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Feb 1, 2017 · 22m · top-founders

EP 557: Appointlet Hits $35k MRR, Co-Founders Because of Reddit Helping 1100 Customers Schedule with Rami El Chamaa

Rami Shama · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m 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 Appointlet co-founder Rami El Chamaa, exploring how a remote partnership formed on Reddit scaled a bootstrapped appointment scheduling platform to over $35,000 in monthly recurring revenue. Rami breaks down Appointlet's transition to per-seat pricing, product-led viral acquisition, and essential SaaS unit economics.

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 42.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.3 Guest teaching 1.7 Guest disagreement 0.8 Nathan pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:0020:001:55–4:06 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Appointlet Core Value Proposition and Pricing Structure Nathan explores Appointlet's value proposition and examines the public pricing tiers on their website. Rami explains the transition from tiered pricing to per-member billing to better match customer growth.4:06–6:56 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Connecting via Reddit and Building Appointlet Nathan researches the founding story in real time, pulling up the exact historical Reddit thread from five years prior. Rami details how he and his US-based co-founder connected across continents.6:56–9:06 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Working Pro Bono and Securing Founding Equity Nathan asks probing questions about equity allocation when joining after a developer. Rami transparently describes working for free for a year before asking for 25% equity.9:07–13:53 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Revenue Trajectory and Key SaaS Metrics Nathan calculates MRR using an earlier $15 figure, prompting Rami to correct him that $15 was per seat, not total ARPU, putting real MRR at $35k-$37k. Rami then breaks down the built-in viral distribution of calendar booking links.13:53–17:37 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 SaaS Unit Economics: Churn, CAC, and Lifetime Value Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including gross churn, blended CAC, and estimated LTV calculations. Rami shares his hiring plans and explains their philosophy behind remaining bootstrapped.17:41–21:26 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Sponsor Segment: Financial Efficiency with FreshBooks Contains a mid-roll FreshBooks sponsorship read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions and Nathan's summary outro.1:55–4:06 · Guest teaching 1/10 Appointlet Core Value Proposition and Pricing Structure Nathan explores Appointlet's value proposition and examines the public pricing tiers on their website. Rami explains the transition from tiered pricing to per-member billing to better match customer growth.4:06–6:56 · Guest teaching 1/10 Connecting via Reddit and Building Appointlet Nathan researches the founding story in real time, pulling up the exact historical Reddit thread from five years prior. Rami details how he and his US-based co-founder connected across continents.6:56–9:06 · Guest teaching 0/10 Working Pro Bono and Securing Founding Equity Nathan asks probing questions about equity allocation when joining after a developer. Rami transparently describes working for free for a year before asking for 25% equity.9:07–13:53 · Guest teaching 6/10 Revenue Trajectory and Key SaaS Metrics Nathan calculates MRR using an earlier $15 figure, prompting Rami to correct him that $15 was per seat, not total ARPU, putting real MRR at $35k-$37k. Rami then breaks down the built-in viral distribution of calendar booking links.13:53–17:37 · Guest teaching 2/10 SaaS Unit Economics: Churn, CAC, and Lifetime Value Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including gross churn, blended CAC, and estimated LTV calculations. Rami shares his hiring plans and explains their philosophy behind remaining bootstrapped.17:41–21:26 · Guest teaching 0/10 Sponsor Segment: Financial Efficiency with FreshBooks Contains a mid-roll FreshBooks sponsorship read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions and Nathan's summary outro.1:55–4:06 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Appointlet Core Value Proposition and Pricing Structure Nathan explores Appointlet's value proposition and examines the public pricing tiers on their website. Rami explains the transition from tiered pricing to per-member billing to better match customer growth.4:06–6:56 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Connecting via Reddit and Building Appointlet Nathan researches the founding story in real time, pulling up the exact historical Reddit thread from five years prior. Rami details how he and his US-based co-founder connected across continents.6:56–9:06 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Working Pro Bono and Securing Founding Equity Nathan asks probing questions about equity allocation when joining after a developer. Rami transparently describes working for free for a year before asking for 25% equity.9:07–13:53 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Revenue Trajectory and Key SaaS Metrics Nathan calculates MRR using an earlier $15 figure, prompting Rami to correct him that $15 was per seat, not total ARPU, putting real MRR at $35k-$37k. Rami then breaks down the built-in viral distribution of calendar booking links.13:53–17:37 · Guest disagreement 1/10 SaaS Unit Economics: Churn, CAC, and Lifetime Value Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including gross churn, blended CAC, and estimated LTV calculations. Rami shares his hiring plans and explains their philosophy behind remaining bootstrapped.17:41–21:26 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Segment: Financial Efficiency with FreshBooks Contains a mid-roll FreshBooks sponsorship read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions and Nathan's summary outro.1:55–4:06 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Appointlet Core Value Proposition and Pricing Structure Nathan explores Appointlet's value proposition and examines the public pricing tiers on their website. Rami explains the transition from tiered pricing to per-member billing to better match customer growth.4:06–6:56 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Connecting via Reddit and Building Appointlet Nathan researches the founding story in real time, pulling up the exact historical Reddit thread from five years prior. Rami details how he and his US-based co-founder connected across continents.6:56–9:06 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Working Pro Bono and Securing Founding Equity Nathan asks probing questions about equity allocation when joining after a developer. Rami transparently describes working for free for a year before asking for 25% equity.9:07–13:53 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Revenue Trajectory and Key SaaS Metrics Nathan calculates MRR using an earlier $15 figure, prompting Rami to correct him that $15 was per seat, not total ARPU, putting real MRR at $35k-$37k. Rami then breaks down the built-in viral distribution of calendar booking links.13:53–17:37 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 SaaS Unit Economics: Churn, CAC, and Lifetime Value Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including gross churn, blended CAC, and estimated LTV calculations. Rami shares his hiring plans and explains their philosophy behind remaining bootstrapped.17:41–21:26 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Segment: Financial Efficiency with FreshBooks Contains a mid-roll FreshBooks sponsorship read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions and Nathan's summary outro.

