EP 583: Socedo Does $1.5M+ In 2016, $200K MRR Now Helping 200 Customers Close More Leads with CEO Aseem Badshah

Aseem Badshah. He's the founder and CEO of the company called Socedo. Before that, he built his own full-service marketing agency called Uptown Treehouse that leveraged social media and digital channels to reach current and potential customers. He's upgraded and improved that initial business model with his current company, Socedo.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Crushing the Cashman
• What CEO do you follow? –
• Favorite online tool? —
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Aseem wished that he would have prioritized building relationships

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:15 – Nathan introduces Aseem to the show
• 01:50 – Aseem noticed that there was so much data on prospects for B2B marketers in an agency
• • 02:07 – Socedo's goal
  • 02:13 – Lead generation is what Socedo uses to get more customers
  • 02:45 – Socedo provides behavioral data
  • 02:56 – Socedo makes money from their software license
  • 03:03 – Clients sign-up from 6 months to 1 year of license usage
• 03:11 – Average pay the company gives to Socedo monthly
• 03:25 – Socedo started in 2013
• 03:37 – In social media marketing, everything was setup for B2C marketers
• 04:25 – Social media is like a big CRM so Aseem leveraged it in a way to help B2B marketers
• 04:45 – There are 200 paying customers
• 04:50 – Socedo has raised $1.5M
• 05:00 – Socedo's revenue has tripled in 2016
• 05:10 – Average contract price
• 05:25 – Socedo started with SMB
• 05:50 – 2016 total revenue
• 06:05 – Socedo has 25 people
• 06:20 – 2017 goal
• 06:30 – Aseem is targeting 2x for 2017
• 06:41 – Aseem wants to focus on their current customers
• 07:17 – "It's not necessarily about growth at all costs; we want to focus on the fundamentals, focus on the relationship with customers"
• 07:35 – All 25 members are in Seattle
• 07:53 – The round was an equity round
• 08:32 – Socedo is currently cash flow positive
• 08:50 – Socedo is willing to take in new capital if they are ready
• 09:11 – Socedo has almost broken even
• 09:23 – How Socedo drives new customers
• • 09:37 – Socedo doesn't spend much money on marketing
• 10:30 – The data source which Aseem thinks is the most accurate
• • 10:39 – "Everyone is accurate in their own way"
  • 10:52 – How Socedo matches data
  • 11:10 – Socedo's goal is to get metrics as high as possible
• 11:31 – "We don't guarantee an accuracy rate, but our accuracy rate is pretty high"
• 12:00 – The data sources that are connected to Socedo's API are Full Contact, ClearBit and SellHack
• 12:34 – Socedo's unique data advantage
• • 13:30 – As a B2B marketer, there's a bigger chance of a higher conversion rate
• 13:50 – Data sources that have the most accurate revenue numbers are Marketo and Salesforce
• 14:22 – Socedo doesn't have the marketing budget for each lead
• • 14:45 – Socedo has the company size which can be used as a revenue basis for each lead
• 15:15 – Gross customer churn
• 15:36 – CAC
• 15:45 – LTV
• 16:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Social media is a big CRM that can be leveraged to build a better marketing space for B2B businesses.
• Focusing on fundamentals and customer relationships can be more advantageous than focusing on just growth.
• Each data source out there is accurate in their own way.

Resources Mentioned:

• Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
• Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
• The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11" secure even when he left it in the airplane's back seat pocket
• Freshbooks – Nathan doesn't 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