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Apr 14, 2017 · 17m · top-founders

EP 629: Mexico's Gaszen Raises $700k, Uses Roof Meter to Tell Mexican Households When Gas Is Almost Empty with CEO Jennifer Reyna

Nathan Latka · 9m spoken Jennifer Reyna · 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 Gaszen CEO Jennifer Reyna to explore how her Mexican IoT startup raised 700,000 dollars, created smart propane tank monitors to eliminate rooftop hazards, and secured 500,000 dollars in enterprise pre-orders.

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 60.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.2 Guest teaching 0.8 Guest disagreement 0.0 Nathan pushing back 1.0
05100:0010:003:25–6:34 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 B2B Commercial Partnerships and Hardware Sales Pricing Nathan methodically breaks down Gaszen's commercial contracts, calculating the gross revenue generated from selling 10,000 units at $50 each to suppliers. Jennifer clarifies their distribution strategy across Mexican gas distributors and real estate partnerships.6:34–9:06 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Crowdfunding Campaign and Total Capital Raised Nathan conducts real-time currency conversions from Mexican pesos to USD for both their crowdfunding and grant winnings, aggregating their total capital raised to roughly $700k.9:06–12:22 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Recurring Revenue Model, Team Structure, and Unit Economics Nathan presses on the recurring revenue timing and drills down into bill-of-materials economics, examining Gaszen's $36 manufacturing cost and scale targets.12:23–14:37 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 Sponsor Break: FreshBooks Accounting and Invoicing Solution Segment begins with a FreshBooks sponsor read before moving into standard, rapid-fire Famous Five survey questions with brief guest responses.14:38–17:48 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Executive Summary, Previous Episode Highlight, and Listener Call to Action Host solo outro summarizing the interview, promoting previous episodes, and reading sponsor ads.3:25–6:34 · Guest teaching 2/10 B2B Commercial Partnerships and Hardware Sales Pricing Nathan methodically breaks down Gaszen's commercial contracts, calculating the gross revenue generated from selling 10,000 units at $50 each to suppliers. Jennifer clarifies their distribution strategy across Mexican gas distributors and real estate partnerships.6:34–9:06 · Guest teaching 1/10 Crowdfunding Campaign and Total Capital Raised Nathan conducts real-time currency conversions from Mexican pesos to USD for both their crowdfunding and grant winnings, aggregating their total capital raised to roughly $700k.9:06–12:22 · Guest teaching 1/10 Recurring Revenue Model, Team Structure, and Unit Economics Nathan presses on the recurring revenue timing and drills down into bill-of-materials economics, examining Gaszen's $36 manufacturing cost and scale targets.12:23–14:37 · Guest teaching 0/10 Sponsor Break: FreshBooks Accounting and Invoicing Solution Segment begins with a FreshBooks sponsor read before moving into standard, rapid-fire Famous Five survey questions with brief guest responses.14:38–17:48 · Guest teaching 0/10 Executive Summary, Previous Episode Highlight, and Listener Call to Action Host solo outro summarizing the interview, promoting previous episodes, and reading sponsor ads.3:25–6:34 · Guest disagreement 0/10 B2B Commercial Partnerships and Hardware Sales Pricing Nathan methodically breaks down Gaszen's commercial contracts, calculating the gross revenue generated from selling 10,000 units at $50 each to suppliers. Jennifer clarifies their distribution strategy across Mexican gas distributors and real estate partnerships.6:34–9:06 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Crowdfunding Campaign and Total Capital Raised Nathan conducts real-time currency conversions from Mexican pesos to USD for both their crowdfunding and grant winnings, aggregating their total capital raised to roughly $700k.9:06–12:22 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Recurring Revenue Model, Team Structure, and Unit Economics Nathan presses on the recurring revenue timing and drills down into bill-of-materials economics, examining Gaszen's $36 manufacturing cost and scale targets.12:23–14:37 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Break: FreshBooks Accounting and Invoicing Solution Segment begins with a FreshBooks sponsor read before moving into standard, rapid-fire Famous Five survey questions with brief guest responses.14:38–17:48 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Executive Summary, Previous Episode Highlight, and Listener Call to Action Host solo outro summarizing the interview, promoting previous episodes, and reading sponsor ads.3:25–6:34 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 B2B Commercial Partnerships and Hardware Sales Pricing Nathan methodically breaks down Gaszen's commercial contracts, calculating the gross revenue generated from selling 10,000 units at $50 each to suppliers. Jennifer clarifies their distribution strategy across Mexican gas distributors and real estate partnerships.6:34–9:06 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Crowdfunding Campaign and Total Capital Raised Nathan conducts real-time currency conversions from Mexican pesos to USD for both their crowdfunding and grant winnings, aggregating their total capital raised to roughly $700k.9:06–12:22 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Recurring Revenue Model, Team Structure, and Unit Economics Nathan presses on the recurring revenue timing and drills down into bill-of-materials economics, examining Gaszen's $36 manufacturing cost and scale targets.12:23–14:37 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Sponsor Break: FreshBooks Accounting and Invoicing Solution Segment begins with a FreshBooks sponsor read before moving into standard, rapid-fire Famous Five survey questions with brief guest responses.14:38–17:48 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Executive Summary, Previous Episode Highlight, and Listener Call to Action Host solo outro summarizing the interview, promoting previous episodes, and reading sponsor ads.

