EP 586: Zapnito ACV is $210K, Helping 12 Customers With Knowledge Networks and $650k Raised with CEO Charles Thiede

Published: March 2, 2017, 5 p.m.

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Charles Thiede. He\\u2019s the co-founder and CEO of the knowledge network platform called Zapnito. Zapnito helps organizations create privately, branded, expert communications and networks. He calls this \\u201cexperts as a service\\u201d.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? \\u2013 Lean Startup
  • What CEO do you follow? \\u2013\\xa0 Elon Musk
  • Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Product Hunt
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014 I try to
  • If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 \\u201cDo everything with courage\\u201d

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:11 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Charles to the show
  • 01:41 \\u2013 Zapnito is a SaaS platform
    • 02:16 \\u2013 The idea of Zapnito is to helps brands bring their audience back to the trusted sources of knowledge
  • 02:40 \\u2013 Zapnito\\u2019s Slack channel
    • 02:51 \\u2013 The platform behind the scene that pulls the audience and brands together
  • 03:40 \\u2013 Each brand has their own slack domain
  • 04:40 \\u2013 Average customer pay per year is \\xa360K
  • 05:38 \\u2013 Zapnito started in trading in March 2013
    • 05:48 \\u2013 Started as a marketplace for experts in 2014
  • 06:38 \\u2013 First year revenue
  • 07:12 \\u2013 Zapnito currently has 12 customers
  • 07:57 \\u2013 Average MRR
  • 08:50 \\u2013 Team size is 12
  • 09:36 \\u2013 Charles doesn\\u2019t batch their sales calls
    • 10:00 \\u2013 Charles usually takes the calls
  • 10:32 \\u2013 Zapnito is based in London
  • 10:50 \\u2013 No customer churn and negative net churn
  • 11:12 \\u2013 The leverage Zapnito pulls to drive the RPU up
    • 11:30 \\u2013 \\u201cWe focus on niche networks\\u2019
    • 11:50 \\u2013 Zapnito has scaled their number of networks
  • 12:10 \\u2013 CAC
  • 13:21 \\u2013 Zapnito was bootstrapped and raised angel money
    • 13:40 \\u2013 Zapnito has raised \\xa3650K in priced equity round
    • 14:02 \\u2013 Zapnito had 3 rounds
  • 14:50 \\u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

  • Continually pivoting is not a disadvantage to your company, as long as you just keep learning from the experience.
  • Do not hesitate to hire the people that you need.
  • Do everything with courage.

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Resources Mentioned:

  • Acuity Scheduling \\u2013 Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
  • Drip \\u2013 Nathan uses Drip\\u2019s email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
  • Toptal\\xa0\\u2013 Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn\\u2019t have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
  • Host Gator\\xa0\\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
  • Audible\\xa0\\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\\u2019s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
  • The Top Inbox\\xa0 \\u2013 The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
  • Jamf \\u2013 Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11\\u201d secure even when he left it in the airplane\\u2019s back seat pocket
  • Freshbooks \\u2013 Nathan doesn\\u2019t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
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