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Nov 24, 2016 · 20m · top-founders

EP 488: Hireology $26M Raised, $1.2M MRR, Helping 4000 Customers Hire More Effectively with Hireology CEO Adam Robinson

Nathan Latka · 9m spoken Adam Robinson · 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

Nathan Latka interviews Hireology co-founder and CEO Adam Robinson, exploring how the hiring SaaS platform reached $1.2 million in monthly recurring revenue and raised $26 million by targeting decentralized franchise networks and automotive dealerships.

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 52.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.6 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 1.8
05100:0010:0020:001:31–4:32 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Introducing Hireology CEO Adam Robinson and Platform Overview Nathan clarifies Hireology's SaaS business model by contrasting it against talent placement platforms like Toptal and Upwork. Robinson details the origin of the business and its early revenue history.4:32–7:43 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Decentralized Franchise Distribution and Client Diversification Strategy Robinson explains how labor laws and co-employment liabilities prevent franchisors from handling hiring directly, creating Hireology's niche. Latka shares an anecdote on client concentration risk, which Robinson validates with his own prior startup experience.7:43–12:26 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Modular Pricing Structure, ARPU Growth, and Technology Partnerships Latka pushes back with surprise that Hireology employs a 100% inside sales team at a relatively modest $300 monthly ARPU. Latka also performs on-the-fly calculations to derive Hireology's $1.2M MRR, $2,100 CAC, and $15,000 LTV.12:26–15:02 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Targeting Main Street Owner-Operators and Connecting with Robinson Robinson outlines his target market of 7 million main-street employers versus the crowded top 50,000 enterprise employer space before sharing contact details, followed by Latka's mid-roll sponsor read.15:04–18:44 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Website Hosting and Templates with HostGator Latka inquires about Hireology's capital raises, prompting Robinson to reveal $26M raised from Bain and Baird, before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.1:31–4:32 · Guest teaching 3/10 Introducing Hireology CEO Adam Robinson and Platform Overview Nathan clarifies Hireology's SaaS business model by contrasting it against talent placement platforms like Toptal and Upwork. Robinson details the origin of the business and its early revenue history.4:32–7:43 · Guest teaching 4/10 Decentralized Franchise Distribution and Client Diversification Strategy Robinson explains how labor laws and co-employment liabilities prevent franchisors from handling hiring directly, creating Hireology's niche. Latka shares an anecdote on client concentration risk, which Robinson validates with his own prior startup experience.7:43–12:26 · Guest teaching 4/10 Modular Pricing Structure, ARPU Growth, and Technology Partnerships Latka pushes back with surprise that Hireology employs a 100% inside sales team at a relatively modest $300 monthly ARPU. Latka also performs on-the-fly calculations to derive Hireology's $1.2M MRR, $2,100 CAC, and $15,000 LTV.12:26–15:02 · Guest teaching 3/10 Targeting Main Street Owner-Operators and Connecting with Robinson Robinson outlines his target market of 7 million main-street employers versus the crowded top 50,000 enterprise employer space before sharing contact details, followed by Latka's mid-roll sponsor read.15:04–18:44 · Guest teaching 1/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Website Hosting and Templates with HostGator Latka inquires about Hireology's capital raises, prompting Robinson to reveal $26M raised from Bain and Baird, before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.1:31–4:32 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Hireology CEO Adam Robinson and Platform Overview Nathan clarifies Hireology's SaaS business model by contrasting it against talent placement platforms like Toptal and Upwork. Robinson details the origin of the business and its early revenue history.4:32–7:43 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Decentralized Franchise Distribution and Client Diversification Strategy Robinson explains how labor laws and co-employment liabilities prevent franchisors from handling hiring directly, creating Hireology's niche. Latka shares an anecdote on client concentration risk, which Robinson validates with his own prior startup experience.7:43–12:26 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Modular Pricing Structure, ARPU Growth, and Technology Partnerships Latka pushes back with surprise that Hireology employs a 100% inside sales team at a relatively modest $300 monthly ARPU. Latka also performs on-the-fly calculations to derive Hireology's $1.2M MRR, $2,100 CAC, and $15,000 LTV.12:26–15:02 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Targeting Main Street Owner-Operators and Connecting with Robinson Robinson outlines his target market of 7 million main-street employers versus the crowded top 50,000 enterprise employer space before sharing contact details, followed by Latka's mid-roll sponsor read.15:04–18:44 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Website Hosting and Templates with HostGator Latka inquires about Hireology's capital raises, prompting Robinson to reveal $26M raised from Bain and Baird, before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.1:31–4:32 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Introducing Hireology CEO Adam Robinson and Platform Overview Nathan clarifies Hireology's SaaS business model by contrasting it against talent placement platforms like Toptal and Upwork. Robinson details the origin of the business and its early revenue history.4:32–7:43 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Decentralized Franchise Distribution and Client Diversification Strategy Robinson explains how labor laws and co-employment liabilities prevent franchisors from handling hiring directly, creating Hireology's niche. Latka shares an anecdote on client concentration risk, which Robinson validates with his own prior startup experience.7:43–12:26 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Modular Pricing Structure, ARPU Growth, and Technology Partnerships Latka pushes back with surprise that Hireology employs a 100% inside sales team at a relatively modest $300 monthly ARPU. Latka also performs on-the-fly calculations to derive Hireology's $1.2M MRR, $2,100 CAC, and $15,000 LTV.12:26–15:02 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Targeting Main Street Owner-Operators and Connecting with Robinson Robinson outlines his target market of 7 million main-street employers versus the crowded top 50,000 enterprise employer space before sharing contact details, followed by Latka's mid-roll sponsor read.15:04–18:44 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Spotlight: Website Hosting and Templates with HostGator Latka inquires about Hireology's capital raises, prompting Robinson to reveal $26M raised from Bain and Baird, before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.

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

0:00 · Nathan 74.2% · guest 25.8%0:00 · Nathan 74.2% · guest 25.8%3:00 · Nathan 20.2% · guest 79.8%3:00 · Nathan 20.2% · guest 79.8%6:00 · Nathan 37.9% · guest 62.1%6:00 · Nathan 37.9% · guest 62.1%9:00 · Nathan 37% · guest 63%9:00 · Nathan 37% · guest 63%12:00 · Nathan 70.9% · guest 29.1%12:00 · Nathan 70.9% · guest 29.1%15:00 · Nathan 55.6% · guest 44.4%15:00 · Nathan 55.6% · guest 44.4%18:00 · Nathan 77.5% · guest 22.5%18:00 · Nathan 77.5% · guest 22.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:40 Defending inside sales velocity against host skepticism

Robinson counters Latka's doubt about using inside sales for a $300 ARPU product by pointing out that their rapid sales velocity and close rates justify the unit economics.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 10:36 Challenging inside sales model at low price point

Latka directly expresses disbelief that inside sales reps can be economically viable at an average revenue per user of only $300 per month.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:09 Educating on labor law barriers in franchise networks

Robinson educates Latka on why traditional enterprise HR software cannot serve decentralized franchise networks due to strict co-employment legal liabilities.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 11:52 Real-time SaaS unit economics breakdown

Latka demonstrates sharp domain expertise by taking payback period and LTV:CAC ratios to calculate Hireology's exact CAC of $2,100 and lifetime value of $15,000.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Hireology CEO Adam Robinson and Platform Overview 4311 Nathan clarifies Hireology's SaaS business model by contrasting it against talent placement platforms like Toptal and Upwork. Robinson details the origin of the business and its early revenue history.
Decentralized Franchise Distribution and Client Diversification Strategy 6412 Robinson explains how labor laws and co-employment liabilities prevent franchisors from handling hiring directly, creating Hireology's niche. Latka shares an anecdote on client concentration risk, which Robinson validates with his own prior startup experience.
Modular Pricing Structure, ARPU Growth, and Technology Partnerships 7424 Latka pushes back with surprise that Hireology employs a 100% inside sales team at a relatively modest $300 monthly ARPU. Latka also performs on-the-fly calculations to derive Hireology's $1.2M MRR, $2,100 CAC, and $15,000 LTV.
Targeting Main Street Owner-Operators and Connecting with Robinson 3311 Robinson outlines his target market of 7 million main-street employers versus the crowded top 50,000 enterprise employer space before sharing contact details, followed by Latka's mid-roll sponsor read.
Sponsor Spotlight: Website Hosting and Templates with HostGator 3101 Latka inquires about Hireology's capital raises, prompting Robinson to reveal $26M raised from Bain and Baird, before wrapping up with the rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.

Statements from this episode (11)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hireology Generated Under $200,000 in First-Year Revenue in 2010
“First year revenue in 2010 was just under 200,000 dollars.”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 4:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Robinson: Hireology serves nearly 4,000 business locations across 150 brands
“We're working with just under 4000 individually owned businesses in the United States. You know, ranging across about 150 brands from Kia and Ford and Mercedes-Benz US to Anytime Fitness, Brightstar Home Healthcare, and Sylvan Learning Centers.”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 4:41
Insight
Robinson: Labor laws block corporate HR software in decentralized franchise networks
“The nuance of this business and why we largely have this market to ourselves is because the traditional HR tech vendor sells to what they expect to be a centralized role specific HR team at corporate, but in these decentralized networks, that doesn't exist. An…”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 5:10
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Robinson: Allscripts drove 40% of prior company revenue before insourcing
“Last, last company you know, I had a customer responsible for about 40% of our revenue and, you know, it was a rocket ship ride for three years, and, you know, we really scaled along with them you know, the company was all scripts, they're in the electronical …”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 7:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Robinson: Hireology averages around $300 per location monthly and is increasing
“Per location, per month, the average, we're running into around 300 dollars a month on average. Okay. That's, which is increasing.”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 7:58
Disclosure
Hireology white labels and resells tools from seven to eight partners
“And so, you know, we do have seven or eight really close partners that we white label and sell through our platform.”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 9:13
Assertion Partly supported
Robinson: Franchise businesses have sub-5% 5-year attrition versus 60% for regular SMBs
“These companies go out of business, 60% every five years. However in the franchise industry, that five year attrition rate is sub five percent. So they don't go out of business. They just resell the location.”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 10:08
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Robinson: Hireology keeps annualized customer churn below 10%
“You know, we, we're in the sub 10% range is what I'll say. So yeah, annualized.”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 10:23
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Robinson: Hireology achieves 7-8 month CAC payback and 7-10x LTV:CAC
“Well, what I'll tell you is that we're able to get payback in a customer in about seven to eight months. So, you know, we're able to do that and we're able to, you know, to get somewhere between seven and 10, depending on the industry vertical you know, ratio …”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 11:27
Insight
Owner-operators buy software faster than corporate enterprises due to personal stakes
“We want to sell to owners whose names on the sign or whose personal balance sheet is invested in the business because if they see value, they buy as opposed to corporate where the decisions to buy or not to buy are often based on factors that have nothing to d…”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 12:50
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hireology competitors ignore 7 million US employers to target top 50,000
“The folks who were compared to in our industry sell to the top 50,000 employers in the U S but there's seven million employers in the U S nobody's talking to.”
Adam Robinson Nov 24, 2016 ▶ 13:09
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