StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Mar 22, 2017 · 25m · top-founders

EP 606: Hornet Raises $8M to Become Gay Content Hub, 17M Users, 3M MAU with CEO Christof Wittig

Christoph Wittig · 14m spoken Nathan Latka · 9m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Host Nathan Latka interviews Hornet Networks CEO Christof Wittig about scaling the gay social platform to 17 million users, raising an $8M Series A, and shifting from a utilitarian dating app into a global content and media hub.

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 39.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.7 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 2.2 Nathan pushing back 3.2
05100:0010:0020:001:59–5:56 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Christof Wittig, CEO of Hornet Networks Nathan introduces Christoph's background and previous tech exits. The exchange is friendly and conversational as Christoph recounts starting Hornet as a side venture.5:56–9:45 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Hornet Leadership Dynamics and Executive Roles with Sean Nathan references past data from co-founder Sean and inquires into the revenue model and Series A funding. Christoph explains the breakdown between freemium subscriptions and premium ad sales.9:46–12:57 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Platform Engagement Metrics and User Behavior Patterns Nathan presses Christoph after he refuses to disclose updated paying subscriber figures, calling out whether he is ignoring $700k in monthly recurring revenue. Christoph defends prioritizing engagement over subscription counts.12:58–17:56 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Transforming Hornet into a Content Hub and Native Ad Network Nathan explores ad-tech mechanics and CPM benchmarks. Christoph details their $15 CPM native ad products, DFP integration, and editorial content strategy.17:56–20:21 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Organic Growth Channels and Community Vision Nathan interrupts Christoph's high-level narrative to extract hard monthly growth numbers. Christoph emphasizes that their 500k-600k monthly additions are entirely organic without acquisition spend.20:22–23:44 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Sponsor Segment: Streamlining Workflow with Acuity Scheduling Nathan delivers a mid-roll Acuity Scheduling sponsor read before moving through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions, sharing brief rapport over both studying architecture.1:59–5:56 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Christof Wittig, CEO of Hornet Networks Nathan introduces Christoph's background and previous tech exits. The exchange is friendly and conversational as Christoph recounts starting Hornet as a side venture.5:56–9:45 · Guest teaching 3/10 Hornet Leadership Dynamics and Executive Roles with Sean Nathan references past data from co-founder Sean and inquires into the revenue model and Series A funding. Christoph explains the breakdown between freemium subscriptions and premium ad sales.9:46–12:57 · Guest teaching 4/10 Platform Engagement Metrics and User Behavior Patterns Nathan presses Christoph after he refuses to disclose updated paying subscriber figures, calling out whether he is ignoring $700k in monthly recurring revenue. Christoph defends prioritizing engagement over subscription counts.12:58–17:56 · Guest teaching 4/10 Transforming Hornet into a Content Hub and Native Ad Network Nathan explores ad-tech mechanics and CPM benchmarks. Christoph details their $15 CPM native ad products, DFP integration, and editorial content strategy.17:56–20:21 · Guest teaching 3/10 Organic Growth Channels and Community Vision Nathan interrupts Christoph's high-level narrative to extract hard monthly growth numbers. Christoph emphasizes that their 500k-600k monthly additions are entirely organic without acquisition spend.20:22–23:44 · Guest teaching 1/10 Sponsor Segment: Streamlining Workflow with Acuity Scheduling Nathan delivers a mid-roll Acuity Scheduling sponsor read before moving through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions, sharing brief rapport over both studying architecture.1:59–5:56 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Christof Wittig, CEO of Hornet Networks Nathan introduces Christoph's background and previous tech exits. The exchange is friendly and conversational as Christoph recounts starting Hornet as a side venture.5:56–9:45 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Hornet Leadership Dynamics and Executive Roles with Sean Nathan references past data from co-founder Sean and inquires into the revenue model and Series A funding. Christoph explains the breakdown between freemium subscriptions and premium ad sales.9:46–12:57 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Platform Engagement Metrics and User Behavior Patterns Nathan presses Christoph after he refuses to disclose updated paying subscriber figures, calling out whether he is ignoring $700k in monthly recurring revenue. Christoph defends prioritizing engagement over subscription counts.12:58–17:56 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Transforming Hornet into a Content Hub and Native Ad Network Nathan explores ad-tech mechanics and CPM benchmarks. Christoph details their $15 CPM native ad products, DFP integration, and editorial content strategy.17:56–20:21 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Organic Growth Channels and Community Vision Nathan interrupts Christoph's high-level narrative to extract hard monthly growth numbers. Christoph emphasizes that their 500k-600k monthly additions are entirely organic without acquisition spend.20:22–23:44 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Segment: Streamlining Workflow with Acuity Scheduling Nathan delivers a mid-roll Acuity Scheduling sponsor read before moving through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions, sharing brief rapport over both studying architecture.1:59–5:56 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Introducing Christof Wittig, CEO of Hornet Networks Nathan introduces Christoph's background and previous tech exits. The exchange is friendly and conversational as Christoph recounts starting Hornet as a side venture.5:56–9:45 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Hornet Leadership Dynamics and Executive Roles with Sean Nathan references past data from co-founder Sean and inquires into the revenue model and Series A funding. Christoph explains the breakdown between freemium subscriptions and premium ad sales.9:46–12:57 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Platform Engagement Metrics and User Behavior Patterns Nathan presses Christoph after he refuses to disclose updated paying subscriber figures, calling out whether he is ignoring $700k in monthly recurring revenue. Christoph defends prioritizing engagement over subscription counts.12:58–17:56 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Transforming Hornet into a Content Hub and Native Ad Network Nathan explores ad-tech mechanics and CPM benchmarks. Christoph details their $15 CPM native ad products, DFP integration, and editorial content strategy.17:56–20:21 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Organic Growth Channels and Community Vision Nathan interrupts Christoph's high-level narrative to extract hard monthly growth numbers. Christoph emphasizes that their 500k-600k monthly additions are entirely organic without acquisition spend.20:22–23:44 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Segment: Streamlining Workflow with Acuity Scheduling Nathan delivers a mid-roll Acuity Scheduling sponsor read before moving through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions, sharing brief rapport over both studying architecture.

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

0:00 · Nathan 97.3% · guest 2.7%0:00 · Nathan 97.3% · guest 2.7%3:00 · Nathan 17.3% · guest 82.7%3:00 · Nathan 17.3% · guest 82.7%6:00 · Nathan 20.8% · guest 79.2%6:00 · Nathan 20.8% · guest 79.2%9:00 · Nathan 29.3% · guest 70.7%9:00 · Nathan 29.3% · guest 70.7%12:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%12:00 · Nathan 22.6% · guest 77.4%15:00 · Nathan 18.6% · guest 81.4%15:00 · Nathan 18.6% · guest 81.4%18:00 · Nathan 26.9% · guest 73.1%18:00 · Nathan 26.9% · guest 73.1%21:00 · Nathan 56.6% · guest 43.4%21:00 · Nathan 56.6% · guest 43.4%24:00 · Nathan 85.8% · guest 14.2%24:00 · Nathan 85.8% · guest 14.2%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:20 Rebuttal on recurring revenue priorities

Christoph pushes back against Nathan's accusation that Hornet is ignoring subscription revenue, arguing that user engagement and media transformation are the true strategic drivers.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 10:20 Host pushes back on evasive subscriber metrics

Nathan refuses to let Christoph deflect on subscriber figures, recalculating past metrics to demand why the CEO claims not to care about $700k in monthly recurring revenue.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 16:36 Educating host on ad-tech infrastructure and newsroom expansion

Christoph explains the use of Google's DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) and outlines how Hornet built the largest gay media newsroom in the US to move past being a pure dating app.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 15:05 Nathan benchmarks CPM rates against major platforms

Nathan demonstrates ad-buying knowledge by challenging Christoph on how Hornet's CPM pricing models stack up against Facebook ad tiers.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Christof Wittig, CEO of Hornet Networks 5211 Nathan introduces Christoph's background and previous tech exits. The exchange is friendly and conversational as Christoph recounts starting Hornet as a side venture.
Hornet Leadership Dynamics and Executive Roles with Sean 6323 Nathan references past data from co-founder Sean and inquires into the revenue model and Series A funding. Christoph explains the breakdown between freemium subscriptions and premium ad sales.
Platform Engagement Metrics and User Behavior Patterns 7446 Nathan presses Christoph after he refuses to disclose updated paying subscriber figures, calling out whether he is ignoring $700k in monthly recurring revenue. Christoph defends prioritizing engagement over subscription counts.
Transforming Hornet into a Content Hub and Native Ad Network 6423 Nathan explores ad-tech mechanics and CPM benchmarks. Christoph details their $15 CPM native ad products, DFP integration, and editorial content strategy.
Organic Growth Channels and Community Vision 6335 Nathan interrupts Christoph's high-level narrative to extract hard monthly growth numbers. Christoph emphasizes that their 500k-600k monthly additions are entirely organic without acquisition spend.
Sponsor Segment: Streamlining Workflow with Acuity Scheduling 4111 Nathan delivers a mid-roll Acuity Scheduling sponsor read before moving through the rapid-fire Famous Five questions, sharing brief rapport over both studying architecture.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wittig: Hornet generates two-thirds of revenue from subscriptions, one-third from ads
“Subscription is about two thirds and advertising is one third today”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 7:50
Assertion Partly supported
Wittig: Hornet raised an $8M Series A on top of $1M in angel funding
“So we raised another our series A effectively of eight million dollars. We announced that in November and that's on top of the original one million dollar in angel money, which we raised back in 2011 and 12”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 9:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wittig: Hornet operated at break-even from 2013 to late 2016
“When Hornet was under the leadership of Sean we focused on breaking even, which we did from 2013 till basically last quarter.”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 9:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wittig: Hornet has 3M MAUs and 1M to 1.5M DAUs
“A total of three million monthly actives and about one to one and a half million daily active, again, depending on the day of the week.”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 11:41
Assertion Contradicted
Wittig: Hornet's published ad pricing is $15 CPM
“So our published prices are 15 dollars CPM, so they are quite you know, significantly more targeting or allow people to target better, hence, you know, more premium pricing, and that can be even more premium if you add additional targeting options we provide, …”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 15:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wittig: Hornet has the largest gay media newsroom in the US
“In fact, Hornet has the largest gay media newsroom in the United States now, headed up by Stephen Horbitt, the former chief editor of Frontiers Magazine here in LA, who is now heading up our content team.”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 17:07
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hornet Reached #2 Gay App Globally With Zero Marketing Spend
“We are now number two worldwide, which means we're number one in many key markets, such as France Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, even Taiwan, Thailand, everywhere. And we have up to Q three this year, never spent a cent on marketing.”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 18:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wittig: Hornet adds 500,000 to 600,000 users per month organically
“We're adding monthly to the tune of about five or 600,000.”
Christoph Wittig Mar 22, 2017 ▶ 19:01
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more