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Aug 9, 2016 · 19m · top-founders

EP 381: Make Beautiful Snaps With BlurBiz, $60k MRR

Tamar Dal Pota · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In episode 381 of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Blurbiz co-founder Tamar Dal Pota, discussing how the 500 Startups-backed SaaS company scaled to $60,000 in MRR by helping media publishers create and distribute vertical video on Snapchat.

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 49.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:001:20–4:10 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Introducing Guest Tamar Dal Pota of Blurbiz Nathan introduces Tamar and asks how Blurbiz functions and generates revenue. Tamar explains their pivot from Snapchat influencer marketing to a vertical video editing and scheduling SaaS platform for publishers.4:12–8:18 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Subscription Pricing, Revenue Numbers, and Seed Round Plans Nathan drills into MRR, pricing, and seed fundraising goals. When Tamar attempts to claim customer acquisition cost is zero, Nathan immediately pushes back, insisting that founder and sales hustle represent real acquisition costs.8:18–13:02 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Sales Team Structure, Commissions, and Enterprise Cycles Nathan breaks down the commission structure and contract terms for Blurbiz's sales reps, deducing that the reps must be part-time. Tamar also recounts founding and scaling his prior illuminated skateboard business, Candy Cruiser.13:02–16:39 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Co-Founder Equity Split and Snapchat Engagement Reach Nathan inquires about equity division among the three co-founders and explores Blurbiz's Snapchat view numbers. When Nathan praises 20,000 views per snap, Tamar counters by comparing his metrics to major media publishers generating millions of views.16:40–18:22 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Tamar Nathan runs through his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, and advice to Tamar's 20-year-old self.1:20–4:10 · Guest teaching 4/10 Introducing Guest Tamar Dal Pota of Blurbiz Nathan introduces Tamar and asks how Blurbiz functions and generates revenue. Tamar explains their pivot from Snapchat influencer marketing to a vertical video editing and scheduling SaaS platform for publishers.4:12–8:18 · Guest teaching 2/10 Subscription Pricing, Revenue Numbers, and Seed Round Plans Nathan drills into MRR, pricing, and seed fundraising goals. When Tamar attempts to claim customer acquisition cost is zero, Nathan immediately pushes back, insisting that founder and sales hustle represent real acquisition costs.8:18–13:02 · Guest teaching 3/10 Sales Team Structure, Commissions, and Enterprise Cycles Nathan breaks down the commission structure and contract terms for Blurbiz's sales reps, deducing that the reps must be part-time. Tamar also recounts founding and scaling his prior illuminated skateboard business, Candy Cruiser.13:02–16:39 · Guest teaching 4/10 Co-Founder Equity Split and Snapchat Engagement Reach Nathan inquires about equity division among the three co-founders and explores Blurbiz's Snapchat view numbers. When Nathan praises 20,000 views per snap, Tamar counters by comparing his metrics to major media publishers generating millions of views.16:40–18:22 · Guest teaching 1/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Tamar Nathan runs through his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, and advice to Tamar's 20-year-old self.1:20–4:10 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Guest Tamar Dal Pota of Blurbiz Nathan introduces Tamar and asks how Blurbiz functions and generates revenue. Tamar explains their pivot from Snapchat influencer marketing to a vertical video editing and scheduling SaaS platform for publishers.4:12–8:18 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Subscription Pricing, Revenue Numbers, and Seed Round Plans Nathan drills into MRR, pricing, and seed fundraising goals. When Tamar attempts to claim customer acquisition cost is zero, Nathan immediately pushes back, insisting that founder and sales hustle represent real acquisition costs.8:18–13:02 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sales Team Structure, Commissions, and Enterprise Cycles Nathan breaks down the commission structure and contract terms for Blurbiz's sales reps, deducing that the reps must be part-time. Tamar also recounts founding and scaling his prior illuminated skateboard business, Candy Cruiser.13:02–16:39 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Co-Founder Equity Split and Snapchat Engagement Reach Nathan inquires about equity division among the three co-founders and explores Blurbiz's Snapchat view numbers. When Nathan praises 20,000 views per snap, Tamar counters by comparing his metrics to major media publishers generating millions of views.16:40–18:22 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Tamar Nathan runs through his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, and advice to Tamar's 20-year-old self.1:20–4:10 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Guest Tamar Dal Pota of Blurbiz Nathan introduces Tamar and asks how Blurbiz functions and generates revenue. Tamar explains their pivot from Snapchat influencer marketing to a vertical video editing and scheduling SaaS platform for publishers.4:12–8:18 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Subscription Pricing, Revenue Numbers, and Seed Round Plans Nathan drills into MRR, pricing, and seed fundraising goals. When Tamar attempts to claim customer acquisition cost is zero, Nathan immediately pushes back, insisting that founder and sales hustle represent real acquisition costs.8:18–13:02 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Sales Team Structure, Commissions, and Enterprise Cycles Nathan breaks down the commission structure and contract terms for Blurbiz's sales reps, deducing that the reps must be part-time. Tamar also recounts founding and scaling his prior illuminated skateboard business, Candy Cruiser.13:02–16:39 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Co-Founder Equity Split and Snapchat Engagement Reach Nathan inquires about equity division among the three co-founders and explores Blurbiz's Snapchat view numbers. When Nathan praises 20,000 views per snap, Tamar counters by comparing his metrics to major media publishers generating millions of views.16:40–18:22 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Tamar Nathan runs through his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, and advice to Tamar's 20-year-old self.

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

0:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%0:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%3:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%3:00 · Nathan 28.2% · guest 71.8%6:00 · Nathan 38.1% · guest 61.9%6:00 · Nathan 38.1% · guest 61.9%9:00 · Nathan 13.2% · guest 86.8%9:00 · Nathan 13.2% · guest 86.8%12:00 · Nathan 34.4% · guest 65.6%12:00 · Nathan 34.4% · guest 65.6%15:00 · Nathan 84.8% · guest 15.2%15:00 · Nathan 84.8% · guest 15.2%18:00 · Nathan 97.7% · guest 2.3%18:00 · Nathan 97.7% · guest 2.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:11 Tamar reframes view count expectations

When Nathan claims 20,000 views per snap is extraordinarily high, Tamar firmly rejects the praise and points out that top publishers on Snapchat command hundreds of thousands to millions of views.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:48 Nathan demands realistic CAC accounting

Nathan cuts Tamar off when he claims Blurbiz has no customer acquisition costs, insisting that salaries, hustle, and time represent measurable CAC.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 2:52 Tamar details the Snapchat Discover walled garden

Tamar educates Nathan on Snapchat's restricted Discover ecosystem, explaining how non-partner media brands are locked out of high-end publishing tools without Blurbiz.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 8:27 Nathan reverse-engineers commission and contract sizes

Nathan applies unit economics live on the fly, calculating that paying $1,000 commissions on $24k annual contracts means the sales reps must be working on a part-time side basis.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Guest Tamar Dal Pota of Blurbiz 5412 Nathan introduces Tamar and asks how Blurbiz functions and generates revenue. Tamar explains their pivot from Snapchat influencer marketing to a vertical video editing and scheduling SaaS platform for publishers.
Subscription Pricing, Revenue Numbers, and Seed Round Plans 7227 Nathan drills into MRR, pricing, and seed fundraising goals. When Tamar attempts to claim customer acquisition cost is zero, Nathan immediately pushes back, insisting that founder and sales hustle represent real acquisition costs.
Sales Team Structure, Commissions, and Enterprise Cycles 6315 Nathan breaks down the commission structure and contract terms for Blurbiz's sales reps, deducing that the reps must be part-time. Tamar also recounts founding and scaling his prior illuminated skateboard business, Candy Cruiser.
Co-Founder Equity Split and Snapchat Engagement Reach 4433 Nathan inquires about equity division among the three co-founders and explores Blurbiz's Snapchat view numbers. When Nathan praises 20,000 views per snap, Tamar counters by comparing his metrics to major media publishers generating millions of views.
Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Tamar 3112 Nathan runs through his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, and advice to Tamar's 20-year-old self.

Statements from this episode (11)

Disclosure
Blurbiz Did Influencer Marketing For Disney And Coca-Cola Before Pivoting
“Before what we were doing is influencer marketing on Snapchat, and working with all these brands like Invisalign, Coca-Cola, Disney, Awesomeness TV”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 2:53
Assertion Supported
Snapchat Restricted Direct Publishing Access To 21 Major Publishers In Mid-2016
“What's going on on Snapchat right now is you have 20 to 21 high publisher content that has Snapchat has given access to make good content like CNN Cosmopolitan BuzzFeed, and the rest of all these channels are left out.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 3:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blurbiz Charged $2,000 To $5,000 Monthly Per Account
“So we make money by charging a subscription model that we charge any, anywhere between 2000 dollars to 5000 dollars per month, per account.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 4:40
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blurbiz Reached 20 Publisher Customers By June 2016
“So we have 20 customers right now.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 4:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blurbiz Generated $60,000 In Monthly Recurring Revenue By May 2016
“So, we, last month we did 60 K in MRR.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 5:04
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Blurbiz Raised $300,000 In Angel Funding Before Joining 500 Startups
“No, we actually rose to date, 300 K angel.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 6:33
Disclosure
Blurbiz Targeted A $2 Million Seed Round After 500 Startups
“We're looking for two million.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 7:50
Disclosure
Blurbiz Paid Sales Reps A Flat $1,000 Commission Per Closed Account
“Yeah, so every account they sign up, we pay them a thousand dollars.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 9:04
Disclosure
Blurbiz CEO Held 2% More Equity Than Co-Founders To Break Deadlocks
“So we actually like, so this, my CEO has like two percent more than I do. And then, and whatever happens is always been the case. We, I started my whole business together. Just because it comes to decision making and then everybody else gets the rest.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 13:13
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blurbiz Averaged 20,000 Views Per Snapchat Post In 2016
“I would say like 20,000.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 14:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
PopSugar Averaged 1 Million Views Per Snapchat Post In 2016
“Ah, PopSugar gets a million. A lot of influencers are around the same range. They get half a million.”
Tamar Dal Pota Aug 9, 2016 ▶ 14:24
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