shedding.11:05–13:43 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Growth Velocity, SaaS Expansion, and Seed Round Valuation Nathan evaluates the company's $2 million post-money valuation against its $180k trailing revenue run rate. Trevor defends the valuation terms as among the strongest struck in the local venture ecosystem.13:44–17:59 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor: Superfood Nutrition for Travelers Following a sponsor read, Nathan leads Trevor through the Famous Five questionnaire, bonding over sales follow-up tooling and personal routines.17:59–18:50 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Episode Summary and Delivv.io Business Review Nathan wraps up the episode with a quick monologue summarizing Delivv.io's unit economics, margins, and headcount.0:27–4:29 · Guest teaching 2/10 Host Travel Nutrition and Juice Packets Promotion Nathan introduces Trevor and inquires about the dual marketplace and SaaS business model of Delivv.io. Trevor explains the mechanics of peer review for advertising campaigns and pricing per seat.4:29–7:20 · Guest teaching 1/10 Marketplace Unit Economics, Ad Testing, and Enterprise Clients Nathan drills deep into the unit economics of a typical $5,000 enterprise contract, breaking down contractor payouts and gross profit margins. Trevor provides exact COGS numbers and historical client revenue.7:20–11:05 · Guest teaching 4/10 Operating Advantages and Power Outages in Johannesburg Trevor details the operational cost benefits of basing the team in Johannesburg while informing Nathan about the regular infrastructure challenge of rolling power load shedding.11:05–13:43 · Guest teaching 2/10 Growth Velocity, SaaS Expansion, and Seed Round Valuation Nathan evaluates the company's $2 million post-money valuation against its $180k trailing revenue run rate. Trevor defends the valuation terms as among the strongest struck in the local venture ecosystem.13:44–17:59 · Guest teaching 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor: Superfood Nutrition for Travelers Following a sponsor read, Nathan leads Trevor through the Famous Five questionnaire, bonding over sales follow-up tooling and personal routines.17:59–18:50 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode Summary and Delivv.io Business Review Nathan wraps up the episode with a quick monologue summarizing Delivv.io's unit economics, margins, and headcount.0:27–4:29 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Host Travel Nutrition and Juice Packets Promotion Nathan introduces Trevor and inquires about the dual marketplace and SaaS business model of Delivv.io. Trevor explains the mechanics of peer review for advertising campaigns and pricing per seat.4:29–7:20 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Marketplace Unit Economics, Ad Testing, and Enterprise Clients Nathan drills deep into the unit economics of a typical $5,000 enterprise contract, breaking down contractor payouts and gross profit margins. Trevor provides exact COGS numbers and historical client revenue.7:20–11:05 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Operating Advantages and Power Outages in Johannesburg Trevor details the operational cost benefits of basing the team in Johannesburg while informing Nathan about the regular infrastructure challenge of rolling power load shedding.11:05–13:43 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Growth Velocity, SaaS Expansion, and Seed Round Valuation Nathan evaluates the company's $2 million post-money valuation against its $180k trailing revenue run rate. Trevor defends the valuation terms as among the strongest struck in the local venture ecosystem.13:44–17:59 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor: Superfood Nutrition for Travelers Following a sponsor read, Nathan leads Trevor through the Famous Five questionnaire, bonding over sales follow-up tooling and personal routines.17:59–18:50 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Summary and Delivv.io Business Review Nathan wraps up the episode with a quick monologue summarizing Delivv.io's unit economics, margins, and headcount.0:27–4:29 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Host Travel Nutrition and Juice Packets Promotion Nathan introduces Trevor and inquires about the dual marketplace and SaaS business model of Delivv.io. Trevor explains the mechanics of peer review for advertising campaigns and pricing per seat.4:29–7:20 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Marketplace Unit Economics, Ad Testing, and Enterprise Clients Nathan drills deep into the unit economics of a typical $5,000 enterprise contract, breaking down contractor payouts and gross profit margins. Trevor provides exact COGS numbers and historical client revenue.7:20–11:05 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Operating Advantages and Power Outages in Johannesburg Trevor details the operational cost benefits of basing the team in Johannesburg while informing Nathan about the regular infrastructure challenge of rolling power load shedding.11:05–13:43 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Growth Velocity, SaaS Expansion, and Seed Round Valuation Nathan evaluates the company's $2 million post-money valuation against its $180k trailing revenue run rate. Trevor defends the valuation terms as among the strongest struck in the local venture ecosystem.13:44–17:59 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor: Superfood Nutrition for Travelers Following a sponsor read, Nathan leads Trevor through the Famous Five questionnaire, bonding over sales follow-up tooling and personal routines.17:59–18:50 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode Summary and Delivv.io Business Review Nathan wraps up the episode with a quick monologue summarizing Delivv.io's unit economics, margins, and headcount.

