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Mar 14, 2016 · 21m · top-founders

From 0 to 1 Billion Impressions With Imoji Founders Daniel and Jason EP 204:

Nathan Latka · 7m spoken Jason Stein · 7m spoken Daniel Brusilowski · 3m spoken
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In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Imoji co-founders Daniel Brusilowski and Jason Stein to explore how their startup scaled to over one billion monthly impressions through SDK partner integrations and visual messaging innovation.

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 41.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 2.6 Guest teaching 1.1 Guest disagreement 0.6 Nathan pushing back 2.0
05100:0010:0020:000:27–2:30 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 Weekly $100 Listener Giveaway Announcement Nathan introduces the show giveaway and welcomes guests Daniel Brusilowski and Jason Stein. The tone is entirely friendly and lighthearted as they share their ages and how the founding team met.2:30–5:14 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Addressing Modern Communication Gaps Through Visual Messaging Nathan questions why tech founders are solving sticker messaging instead of world hunger. Jason calmly reframes this by explaining the communication gaps in dry text messaging and walks through their pivot to an SDK/API model.5:14–7:23 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Real-Time Sticker Reaction Case Studies: Super Bowl and Viral Events Nathan prompts for real-time viral examples, suggesting the Iowa caucuses, which Jason gently corrects before giving the Super Bowl Left Shark and Robin Williams examples. Nathan presses to clarify where and how an end consumer actually sees this content.7:24–9:44 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Ecosystem Integration: Partner Apps and Messaging Platforms Daniel lists partner keyboard apps and explains how the SDK works, while Jason details Facebook Messenger's Expression platform integration. Nathan clarifies whether standalone app downloads are required.9:45–14:11 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Team Structure, Seed Funding, and Early-Stage Fundraising Advice Nathan drills down hard into unit economics, asking about equity vs notes, MAU targets, and monetization metrics. Jason deflects MAU questions to emphasize API impression counts (over 1 billion per month), holding firm on their specific KPI focus.14:12–16:20 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Founder Vision, High-Energy Execution, and Entrepreneurial Lessons Daniel shares advice on founder passion and fundraising lessons from his VC background. Nathan acknowledges Daniel's track record with past ventures like Ribbon and wraps up contact details cordially.16:20–18:30 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Podcast Giveaway Reminder and Subscriber Instructions After mid-roll sponsor spots, Nathan poses a philosophical question asking if humans are reverting to caveman-like visual communication. Jason agrees that mobile favors visual efficiency while laughing off Nathan's polarizing prompt.18:30–20:33 · Nathan as informed peer 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, sleep habits, and advice to their 20-year-old selves in a warm closing format.0:27–2:30 · Guest teaching 0/10 Weekly $100 Listener Giveaway Announcement Nathan introduces the show giveaway and welcomes guests Daniel Brusilowski and Jason Stein. The tone is entirely friendly and lighthearted as they share their ages and how the founding team met.2:30–5:14 · Guest teaching 2/10 Addressing Modern Communication Gaps Through Visual Messaging Nathan questions why tech founders are solving sticker messaging instead of world hunger. Jason calmly reframes this by explaining the communication gaps in dry text messaging and walks through their pivot to an SDK/API model.5:14–7:23 · Guest teaching 2/10 Real-Time Sticker Reaction Case Studies: Super Bowl and Viral Events Nathan prompts for real-time viral examples, suggesting the Iowa caucuses, which Jason gently corrects before giving the Super Bowl Left Shark and Robin Williams examples. Nathan presses to clarify where and how an end consumer actually sees this content.7:24–9:44 · Guest teaching 1/10 Ecosystem Integration: Partner Apps and Messaging Platforms Daniel lists partner keyboard apps and explains how the SDK works, while Jason details Facebook Messenger's Expression platform integration. Nathan clarifies whether standalone app downloads are required.9:45–14:11 · Guest teaching 2/10 Team Structure, Seed Funding, and Early-Stage Fundraising Advice Nathan drills down hard into unit economics, asking about equity vs notes, MAU targets, and monetization metrics. Jason deflects MAU questions to emphasize API impression counts (over 1 billion per month), holding firm on their specific KPI focus.14:12–16:20 · Guest teaching 1/10 Founder Vision, High-Energy Execution, and Entrepreneurial Lessons Daniel shares advice on founder passion and fundraising lessons from his VC background. Nathan acknowledges Daniel's track record with past ventures like Ribbon and wraps up contact details cordially.16:20–18:30 · Guest teaching 1/10 Podcast Giveaway Reminder and Subscriber Instructions After mid-roll sponsor spots, Nathan poses a philosophical question asking if humans are reverting to caveman-like