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Jun 8, 2016 · 18m · top-founders

Quit 6 Figure Corporate Job With a Kid to Launch SaaS Startup, EP 267: Prem Bhatia

Nathan Latka · 9m spoken Prem Bhatia · 7m 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 Coolleaf co-founder Prem Bhatia about transitioning from a corporate executive role to building an enterprise employee engagement platform. Bhatia details Coolleaf's SaaS unit economics, 500 Startups backing, annual contract sizes, and strategy for scaling to a $1 million ARR run rate.

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 55.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 1.7 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 4.0
05100:0010:001:20–4:26 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Introducing Prem Bhatia and Leaving Corporate for Startup Life Nathan presses Prem to disclose specific personal numbers, including his exact age and previous corporate salary. Prem hesitates slightly about revealing his age and salary but complies cordially without real combativeness.4:27–7:23 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Coolleaf Value Proposition, Contract Sizes, and Customer Acquisition Nathan drills into the unit economics of Coolleaf, asking about ACV, contract structure, and customer acquisition channels. Prem provides standard B2B SaaS explanations while Nathan computes monthly numbers on the fly.7:23–13:41 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Fundraising History, 500 Startups Accelerator, and B2B Pivot Nathan actively calculates churn rates and LTV from customer counts and years in business, and nudges Prem when he hesitates to share revenue figures. Prem pushes back mildly on revealing exact revenue figures before providing an annual ceiling.1:20–4:26 · Guest teaching 1/10 Introducing Prem Bhatia and Leaving Corporate for Startup Life Nathan presses Prem to disclose specific personal numbers, including his exact age and previous corporate salary. Prem hesitates slightly about revealing his age and salary but complies cordially without real combativeness.4:27–7:23 · Guest teaching 2/10 Coolleaf Value Proposition, Contract Sizes, and Customer Acquisition Nathan drills into the unit economics of Coolleaf, asking about ACV, contract structure, and customer acquisition channels. Prem provides standard B2B SaaS explanations while Nathan computes monthly numbers on the fly.7:23–13:41 · Guest teaching 2/10 Fundraising History, 500 Startups Accelerator, and B2B Pivot Nathan actively calculates churn rates and LTV from customer counts and years in business, and nudges Prem when he hesitates to share revenue figures. Prem pushes back mildly on revealing exact revenue figures before providing an annual ceiling.1:20–4:26 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Prem Bhatia and Leaving Corporate for Startup Life Nathan presses Prem to disclose specific personal numbers, including his exact age and previous corporate salary. Prem hesitates slightly about revealing his age and salary but complies cordially without real combativeness.4:27–7:23 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Coolleaf Value Proposition, Contract Sizes, and Customer Acquisition Nathan drills into the unit economics of Coolleaf, asking about ACV, contract structure, and customer acquisition channels. Prem provides standard B2B SaaS explanations while Nathan computes monthly numbers on the fly.7:23–13:41 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Fundraising History, 500 Startups Accelerator, and B2B Pivot Nathan actively calculates churn rates and LTV from customer counts and years in business, and nudges Prem when he hesitates to share revenue figures. Prem pushes back mildly on revealing exact revenue figures before providing an annual ceiling.1:20–4:26 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Introducing Prem Bhatia and Leaving Corporate for Startup Life Nathan presses Prem to disclose specific personal numbers, including his exact age and previous corporate salary. Prem hesitates slightly about revealing his age and salary but complies cordially without real combativeness.4:27–7:23 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Coolleaf Value Proposition, Contract Sizes, and Customer Acquisition Nathan drills into the unit economics of Coolleaf, asking about ACV, contract structure, and customer acquisition channels. Prem provides standard B2B SaaS explanations while Nathan computes monthly numbers on the fly.7:23–13:41 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Fundraising History, 500 Startups Accelerator, and B2B Pivot Nathan actively calculates churn rates and LTV from customer counts and years in business, and nudges Prem when he hesitates to share revenue figures. Prem pushes back mildly on revealing exact revenue figures before providing an annual ceiling.

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

0:00 · Nathan 79.3% · guest 20.7%0:00 · Nathan 79.3% · guest 20.7%3:00 · Nathan 27.3% · guest 72.7%3:00 · Nathan 27.3% · guest 72.7%6:00 · Nathan 37.5% · guest 62.5%6:00 · Nathan 37.5% · guest 62.5%9:00 · Nathan 43.6% · guest 56.4%9:00 · Nathan 43.6% · guest 56.4%12:00 · Nathan 65.2% · guest 34.8%12:00 · Nathan 65.2% · guest 34.8%15:00 · Nathan 70.2% · guest 29.8%15:00 · Nathan 70.2% · guest 29.8%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:35 Reluctance to disclose exact revenue figures

Prem resists Nathan's direct prompt to give total revenue figures, telling Nathan that he can just do the math based on customer counts.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:45 Nathan refuses Prem's deflection on revenue

Nathan counters Prem's suggestion to do the math by telling him he could save everyone time and just state the revenue range directly.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:58 Clarifying 500 Startups funding structure

When Nathan assumes the funding was debt or asks about priced equity, Prem clarifies that 500 Startups uses convertible equity.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:45 Nathan calculates churn and lifetime value on the fly

Nathan takes raw customer churn counts across historical years to mathematically estimate annual churn rate and model out a $100k LTV.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Prem Bhatia and Leaving Corporate for Startup Life 3114 Nathan presses Prem to disclose specific personal numbers, including his exact age and previous corporate salary. Prem hesitates slightly about revealing his age and salary but complies cordially without real combativeness.
Coolleaf Value Proposition, Contract Sizes, and Customer Acquisition 5202 Nathan drills into the unit economics of Coolleaf, asking about ACV, contract structure, and customer acquisition channels. Prem provides standard B2B SaaS explanations while Nathan computes monthly numbers on the fly.
Fundraising History, 500 Startups Accelerator, and B2B Pivot 7226 Nathan actively calculates churn rates and LTV from customer counts and years in business, and nudges Prem when he hesitates to share revenue figures. Prem pushes back mildly on revealing exact revenue figures before providing an annual ceiling.

Statements from this episode (5)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bhatia: Coolleaf has about 25 to 26 current customers
“We have about 25, 26 current customers that range from mid-sized businesses to the Fortune 500.”
Prem Bhatia Jun 8, 2016 ▶ 5:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bhatia: Coolleaf's average contract size is $25,000 to $30,000
“On average, we're right around 25, 30 K. So, you know, not the six figures, but you know, well, you know, five figure kind of deals.”
Prem Bhatia Jun 8, 2016 ▶ 6:07
Disclosure
Bhatia: Coolleaf has raised about $800,000 in total funding
“We in total have done about 800 K, you know, from the life of the business. So we're still under a million in funding.”
Prem Bhatia Jun 8, 2016 ▶ 7:31
Disclosure
Bhatia: Coolleaf currently employs about 11 people
“So we're we were on lean. We're about 11 people right now.”
Prem Bhatia Jun 8, 2016 ▶ 9:04
Disclosure
Coolleaf models customer lifetime at 3 to 4 years
“Our sort of modeled out lifetime value or our modeled out lifetime is about three or four years.”
Prem Bhatia Jun 8, 2016 ▶ 11:15
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