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

0:00 · Nathan 78.2% · guest 21.8%0:00 · Nathan 78.2% · guest 21.8%3:00 · Nathan 23.3% · guest 76.7%3:00 · Nathan 23.3% · guest 76.7%6:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%6:00 · Nathan 44.2% · guest 55.8%9:00 · Nathan 33.7% · guest 66.3%9:00 · Nathan 33.7% · guest 66.3%12:00 · Nathan 82.5% · guest 17.5%12:00 · Nathan 82.5% · guest 17.5%15:00 · Nathan 99% · guest 1%15:00 · Nathan 99% · guest 1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 5:40 Pre-market launch clarification

Reyna politely corrects Latka's assumption about current active operations by reminding him that they are still completing development and launching in April.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:47 Clarifying monthly recurring revenue status

Latka pushes to clarify current monthly recurring revenue figures, confirming that recurring monetization has not started yet because the hardware has not been deployed.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:40 Educating traditional gas suppliers

Reyna explains the market challenge in Mexico, where traditional gas suppliers are not accustomed to technology and require extensive education on value propositions.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:45 Real-time capital structure aggregation

Latka rapidly synthesizes angel checks, seed capital, and hackathon prize money across currencies to accurately state the company's total funding.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
B2B Commercial Partnerships and Hardware Sales Pricing 5202 Nathan methodically breaks down Gaszen's commercial contracts, calculating the gross revenue generated from selling 10,000 units at $50 each to suppliers. Jennifer clarifies their distribution strategy across Mexican gas distributors and real estate partnerships.
Crowdfunding Campaign and Total Capital Raised 5101 Nathan conducts real-time currency conversions from Mexican pesos to USD for both their crowdfunding and grant winnings, aggregating their total capital raised to roughly $700k.
Recurring Revenue Model, Team Structure, and Unit Economics 5102 Nathan presses on the recurring revenue timing and drills down into bill-of-materials economics, examining Gaszen's $36 manufacturing cost and scale targets.
Sponsor Break: FreshBooks Accounting and Invoicing Solution 1000 Segment begins with a FreshBooks sponsor read before moving into standard, rapid-fire Famous Five survey questions with brief guest responses.
Executive Summary, Previous Episode Highlight, and Listener Call to Action 0000 Host solo outro summarizing the interview, promoting previous episodes, and reading sponsor ads.

Statements from this episode (10)

Disclosure
Gaszen sells data to gas suppliers and charges end users
“And we monetize through the service. We sell to the gas supplier, all the information. And at the same time, if the end user wants to have automated services, then we also monetize from it.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 2:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Reyna: Gaszen has partnered with three real estate firms in Mexico
“We have partnered with three already, and we are in discussions with more than 15 all over Mexico, so we are working really hard on getting the product there.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 4:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gaszen sells IoT units to real estate developers for $77
“Okay, so they buy the device, and what they do is 77 US dollars.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 4:47
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Two enterprise gas suppliers pre-ordered 5,000 Gaszen units each
“These ones are for 5000 units each.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 6:09
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Gaszen charges bulk gas suppliers $50 per device
“50 dollars per piece.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 6:18
Disclosure
Gaszen raised a $350,000 seed round in Mexico
“Yes, actually we just raised our seat round. We raised with 350,000 us dollars here in Mexico.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 7:46
Assertion Supported
Gaszen won 1 million pesos in hackathon prize funding
“We got angel investors, and we won the biggest social hackathon in the world, and that gave us a million pesos.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 8:25
Disclosure
Gaszen is not generating any recurring revenue yet
“Right now, we're not making any recurrence.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 9:59
Disclosure
Gaszen spends $36 to manufacture each IoT gas meter unit
“So right now we have 36 dollars to make it.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 11:06
Disclosure
Gaszen manufactures 100% of its hardware components in Mexico
“Like, we are we are making and manufacturing here in Mexico, so what we did is being very carefully design and choose who to go where to go, so yeah, it's everything in Mexico, and it goes from the components to the plastic.”
Jennifer Reyna Apr 14, 2017 ▶ 11:18
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