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Mar 9, 2016 · 15m · top-founders

Freelance Marketplace AwesomeWeb Hits 1100 Active Freelancers With Nick Tart Episode 198

Nathan Latka · 7m spoken Nick Tartt · 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 AwesomeWeb co-founder Nick Tartt to unpack how the bootstrapped freelance marketplace scaled to $25,000 in monthly recurring revenue and 1,100 active freelancers using a flat-rate subscription model and targeted audience cross-promotion.

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 51.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:000:28–4:06 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Top Tribe Giveaway and Winner Announcement Latka immediately pushes Tartt on top-line revenue after Tartt attempts to dodge the question. Tartt clarifies his subscription business model where freelancers pay monthly instead of taking project percentage cuts like Upwork, prompting Latka to calculate their ~$25k MRR.4:08–8:32 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Launch Trajectory and Engineering Priorities Latka strongly pushes back when Tartt gives vague qualitative goals about creating a 'great experience' rather than measurable revenue targets. When Tartt claims he wants freelancers to earn $100k, Latka exposes that AwesomeWeb does not actually track processed earnings or transaction volume.8:34–10:54 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Acquisition Outlook Tartt explains his preference for bootstrapping over VC funding, and Latka probes whether he would accept a $1 million acquisition offer. Tartt also details how built-in audiences from Income Diary and First Web Designer provided customer acquisition.10:56–15:15 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Sponsor Segment: HostGator and Weekly Cash Prize The segment includes sponsor ad reads followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The dynamic is cooperative and friendly, with Tartt repeatedly praising Latka's interview style.0:28–4:06 · Guest teaching 3/10 Top Tribe Giveaway and Winner Announcement Latka immediately pushes Tartt on top-line revenue after Tartt attempts to dodge the question. Tartt clarifies his subscription business model where freelancers pay monthly instead of taking project percentage cuts like Upwork, prompting Latka to calculate their ~$25k MRR.4:08–8:32 · Guest teaching 2/10 Launch Trajectory and Engineering Priorities Latka strongly pushes back when Tartt gives vague qualitative goals about creating a 'great experience' rather than measurable revenue targets. When Tartt claims he wants freelancers to earn $100k, Latka exposes that AwesomeWeb does not actually track processed earnings or transaction volume.8:34–10:54 · Guest teaching 3/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Acquisition Outlook Tartt explains his preference for bootstrapping over VC funding, and Latka probes whether he would accept a $1 million acquisition offer. Tartt also details how built-in audiences from Income Diary and First Web Designer provided customer acquisition.10:56–15:15 · Guest teaching 2/10 Sponsor Segment: HostGator and Weekly Cash Prize The segment includes sponsor ad reads followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The dynamic is cooperative and friendly, with Tartt repeatedly praising Latka's interview style.0:28–4:06 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Top Tribe Giveaway and Winner Announcement Latka immediately pushes Tartt on top-line revenue after Tartt attempts to dodge the question. Tartt clarifies his subscription business model where freelancers pay monthly instead of taking project percentage cuts like Upwork, prompting Latka to calculate their ~$25k MRR.4:08–8:32 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Launch Trajectory and Engineering Priorities Latka strongly pushes back when Tartt gives vague qualitative goals about creating a 'great experience' rather than measurable revenue targets. When Tartt claims he wants freelancers to earn $100k, Latka exposes that AwesomeWeb does not actually track processed earnings or transaction volume.8:34–10:54 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Acquisition Outlook Tartt explains his preference for bootstrapping over VC funding, and Latka probes whether he would accept a $1 million acquisition offer. Tartt also details how built-in audiences from Income Diary and First Web Designer provided customer acquisition.10:56–15:15 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Segment: HostGator and Weekly Cash Prize The segment includes sponsor ad reads followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The dynamic is cooperative and friendly, with Tartt repeatedly praising Latka's interview style.0:28–4:06 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Top Tribe Giveaway and Winner Announcement Latka immediately pushes Tartt on top-line revenue after Tartt attempts to dodge the question. Tartt clarifies his subscription business model where freelancers pay monthly instead of taking project percentage cuts like Upwork, prompting Latka to calculate their ~$25k MRR.4:08–8:32 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Launch Trajectory and Engineering Priorities Latka strongly pushes back when Tartt gives vague qualitative goals about creating a 'great experience' rather than measurable revenue targets. When Tartt claims he wants freelancers to earn $100k, Latka exposes that AwesomeWeb does not actually track processed earnings or transaction volume.8:34–10:54 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Bootstrapping Philosophy and Acquisition Outlook Tartt explains his preference for bootstrapping over VC funding, and Latka probes whether he would accept a $1 million acquisition offer. Tartt also details how built-in audiences from Income Diary and First Web Designer provided customer acquisition.10:56–15:15 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Sponsor Segment: HostGator and Weekly Cash Prize The segment includes sponsor ad reads followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The dynamic is cooperative and friendly, with Tartt repeatedly praising Latka's interview style.