visual communication. Jason agrees that mobile favors visual efficiency while laughing off Nathan's polarizing prompt.18:30–20:33 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, sleep habits, and advice to their 20-year-old selves in a warm closing format.0:27–2:30 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Weekly $100 Listener Giveaway Announcement Nathan introduces the show giveaway and welcomes guests Daniel Brusilowski and Jason Stein. The tone is entirely friendly and lighthearted as they share their ages and how the founding team met.2:30–5:14 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Addressing Modern Communication Gaps Through Visual Messaging Nathan questions why tech founders are solving sticker messaging instead of world hunger. Jason calmly reframes this by explaining the communication gaps in dry text messaging and walks through their pivot to an SDK/API model.5:14–7:23 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Real-Time Sticker Reaction Case Studies: Super Bowl and Viral Events Nathan prompts for real-time viral examples, suggesting the Iowa caucuses, which Jason gently corrects before giving the Super Bowl Left Shark and Robin Williams examples. Nathan presses to clarify where and how an end consumer actually sees this content.7:24–9:44 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Ecosystem Integration: Partner Apps and Messaging Platforms Daniel lists partner keyboard apps and explains how the SDK works, while Jason details Facebook Messenger's Expression platform integration. Nathan clarifies whether standalone app downloads are required.9:45–14:11 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Team Structure, Seed Funding, and Early-Stage Fundraising Advice Nathan drills down hard into unit economics, asking about equity vs notes, MAU targets, and monetization metrics. Jason deflects MAU questions to emphasize API impression counts (over 1 billion per month), holding firm on their specific KPI focus.14:12–16:20 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Founder Vision, High-Energy Execution, and Entrepreneurial Lessons Daniel shares advice on founder passion and fundraising lessons from his VC background. Nathan acknowledges Daniel's track record with past ventures like Ribbon and wraps up contact details cordially.16:20–18:30 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Podcast Giveaway Reminder and Subscriber Instructions After mid-roll sponsor spots, Nathan poses a philosophical question asking if humans are reverting to caveman-like visual communication. Jason agrees that mobile favors visual efficiency while laughing off Nathan's polarizing prompt.18:30–20:33 · Guest disagreement 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, sleep habits, and advice to their 20-year-old selves in a warm closing format.0:27–2:30 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Weekly $100 Listener Giveaway Announcement Nathan introduces the show giveaway and welcomes guests Daniel Brusilowski and Jason Stein. The tone is entirely friendly and lighthearted as they share their ages and how the founding team met.2:30–5:14 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Addressing Modern Communication Gaps Through Visual Messaging Nathan questions why tech founders are solving sticker messaging instead of world hunger. Jason calmly reframes this by explaining the communication gaps in dry text messaging and walks through their pivot to an SDK/API model.5:14–7:23 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Real-Time Sticker Reaction Case Studies: Super Bowl and Viral Events Nathan prompts for real-time viral examples, suggesting the Iowa caucuses, which Jason gently corrects before giving the Super Bowl Left Shark and Robin Williams examples. Nathan presses to clarify where and how an end consumer actually sees this content.7:24–9:44 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Ecosystem Integration: Partner Apps and Messaging Platforms Daniel lists partner keyboard apps and explains how the SDK works, while Jason details Facebook Messenger's Expression platform integration. Nathan clarifies whether standalone app downloads are required.9:45–14:11 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Team Structure, Seed Funding, and Early-Stage Fundraising Advice Nathan drills down hard into unit economics, asking about equity vs notes, MAU targets, and monetization metrics. Jason deflects MAU questions to emphasize API impression counts (over 1 billion per month), holding firm on their specific KPI focus.14:12–16:20 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Founder Vision, High-Energy Execution, and Entrepreneurial Lessons Daniel shares advice on founder passion and fundraising lessons from his VC background. Nathan acknowledges Daniel's track record with past ventures like Ribbon and wraps up contact details cordially.16:20–18:30 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Podcast Giveaway Reminder and Subscriber Instructions After mid-roll sponsor spots, Nathan poses a philosophical question asking if humans are reverting to caveman-like visual communication. Jason agrees that mobile favors visual efficiency while laughing off Nathan's polarizing prompt.18:30–20:33 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, sleep habits, and advice to their 20-year-old selves in a warm closing format.

