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Nov 6, 2016 · 20m · top-founders

EP 470: How He Got 10,000 Interested In Product Before Launch with Scorely CEO Shawn Porat

Nathan Latka · 9m spoken Sean Porat · 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

In Episode 470 of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Scorely founder and CEO Shawn Porat, exploring how the FinTech startup amassed a 10,000-business pre-launch waitlist, raised $250,000 on a SAFE note, and developed a freemium platform to disrupt legacy commercial credit bureaus.

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 51.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.7 Guest teaching 2.7 Guest disagreement 0.8 Nathan pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:0020:000:28–3:19 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner and Entry Instructions This segment is primarily a host solo introduction, contest giveaway announcement, sponsor promotion, and initial guest introduction.3:20–7:37 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Building a 10,000-Person Pre-Launch Waitlist Nathan presses on how Dun & Bradstreet can charge high prices if their service is flawed, while Sean explains why legacy bureaus fail small businesses with inaccurate data.7:37–11:32 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Scorely Monetization via Loan Brokerage Commissions Nathan walks through a specific hypothetical loan scenario ($500k) to pin down unit economics and commission percentages, pushing on total addressable market calculations.11:33–13:42 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Uncovering the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Uncollected Judgments Market Sean educates Nathan on the massive scale of uncollected court judgments ($8B in a single county), while Nathan presses him on the exact mechanism for monetizing that data.13:42–15:52 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Fundraising History and Developer Team Structure Nathan demonstrates domain expertise regarding offshore and freelance development team risks, sharing personal anecdotes about developer vetting platforms.15:54–19:48 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Meeting Efficiency and Acuity Scheduling Promotion Includes host ad read monologues and the rapid-fire 'Famous Five' section with standard, friendly questions.0:28–3:19 · Guest teaching 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner and Entry Instructions This segment is primarily a host solo introduction, contest giveaway announcement, sponsor promotion, and initial guest introduction.3:20–7:37 · Guest teaching 5/10 Building a 10,000-Person Pre-Launch Waitlist Nathan presses on how Dun & Bradstreet can charge high prices if their service is flawed, while Sean explains why legacy bureaus fail small businesses with inaccurate data.7:37–11:32 · Guest teaching 4/10 Scorely Monetization via Loan Brokerage Commissions Nathan walks through a specific hypothetical loan scenario ($500k) to pin down unit economics and commission percentages, pushing on total addressable market calculations.11:33–13:42 · Guest teaching 6/10 Uncovering the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Uncollected Judgments Market Sean educates Nathan on the massive scale of uncollected court judgments ($8B in a single county), while Nathan presses him on the exact mechanism for monetizing that data.13:42–15:52 · Guest teaching 1/10 Fundraising History and Developer Team Structure Nathan demonstrates domain expertise regarding offshore and freelance development team risks, sharing personal anecdotes about developer vetting platforms.15:54–19:48 · Guest teaching 0/10 Meeting Efficiency and Acuity Scheduling Promotion Includes host ad read monologues and the rapid-fire 'Famous Five' section with standard, friendly questions.0:28–3:19 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner and Entry Instructions This segment is primarily a host solo introduction, contest giveaway announcement, sponsor promotion, and initial guest introduction.3:20–7:37 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Building a 10,000-Person Pre-Launch Waitlist Nathan presses on how Dun & Bradstreet can charge high prices if their service is flawed, while Sean explains why legacy bureaus fail small businesses with inaccurate data.7:37–11:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Scorely Monetization via Loan Brokerage Commissions Nathan walks through a specific hypothetical loan scenario ($500k) to pin down unit economics and commission percentages, pushing on total addressable market calculations.11:33–13:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Uncovering the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Uncollected Judgments Market Sean educates Nathan on the massive scale of uncollected court judgments ($8B in a single county), while Nathan presses him on the exact mechanism for monetizing that data.13:42–15:52 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Fundraising History and Developer Team Structure Nathan demonstrates domain expertise regarding offshore and freelance development team risks, sharing personal anecdotes about developer vetting platforms.15:54–19:48 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Meeting Efficiency and Acuity Scheduling Promotion Includes host ad read monologues and the rapid-fire 'Famous Five' section with standard, friendly questions.0:28–3:19 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner and Entry Instructions This segment is primarily a host solo introduction, contest giveaway announcement, sponsor promotion, and initial guest introduction.3:20–7:37 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Building a 10,000-Person Pre-Launch Waitlist Nathan presses on how Dun & Bradstreet can charge high prices if their service is flawed, while Sean explains why legacy bureaus fail small businesses with inaccurate data.7:37–11:32 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Scorely Monetization via Loan Brokerage Commissions Nathan walks through a specific hypothetical loan scenario ($500k) to pin down unit economics and commission percentages, pushing on total addressable market calculations.11:33–13:42 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Uncovering the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Uncollected Judgments Market Sean educates Nathan on the massive scale of uncollected court judgments ($8B in a single county), while Nathan presses him on the exact mechanism for monetizing that data.13:42–15:52 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Fundraising History and Developer Team Structure Nathan demonstrates domain expertise regarding offshore and freelance development team risks, sharing personal anecdotes about developer vetting platforms.15:54–19:48 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Meeting Efficiency and Acuity Scheduling Promotion Includes host ad read monologues and the rapid-fire 'Famous Five' section with standard, friendly questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 75.1% · guest 24.9%0:00 · Nathan 75.1% · guest 24.9%3:00 · Nathan 30.1% · guest 69.9%3:00 · Nathan 30.1% · guest 69.9%6:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%6:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%9:00 · Nathan 26.2% · guest 73.8%9:00 · Nathan 26.2% · guest 73.8%12:00 · Nathan 35.1% · guest 64.9%12:00 · Nathan 35.1% · guest 64.9%15:00 · Nathan 93.6% · guest 6.4%15:00 · Nathan 93.6% · guest 6.4%18:00 · Nathan 71.3% · guest 28.7%18:00 · Nathan 71.3% · guest 28.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:52 Guest rejects host's market sizing formula

Sean pushes back against Nathan's simplistic market cap calculation by pointing out alternative revenue streams and enterprise suppliers.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:39 Host challenges critique of incumbent pricing

Nathan challenges Sean's dismissive view of Dun & Bradstreet by arguing that markets are efficient and asking why D&B can charge high prices if their data is poor.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:17 Guest breaks down uncollected judgments market

Sean explains the reality of court judgments to Nathan, clarifying that four out of five judgments go completely unpaid regardless of bankruptcy.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 14:50 Host demonstrates developer hiring pitfalls

Nathan takes over the conversation to share his technical experience managing freelance developer stacks and screening processes.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Weekly Cash Giveaway Winner and Entry Instructions 0000 This segment is primarily a host solo introduction, contest giveaway announcement, sponsor promotion, and initial guest introduction.
Building a 10,000-Person Pre-Launch Waitlist 5524 Nathan presses on how Dun & Bradstreet can charge high prices if their service is flawed, while Sean explains why legacy bureaus fail small businesses with inaccurate data.
Scorely Monetization via Loan Brokerage Commissions 6425 Nathan walks through a specific hypothetical loan scenario ($500k) to pin down unit economics and commission percentages, pushing on total addressable market calculations.
Uncovering the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Uncollected Judgments Market 3614 Sean educates Nathan on the massive scale of uncollected court judgments ($8B in a single county), while Nathan presses him on the exact mechanism for monetizing that data.
Fundraising History and Developer Team Structure 6101 Nathan demonstrates domain expertise regarding offshore and freelance development team risks, sharing personal anecdotes about developer vetting platforms.
Meeting Efficiency and Acuity Scheduling Promotion 2000 Includes host ad read monologues and the rapid-fire 'Famous Five' section with standard, friendly questions.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Porat: NY Chamber of Commerce emailed 5,000 members about Scorely
“For example, one of the chambers in New York state they let their members know that they can get access to free credit reports on any business. And they pushed it out to about 5000 of their members.”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 4:26
Assertion Supported
Porat: Dun & Bradstreet charges $120 to $200 per credit report
“Take for example, Dun & Bradstreet charge anywhere between about, I think, a 120 to 200 bucks a report, depending on what you're getting.”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 5:21
Opinion
Porat: Dun & Bradstreet lacks quality data on small businesses
“Dunbar actually does an awesome job at public companies and large private companies, but when you get down to the small business level, you know, they just don't have that great information.”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 5:58
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Porat: Dun & Bradstreet vastly misreported my previous company's data
“For that company, we checked our credit report and it said that our credit score was like 25 out of a hundred. Undone. Yeah, undone. It had it had our address from six years ago. It said that we spend 50 dollars a month on expenses. Meanwhile, we're spending a…”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 6:16
Assertion Supported
Porat: Alternative loan commissions run 2-5% vs under 1% for traditional banks
“For the more traditional lenders, the commission is much lower. Usually it's a half a percent or less or one percent. For the alternative lenders, it's usually closer to two to five percent.”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 10:22
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Porat: Westchester County has $8B in uncollected judgments
“And there's about eight billion dollars in uncollected judgments just in Westchester.”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 12:13
Assertion Partly supported
Porat: Four out of five court judgments go completely uncollected
“So most people think that, Hey, I went to court. I got a 5000 dollar judgment. That's it. I'm going to get paid on this debtor, but four out of five times, you don't see a penny.”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 12:25
Disclosure
Porat: Scorely raised $250,000 in pre-seed angel SAFE round
“So we've raised 250,000 dollars in sort of a pre-seed angel round.”
Sean Porat Nov 6, 2016 ▶ 13:48
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