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Mar 6, 2016 · 24m · top-founders

How Latergram.me Grew to $50k/mo, 500,000 users, $1.2m Raised in Episode 190 with Matt Smith

Matt Smith · 13m spoken Nathan Latka · 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 entrepreneur Matt Smith, who breaks down how he transitioned from Thinkific to scale Instagram scheduling platform Latergram to 500,000 users and $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue through pure organic growth and a $1.2 million seed round.

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 36.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.7 Guest teaching 2.3 Guest disagreement 1.2 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:0020:000:28–3:42 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Show Announcements Nathan showcases strong SaaS market knowledge by connecting Thinkific to Ankur Nagpal's Teachable, citing valuation figures and liquidation preference risks.3:43–7:26 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Origin Story of Latergram and Leaving Thinkific Nathan presses on whether Matt left Thinkific due to sibling co-founder conflict, which Matt downplays while acknowledging normal startup friction.7:27–10:52 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Latergram's Launch Strategy and Organic Beta Traction Nathan playfully pushes Matt on how genuine his early VIP access list was, and Matt candidly agrees it was mostly clever marketing positioning.10:52–15:53 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Revenue Numbers, User Metrics, and Vancouver Team Subsidies Matt educates Nathan on Canadian tech subsidies where the government covers up to 80 percent of engineering salaries via equity-free grants and tax credits.15:54–20:32 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Securing Seed Funding and Founder Economics Nathan pushes Matt to reveal his exact founder salary after raising a seed round, and later cross-references investor Hiten Shah's episode.20:33–24:13 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Contact Information and Nathan's Business Announcement Nathan conducts his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions after delivering a mid-roll promotional plug for his own upcoming business venture.0:28–3:42 · Guest teaching 2/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Show Announcements Nathan showcases strong SaaS market knowledge by connecting Thinkific to Ankur Nagpal's Teachable, citing valuation figures and liquidation preference risks.3:43–7:26 · Guest teaching 2/10 Origin Story of Latergram and Leaving Thinkific Nathan presses on whether Matt left Thinkific due to sibling co-founder conflict, which Matt downplays while acknowledging normal startup friction.7:27–10:52 · Guest teaching 1/10 Latergram's Launch Strategy and Organic Beta Traction Nathan playfully pushes Matt on how genuine his early VIP access list was, and Matt candidly agrees it was mostly clever marketing positioning.10:52–15:53 · Guest teaching 5/10 Revenue Numbers, User Metrics, and Vancouver Team Subsidies Matt educates Nathan on Canadian tech subsidies where the government covers up to 80 percent of engineering salaries via equity-free grants and tax credits.15:54–20:32 · Guest teaching 3/10 Securing Seed Funding and Founder Economics Nathan pushes Matt to reveal his exact founder salary after raising a seed round, and later cross-references investor Hiten Shah's episode.20:33–24:13 · Guest teaching 1/10 Contact Information and Nathan's Business Announcement Nathan conducts his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions after delivering a mid-roll promotional plug for his own upcoming business venture.0:28–3:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Show Announcements Nathan showcases strong SaaS market knowledge by connecting Thinkific to Ankur Nagpal's Teachable, citing valuation figures and liquidation preference risks.3:43–7:26 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Origin Story of Latergram and Leaving Thinkific Nathan presses on whether Matt left Thinkific due to sibling co-founder conflict, which Matt downplays while acknowledging normal startup friction.7:27–10:52 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Latergram's Launch Strategy and Organic Beta Traction Nathan playfully pushes Matt on how genuine his early VIP access list was, and Matt candidly agrees it was mostly clever marketing positioning.10:52–15:53 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Revenue Numbers, User Metrics, and Vancouver Team Subsidies Matt educates Nathan on Canadian tech subsidies where the government covers up to 80 percent of engineering salaries via equity-free grants and tax credits.15:54–20:32 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Securing Seed Funding and Founder Economics Nathan pushes Matt to reveal his exact founder salary after raising a seed round, and later cross-references investor Hiten Shah's episode.20:33–24:13 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Contact Information and Nathan's Business Announcement Nathan conducts his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions after delivering a mid-roll promotional plug for his own upcoming business venture.0:28–3:42 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Show Announcements Nathan showcases strong SaaS market knowledge by connecting Thinkific to Ankur Nagpal's Teachable, citing valuation figures and liquidation preference risks.3:43–7:26 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Origin Story of Latergram and Leaving Thinkific Nathan presses on whether Matt left Thinkific due to sibling co-founder conflict, which Matt downplays while acknowledging normal startup friction.7:27–10:52 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Latergram's Launch Strategy and Organic Beta Traction Nathan playfully pushes Matt on how genuine his early VIP access list was, and Matt candidly agrees it was mostly clever marketing positioning.10:52–15:53 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Revenue Numbers, User Metrics, and Vancouver Team Subsidies Matt educates Nathan on Canadian tech subsidies where the government covers up to 80 percent of engineering salaries via equity-free grants and tax credits.15:54–20:32 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Securing Seed Funding and Founder Economics Nathan pushes Matt to reveal his exact founder salary after raising a seed round, and later cross-references investor Hiten Shah's episode.20:33–24:13 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Contact Information and Nathan's Business Announcement Nathan conducts his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions after delivering a mid-roll promotional plug for his own upcoming business venture.

