Podcasts Business SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders 712: How To Use a Distribution Channel to Get 200 Customers Paying $15k per Year

712: How To Use a Distribution Channel to Get 200 Customers Paying $15k per Year

Published: July 6, 2017, 9 a.m.

Seymour Duncker. He\u2019s the co-founder and CEO of a company called iCharts, the leader in cloud business intelligence and analytics and a seasoned entrepreneur who has been both a consumer and developer of visual analytics. Before founding iCharts, Seymour assisted SAP\u2019s senior management in driving the company\u2019s product strategy and was an early team member at 2 enterprise software startups before that.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? \u2013 The Inevitable
  • What CEO do you follow? \u2013 Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? \u2014 NetSuite and Salesforce
  • How many hours of sleep do you get?\u2014 6-7
  • If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \u2013 \u201cSpend a little more time outdoors\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 02:26 \u2013 Nathan introduces Seymour to the show
  • 03:12 \u2013 iCharts is a cloud-based business and intelligence analytics solution platform
  • 03:24 \u2013 iCharts is a SaaS model
  • 03:36 \u2013 iCharts partners with NetSuite which is a cloud-based EOP
    • 03:48 \u2013 NetSuite uses iCharts as an embed BI (Business Intelligence) engine that powers iCharts for NetSuite\u2019s customers
    • 04:05 \u2013 iCharts is like an app inside NetSuite
  • 04:55 \u2013 iCharts can take any kind of data and visually represent it so that people can interact and analyze the data
  • 05:16 \u2013 The analogy of iCharts is like the car's\u2019 navigation system which is separated from the car\u2019s build
  • 05:55 \u2013 iCharts considers SaaS businesses as an ecosystem and NetSuite is a large ecosystem
  • 06:05 \u2013 iCharts has a mixed business model
  • 06:24 \u2013 iCharts is also looking into exclusive partnerships with a SaaS platform to distribute iCharts
  • 06:55 \u2013 Pricing starts at $15K per annum depending on the number of users on a platform
  • 07:54 \u2013 Seymour arrived in the USA, in 2010
  • 08:10 \u2013 Seymour is from Germany
  • 08:50 \u2013 When Seymour had an idea for a cloud-based business intelligence platform, he was thinking about where to build it
  • 09:27 \u2013 Back then, it was easier to sell in the USA than in Germany
  • 10:10 \u2013 Being in California was also a great idea for Seymour\u2019s wife, so they built iCharts in the USA
  • 10:37 \u2013 Team size is 60
    • 10:56 \u2013 Sales team has 20 people
  • 11:35 \u2013 The majority of iCharts\u2019 market
  • 11:49 \u2013 iCharts will know the pain points of the users of NetSuite
  • 12:53 \u2013 iCharts will already have an idea of the customer\u2019s needs
  • 13:45 \u2013 iCharts has around 200 customers
  • 14:04 \u2013 iCharts started focusing on various markets
  • 14:25 \u2013 iCharts has raised $23M to date but they were initially bootstrapped
  • 15:07 \u2013 Churn is around 5-7%
  • 16:20 \u2013 CAC
  • 16:32 \u2013 iCharts is highly profitable from the initial time they closed a deal
  • 17:04 \u2013 There\u2019s an advantage of growing faster and burning yourself as you grow too fast
  • 17:44 \u2013 At the end of the day, it\u2019s all about having a high-functioning team that produces quality
  • 18:04 \u2013 Average ARR
  • 18:21 \u2013 iCharts also offers additional services for their larger customers
  • 20:13 \u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

  1. Build your business wherever you\u2019d like to\u2014even if it means leaving your home country.
  2. Having a well-functioning team that produces QUALITY will drive your revenue and contribute to the success of your business.
  3. Make time for rest and vacations; this will relax and regenerate you.

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Resources Mentioned:

  • The Top Inbox \u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
  • Klipfolio \u2013 Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
  • Hotjar \u2013 Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you\u2019re doing on this site. He gets a video of each user visit like where they clicked and scrolled to make the site a better experience
  • Acuity Scheduling \u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
  • Host Gator\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
  • Audible\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives