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Oct 21, 2016 · 23m · top-founders

EP 454: $6.9M Movie Tickets Sold In Discount Marketplace DealFlicks with CEO Sean Wycliffe

Sean Wycliffe · 10m 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

In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews DealFlicks CEO and co-founder Sean Wycliffe, exploring how his discount movie marketplace reached $6.9 million in lifetime gross volume across 800 theater locations. Sean breaks down the company's unit economics, fundraising strategy, and path toward cash flow break-even.

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 46.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 2.2 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 3.6
05100:0010:0020:001:36–5:25 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 DealFlicks Overview and Marketplace Unit Economics Nathan quickly runs mental math on Sean's initial ticket volume numbers and calls out an apparent math error when 140k monthly units don't align with $370k gross revenue. Sean quickly clarifies that the volume is split between 70k tickets and 70k concessions with an average order value around $13.5:26–9:13 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Network Scale, Take Rate, and Team Structure Nathan walks down the marketplace P&L, calculating DealFlicks' net take rate at roughly 14% ($1.40 per $10 order). Sean details their footprint across 800 theaters, 6,000 screens, and an eight-person team leaning into engineering.9:14–14:33 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Fundraising Strategy and Carmike Cinemas Expansion Nathan presses on how DealFlicks is valued given that gross marketplace volume can be misleading compared to net revenue of $55k per month. Sean explains how note caps adjust and describes the 2016 macro shift where investors focus on burn rate and large chain validation like Carmike Cinemas.14:33–17:54 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Lifetime Volume, 2016 Targets, and Contact Info Sean pulls up his dashboard to confirm $6.9 million in lifetime transaction volume and project $5 million to $6 million for 2016. Nathan collects baseline monthly transacting user and theater counts in a straightforward recap.17:56–22:03 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Mid-Interview Sponsor Announcements: Cirrus Insight and HostGator Segment features Nathan's sponsor reads for Cirrus Insight and HostGator followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, where Nathan gently restates the CEO question when Sean mentions a book instead.1:36–5:25 · Guest teaching 3/10 DealFlicks Overview and Marketplace Unit Economics Nathan quickly runs mental math on Sean's initial ticket volume numbers and calls out an apparent math error when 140k monthly units don't align with $370k gross revenue. Sean quickly clarifies that the volume is split between 70k tickets and 70k concessions with an average order value around $13.5:26–9:13 · Guest teaching 2/10 Network Scale, Take Rate, and Team Structure Nathan walks down the marketplace P&L, calculating DealFlicks' net take rate at roughly 14% ($1.40 per $10 order). Sean details their footprint across 800 theaters, 6,000 screens, and an eight-person team leaning into engineering.9:14–14:33 · Guest teaching 4/10 Fundraising Strategy and Carmike Cinemas Expansion Nathan presses on how DealFlicks is valued given that gross marketplace volume can be misleading compared to net revenue of $55k per month. Sean explains how note caps adjust and describes the 2016 macro shift where investors focus on burn rate and large chain validation like Carmike Cinemas.14:33–17:54 · Guest teaching 2/10 Lifetime Volume, 2016 Targets, and Contact Info Sean pulls up his dashboard to confirm $6.9 million in lifetime transaction volume and project $5 million to $6 million for 2016. Nathan collects baseline monthly transacting user and theater counts in a straightforward recap.17:56–22:03 · Guest teaching 0/10 Mid-Interview Sponsor Announcements: Cirrus Insight and HostGator Segment features Nathan's sponsor reads for Cirrus Insight and HostGator followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, where Nathan gently restates the CEO question when Sean mentions a book instead.1:36–5:25 · Guest disagreement 1/10 DealFlicks Overview and Marketplace Unit Economics Nathan quickly runs mental math on Sean's initial ticket volume numbers and calls out an apparent math error when 140k monthly units don't align with $370k gross revenue. Sean quickly clarifies that the volume is split between 70k tickets and 70k concessions with an average order value around $13.5:26–9:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Network Scale, Take Rate, and Team Structure Nathan walks down the marketplace P&L, calculating DealFlicks' net take rate at roughly 14% ($1.40 per $10 order). Sean details their footprint across 800 theaters, 6,000 screens, and an eight-person team leaning into engineering.9:14–14:33 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Fundraising Strategy and Carmike Cinemas Expansion Nathan presses on how DealFlicks is valued given that gross marketplace volume can be misleading compared to net revenue of $55k per month. Sean explains how note caps adjust and describes the 2016 macro shift where investors focus on burn rate and large chain validation like Carmike Cinemas.14:33–17:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Lifetime Volume, 2016 Targets, and Contact Info Sean pulls up his dashboard to confirm $6.9 million in lifetime transaction volume and project $5 million to $6 million for 2016. Nathan collects baseline monthly transacting user and theater counts in a straightforward recap.17:56–22:03 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Mid-Interview Sponsor Announcements: Cirrus Insight and HostGator Segment features Nathan's sponsor reads for Cirrus Insight and HostGator followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, where Nathan gently restates the CEO question when Sean mentions a book instead.1:36–5:25 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 DealFlicks Overview and Marketplace Unit Economics Nathan quickly runs mental math on Sean's initial ticket volume numbers and calls out an apparent math error when 140k monthly units don't align with $370k gross revenue. Sean quickly clarifies that the volume is split between 70k tickets and 70k concessions with an average order value around $13.5:26–9:13 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Network Scale, Take Rate, and Team Structure Nathan walks down the marketplace P&L, calculating DealFlicks' net take rate at roughly 14% ($1.40 per $10 order). Sean details their footprint across 800 theaters, 6,000 screens, and an eight-person team leaning into engineering.9:14–14:33 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Fundraising Strategy and Carmike Cinemas Expansion Nathan presses on how DealFlicks is valued given that gross marketplace volume can be misleading compared to net revenue of $55k per month. Sean explains how note caps adjust and describes the 2016 macro shift where investors focus on burn rate and large chain validation like Carmike Cinemas.14:33–17:54 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Lifetime Volume, 2016 Targets, and Contact Info Sean pulls up his dashboard to confirm $6.9 million in lifetime transaction volume and project $5 million to $6 million for 2016. Nathan collects baseline monthly transacting user and theater counts in a straightforward recap.17:56–22:03 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Mid-Interview Sponsor Announcements: Cirrus Insight and HostGator Segment features Nathan's sponsor reads for Cirrus Insight and HostGator followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, where Nathan gently restates the CEO question when Sean mentions a book instead.

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

0:00 · Nathan 78.3% · guest 21.7%0:00 · Nathan 78.3% · guest 21.7%3:00 · Nathan 28.5% · guest 71.5%3:00 · Nathan 28.5% · guest 71.5%6:00 · Nathan 42.7% · guest 57.3%6:00 · Nathan 42.7% · guest 57.3%9:00 · Nathan 27.1% · guest 72.9%9:00 · Nathan 27.1% · guest 72.9%12:00 · Nathan 17.3% · guest 82.7%12:00 · Nathan 17.3% · guest 82.7%15:00 · Nathan 28.4% · guest 71.6%15:00 · Nathan 28.4% · guest 71.6%18:00 · Nathan 79.1% · guest 20.9%18:00 · Nathan 79.1% · guest 20.9%21:00 · Nathan 79.8% · guest 20.2%21:00 · Nathan 79.8% · guest 20.2%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:09 Sean reframes startup fundraising necessity

Sean pushes back on Nathan's premise about seeking more capital on their open note, pointing out that while startups can always take money, DealFlicks is focused on reaching break-even.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 3:32 Nathan challenges contradictory ticket math

Nathan halts the interview flow to reject Sean's stated metrics, pressing him on whether tickets were selling for 25 cents based on the numbers provided.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:24 Sean explains shifting VC valuation paradigms

Sean educates Nathan on how early 2016 venture markets rotated away from pure top-line GMV multiples toward burn rate, net cash, and enterprise pilot validation.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 3:32 Nathan does instant marketplace unit math

Nathan demonstrates financial mastery by calculating implied unit pricing on the fly and catching an inconsistency in Sean's combined volume metrics.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
DealFlicks Overview and Marketplace Unit Economics 7316 Nathan quickly runs mental math on Sean's initial ticket volume numbers and calls out an apparent math error when 140k monthly units don't align with $370k gross revenue. Sean quickly clarifies that the volume is split between 70k tickets and 70k concessions with an average order value around $13.
Network Scale, Take Rate, and Team Structure 5213 Nathan walks down the marketplace P&L, calculating DealFlicks' net take rate at roughly 14% ($1.40 per $10 order). Sean details their footprint across 800 theaters, 6,000 screens, and an eight-person team leaning into engineering.
Fundraising Strategy and Carmike Cinemas Expansion 6425 Nathan presses on how DealFlicks is valued given that gross marketplace volume can be misleading compared to net revenue of $55k per month. Sean explains how note caps adjust and describes the 2016 macro shift where investors focus on burn rate and large chain validation like Carmike Cinemas.
Lifetime Volume, 2016 Targets, and Contact Info 4212 Sean pulls up his dashboard to confirm $6.9 million in lifetime transaction volume and project $5 million to $6 million for 2016. Nathan collects baseline monthly transacting user and theater counts in a straightforward recap.
Mid-Interview Sponsor Announcements: Cirrus Insight and HostGator 2002 Segment features Nathan's sponsor reads for Cirrus Insight and HostGator followed by the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, where Nathan gently restates the CEO question when Sean mentions a book instead.

Statements from this episode (14)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks reaches roughly $370,000 per month in top-line revenue
“We just passed over about 350,000 ish 370,000 ish per month.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 2:58
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks sells roughly 70,000 tickets and 70,000 concessions monthly
“About 70,000 tickets per month, and then there's another 70,000 concession. Ish, so. So yeah. So yeah. And then those 70,000 tickets translated, you know, to about 370,000 in, in top line revenue.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 3:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks average transaction size is around 2.2 tickets
“Our average transaction is a little over two tickets per transaction. So, you know, usually, you know, people are buying 2.2 tickets or so.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 4:03
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks average order value is around 13 dollars
“The average order value is, is, It's around, it's actually around 13 dollars.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 4:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks operates across roughly 800 theaters and over 6,000 screens
“We have about roughly around, around 800 theaters on the platform. And we have also about 6000, a little over 6000 screens on the platform.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 5:30
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks has over 500,000 registered users and ~125K-155K paying customers
“In terms of users, we have a little over 500,000 users now. And in terms of ones that have made purchases you know, cause sometimes we'll get users that sign up from Europe or something like that. So in terms of ones that have made purchases, it's about one fo…”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 6:08
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks averages a 13% to 14% take rate per ticket sale
“On average, it's about, you know, 13, 14%, somewhere in there. It can range anywhere between eight percent. To over 15%.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 7:33
Disclosure
DealFlicks employs eight full-time staff and shifts focus toward engineering
“We have eight, eight full-time folks that work with us. We're starting to move more toward engineering now. It used to be more biz dev heavy, but now we're moving more toward engineering as we're building our product out.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 8:36
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wycliffe: DealFlicks raised $2.9M seed and secured $1.2M bridge commitments
“So we had finished our Seed round pretty much up at the beginning of 2015. We raised 2.9 million there, and then we actually opened up a bridge note recently. And on that note, currently we have a 1.2 million committed.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 9:24
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wycliffe: DealFlicks did $418K gross and $55K net revenue in July
“So actually we in July, we crossed over 418,000 for our revenue and then, yeah. you know, we paid our theaters, we paid them and then our kind of gross profit net revenue is 55,000. And then, you know, we have a host of other expenses. So it really split betw…”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 11:29
Assertion Supported
Wycliffe: DealFlicks signed Carmike Cinemas partnership across ~250 locations
“Recently we actually expanded to a national partnership with the fourth largest theater chain in the country, which is so Carmack cinemas. Okay. Yeah. So they're the fourth largest and they did a pilot with us and they really liked the pilot. The data came bac…”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 13:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks processed over $2.4M in total transaction volume in 2015
“20 15 total transaction volume was about 2.4 million, a little over 2.4 million.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 14:49
Assertion Not checkable as stated
DealFlicks reaches $6.9M in lifetime transaction volume
“Total transaction volume was 6.9 million.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 16:08
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Wycliffe: DealFlicks will probably clear $5M to $6M in 2016 volume
“I would say, you know, it looks like we'll probably clear you know, maybe, maybe five million maybe six million.”
Sean Wycliffe Oct 21, 2016 ▶ 16:16
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