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Mar 23, 2017 · 19m · top-founders

EP 607: The SaaS Co Passes $90k MRR Helping 20 Companies Get Leads And Qualified Meetings with CEO Peter Schlecht

Nathan Latka · 9m spoken Peter Schlecht · 7m 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 episode 607 of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Peter Schlecht, CEO of The SaaS Co, discussing how his B2B appointment-setting agency generated 90,000 euros in monthly revenue and raised 800,000 dollars while developing an AI sales assistant named Lisa to transition into software.

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 54.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 4.5
05100:0010:001:13–6:32 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Introducing Peter Schlecht and The SaaS Co's Lisa Bot Latka immediately probes into the revenue mechanics, drilling down into whether the stated 90k monthly figure is true MRR or includes performance fees. Peter cooperatively explains the 4-part sales process and breaks down the unit economics.6:32–12:07 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Fundraising and Financial Growth Milestones When Peter acts evasive about where his database of 240 million leads originates, Latka relentlessly pushes back, demanding to know if he is illicitly scraping enterprise corporate databases. Peter deflects and defends the practice as industry common knowledge.12:07–14:08 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Team Composition, Customer Retention, and Long-Term Scale Latka challenges Peter's SaaS claims by pointing out that a 3 to 9 month customer lifecycle represents agency churn rather than compounding recurring revenue. Peter concedes the point and explains why Lisa is their long-term SaaS pivot.14:10–17:58 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 HostGator Mid-Roll Sponsorship Announcement The segment contains a sponsor read followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The tone is highly collaborative, with Peter explicitly complimenting Latka's rigorous interview style.1:13–6:32 · Guest teaching 3/10 Introducing Peter Schlecht and The SaaS Co's Lisa Bot Latka immediately probes into the revenue mechanics, drilling down into whether the stated 90k monthly figure is true MRR or includes performance fees. Peter cooperatively explains the 4-part sales process and breaks down the unit economics.6:32–12:07 · Guest teaching 2/10 Fundraising and Financial Growth Milestones When Peter acts evasive about where his database of 240 million leads originates, Latka relentlessly pushes back, demanding to know if he is illicitly scraping enterprise corporate databases. Peter deflects and defends the practice as industry common knowledge.12:07–14:08 · Guest teaching 2/10 Team Composition, Customer Retention, and Long-Term Scale Latka challenges Peter's SaaS claims by pointing out that a 3 to 9 month customer lifecycle represents agency churn rather than compounding recurring revenue. Peter concedes the point and explains why Lisa is their long-term SaaS pivot.14:10–17:58 · Guest teaching 1/10 HostGator Mid-Roll Sponsorship Announcement The segment contains a sponsor read followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The tone is highly collaborative, with Peter explicitly complimenting Latka's rigorous interview style.1:13–6:32 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Peter Schlecht and The SaaS Co's Lisa Bot Latka immediately probes into the revenue mechanics, drilling down into whether the stated 90k monthly figure is true MRR or includes performance fees. Peter cooperatively explains the 4-part sales process and breaks down the unit economics.6:32–12:07 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Fundraising and Financial Growth Milestones When Peter acts evasive about where his database of 240 million leads originates, Latka relentlessly pushes back, demanding to know if he is illicitly scraping enterprise corporate databases. Peter deflects and defends the practice as industry common knowledge.12:07–14:08 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Team Composition, Customer Retention, and Long-Term Scale Latka challenges Peter's SaaS claims by pointing out that a 3 to 9 month customer lifecycle represents agency churn rather than compounding recurring revenue. Peter concedes the point and explains why Lisa is their long-term SaaS pivot.14:10–17:58 · Guest disagreement 0/10 HostGator Mid-Roll Sponsorship Announcement The segment contains a sponsor read followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The tone is highly collaborative, with Peter explicitly complimenting Latka's rigorous interview style.1:13–6:32 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Introducing Peter Schlecht and The SaaS Co's Lisa Bot Latka immediately probes into the revenue mechanics, drilling down into whether the stated 90k monthly figure is true MRR or includes performance fees. Peter cooperatively explains the 4-part sales process and breaks down the unit economics.6:32–12:07 · Nathan pushing back 8/10 Fundraising and Financial Growth Milestones When Peter acts evasive about where his database of 240 million leads originates, Latka relentlessly pushes back, demanding to know if he is illicitly scraping enterprise corporate databases. Peter deflects and defends the practice as industry common knowledge.12:07–14:08 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Team Composition, Customer Retention, and Long-Term Scale Latka challenges Peter's SaaS claims by pointing out that a 3 to 9 month customer lifecycle represents agency churn rather than compounding recurring revenue. Peter concedes the point and explains why Lisa is their long-term SaaS pivot.14:10–17:58 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 HostGator Mid-Roll Sponsorship Announcement The segment contains a sponsor read followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The tone is highly collaborative, with Peter explicitly complimenting Latka's rigorous interview style.

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

0:00 · Nathan 65.7% · guest 34.3%0:00 · Nathan 65.7% · guest 34.3%3:00 · Nathan 42.6% · guest 57.4%3:00 · Nathan 42.6% · guest 57.4%6:00 · Nathan 35.3% · guest 64.7%6:00 · Nathan 35.3% · guest 64.7%9:00 · Nathan 46.1% · guest 53.9%9:00 · Nathan 46.1% · guest 53.9%12:00 · Nathan 62.1% · guest 37.9%12:00 · Nathan 62.1% · guest 37.9%15:00 · Nathan 56.2% · guest 43.8%15:00 · Nathan 56.2% · guest 43.8%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:55 Peter defends data scraping as industry standard

Peter pushes back against Latka's insinuation of improper conduct by asserting that everyone scrapes data and insisting the information is openly available on the web.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 10:19 Latka refuses Peter's evasion on data sourcing

Latka directly confronts Peter for being evasive and refuses to move on until Peter acknowledges he is scraping corporate databases in ways they would dislike.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:49 Peter clarifies the four-step qualification pipeline

When Latka oversimplifies the service as basic meeting booking, Peter educates him on their multi-tier prospecting, outreach, qualification, and handover pipeline.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:58 Latka dismantles the recurring SaaS revenue framing

Latka uses SaaS unit economics to demonstrate that Peter's 3 to 9 month customer lifespan prevents compounding growth, forcing Peter to admit the current agency model's limits.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Peter Schlecht and The SaaS Co's Lisa Bot 6313 Latka immediately probes into the revenue mechanics, drilling down into whether the stated 90k monthly figure is true MRR or includes performance fees. Peter cooperatively explains the 4-part sales process and breaks down the unit economics.
Fundraising and Financial Growth Milestones 7248 When Peter acts evasive about where his database of 240 million leads originates, Latka relentlessly pushes back, demanding to know if he is illicitly scraping enterprise corporate databases. Peter deflects and defends the practice as industry common knowledge.
Team Composition, Customer Retention, and Long-Term Scale 7216 Latka challenges Peter's SaaS claims by pointing out that a 3 to 9 month customer lifecycle represents agency churn rather than compounding recurring revenue. Peter concedes the point and explains why Lisa is their long-term SaaS pivot.
HostGator Mid-Roll Sponsorship Announcement 4101 The segment contains a sponsor read followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The tone is highly collaborative, with Peter explicitly complimenting Latka's rigorous interview style.

Statements from this episode (8)

Disclosure
Schlecht: The SaaS Co combines subscription fees with appointment pricing
“So the sasco actually is an agency for B to B lead generation, and we have a subscription model, and we also get some money for positive qualified appointments from our customers, but actually where we have our focus on in the moment is Lisa.”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 1:48
Assertion Supported
Schlecht: Lisa bot reads incoming emails and drafts replies for sales reps
“And Lisa is a learning, intelligent sales agent. It's a bot for salespeople. Actually, what she does is when you receive an email, she reads it, she understands it, and drafts a reply for you.”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 2:08
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Schlecht: The SaaS Co has worked with Twilio and Microsoft
“Like we worked for from Twilio to German Stock Exchange to Microsoft”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 4:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schlecht: The SaaS Co reaches €90k MRR across 20 customers
“So, right now as we make 90 K monthly recurring revenue we have around 20 customers.”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 5:06
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Schlecht: The SaaS Co targets around €1.8 million in revenue for 2017
“We made last year Around 600 K planning to have now this year around 1.8 million.”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 6:44
Disclosure
Schlecht: The SaaS Co raised €500K from angels and €300K EU grant
“We raised last year 500 K from business angels, and we got 300,000 euros in funding from the European Union for being so innovative.”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 6:52
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schlecht: The SaaS Co Has a Database of 240 Million Leads
“We have like, as all the lead generation companies, we also have a database with two hundred forty million leads in it.”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 8:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Schlecht: Clients churn in 3 to 9 months after exhausting target market
“Normally a customer stays with us between three and nine months because normally then we are through the whole the whole target group and target all of them.”
Peter Schlecht Mar 23, 2017 ▶ 12:46
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