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

0:00 · Nathan 52.4% · guest 47.6%0:00 · Nathan 52.4% · guest 47.6%3:00 · Nathan 25.8% · guest 74.2%3:00 · Nathan 25.8% · guest 74.2%6:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%6:00 · Nathan 23.7% · guest 76.3%9:00 · Nathan 17.7% · guest 82.3%9:00 · Nathan 17.7% · guest 82.3%12:00 · Nathan 29.2% · guest 70.8%12:00 · Nathan 29.2% · guest 70.8%15:00 · Nathan 14.5% · guest 85.5%15:00 · Nathan 14.5% · guest 85.5%18:00 · Nathan 43.8% · guest 56.2%18:00 · Nathan 43.8% · guest 56.2%21:00 · Nathan 71.2% · guest 28.8%21:00 · Nathan 71.2% · guest 28.8%24:00 · Nathan 98.3% · guest 1.7%24:00 · Nathan 98.3% · guest 1.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 18:33 Matt deflects exact salary disclosure

Matt pushes back against disclosing his exact personal compensation, stating he is not entirely comfortable sharing the number before conceding it is under 100k.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 18:11 Nathan drills into founder compensation

Nathan cuts in directly to challenge Matt on transparency regarding how much seed-stage founders pay themselves compared to Buffer's public salaries.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:54 Matt outlines Canadian tax grant advantages

Matt informs Nathan about the massive non-dilutive government subsidies available in Vancouver that cover up to 80 percent of technical salaries.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 3:04 Nathan cites Teachable's funding terms and capital structure

Nathan demonstrates insider knowledge of the online course market, citing Ankur Nagpal's fundraising rounds and warning about liquidation preference overhang.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Weekly Contest Winner and Show Announcements 6213 Nathan showcases strong SaaS market knowledge by connecting Thinkific to Ankur Nagpal's Teachable, citing valuation figures and liquidation preference risks.
Origin Story of Latergram and Leaving Thinkific 4224 Nathan presses on whether Matt left Thinkific due to sibling co-founder conflict, which Matt downplays while acknowledging normal startup friction.
Latergram's Launch Strategy and Organic Beta Traction 4113 Nathan playfully pushes Matt on how genuine his early VIP access list was, and Matt candidly agrees it was mostly clever marketing positioning.
Revenue Numbers, User Metrics, and Vancouver Team Subsidies 5512 Matt educates Nathan on Canadian tech subsidies where the government covers up to 80 percent of engineering salaries via equity-free grants and tax credits.
Securing Seed Funding and Founder Economics 6325 Nathan pushes Matt to reveal his exact founder salary after raising a seed round, and later cross-references investor Hiten Shah's episode.
Contact Information and Nathan's Business Announcement 3101 Nathan conducts his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions after delivering a mid-roll promotional plug for his own upcoming business venture.

Statements from this episode (13)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latka notes Teachable is seeking $30 million in early 2016
“And he's currently as of January, 2016, trying to raise basically thirty million bucks.”
Nathan Latka Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 3:16
Prediction Not publicly verifiable
Smith predicts Thinkific will exceed $100k MRR by the end of 2016
“I think they're well on their way to going well over, I don't know, probably over a hundred K MRR.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 7:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Smith personally emailed nearly 20,000 pre-launch Latergram sign-ups
“I think I personally emailed all, almost all 20,000 of people those signups, and spent, you know, most of my evenings writing these emails, ah, and engaging with people, and I think when people see, you know, a founder doing that, they say, and they like the p…”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 9:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latergram crosses $50,000 in monthly recurring revenue in early 2016
“Just over a 50 K. Okay.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 11:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Canadian government subsidies cover 80% of Latergram's tech salaries
“80% of our salaries for tech is covered by the government.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 12:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latergram approaches 500,000 registered users
“We're closing in on half a million, so just shy of that.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 12:37
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latergram counts roughly 40,000 monthly active users
“We're looking at about 40,000 monthly active right now.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 12:48
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latergram has 3,000 to 4,000 paying customers
“I think we're in like the three to 4000 range.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 13:15
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latergram averages approximately 5% monthly churn
“Our churn has been a bit variable recently. There's been a lot of a lot of competitors coming to the space, but on average we're looking at about five percent.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 13:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Latergram operates without any paid customer acquisition
“No, we don't do any paid acquisition at this point.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 14:18
Disclosure
Latergram raised a $1.2 million seed round
“It was 1.2.”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 15:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Rocketship.vc used a growth algorithm to find and cold-email Latergram
“Cold emailed us, wanted to put money in, said they liked what they're doing. Apparently, so they say there's some of the guys that really early investors in Facebook so back when Facebook was like, you know, eight employees or something like that and they deve…”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 16:18
Disclosure
Resolute, Aspect Ventures, and Hiten Shah invested in Latergram's seed
“We did raise more money later on and sort of close out the seed round. Resolute founders, Heaton Shaw, invested some money and then also Aspect Ventures, so they're you know, Teresa Gao, and Jennifer Swanstead, and Lauren and Claudney put some money in as well…”
Matt Smith Mar 6, 2016 ▶ 19:07
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