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

0:00 · Nathan 67.2% · guest 32.8%0:00 · Nathan 67.2% · guest 32.8%3:00 · Nathan 26.4% · guest 73.6%3:00 · Nathan 26.4% · guest 73.6%6:00 · Nathan 44.7% · guest 55.3%6:00 · Nathan 44.7% · guest 55.3%9:00 · Nathan 60.4% · guest 39.6%9:00 · Nathan 60.4% · guest 39.6%12:00 · Nathan 49.3% · guest 50.7%12:00 · Nathan 49.3% · guest 50.7%15:00 · Nathan 93.9% · guest 6.1%15:00 · Nathan 93.9% · guest 6.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 5:40 Tartt rejects pure growth and revenue focus

Tartt openly pushes back against the show's premise of focusing purely on money and growth metrics, insisting on prioritizing software craftsmanship and user experience.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 5:56 Latka demands measurable proof of customer experience

Latka bluntly challenges Tartt's subjective goal of providing a 'great experience,' demanding to know what quantifiable metric proves whether that goal was met.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:20 Tartt explains freelance subscription vs. commission models

Tartt corrects Latka's assumption about client billing by explaining that only freelancers pay a flat monthly fee, avoiding the 10-40% cut taken by competitors like Upwork.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 3:48 Latka calculates MRR from user numbers and pricing

After Tartt attempts to avoid revealing exact revenue numbers, Latka immediately multiplies the 1,100 user count by the $27 monthly fee to deduce their ~$25k monthly run rate.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Top Tribe Giveaway and Winner Announcement 5325 Latka immediately pushes Tartt on top-line revenue after Tartt attempts to dodge the question. Tartt clarifies his subscription business model where freelancers pay monthly instead of taking project percentage cuts like Upwork, prompting Latka to calculate their ~$25k MRR.
Launch Trajectory and Engineering Priorities 6237 Latka strongly pushes back when Tartt gives vague qualitative goals about creating a 'great experience' rather than measurable revenue targets. When Tartt claims he wants freelancers to earn $100k, Latka exposes that AwesomeWeb does not actually track processed earnings or transaction volume.
Bootstrapping Philosophy and Acquisition Outlook 4313 Tartt explains his preference for bootstrapping over VC funding, and Latka probes whether he would accept a $1 million acquisition offer. Tartt also details how built-in audiences from Income Diary and First Web Designer provided customer acquisition.
Sponsor Segment: HostGator and Weekly Cash Prize 2200 The segment includes sponsor ad reads followed by the Famous Five rapid-fire questions. The dynamic is cooperative and friendly, with Tartt repeatedly praising Latka's interview style.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Tartt: AwesomeWeb Spent $30k to Reach MVP and First Customer
“And I can tell you that we spent about 30 grand to get from idea all the way to minimum viable product and first customer.”
Nick Tartt Mar 9, 2016 ▶ 2:43
Disclosure
AwesomeWeb Counts 1,100 Freelancers Paying $17-$27 Monthly Subscriptions
“So, so we have about 1100 people signed up to the site, and we charge anywhere from 17 to 27 dollars a month subscription for them to have a listing on the site.”
Nick Tartt Mar 9, 2016 ▶ 3:00
Assertion Partly supported
Tartt: Upwork, Elance, and Freelancer Take 10% to 40% Cut
“So the other sites, Upwork, Elance, Freelancer, they all charge a percentage of a project. So if you're going to be spending, you know, five to 10 grand on a project, that's, they're going to take, you know, anywhere from 10 to 40% of that.”
Nick Tartt Mar 9, 2016 ▶ 3:33
Assertion Not checkable as stated
AwesomeWeb Onboarded 100 Paying Users in Its First 100 Minutes
“We launched September, 2014. On that day, we onboarded a hundred people in the first hundred minutes.”
Nick Tartt Mar 9, 2016 ▶ 4:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tartt: AwesomeWeb Launched Job Posts in January 2016 Averaging $2K–$5K
“So, so we released that this in January. So a few weeks ago and we've had a couple dozen jobs posted and the average job is anywhere from two grand to five grand.”
Nick Tartt Mar 9, 2016 ▶ 7:49
Opinion
Tartt: Upwork Clients Generally Have a Really Bad Experience
“You can go to Upwork and you can hire somebody, but you're going to, Generally, from what I've heard, have a really bad experience as a client.”
Nick Tartt Mar 9, 2016 ▶ 8:57
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tartt: AwesomeWeb Launched by Merging Income Diary and First Web Designer Audiences
“The reason that we built Awesome Web to begin with was to connect those two audiences, because they were both getting hundreds of questions a week, like, how do you find a good designer developer, and how do I get more clients?”
Nick Tartt Mar 9, 2016 ▶ 10:14
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