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Feb 23, 2016 · 17m · top-founders

How To Build App Worth $10m With 3 Million Users with Ida Tin of Clue EP 154

Ida Tin · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 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 episode 154 of 'The Top,' host Nathan Latka interviews Ida Tin, co-founder and CEO of Clue, exploring how the female health app scaled to three million monthly active users, raised ten million dollars in venture capital, and maintained a deliberate growth-first, pre-revenue strategy.

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 43.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 5.0 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 2.3 Nathan pushing back 4.0
05100:0010:001:34–5:38 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Clue Product Overview and Growth-First Startup Model The conversation begins cordially as Nathan asks about Clue's monetization model and Ida's unconventional entrepreneurial background. Ida educates Nathan on why reproductive tracking lacks innovation and why consumer apps prioritize user growth over early revenue.5:38–10:05 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Seed Funding, Negotiation Metrics, and Reaching Three Million Users Nathan challenges Ida's assertion that valuations are not driven by revenue, citing standard SaaS ARR multiples of 6x to 11x. Ida pushes back by clarifying that massive consumer tech platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram trade on user scale rather than direct top-line multiples.10:06–13:30 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Mid-Show Promotion and Growth Geeks Sponsor Highlight Following a mid-roll promotion, Nathan demonstrates operational finance knowledge by estimating Clue's headcount burn rate at roughly $200k per month and asking if the burn induces anxiety. Ida calmly reframes the burn as necessary investment in building milestones for their Series B.1:34–5:38 · Guest teaching 3/10 Clue Product Overview and Growth-First Startup Model The conversation begins cordially as Nathan asks about Clue's monetization model and Ida's unconventional entrepreneurial background. Ida educates Nathan on why reproductive tracking lacks innovation and why consumer apps prioritize user growth over early revenue.5:38–10:05 · Guest teaching 5/10 Seed Funding, Negotiation Metrics, and Reaching Three Million Users Nathan challenges Ida's assertion that valuations are not driven by revenue, citing standard SaaS ARR multiples of 6x to 11x. Ida pushes back by clarifying that massive consumer tech platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram trade on user scale rather than direct top-line multiples.10:06–13:30 · Guest teaching 2/10 Mid-Show Promotion and Growth Geeks Sponsor Highlight Following a mid-roll promotion, Nathan demonstrates operational finance knowledge by estimating Clue's headcount burn rate at roughly $200k per month and asking if the burn induces anxiety. Ida calmly reframes the burn as necessary investment in building milestones for their Series B.1:34–5:38 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Clue Product Overview and Growth-First Startup Model The conversation begins cordially as Nathan asks about Clue's monetization model and Ida's unconventional entrepreneurial background. Ida educates Nathan on why reproductive tracking lacks innovation and why consumer apps prioritize user growth over early revenue.5:38–10:05 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Seed Funding, Negotiation Metrics, and Reaching Three Million Users Nathan challenges Ida's assertion that valuations are not driven by revenue, citing standard SaaS ARR multiples of 6x to 11x. Ida pushes back by clarifying that massive consumer tech platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram trade on user scale rather than direct top-line multiples.10:06–13:30 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Mid-Show Promotion and Growth Geeks Sponsor Highlight Following a mid-roll promotion, Nathan demonstrates operational finance knowledge by estimating Clue's headcount burn rate at roughly $200k per month and asking if the burn induces anxiety. Ida calmly reframes the burn as necessary investment in building milestones for their Series B.1:34–5:38 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Clue Product Overview and Growth-First Startup Model The conversation begins cordially as Nathan asks about Clue's monetization model and Ida's unconventional entrepreneurial background. Ida educates Nathan on why reproductive tracking lacks innovation and why consumer apps prioritize user growth over early revenue.5:38–10:05 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Seed Funding, Negotiation Metrics, and Reaching Three Million Users Nathan challenges Ida's assertion that valuations are not driven by revenue, citing standard SaaS ARR multiples of 6x to 11x. Ida pushes back by clarifying that massive consumer tech platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram trade on user scale rather than direct top-line multiples.10:06–13:30 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Mid-Show Promotion and Growth Geeks Sponsor Highlight Following a mid-roll promotion, Nathan demonstrates operational finance knowledge by estimating Clue's headcount burn rate at roughly $200k per month and asking if the burn induces anxiety. Ida calmly reframes the burn as necessary investment in building milestones for their Series B.

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

0:00 · Nathan 60.1% · guest 39.9%0:00 · Nathan 60.1% · guest 39.9%3:00 · Nathan 23.2% · guest 76.8%3:00 · Nathan 23.2% · guest 76.8%6:00 · Nathan 30.2% · guest 69.8%6:00 · Nathan 30.2% · guest 69.8%9:00 · Nathan 54.7% · guest 45.3%9:00 · Nathan 54.7% · guest 45.3%12:00 · Nathan 42.6% · guest 57.4%12:00 · Nathan 42.6% · guest 57.4%15:00 · Nathan 49.5% · guest 50.5%15:00 · Nathan 49.5% · guest 50.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:42 Ida rejects SaaS multiple framing using consumer platform examples

Ida directly counters Nathan's SaaS multiple premise by pointing out that hyper-growth consumer giants like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram were not valued on revenue.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 7:25 Nathan challenges Ida on valuation methodology

Nathan refuses Ida's claim that valuations are detached from revenue, citing explicit SaaS valuation formulas and revenue multiples.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:42 Ida explains consumer tech valuation logic

Ida educates Nathan on the difference between enterprise SaaS revenue metrics and venture-backed consumer network valuations.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 12:28 Nathan calculates team burn rate from headcount

Nathan demonstrates financial modeling expertise by immediately translating 24 team members into an estimated $200k monthly burn rate.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Clue Product Overview and Growth-First Startup Model 4312 The conversation begins cordially as Nathan asks about Clue's monetization model and Ida's unconventional entrepreneurial background. Ida educates Nathan on why reproductive tracking lacks innovation and why consumer apps prioritize user growth over early revenue.
Seed Funding, Negotiation Metrics, and Reaching Three Million Users 6546 Nathan challenges Ida's assertion that valuations are not driven by revenue, citing standard SaaS ARR multiples of 6x to 11x. Ida pushes back by clarifying that massive consumer tech platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram trade on user scale rather than direct top-line multiples.
Mid-Show Promotion and Growth Geeks Sponsor Highlight 5224 Following a mid-roll promotion, Nathan demonstrates operational finance knowledge by estimating Clue's headcount burn rate at roughly $200k per month and asking if the burn induces anxiety. Ida calmly reframes the burn as necessary investment in building milestones for their Series B.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Clue is pre-revenue by strategic choice to focus on growth
“So we don't generate revenue. I think that's the first thing to say. We have a lot of ideas on how we will generate revenue, but we have made the strategic choice to focus on growth for now.”
Ida Tin Feb 23, 2016 ▶ 1:43
Assertion Supported
Clue has raised $10 million to date, including from USV
“Yes, we have raised ten million dollars to date from Union Square Ventures and other very good investors.”
Ida Tin Feb 23, 2016 ▶ 2:27
Assertion Supported
Tin: Only 30% of women in Europe and America use hormonal birth control
“Only 30% of women in Europe and America is actually on hormonal birth control.”
Ida Tin Feb 23, 2016 ▶ 5:19
Disclosure
A single angel investor wrote a 1M euro check into Clue
“And that went until we had raised I'd say about a million euros maybe. And then we did our first financing round, a price round. And then we got some super angels on and the last angel put in a million euros. So pretty big. Angel. And then from there we went t…”
Ida Tin Feb 23, 2016 ▶ 6:43
Opinion
Tin: Tech valuations are not set by revenue
“I mean, when you look at the tech community, that's, you know, valuations are not set by revenue.”
Ida Tin Feb 23, 2016 ▶ 7:16
Assertion Supported
Tin: Clue is approaching 3 million active users
“So we have about approaching three million active users right now.”
Ida Tin Feb 23, 2016 ▶ 9:00
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Clue's monthly headcount burn rate is approximately $200,000
“Yeah, Berlin is a little bit cheaper, but I mean, it's something of that magnitude, yeah.”
Ida Tin Feb 23, 2016 ▶ 12:50
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