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

0:00 · Nathan 66.2% · guest 33.8%0:00 · Nathan 66.2% · guest 33.8%3:00 · Nathan 38.1% · guest 61.9%3:00 · Nathan 38.1% · guest 61.9%6:00 · Nathan 31.6% · guest 68.4%6:00 · Nathan 31.6% · guest 68.4%9:00 · Nathan 30.1% · guest 69.9%9:00 · Nathan 30.1% · guest 69.9%12:00 · Nathan 55.6% · guest 44.4%12:00 · Nathan 55.6% · guest 44.4%15:00 · Nathan 25.7% · guest 74.3%15:00 · Nathan 25.7% · guest 74.3%18:00 · Nathan 99.4% · guest 0.6%18:00 · Nathan 99.4% · guest 0.6%21:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 0% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:10 Trevor corrects assumptions about South African infrastructure

When Nathan asks whether internet speeds or government present issues, Trevor quickly corrects the premise by stating internet is fine but electricity is the real operational bottleneck.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 4:29 Nathan presses for exact contract margin breakdown

Nathan refuses generic contract descriptions and insists on parsing the specific dollar allocation going to expert reviewers out of a $5,000 customer payment.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:16 Trevor educates Nathan on load shedding power cuts

Trevor explains the reality of scheduled power outages across Johannesburg and how local podcasters and businesses operate around generator power.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:45 Nathan assesses seed round valuation multiple

Nathan quickly computes the seed round valuation multiple against $180,000 in past revenue, remarking on how favorable the terms were for the founder.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Host Travel Nutrition and Juice Packets Promotion 2201 Nathan introduces Trevor and inquires about the dual marketplace and SaaS business model of Delivv.io. Trevor explains the mechanics of peer review for advertising campaigns and pricing per seat.
Marketplace Unit Economics, Ad Testing, and Enterprise Clients 5102 Nathan drills deep into the unit economics of a typical $5,000 enterprise contract, breaking down contractor payouts and gross profit margins. Trevor provides exact COGS numbers and historical client revenue.
Operating Advantages and Power Outages in Johannesburg 2411 Trevor details the operational cost benefits of basing the team in Johannesburg while informing Nathan about the regular infrastructure challenge of rolling power load shedding.
Growth Velocity, SaaS Expansion, and Seed Round Valuation 4211 Nathan evaluates the company's $2 million post-money valuation against its $180k trailing revenue run rate. Trevor defends the valuation terms as among the strongest struck in the local venture ecosystem.
Mid-Roll Sponsor: Superfood Nutrition for Travelers 2000 Following a sponsor read, Nathan leads Trevor through the Famous Five questionnaire, bonding over sales follow-up tooling and personal routines.
Episode Summary and Delivv.io Business Review 3000 Nathan wraps up the episode with a quick monologue summarizing Delivv.io's unit economics, margins, and headcount.

Statements from this episode (13)

Disclosure
Delivv.io charges brands $5,000 to $7,000 for 30-person ad review panels
“We actually launched with a marketplace, so we went to a, to brands, and basically packaged a panel of 30 professionals outside of the organization and charged them somewhere between five and 7000 dollars to not only find those people, pay those people, manage…”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 3:33
Disclosure
Delivv.io pays ad review panelists $50 to $150 per hour
“Depending on the market, whether it's a, you know, developing or developed markets, Should we pay them anywhere between 5150 dollars per hour that they spend providing feedback on the campaign?”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 4:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Delivv.io pays $1,500 to $2,200 in reviewer COGS on $5k contracts
“Somewhere between 1522 hundred will be we call those creative payments, and we kind of do that as cost of goods sold, basically.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 4:52
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Most of Delivv.io's revenue comes from television and radio ad testing
“But majority of revenue is still TV radio.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 5:47
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Delivv.io generates $180,000 in marketplace sales across 17 enterprise brands
“We're working with about 17 different brands like Unilever, Pernod Ricard, GSK, Barclays L'Oreal. They're working with us in about 10 different countries. And yeah, and so we did about a 180,000 since May in marketplace, we call it marketplace sales.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 6:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Delivv.io has paid 700 to 1,200 reviewers across up to 12 countries
“I think somewhere between 712 hundred across 10 to 12 countries.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 6:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Delivv.io's operating costs in South Africa are one-eighth of Western markets
“Yeah, they're probably one-eighth the price it would cost us to run the business. In Europe or North America.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 7:38
Assertion Contradicted
Johannesburg's weekly load shedding forces local businesses to buy power generators
“So once, once a week or once every two weeks the electricity will run out and power across the city will go out for a few hours. If they're nice, they'll give you advanced warnings. And most businesses are forced to kind of buy generators and prepare for the w…”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 8:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Delivv.io raised $300,000 following an initial $10,000 investment by its founders
“Of our own money to get the platform up into sales about 10,000 in the first half of the year, and then we actually raised about 300,000 dollars from, ah, angel investors.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 9:30
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Delivv.io secured roughly $80,000 in new enterprise contracts in March 2017
“We have about 80,000 dollars in contracts this month in March four or five new logo clients”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 11:18
Disclosure
Delivv.io raised $300k at roughly a $2M post-money valuation
“A little under one point Six or seven depending on what the currency we did in South African Rand, so post, post about two million.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 12:39
Opinion
Trevor Wolfe claims Delivv.io secured South Africa's best founder VC deal
“I think it's probably the best deal a founder has struck in South African venture capital market.”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 13:00
Opinion
Trevor Wolfe calls Havayek the most founder-friendly VC in South Africa
“There's a local fund here called Havayek, and former private equity guys that probably the most founder-friendly firm, VC firm in, in South Africa”
Trevor Wolfe May 18, 2017 ▶ 13:17
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