Rick Wilson

CEO, Miva · 1 appearance on the record.

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executivefounderauthorhost@RickMiva ↗LinkedIn ↗dragonproofbook.com ↗

Wilson joined e-commerce platform Miva in 1999, co-led an investor buyout of the company in 2007, and transitioned its software to a SaaS model while serving as its longtime CEO. He authored Dragonproof Ecommerce (2019) and Dragonproof Principles (2021), and hosts the Dragonproof Ecommerce Podcast.

11statements → 8claims → 1claims resolved → 4.18/5average certainty → 1.36/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated →

1 supported 0 partly supported 0 contradicted 2 not yet assessed 5 not checkable as stated how the 8 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

8 assertions · 1 opinion · 2 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 8 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 1 is resolved, 2 are not yet assessed, and 5 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Rick argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported

Miva raised $18M in PE funding in April 2017

“We took our first round of professional money in April of this year. We raised eighteen million dollars from a private equity firm.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 11:06 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Rick Wilson on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

What they said11 Episodes1

Everything Rick Wilson said on Top Founders that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Opinion

Wilson: Shopify cannot handle complex high-SKU enterprise architectures

“If you're selling auto parts, And when you're all said and done with child SKUs, you have 750,000 child SKUs and you need to connect it to an ERP system and you need it to ship to your multiple warehouses. You're not getting there with Shopify.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 13:47 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Disclosure

Wilson: Taylor Swift runs official merchandising store on Miva

“Our most famous customer, even though she's not our largest customer is Taylor Swift. So so Taylor uses us for her merchandising store.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 2:35 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Wilson: Miva's enterprise customers stay for over a decade

“Our average enterprise customer lasts more than a decade.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 13:26 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Disclosure

Miva ARPU reaches $300 monthly, $2,000 for enterprise

“Our average customer pays us about 300 dollars per month and our average enterprise customers paying us around two grand a month.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 2:21 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Not publicly verifiable

Wilson: Acquired Miva for $1.5M all-in in 2007

“So we bought it for all in about a million and a half bucks. That included the turnaround capital. And actually that's what we raised and bought. I mean, so we paid them less, but that's what it took to do.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 10:19 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Not publicly verifiable

Wilson: Miva was doing $500K net revenue at 2007 buyout

“After cost of goods, it was about half a million bucks a year at the time, even though it had a huge number of customers.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 10:34 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Supported

Miva raised $18M in PE funding in April 2017

“We took our first round of professional money in April of this year. We raised eighteen million dollars from a private equity firm.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 11:06 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Miva has 6,000 active customers and 400 enterprise clients

“So we have about 6000 active customers across the board, but our focus really is our enterprise customers. And so we have 400 of those”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 12:58 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Wilson: Miva enterprise churn is sub-2% while SMB churn is ~18%

“Our annual churn for enterprise customers is sub two percent and our SMB churn is in the, 18% a year range.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 16:48 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Wilson: Miva SMB customers average $1,000/year and stay for six years

“So you got about a thousand dollars a year in total income on those guys, and then they last about six years.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 17:18 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Wilson: Miva has remained profitable for the past 10 years

“Because we've been profitable this whole time for the last 10 years, we, we're not seeing 50, 8000% or more growth.”

Rick Wilson Jan 18, 2018 ▶ 19:54 908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996

Appearances (1)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
908 SaaS: Miva is Enterprise Shopify, Passes $16m in ARR Founded in 1996	Jan 18, 2018	12m

Rick Wilson

The record, in short

Their most notable supported claim

How they sound: not measured why? →

Appearances (1)

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