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Mar 7, 2017 · 21m · top-founders

EP 591: Now Interact Closes $5M Round On $18M Pre Money Helping Enterprises With OmniChannel Data with CEO Magnus Astrom

Magnus Åström · 11m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top, Nathan Latka interviews Magnus Åström, founder and CEO of Now Interact, who discusses the company's predictive machine learning SaaS platform, unit economics, and its $5 million Series A funding round. Åström also reflects on lessons learned from his prior startup exits and outlines strategic plans for expanding operations into the United States.

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 40.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.9 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 1.1 Nathan pushing back 1.9
05100:0010:0020:002:11–4:50 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Primelog Founding, Traction, Dilution, and Exit Latka pushes into uncomfortable historical details around Primelog's exit valuation and Åström's extreme equity dilution. Åström remains transparent and explains the post-dot-com crash market dynamics that caused the dilution.4:51–8:48 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 InLead's Strategic Shift from Consulting to Exit Latka proposes a simplified geographic heuristic for how Now Interact's ML works, but Åström refines the explanation to highlight granular behavioral telemetry and consumer call-center reduction.8:49–11:10 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Now Interact's Business Model, Pivot, and Series A Funding Latka clarifies fundraising math after a brief slip of the tongue by Åström regarding thousands versus millions. The conversation remains smooth and data-focused.11:11–13:56 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Customer Retention, Acquisition Costs, and US Expansion Latka demonstrates SaaS metrics expertise by rapidly calculating expected new customer counts and ARPU targets based on marketing budget allocations.13:56–16:39 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Revenue Realignment, Valuation, and Deal Terms Åström educates listeners on term sheet priorities, emphasizing investor alignment, lock-ins, and liquidation preferences over vanity headline valuations.16:41–19:25 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment for Acuity Scheduling Segment covers an Acuity Scheduling mid-roll advertisement read followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questions.19:26–20:06 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Episode 591 Summary and Key Takeaways Closing solo recap by Latka summarizing Now Interact's metrics and key insights.2:11–4:50 · Guest teaching 3/10 Primelog Founding, Traction, Dilution, and Exit Latka pushes into uncomfortable historical details around Primelog's exit valuation and Åström's extreme equity dilution. Åström remains transparent and explains the post-dot-com crash market dynamics that caused the dilution.4:51–8:48 · Guest teaching 4/10 InLead's Strategic Shift from Consulting to Exit Latka proposes a simplified geographic heuristic for how Now Interact's ML works, but Åström refines the explanation to highlight granular behavioral telemetry and consumer call-center reduction.8:49–11:10 · Guest teaching 2/10 Now Interact's Business Model, Pivot, and Series A Funding Latka clarifies fundraising math after a brief slip of the tongue by Åström regarding thousands versus millions. The conversation remains smooth and data-focused.11:11–13:56 · Guest teaching 2/10 Customer Retention, Acquisition Costs, and US Expansion Latka demonstrates SaaS metrics expertise by rapidly calculating expected new customer counts and ARPU targets based on marketing budget allocations.13:56–16:39 · Guest teaching 5/10 Revenue Realignment, Valuation, and Deal Terms Åström educates listeners on term sheet priorities, emphasizing investor alignment, lock-ins, and liquidation preferences over vanity headline valuations.16:41–19:25 · Guest teaching 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment for Acuity Scheduling Segment covers an Acuity Scheduling mid-roll advertisement read followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questions.19:26–20:06 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode 591 Summary and Key Takeaways Closing solo recap by Latka summarizing Now Interact's metrics and key insights.2:11–4:50 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Primelog Founding, Traction, Dilution, and Exit Latka pushes into uncomfortable historical details around Primelog's exit valuation and Åström's extreme equity dilution. Åström remains transparent and explains the post-dot-com crash market dynamics that caused the dilution.4:51–8:48 · Guest disagreement 2/10 InLead's Strategic Shift from Consulting to Exit Latka proposes a simplified geographic heuristic for how Now Interact's ML works, but Åström refines the explanation to highlight granular behavioral telemetry and consumer call-center reduction.8:49–11:10 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Now Interact's Business Model, Pivot, and Series A Funding Latka clarifies fundraising math after a brief slip of the tongue by Åström regarding thousands versus millions. The conversation remains smooth and data-focused.11:11–13:56 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Customer Retention, Acquisition Costs, and US Expansion Latka demonstrates SaaS metrics expertise by rapidly calculating expected new customer counts and ARPU targets based on marketing budget allocations.13:56–16:39 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Revenue Realignment, Valuation, and Deal Terms Åström educates listeners on term sheet priorities, emphasizing investor alignment, lock-ins, and liquidation preferences over vanity headline valuations.16:41–19:25 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment for Acuity Scheduling Segment covers an Acuity Scheduling mid-roll advertisement read followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questions.19:26–20:06 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode 591 Summary and Key Takeaways Closing solo recap by Latka summarizing Now Interact's metrics and key insights.2:11–4:50 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Primelog Founding, Traction, Dilution, and Exit Latka pushes into uncomfortable historical details around Primelog's exit valuation and Åström's extreme equity dilution. Åström remains transparent and explains the post-dot-com crash market dynamics that caused the dilution.4:51–8:48 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 InLead's Strategic Shift from Consulting to Exit Latka proposes a simplified geographic heuristic for how Now Interact's ML works, but Åström refines the explanation to highlight granular behavioral telemetry and consumer call-center reduction.8:49–11:10 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Now Interact's Business Model, Pivot, and Series A Funding Latka clarifies fundraising math after a brief slip of the tongue by Åström regarding thousands versus millions. The conversation remains smooth and data-focused.11:11–13:56 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Customer Retention, Acquisition Costs, and US Expansion Latka demonstrates SaaS metrics expertise by rapidly calculating expected new customer counts and ARPU targets based on marketing budget allocations.13:56–16:39 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Revenue Realignment, Valuation, and Deal Terms Åström educates listeners on term sheet priorities, emphasizing investor alignment, lock-ins, and liquidation preferences over vanity headline valuations.16:41–19:25 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment for Acuity Scheduling Segment covers an Acuity Scheduling mid-roll advertisement read followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questions.19:26–20:06 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode 591 Summary and Key Takeaways Closing solo recap by Latka summarizing Now Interact's metrics and key insights.

