Amanda Parker, the founder of Simply Insight - a high-end data analysis service that’s six months old and making $30k in MRR from just 10 clients. Amanda previously ran a successful marketing agency whose clients included Pepsi and 20th Century Fox, and she’s leveraging that experience to build her SaaS business incredibly fast. Listen in to hear how Amanda’s managing her first angel investment round, how she signed her first client before even having a software platform, and how she’s getting unbelievable return on CAC.
Famous 5:
Favorite Business Book? – Predictable Revenue
What CEO do you follow? — Jason Lemkin
Favorite online tool? — Zoom
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? —Relax and stop worrying: do the work, but stop stressing about it
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:13 – Nathan’s introduction
01:50 – “We found that data was a huge problem for our clients, and a huge opportunity”
02:54 – Amanda shut down her growing marketing company to focus on Simply Insight
03:09 – They make money from monthly subscription of $2.5-5k
03:57 – Simply Insight started 6 months ago - they got their first client before even building their platform
04:53 – Clients are on annual contracts that pay monthly
05:14 – Currently cash flow positive
05:35 – Growing over 20% month over month
06:07 – Currently at an MRR of $25-30k
06:20 – Hoping for an MRR of $50k by the end of the year
06:50 – They have around 10 clients
07:01 – CAC? Currently paying one sales rep salary and commission - ‘He’s almost paid for himself for the year and he’s been around for 6 weeks”
07:43 – Amanda’s been able to sell to her old client list from her agency to keep her CAC low
08:40 – Paying less than $5k to acquire a $30k contract
09:13 – “We currently have no churn at the higher levels”
09:43 – Revenue in 2015 was $7k from deposits
10:12 – Team of 6 people based in Toronto
10:45 – Doing an initial round of angel investment
11:01 – “You’re married to angel investors - so you need to find people that you really want to work with. It’s all about the team.”
11:52 – Finding a lead investor is the hardest part
12:12 – Raising $500k via convertible note
14:00 – “It’s never been a better time to start a company”
15:05 – The risk of convertible notes?
15:56 – Hustle, drive, and personality are everything
16:07 – Follow Amanda on Twitter or connect with her at Simply Insight
18:10 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Find a pain point. Test the market to see if other people feel it. Market your solution.
Don’t be scared to do what you really want.
If you’re going into a changing market, you’d better understand how it’s going to change.
Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives