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Jun 15, 2016 · 16m · top-founders

EP 326: Quit Job During Greece Financial Crisis to Launch Media Business

Nathan Latka · 8m spoken Ilias Tsagklis · 6m 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 Ilias Tsagklis, co-founder of Excelixis Media, who discusses walking away from a secure corporate telecom job during the Greek financial crisis to build a lean, highly profitable digital publishing network reaching millions of developers.

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 56% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 2.8 Guest teaching 2.0 Guest disagreement 0.5 Nathan pushing back 2.3
05100:0010:001:43–3:53 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Monetization Strategy and Sponsored Content at Excelixis Media Latka investigates the business model and customer base of Excelixis Media. When Latka assumes individual developers are the paying customers placing ads, Tsagklis clarifies that enterprise software companies targeting developers are the actual buyers.3:53–6:19 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Quitting a Telecom Job During the Greek Financial Crisis Latka presses Tsagklis on his previous corporate salary and the risk taken leaving a stable telecom position in Greece. Tsagklis contextually explains Greek economic conditions and salary benchmarks.6:22–10:40 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Origins of Java Code Geeks and Media Strategy Latka challenges the guest on why he chose an advertising and media model over building a high-valuation software platform. Tsagklis defends the business by revealing high net margins (85%) and steady cash flow.10:41–14:36 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorships and Live Event Announcements Segment includes promotional sponsor reads, the standardized Famous Five rapid-fire questions, and episode wrap-up with minimal debate.1:43–3:53 · Guest teaching 3/10 Monetization Strategy and Sponsored Content at Excelixis Media Latka investigates the business model and customer base of Excelixis Media. When Latka assumes individual developers are the paying customers placing ads, Tsagklis clarifies that enterprise software companies targeting developers are the actual buyers.3:53–6:19 · Guest teaching 2/10 Quitting a Telecom Job During the Greek Financial Crisis Latka presses Tsagklis on his previous corporate salary and the risk taken leaving a stable telecom position in Greece. Tsagklis contextually explains Greek economic conditions and salary benchmarks.6:22–10:40 · Guest teaching 2/10 Origins of Java Code Geeks and Media Strategy Latka challenges the guest on why he chose an advertising and media model over building a high-valuation software platform. Tsagklis defends the business by revealing high net margins (85%) and steady cash flow.10:41–14:36 · Guest teaching 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorships and Live Event Announcements Segment includes promotional sponsor reads, the standardized Famous Five rapid-fire questions, and episode wrap-up with minimal debate.1:43–3:53 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Monetization Strategy and Sponsored Content at Excelixis Media Latka investigates the business model and customer base of Excelixis Media. When Latka assumes individual developers are the paying customers placing ads, Tsagklis clarifies that enterprise software companies targeting developers are the actual buyers.3:53–6:19 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Quitting a Telecom Job During the Greek Financial Crisis Latka presses Tsagklis on his previous corporate salary and the risk taken leaving a stable telecom position in Greece. Tsagklis contextually explains Greek economic conditions and salary benchmarks.6:22–10:40 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Origins of Java Code Geeks and Media Strategy Latka challenges the guest on why he chose an advertising and media model over building a high-valuation software platform. Tsagklis defends the business by revealing high net margins (85%) and steady cash flow.10:41–14:36 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorships and Live Event Announcements Segment includes promotional sponsor reads, the standardized Famous Five rapid-fire questions, and episode wrap-up with minimal debate.1:43–3:53 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Monetization Strategy and Sponsored Content at Excelixis Media Latka investigates the business model and customer base of Excelixis Media. When Latka assumes individual developers are the paying customers placing ads, Tsagklis clarifies that enterprise software companies targeting developers are the actual buyers.3:53–6:19 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Quitting a Telecom Job During the Greek Financial Crisis Latka presses Tsagklis on his previous corporate salary and the risk taken leaving a stable telecom position in Greece. Tsagklis contextually explains Greek economic conditions and salary benchmarks.6:22–10:40 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Origins of Java Code Geeks and Media Strategy Latka challenges the guest on why he chose an advertising and media model over building a high-valuation software platform. Tsagklis defends the business by revealing high net margins (85%) and steady cash flow.10:41–14:36 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Mid-Roll Sponsorships and Live Event Announcements Segment includes promotional sponsor reads, the standardized Famous Five rapid-fire questions, and episode wrap-up with minimal debate.

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

0:00 · Nathan 69.4% · guest 30.6%0:00 · Nathan 69.4% · guest 30.6%3:00 · Nathan 36.4% · guest 63.6%3:00 · Nathan 36.4% · guest 63.6%6:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%6:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%9:00 · Nathan 67.6% · guest 32.4%9:00 · Nathan 67.6% · guest 32.4%12:00 · Nathan 46.6% · guest 53.4%12:00 · Nathan 46.6% · guest 53.4%15:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%15:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 3:35 Reframing target customer assumption

Tsagklis politely but firmly corrects Latka's misconception about who pays for ads on Java Code Geeks.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:04 Challenging media monetization over SaaS

Latka pushes Tsagklis on why he chose content consulting and advertising over building software products with high valuation multiples.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:35 Educating host on B2B developer marketing

Tsagklis explains the B2B advertorial model targeting developer tool companies rather than individual programmers.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 7:04 Latka highlighting tech valuation discrepancies

Latka demonstrates domain knowledge regarding tech valuations to question the opportunity cost of running an ad-supported publisher.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Monetization Strategy and Sponsored Content at Excelixis Media 3312 Latka investigates the business model and customer base of Excelixis Media. When Latka assumes individual developers are the paying customers placing ads, Tsagklis clarifies that enterprise software companies targeting developers are the actual buyers.
Quitting a Telecom Job During the Greek Financial Crisis 3203 Latka presses Tsagklis on his previous corporate salary and the risk taken leaving a stable telecom position in Greece. Tsagklis contextually explains Greek economic conditions and salary benchmarks.
Origins of Java Code Geeks and Media Strategy 4214 Latka challenges the guest on why he chose an advertising and media model over building a high-valuation software platform. Tsagklis defends the business by revealing high net margins (85%) and steady cash flow.
Mid-Roll Sponsorships and Live Event Announcements 1100 Segment includes promotional sponsor reads, the standardized Famous Five rapid-fire questions, and episode wrap-up with minimal debate.

Statements from this episode (6)

Disclosure
Tsagklis: Earned low-to-mid five figures before leaving Greek telecom job
“Yearly it was around low to mid five figures, because here in Greece, the thing is that salaries are not very high.”
Ilias Tsagklis Jun 15, 2016 ▶ 5:46
Assertion Supported
Tsagklis: A $40K salary is high in Greece amid financial crisis
“Actually, this is pretty high, especially the last few years.”
Ilias Tsagklis Jun 15, 2016 ▶ 6:10
Disclosure
Tsagklis prioritized media income over software to quit his corporate job
“At the beginning, we were more oriented around building a steady income so that we can make the leap from the corporate job to something of our own. And when we established that, we actually figured out that it had great scale and some good margin.”
Ilias Tsagklis Jun 15, 2016 ▶ 7:24
Disclosure
Tsagklis: Excelixis Media runs at an 85% net profit margin
“It would be around 85%.”
Ilias Tsagklis Jun 15, 2016 ▶ 7:59
Disclosure
Tsagklis: Excelixis Media made mid-six figures in 2015 revenue
“I would say it was around mid six figures.”
Ilias Tsagklis Jun 15, 2016 ▶ 8:49
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Tsagklis: Excelixis Media projects 30% revenue growth in 2016
“We are projecting like a 30% increase from last year. If we hit that, we'll be very happy.”
Ilias Tsagklis Jun 15, 2016 ▶ 9:51
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