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

0:00 · Nathan 74.4% · guest 25.6%0:00 · Nathan 74.4% · guest 25.6%3:00 · Nathan 8.9% · guest 91.1%3:00 · Nathan 8.9% · guest 91.1%6:00 · Nathan 20.1% · guest 79.9%6:00 · Nathan 20.1% · guest 79.9%9:00 · Nathan 21.8% · guest 78.2%9:00 · Nathan 21.8% · guest 78.2%12:00 · Nathan 33.6% · guest 66.4%12:00 · Nathan 33.6% · guest 66.4%15:00 · Nathan 47.2% · guest 52.8%15:00 · Nathan 47.2% · guest 52.8%18:00 · Nathan 68.2% · guest 31.8%18:00 · Nathan 68.2% · guest 31.8%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:23 Premise correction on ML behavioral triggers

Åström politely counters Latka's simplistic geographic routing example, explaining that their tech tracks detailed real-time mouse movements and interaction footprints.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 3:46 Interrogating exit dilution

Latka repeatedly presses Åström to reveal exact equity percentages and reasonings for why he had so little ownership left at exit.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:47 Valuation vs terms masterclass

Åström explains why headline valuation is secondary to preference structures, founder vesting lock-ins, and partner alignment.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 13:04 Latka synthesizes CAC and ARPU pipeline

Latka swiftly runs the mental math on marketing spend efficiency against customer acquisition targets to deduce expected new accounts.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Primelog Founding, Traction, Dilution, and Exit 5314 Latka pushes into uncomfortable historical details around Primelog's exit valuation and Åström's extreme equity dilution. Åström remains transparent and explains the post-dot-com crash market dynamics that caused the dilution.
InLead's Strategic Shift from Consulting to Exit 5422 Latka proposes a simplified geographic heuristic for how Now Interact's ML works, but Åström refines the explanation to highlight granular behavioral telemetry and consumer call-center reduction.
Now Interact's Business Model, Pivot, and Series A Funding 4212 Latka clarifies fundraising math after a brief slip of the tongue by Åström regarding thousands versus millions. The conversation remains smooth and data-focused.
Customer Retention, Acquisition Costs, and US Expansion 6212 Latka demonstrates SaaS metrics expertise by rapidly calculating expected new customer counts and ARPU targets based on marketing budget allocations.
Revenue Realignment, Valuation, and Deal Terms 5522 Åström educates listeners on term sheet priorities, emphasizing investor alignment, lock-ins, and liquidation preferences over vanity headline valuations.
Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment for Acuity Scheduling 2111 Segment covers an Acuity Scheduling mid-roll advertisement read followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questions.
Episode 591 Summary and Key Takeaways 0000 Closing solo recap by Latka summarizing Now Interact's metrics and key insights.

Statements from this episode (15)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Åström: Primelog Had Roughly $2M to $2.5M Trailing Revenue Before Exit
“It was about 2,000,002 and a half million roughly.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 2:58
Disclosure
Åström: Primelog Raised Roughly $1.5M in Total Capital
“We raised roughly, you know, one and a half million or something like that. Not more than that.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 4:41
Disclosure
Magnus Åström retained roughly 10% equity in Primelog upon its exit
“Roughly 10%.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 4:50
Disclosure
Åström sold his stake in InLead because it became a consulting firm
“So I decided to sell the company because it wouldn't, it didn't turn out as a software play as I would like it to be. And the database itself were not as big as it should be. So it ended up being more of a consultant business, which I, well, it's interesting, …”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 5:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
InLead generated $1.5M in trailing 12-month revenue before Åström exited
“One and a half million.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 6:12
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Now Interact generates $220K MRR across just 19 enterprise customers
“We have 19 customers on that product, and we are on a MRR of 220 K.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 10:36
Assertion Supported
Now Interact raises $5M Series A, reaching $7M total funding
“Yeah, so we did two million in total in a couple of seed rounds, and then now we did an A round with five million A round.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 11:02
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Now Interact lost only one customer over two and a half years
“One has churned until the last two and a half years, we have lost one customer.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 11:21
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Now Interact operates with 28 employees split across R&D, sales, and CS
“We have 28 people in the team, 50% is R&D, data scientists and developers, and the rest is divided with, divided fifty-fifty between sales and marketing and customer success.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 11:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Now Interact's CAC is $30,000 per customer
“30 K.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 12:04
Disclosure
Now Interact plans to spend roughly $500k on marketing for the year
“For the year we are looking to spend roughly, well, half a million or something like that.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 12:46
Disclosure
Now Interact is allocating most of its $5M round to US expansion
“Some is going to be invested in R&D, but most of it in sales. And we are, I mean, for us as a European company, it's a quite big thing to go across the Atlantic and start the US operations and hire people in the US and I will move there myself. So the budget f…”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 13:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Now Interact's new product grew nearly 100% year-over-year in 2015-2016
“So we have been like, you know, growth rate of about 20% if you look top line, but we, the new product has been growing almost a hundred percent year on year.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 14:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Now Interact generated $3.5M in total revenue in 2016
“So it's three and a half million.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 14:36
Disclosure
Now Interact raised $5M at a $13M-$14M pre-money valuation
“We took in the money, I think it's about It's about 13, fourteen million pre-money.”
Magnus Åström Mar 7, 2017 ▶ 15:01
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