Every argument clarity score on this site is built from rows on this page. Each
question and answer was assessed with names hidden, the host's own answers included, on
four things from 1 to 5:
directness (does it answer the question asked), coherence (do the ideas follow),
precision (concrete details and clear references), compression (says a lot per word). The weighted
mix (30/30/25/15) is the exchange score. A person's published score averages their exchange
scores on raw tape only, at least 8 of them, shrunk toward the cohort mean.
Full method →
Answered produced feed
D 5 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 5 5.00
Q Um, uh, and so walk your venture back. When did you raise capital?
A We raised it right smack dab in the middle of, uh, COVID, and it was quite a rollercoaster because we actually had a signed term sheet on February 27th, and then, you know, a couple short weeks later, the world went crazy, and, uh, our investor raises from high net worth individuals into special purpose vehicles, so it's not a traditional fund model. So there was a couple weeks there where we thought there's no way this is going through because all of these high net worths are, You know, their liquidity is being, uh, compromised and, uh, really at the same time that that investment was jeopardized, we saw our sales and traffic go through the roof because unfortunately the pandemic made people think about their own mortality and contemplate and prioritize emergency planning. So it just so happened that we were able to say, Hey, look, we are actually a pandemic proof business and a business that has actually seen our numbers go up. And so they were able to rally the investors and we closed in the end of May.
AI assessment note: “We raised it right smack dab in the middle of, uh, COVID”
Answered produced feed
D 4 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.30
Q I guess the reason I'm asking the revenue questions is it's a big risk for you and your husband, but all your eggs in the willful basket per se, right? So you had to, he had to sort of de-risk it early for you guys to agree that you should leave your agency job and do this full time. What sort of moment was that? Walk me through that conversation.
A Yeah, I mean, I actually, it's funny because now it sounds like it was all planned out in the stars to join Willful, but initially I left the agency for other reasons. I was just, you know, not feeling challenged, wanted to move on, and as I actually looked around at all of the options and what to do next, Willful just was the obvious choice to learn. I'd never run a venture-backed company before. I'd only run a service business, so I was really looking for that challenge of how to get a VC to buy into your idea and scale a product team. So it became the natural option. But yeah, at the time, it was scary to have both of us taking no salaries, but I do some paid speaking and other things on the side. And luckily, Nathan, we were able to start paying ourselves earlier than in 2020.
AI assessment note: “initially I left the agency for other reasons. I was just, you know, not feeling challenged”
Answered produced feed
D 4 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.30
Q And, and, and walk me through that, that valuation conversation because, you know, this isn't obviously a typical SaaS movement, but there's a clear path to launching a recurring product. So how did you justify the valuation with, with really one-time sales?
A Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, we always do try to position ourselves more as an e-commerce model versus a traditional SaaS with recurring revenue, and the investors who want SaaS are never going to see the valuation there, but luckily our investors had been executors themselves. They really understand the space, and they had also invested in other companies like Mocha, who are more e-commerce based fintechs. Uh, so really, I mean, it's always a dance, Nathan. I'm sure everyone tells you this. You You know, it's like negotiating anything. They come in low, you go high, you try to justify it. They say, no, that's crazy. And then you meet somewhere in the middle. So, uh, luckily we found great investors who saw the value in the business and who understand that, you know, you're getting into bed for a decade potentially. And so you have to both be happy walking away from the deal.
AI assessment note: “we always do try to position ourselves more as an e-commerce model”
Partly produced feed
D 3 · C 4 · P 3 · Cm 4 3.45
Q hard to plan. You have to do a certain number of these POAs and nine, nine dollar sales per month for you to have some revenue base to feel confident to go out and make hiring decisions on to build a business, invest more in engineering. I mean, how do you get to a product where you can add value to these folks even after they file the initial documents?
A Yeah, it's a great question, Nathan. I feel like the sad truth is, and this is true in Canada as well as the U.S., people are woefully unprepared for their own passing, and about 60% of adults don't have just the simple legal documents, so there's a really big pool of potential customers, more of whom are turning to online tools because of COVID, and in terms of how we actually create that predictability, it's through marketing around life moments. We know that having a child and Uh, the death of a loved one are the two major life events that cause you to think about these things, and once we have you in the door, then we become a trusted source for other products in future.
AI assessment note: “once we have you in the door, then we become a trusted source for other products”
