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Sep 26, 2016 · 25m · top-founders

EP 429: SaaS w/ 16,000 Customers, 2007 Launched to Help Schedule, with CEO Gavin Zuchlinski

Gavin Zuchlinski · 12m 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 episode 429 of The Top podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews Acuity Scheduling founder and CEO Gavin Zuchlinski about bootstrapping an online appointment software from a side project for his mother into a profitable SaaS business serving 16,000 paying customers with a lean 11-person remote team.

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 43.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 1.8 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:0020:001:37–5:13 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Introducing Gavin Zuchlinski and the Origins of Acuity Scheduling Latka opens with an easygoing background interview, exploring the origins of Acuity Scheduling as a project for Gavin's mother and nudging him on early side-project revenue numbers.5:13–7:55 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Scaling Demands, Halting Signups, and Making the First Hire Gavin explains his transition from government work and describes turning off signups to limit workload, introducing his unconventional lifestyle-first founder mindset.7:56–12:50 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Analyzing Active Users, Pricing Tiers, and Paid Conversion Rates Latka digs into active user cohorts versus total signups, calculating paid conversion numbers and highlighting why focusing on weekly active cohorts proves strong product-market fit.12:50–15:50 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Marketing Experiments and Intentional Remote Team Management Gavin outlines his intentional remote team structure and paid ad experiments, while jokingly bonding with Latka over the vanity trap of team headcount questions.15:50–21:10 · Nathan as informed peer 8/10 Unit Economics, Customer Churn, ARPU, and Acquisition Philosophy Latka drills heavily into SaaS unit economics including churn, blended CAC, and ARPU, calculating monthly customer additions and LTV on the fly when Gavin tries to keep numbers vague.21:13–24:28 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Sponsor Message: Finding Elite Developers with Toptal Segment includes an ad read for Toptal followed by a standard, amicable Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence.1:37–5:13 · Guest teaching 1/10 Introducing Gavin Zuchlinski and the Origins of Acuity Scheduling Latka opens with an easygoing background interview, exploring the origins of Acuity Scheduling as a project for Gavin's mother and nudging him on early side-project revenue numbers.5:13–7:55 · Guest teaching 3/10 Scaling Demands, Halting Signups, and Making the First Hire Gavin explains his transition from government work and describes turning off signups to limit workload, introducing his unconventional lifestyle-first founder mindset.7:56–12:50 · Guest teaching 2/10 Analyzing Active Users, Pricing Tiers, and Paid Conversion Rates Latka digs into active user cohorts versus total signups, calculating paid conversion numbers and highlighting why focusing on weekly active cohorts proves strong product-market fit.12:50–15:50 · Guest teaching 2/10 Marketing Experiments and Intentional Remote Team Management Gavin outlines his intentional remote team structure and paid ad experiments, while jokingly bonding with Latka over the vanity trap of team headcount questions.15:50–21:10 · Guest teaching 2/10 Unit Economics, Customer Churn, ARPU, and Acquisition Philosophy Latka drills heavily into SaaS unit economics including churn, blended CAC, and ARPU, calculating monthly customer additions and LTV on the fly when Gavin tries to keep numbers vague.21:13–24:28 · Guest teaching 1/10 Sponsor Message: Finding Elite Developers with Toptal Segment includes an ad read for Toptal followed by a standard, amicable Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence.1:37–5:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Gavin Zuchlinski and the Origins of Acuity Scheduling Latka opens with an easygoing background interview, exploring the origins of Acuity Scheduling as a project for Gavin's mother and nudging him on early side-project revenue numbers.5:13–7:55 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Scaling Demands, Halting Signups, and Making the First Hire Gavin explains his transition from government work and describes turning off signups to limit workload, introducing his unconventional lifestyle-first founder mindset.7:56–12:50 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Analyzing Active Users, Pricing Tiers, and Paid Conversion Rates Latka digs into active user cohorts versus total signups, calculating paid conversion numbers and highlighting why focusing on weekly active cohorts proves strong product-market fit.12:50–15:50 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Marketing Experiments and Intentional Remote Team Management Gavin outlines his intentional remote team structure and paid ad experiments, while jokingly bonding with Latka over the vanity trap of team headcount questions.15:50–21:10 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Unit Economics, Customer Churn, ARPU, and Acquisition Philosophy Latka drills heavily into SaaS unit economics including churn, blended CAC, and ARPU, calculating monthly customer additions and LTV on the fly when Gavin tries to keep numbers vague.21:13–24:28 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Message: Finding Elite Developers with Toptal Segment includes an ad read for Toptal followed by a standard, amicable Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence.1:37–5:13 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Gavin Zuchlinski and the Origins of Acuity Scheduling Latka opens with an easygoing background interview, exploring the origins of Acuity Scheduling as a project for Gavin's mother and nudging him on early side-project revenue numbers.5:13–7:55 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Scaling Demands, Halting Signups, and Making the First Hire Gavin explains his transition from government work and describes turning off signups to limit workload, introducing his unconventional lifestyle-first founder mindset.7:56–12:50 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Analyzing Active Users, Pricing Tiers, and Paid Conversion Rates Latka digs into active user cohorts versus total signups, calculating paid conversion numbers and highlighting why focusing on weekly active cohorts proves strong product-market fit.12:50–15:50 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Marketing Experiments and Intentional Remote Team Management Gavin outlines his intentional remote team structure and paid ad experiments, while jokingly bonding with Latka over the vanity trap of team headcount questions.15:50–21:10 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Unit Economics, Customer Churn, ARPU, and Acquisition Philosophy Latka drills heavily into SaaS unit economics including churn, blended CAC, and ARPU, calculating monthly customer additions and LTV on the fly when Gavin tries to keep numbers vague.21:13–24:28 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Message: Finding Elite Developers with Toptal Segment includes an ad read for Toptal followed by a standard, amicable Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence.

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

0:00 · Nathan 74.7% · guest 25.3%0:00 · Nathan 74.7% · guest 25.3%3:00 · Nathan 23.4% · guest 76.6%3:00 · Nathan 23.4% · guest 76.6%6:00 · Nathan 22.5% · guest 77.5%6:00 · Nathan 22.5% · guest 77.5%9:00 · Nathan 41.1% · guest 58.9%9:00 · Nathan 41.1% · guest 58.9%12:00 · Nathan 26.2% · guest 73.8%12:00 · Nathan 26.2% · guest 73.8%15:00 · Nathan 39% · guest 61%15:00 · Nathan 39% · guest 61%18:00 · Nathan 41.4% · guest 58.6%18:00 · Nathan 41.4% · guest 58.6%21:00 · Nathan 66.4% · guest 33.6%21:00 · Nathan 66.4% · guest 33.6%24:00 · Nathan 97.4% · guest 2.6%24:00 · Nathan 97.4% · guest 2.6%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:07 Pet peeve regarding team headcount

Gavin calls team size questions his major pet peeve and suggests founders ask it primarily because their businesses are not actually profitable.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 18:34 Refusing to leave ARPU to listener guesswork

When Gavin deflects an ARPU question by suggesting listeners check his pricing tiers, Latka rejects the dodge and uses median pricing tiers to calculate an estimated $20 ARPU.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:58 Explaining the anti-growth shutdown strategy

Gavin educates the host on how he deliberately shut off new customer onboarding because growth was overtaking his personal quality of life.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 17:35 Live unit economics back-of-napkin math

Latka seamlessly computes estimated monthly customer additions using Gavin's $40,000 budget and estimated $4 CAC, earning praise from the guest for his quick math.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Gavin Zuchlinski and the Origins of Acuity Scheduling 4112 Latka opens with an easygoing background interview, exploring the origins of Acuity Scheduling as a project for Gavin's mother and nudging him on early side-project revenue numbers.
Scaling Demands, Halting Signups, and Making the First Hire 3312 Gavin explains his transition from government work and describes turning off signups to limit workload, introducing his unconventional lifestyle-first founder mindset.
Analyzing Active Users, Pricing Tiers, and Paid Conversion Rates 7224 Latka digs into active user cohorts versus total signups, calculating paid conversion numbers and highlighting why focusing on weekly active cohorts proves strong product-market fit.
Marketing Experiments and Intentional Remote Team Management 5223 Gavin outlines his intentional remote team structure and paid ad experiments, while jokingly bonding with Latka over the vanity trap of team headcount questions.
Unit Economics, Customer Churn, ARPU, and Acquisition Philosophy 8226 Latka drills heavily into SaaS unit economics including churn, blended CAC, and ARPU, calculating monthly customer additions and LTV on the fly when Gavin tries to keep numbers vague.
Sponsor Message: Finding Elite Developers with Toptal 2101 Segment includes an ad read for Toptal followed by a standard, amicable Famous Five rapid-fire closing sequence.

Statements from this episode (14)

Assertion Supported
Acuity Scheduling was originally built for founder's mother, a massage therapist
“It was actually originally developed for my mom. She's a massage therapist way back in the day. And I saw her going back and forth trying to just schedule clients, reschedule, and all of that, so I had built this for her”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 2:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Zuchlinski gained Acuity's first paying user in one week via SEO
“During the first year I did zero marketing and within the only that I really did was a little bit of SEO and within a week somebody had signed up and actually paid me.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 4:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Acuity Scheduling has been profitable since its very first day
“Acuity had been profitable since day one”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 7:27
Insight
Zuchlinski keeps his team small primarily for his own enjoyment
“I think that it has all sorts of secondary benefits to when you keep things small, but the primary one is making it easy and manageable and enjoyable for myself.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 7:47
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Acuity Scheduling active users and revenue are growing 10% month-over-month
“So right now we're at about a 10% month over month increase in all of that.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 9:23
Assertion Supported
Acuity Scheduling's subscription plans max out at $34 per month
“We have a couple of plans, and they're all pretty darn cheap. Starting from free, and then the very max is 34 dollars per month.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 10:43
Assertion Not checkable as stated
85% of Acuity Scheduling active users are on paid subscription plans
“About 85% of our active users are actually on paid accounts. And only 15% on free ones.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 10:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
90% of Acuity Scheduling's growth comes organically or through referrals
“Probably about 90% of our growth either comes through referrals or it's through just organic results or something along those lines.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 12:56
Disclosure
Acuity Scheduling spent $40,000 on paid marketing experiments in August 2016
“I think last month it was about 40,000 dollars.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 13:18
Disclosure
Zuchlinski avoids scaling profitable marketing channels to prevent hiring staff
“When we find a profitable channel, I don't add more money into there. Just cause I said, I don't actually like hiring people that keeps me happy, keeps our team small, reduces communication overhead and keeps our customers happy too”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 13:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Acuity Scheduling operates with an 11-person team
“We have 11 people.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 14:07
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Acuity Scheduling monthly gross customer churn is roughly 8%
“Gross customer churn is about eight percent per month.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 16:05
Insight
Zuchlinski targets a one-month CAC payback period for marketing channels
“I, when I'm looking at a channel, if it's successful, I like to earn it back within a month.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 19:18
Disclosure
Zuchlinski is the sole owner of bootstrapped Acuity Scheduling
“So just me as the owner of the company.”
Gavin Zuchlinski Sep 26, 2016 ▶ 19:39
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