832: SaaS: Machine Learning and AI for Re-Engaging Customers, $250k ACV and $1.5m Raised
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Victor Szczerba. He\\u2019s the co-founder and CEO of Yeti Data, solving big data problems for customers. Prior experience includes running product strategy at the data division at SAP. He was a McKinsey consultant and sales VP for Tadpole Computer and Utopy.
Famous Five:
- Favorite Book? \\u2013 Zero to One and How to Win Friends and Influence People
- What CEO do you follow? \\u2013 Elon Musk
- Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Slack
- How many hours of sleep do you get?\\u2014 8
- If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 \\u201cHow to be patient\\u201d
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Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 01:44 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Victor to the show
- 02:14 \\u2013 Yeti Data makes virtual data warehouses
- 02:30 \\u2013 Yeti Data\\u2019s model is an enterprise SaaS model
- 02:45 \\u2013 An average customer pays Yeti Data $250-500K a year
- 03:02 \\u2013 \\u201cWe love universal usage of our data with inside of the customer\\u201d
- 03:19 \\u2013 Clients get data from their customers\\u2019 behavior
- 04:24 \\u2013 AI is a blanket term and machine learning is something very specific
- 05:08 \\u2013 Victor shares how machine learning works and they put in details manually
- 05:52 \\u2013 In digital marketing, there are ways to understand the customer and their purchasing behavior, but it still can be tricky
- 06:47 \\u2013 Yeti Data currently has around 5 customers
- 07:07 \\u2013 Yeti Data is close to reaching an $800K, ARR mark
- 07:31 \\u2013 Yeti Data was launched 3-4 years ago and was in development mode for the first few years
- 07:50 \\u2013 Yeti Data raised capital for RND and they\\u2019ve been really lean
- 08:07 \\u2013 It was a convertible note
- 08:31 \\u2013 4% interest and 10% discount with a teaser for the second round
- 09:18 \\u2013 On pre-revenue, Yeti Data has 3 core people and some consultants
- 10:03 \\u2013 Amazon and Walmart have a software that is similar to Yeti Data
- 10:39 \\u2013 Some companies that are in competition with Yeti Data are IBM and HP
- 11:08 \\u2013 Yeti Data created a way to virtualize their data connections
- 12:00 \\u2013 It is still too early for Yeti Data to have their metrics
- 13:00 \\u2013 A good ARR of a million bucks can get Yeti Data to a good series A
- 14:30 \\u2013 The Famous Five
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3 Key Points:
- Regardless of how congested your market is, you can still find a way to stand out.
- Use your competition as motivation to push harder.
- Focus in on what you\\u2019re good at.
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Resources Mentioned:
- Simplero \\u2013 The easiest way to launch your own membership course like the big influencers do but at 1/10th the cost.
- 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
- GetLatka - Database of all B2B SaaS companies who have been on my show including their revenue, CAC, churn, ARPU and more
- 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