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

0:00 · Nathan 67.9% · guest 32.1%0:00 · Nathan 67.9% · guest 32.1%3:00 · Nathan 19.9% · guest 80.1%3:00 · Nathan 19.9% · guest 80.1%6:00 · Nathan 12.7% · guest 87.3%6:00 · Nathan 12.7% · guest 87.3%9:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%9:00 · Nathan 33.2% · guest 66.8%12:00 · Nathan 31.2% · guest 68.8%12:00 · Nathan 31.2% · guest 68.8%15:00 · Nathan 71.1% · guest 28.9%15:00 · Nathan 71.1% · guest 28.9%18:00 · Nathan 48.7% · guest 51.3%18:00 · Nathan 48.7% · guest 51.3%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:35 Jason rejects MAU metric framing

Jason pushes back against Nathan's insistence on MAU goals, stating that as an SDK provider, MAU is irrelevant and they deliberately track raw impressions instead.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 12:15 Nathan demands concrete MAU figures

Nathan refuses to accept Jason's vague qualitative answer about finding the right time to monetize, pressing repeatedly for explicit numeric user thresholds.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:26 Jason explains organic Super Bowl meme generation

Jason explains how user-generated sticker curation operates in real-time during viral moments like the Left Shark meme, educating the host on their content pipeline.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:00 Nathan drills down on fundraising structure

Nathan demonstrates sharp venture fluency by probing whether the $2M seed was a convertible note or priced equity round and querying monetization timeline milestones.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Weekly $100 Listener Giveaway Announcement 1000 Nathan introduces the show giveaway and welcomes guests Daniel Brusilowski and Jason Stein. The tone is entirely friendly and lighthearted as they share their ages and how the founding team met.
Addressing Modern Communication Gaps Through Visual Messaging 3212 Nathan questions why tech founders are solving sticker messaging instead of world hunger. Jason calmly reframes this by explaining the communication gaps in dry text messaging and walks through their pivot to an SDK/API model.
Real-Time Sticker Reaction Case Studies: Super Bowl and Viral Events 2213 Nathan prompts for real-time viral examples, suggesting the Iowa caucuses, which Jason gently corrects before giving the Super Bowl Left Shark and Robin Williams examples. Nathan presses to clarify where and how an end consumer actually sees this content.
Ecosystem Integration: Partner Apps and Messaging Platforms 3102 Daniel lists partner keyboard apps and explains how the SDK works, while Jason details Facebook Messenger's Expression platform integration. Nathan clarifies whether standalone app downloads are required.
Team Structure, Seed Funding, and Early-Stage Fundraising Advice 6225 Nathan drills down hard into unit economics, asking about equity vs notes, MAU targets, and monetization metrics. Jason deflects MAU questions to emphasize API impression counts (over 1 billion per month), holding firm on their specific KPI focus.
Founder Vision, High-Energy Execution, and Entrepreneurial Lessons 3101 Daniel shares advice on founder passion and fundraising lessons from his VC background. Nathan acknowledges Daniel's track record with past ventures like Ribbon and wraps up contact details cordially.
Podcast Giveaway Reminder and Subscriber Instructions 2112 After mid-roll sponsor spots, Nathan poses a philosophical question asking if humans are reverting to caveman-like visual communication. Jason agrees that mobile favors visual efficiency while laughing off Nathan's polarizing prompt.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 1001 Nathan conducts the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions covering favorite business books, CEOs, productivity tools, sleep habits, and advice to their 20-year-old selves in a warm closing format.

Statements from this episode (7)

Assertion Supported
Brusilowski: Imoji has six co-founders
“So there's actually six founders of Imoji.”
Daniel Brusilowski Mar 14, 2016 ▶ 1:54
Opinion
Stein: Text messaging is dry and standard emojis are too limited
“For us we actually did see a problem in messaging where text messaging is very dry. You can be really misunderstood in a simple text. And as it's becoming a huge part of daily life where you're constantly texting people we didn't want to be confined to really …”
Jason Stein Mar 14, 2016 ▶ 2:58
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Stein: Imoji hosts millions of tagged, searchable stickers
“We have millions of stickers. We have really powerful keyword search cause they're all tagged and we have really great curated trending and reaction categories by our content team.”
Jason Stein Mar 14, 2016 ▶ 4:44
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Imoji's SDK and API are integrated into nearly 50 partner apps
“Yeah, I mean, we have I think it's almost 50 partners who have integrated the SDK or the API, so whether you're using a keyboard like Flexi, or Etch, or Emote, or Slash, or you're using Text Free, or even DubSmash you'll be able to find Emojis through all thos…”
Daniel Brusilowski Mar 14, 2016 ▶ 7:40
Disclosure
Jason Stein: Imoji Has Seven Full-Time Employees
“The team is we have seven people full time.”
Jason Stein Mar 14, 2016 ▶ 9:51
Disclosure
Jason Stein: Imoji Raised $2M Seed Round in July 2015
“To date, we've raised two million dollars of seed funding, and that was last year in July.”
Jason Stein Mar 14, 2016 ▶ 10:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Stein: Imoji Generates Over 1 Billion Monthly Impressions
“We're over a billion impressions per month.”
Jason Stein Mar 14, 2016 ▶ 13:51
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