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Christof Wittig. He\\u2019s a serial, software entrepreneur and investor. Currently, he\\u2019s the founder and CEO of Hornet Networks, the world\\u2019s second largest gay social network and is a managing partner of Strive, based in San Francisco. He\\u2019s an investor and board member of various companies including Enish, Metago, KeepSafe, VirtaHealth, Black Medicine, Movie Pilot, Box Fish and App Annie. He has been active in the US, Germany, and throughout Asia.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? \\u2013 Zero to One
• What CEO do you follow? \\u2013\\xa0 Sami Inkinen
• Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Capshare.com
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\\u2014 Yes
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 Christof wished he told himself to be bold, that he didn\\u2019t need a degree, and to follow his dreams

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 02:19 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Christof to the show
• 03:09 \\u2013 Strive and Hornet came at the same time to Christof
• • 03:32 \\u2013 Hornet started as a side project
• 03:50 \\u2013 Christof exited Servo Software before Hornet
• 04:00 \\u2013 Hornet is Christof\\u2019s first consumer business
• 04:10 \\u2013 Servo Software was launched in 2004
• 05:02 \\u2013 Christof sold Servo software in 2010
• 05:20 \\u2013 Hornet\\u2019s capital came from that exit
• 05:48 \\u2013 Christof is now 48
• 05:58 \\u2013 Nathan had Sean Howell, Hornet\\u2019s co-founder in Episode 440
• 06:20 \\u2013 Sean focused on marketing
• 06:50 \\u2013 Sean and Christof are running it together
• 07:10 \\u2013 Hornet had a subscription model and premium option
• 07:50 \\u2013 Hornet\\u2019s revenue is 2/3 from subscription and 1/3 from ads
• 08:00 \\u2013 Hornet\\u2019s future revenue model
• 08:28 \\u2013 GHI
• 09:02 \\u2013 Hornet raised their $8M in their Series A
• 10:05 \\u2013 Hornet\\u2019s focus is the advertising revenue
• 10:46 \\u2013 \\u201cOur focus is to get more engagement\\u201d
• • 10:57 \\u2013 Engagement is measured through sessions
  • 11:12 \\u2013 Peak days
• 11:30 \\u2013 User base
• • 11:41 \\u2013 3M monthly active and 1.5M daily active
• 12:09 \\u2013 The key metrics to track the number of sessions
• 12:30 \\u2013 Christof shares about Tinder
• 13:16 \\u2013 Hornet sells CPM and provides premium exposure
• 14:00 \\u2013 Hornet has a feed model to drive more organic traffic
• 14:34 \\u2013 Hornet has the following features
• 15:20 \\u2013 Hornet\\u2019s published price for CPM
• 15:56 \\u2013 The number of advertisers currently working with Hornet
• 16:28 \\u2013 Hornet uses TFP for their ads
• 17:10 \\u2013 Hornet has the largest gay media newsroom in the USA
• • 17:30 \\u2013 The story feed makes the interaction in the gay community easier
• 18:05 \\u2013 Christof shares where they spend the $8M
• 18:25 \\u2013 Hornet also spends in marketing
• 18:39 \\u2013 Christof wants users to understand that Hornet isn\\u2019t just about dating
• 19:00 \\u2013 User growth
• 19:30 \\u2013 Hornet takes the new concept of the gay app to the next level
• 20:14 \\u2013 Hornet is about creating a new digital space for the gay community
• 21:35 \\u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

• They gay community needs a place where it\\u2019s not just about dating, but having interactions with the whole community.
• The focus isn\\u2019t always on the number of users, specially if you\\u2019re driving traffic well.
• A degree isn\\u2019t as important as just following your dreams.

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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