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Mar 25, 2016 · 18m · top-founders

No One Is Talking About This Multi-Million Dollar Tech Company in Barecelona with Gina Tost of GeneApp Episode 238

Nathan Latka · 10m spoken Gina Tost · 5m 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 Geenapp co-founder Gina Tost to explore how her Barcelona-based mobile ad-tech platform achieved rapid growth, scaled to over 10,000 publishers, and secured a $5 million valuation.

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 62.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.5 Guest teaching 2.8 Guest disagreement 2.3 Nathan pushing back 5.3
05100:0010:001:04–6:41 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Introducing Gina Tost and the Geenapp Platform Nathan interrupts Gina's corporate pitch to force a concrete example of how bloggers use the platform. He also rapidly scrutinizes her numbers when the math regarding processed ad spend and monthly revenue doesn't align.6:41–9:54 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Clarifying Website Pricing, Minimum Budget, and Capital Structure Nathan inspects Geenapp's live website and challenges Gina on the listed monthly pricing versus her stated revenue cut model. Gina explains that the hundred-dollar listing is a minimum campaign threshold rather than a subscription fee.9:55–13:59 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Business Valuation, Seed Round, and Growth in Barcelona Nathan challenges Gina's claim that all acquisition is purely word of mouth and pushes for precise startup finance terms regarding her new valuation and funding instrument.14:00–17:28 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment: HostGator Hosting Services Nathan delivers a mid-roll ad read for HostGator and transitions into the Famous Five lightning round with collaborative, standard concluding questions.1:04–6:41 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Gina Tost and the Geenapp Platform Nathan interrupts Gina's corporate pitch to force a concrete example of how bloggers use the platform. He also rapidly scrutinizes her numbers when the math regarding processed ad spend and monthly revenue doesn't align.6:41–9:54 · Guest teaching 5/10 Clarifying Website Pricing, Minimum Budget, and Capital Structure Nathan inspects Geenapp's live website and challenges Gina on the listed monthly pricing versus her stated revenue cut model. Gina explains that the hundred-dollar listing is a minimum campaign threshold rather than a subscription fee.9:55–13:59 · Guest teaching 3/10 Business Valuation, Seed Round, and Growth in Barcelona Nathan challenges Gina's claim that all acquisition is purely word of mouth and pushes for precise startup finance terms regarding her new valuation and funding instrument.14:00–17:28 · Guest teaching 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment: HostGator Hosting Services Nathan delivers a mid-roll ad read for HostGator and transitions into the Famous Five lightning round with collaborative, standard concluding questions.1:04–6:41 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Introducing Gina Tost and the Geenapp Platform Nathan interrupts Gina's corporate pitch to force a concrete example of how bloggers use the platform. He also rapidly scrutinizes her numbers when the math regarding processed ad spend and monthly revenue doesn't align.6:41–9:54 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Clarifying Website Pricing, Minimum Budget, and Capital Structure Nathan inspects Geenapp's live website and challenges Gina on the listed monthly pricing versus her stated revenue cut model. Gina explains that the hundred-dollar listing is a minimum campaign threshold rather than a subscription fee.9:55–13:59 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Business Valuation, Seed Round, and Growth in Barcelona Nathan challenges Gina's claim that all acquisition is purely word of mouth and pushes for precise startup finance terms regarding her new valuation and funding instrument.14:00–17:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment: HostGator Hosting Services Nathan delivers a mid-roll ad read for HostGator and transitions into the Famous Five lightning round with collaborative, standard concluding questions.1:04–6:41 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Introducing Gina Tost and the Geenapp Platform Nathan interrupts Gina's corporate pitch to force a concrete example of how bloggers use the platform. He also rapidly scrutinizes her numbers when the math regarding processed ad spend and monthly revenue doesn't align.6:41–9:54 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Clarifying Website Pricing, Minimum Budget, and Capital Structure Nathan inspects Geenapp's live website and challenges Gina on the listed monthly pricing versus her stated revenue cut model. Gina explains that the hundred-dollar listing is a minimum campaign threshold rather than a subscription fee.9:55–13:59 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Business Valuation, Seed Round, and Growth in Barcelona Nathan challenges Gina's claim that all acquisition is purely word of mouth and pushes for precise startup finance terms regarding her new valuation and funding instrument.14:00–17:28 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment: HostGator Hosting Services Nathan delivers a mid-roll ad read for HostGator and transitions into the Famous Five lightning round with collaborative, standard concluding questions.

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

0:00 · Nathan 63.8% · guest 36.2%0:00 · Nathan 63.8% · guest 36.2%3:00 · Nathan 47.9% · guest 52.1%3:00 · Nathan 47.9% · guest 52.1%6:00 · Nathan 69.4% · guest 30.6%6:00 · Nathan 69.4% · guest 30.6%9:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%9:00 · Nathan 46% · guest 54%12:00 · Nathan 64.3% · guest 35.7%12:00 · Nathan 64.3% · guest 35.7%15:00 · Nathan 77.6% · guest 22.4%15:00 · Nathan 77.6% · guest 22.4%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:49 Gina defends organic growth strategy

When Nathan expresses disbelief at her word-of-mouth customer acquisition, Gina firmly reasserts their tech identity over marketing.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:10 Nathan challenges conflicting revenue models

Nathan pulls up the live website to directly confront Gina about an apparent contradiction between her stated percentage cut and the published monthly fee.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:23 Gina explains minimum campaign threshold

Gina clarifies that the hundred-dollar figure on the website represents a minimum advertiser campaign spend rather than top-line SaaS recurring revenue.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 5:13 Nathan audits ad spend math live

Nathan instantly calculates that a thirty percent cut on a hundred thousand dollars does not match her revenue statements, prompting Gina to clarify her true gross numbers.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Gina Tost and the Geenapp Platform 6226 Nathan interrupts Gina's corporate pitch to force a concrete example of how bloggers use the platform. He also rapidly scrutinizes her numbers when the math regarding processed ad spend and monthly revenue doesn't align.
Clarifying Website Pricing, Minimum Budget, and Capital Structure 6537 Nathan inspects Geenapp's live website and challenges Gina on the listed monthly pricing versus her stated revenue cut model. Gina explains that the hundred-dollar listing is a minimum campaign threshold rather than a subscription fee.
Business Valuation, Seed Round, and Growth in Barcelona 7337 Nathan challenges Gina's claim that all acquisition is purely word of mouth and pushes for precise startup finance terms regarding her new valuation and funding instrument.
Mid-Roll Sponsor Segment: HostGator Hosting Services 3111 Nathan delivers a mid-roll ad read for HostGator and transitions into the Famous Five lightning round with collaborative, standard concluding questions.

Statements from this episode (6)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tost: Geenapp works with 350 advertisers and over 700 sources
“We are working with 350 advertisers. And we are working with more than 700 sources.”
Gina Tost Mar 25, 2016 ▶ 4:19
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tost: Geenapp takes a 10% to 30% cut on ad spend
“Well, we take a percentage, for example, from 10 to 30%.”
Gina Tost Mar 25, 2016 ▶ 4:53
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tost: Geenapp generated $750,000 in revenue in January 2016
“In, in total revenue was 750,000.”
Gina Tost Mar 25, 2016 ▶ 5:35
Disclosure
Tost: Geenapp raised $100,000 about 1.5 years ago
“We raised 100,002 years ago. No, one year and a half ago. And, but the rest is based of all in our performance.”
Gina Tost Mar 25, 2016 ▶ 9:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tost: Geenapp's average monthly invoice per advertiser is $1,000
“When I invoice them monthly, our advertiser, the invoice average is 1000.”
Gina Tost Mar 25, 2016 ▶ 10:51
Disclosure
Tost: Geenapp spends nothing on marketing and relies purely on organic growth
“No, we don't track this because nowadays everything is organic. We are not spending anything on marketing.”
Gina Tost Mar 25, 2016 ▶ 11:24
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