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

0:00 · Nathan 72.4% · guest 27.6%0:00 · Nathan 72.4% · guest 27.6%3:00 · Nathan 14.4% · guest 85.6%3:00 · Nathan 14.4% · guest 85.6%6:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%6:00 · Nathan 30.3% · guest 69.7%9:00 · Nathan 31.1% · guest 68.9%9:00 · Nathan 31.1% · guest 68.9%12:00 · Nathan 32.9% · guest 67.1%12:00 · Nathan 32.9% · guest 67.1%15:00 · Nathan 31.8% · guest 68.2%15:00 · Nathan 31.8% · guest 68.2%18:00 · Nathan 54.9% · guest 45.1%18:00 · Nathan 54.9% · guest 45.1%21:00 · Nathan 98.2% · guest 1.8%21:00 · Nathan 98.2% · guest 1.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 9:56 Rami rejects host's MRR math

Rami directly corrects Nathan's calculation, stating that the $15 quote was per seat rather than customer ARPU, clarifying that revenue is actually more than double at $37k MRR.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:44 Nathan challenges MRR based on stated ARPU

Nathan attempts to multiply 1,100 customers by the previously mentioned $15 figure to pin down revenue, directly checking the arithmetic on air.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:56 Clarifying per-seat pricing vs ARPU

Rami educates Nathan on Appointlet's unit metrics, differentiating between average per-seat cost and blended account-level ARPU of $30+.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 6:18 Nathan brings up the original Reddit thread

Nathan demonstrates investigative preparation by locating and reading Jared's exact five-year-old Reddit post on r/entrepreneur.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Appointlet Core Value Proposition and Pricing Structure 5112 Nathan explores Appointlet's value proposition and examines the public pricing tiers on their website. Rami explains the transition from tiered pricing to per-member billing to better match customer growth.
Connecting via Reddit and Building Appointlet 6112 Nathan researches the founding story in real time, pulling up the exact historical Reddit thread from five years prior. Rami details how he and his US-based co-founder connected across continents.
Working Pro Bono and Securing Founding Equity 5002 Nathan asks probing questions about equity allocation when joining after a developer. Rami transparently describes working for free for a year before asking for 25% equity.
Revenue Trajectory and Key SaaS Metrics 6624 Nathan calculates MRR using an earlier $15 figure, prompting Rami to correct him that $15 was per seat, not total ARPU, putting real MRR at $35k-$37k. Rami then breaks down the built-in viral distribution of calendar booking links.
SaaS Unit Economics: Churn, CAC, and Lifetime Value 6213 Nathan drills into SaaS metrics including gross churn, blended CAC, and estimated LTV calculations. Rami shares his hiring plans and explains their philosophy behind remaining bootstrapped.
Sponsor Segment: Financial Efficiency with FreshBooks 4001 Contains a mid-roll FreshBooks sponsorship read followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire closing questions and Nathan's summary outro.

Statements from this episode (14)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Appointlet's average customer pays around $15 per month
“The average customers pays us around 15 dollars per month.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 2:54
Disclosure
Appointlet is moving to per-member pricing model
“We are moving towards a new type of pricing that works on a per member basis. We found out that our customers I mean, this works much more for our customers because we would be able to provide them with plans that would grow with their team instead of right no…”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 3:28
Disclosure
Rami El Chamaa met Appointlet co-founder Jared Morris on Reddit
“So I'm from Lebanon and I met him through Reddit.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 5:32
Disclosure
Appointlet co-founders had met in person only once before 2017
“We met once in person that was in September of last year.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 5:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
El Chamaa secured 25% Appointlet equity after doing pro bono SEO
“I did not ask for anything at the beginning. So I just I just, I was doing some SEO on the website and like at one point like I was doing some work and I thought, I mean, I should get compensated. So we said like what'd you say? I get 25% of the business.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 7:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Appointlet has reached 1,100 to 1,200 paying customers
“Today we're in around a thousand thousand, a 100,200 paid customers.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 8:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Appointlet had $200 MRR when Rami El Chamaa joined
“I joined in, it was 200 MRR.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 9:21
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Appointlet generates approximately $37,000 in monthly recurring revenue
“It's around the 40, 3030, 37. Yeah. The price I gave you was actually the price per member, not per customer.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 9:58
Insight
Scheduling tools drive viral acquisition through product interactions with prospects
“This is how scheduling works. It's not the same for other software, because here you interact with your customers all the time with your prospects. So they see what you're doing and they think, oh, I want to, I want that as well.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 12:15
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Most of Appointlet's customers originate from referrals and booking links
“I would say so. Yeah. I would say if you take referrals all type of referrals. Yes. All type of referrals. So that's a word of mouth. That's a booking page signups. You look at the booking page and sign up. That's affiliate.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 13:28
Disclosure
Appointlet's monthly gross churn is around 5% to 6%
“We're around maybe five or six percent right now.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 13:59
Disclosure
Appointlet spends $2,000 to $3,000 monthly on paid marketing
“I would say around not much, around maybe 2003 thousand.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 14:38
Disclosure
Appointlet projects customer lifetime value at $400 to $500
“Around the 405 hundred dollars.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 15:07
Assertion Supported
Appointlet is entirely bootstrapped without outside capital
“We're bootstrapped.”
Rami Shama Feb 1, 2017 ▶ 16:50
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