SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders 788: Ad Tech Agency Does $17m Gross Profit 2016, $30m VC Raised
Sep 20, 2017
18:01
Patrik Fagerlund. He's been working with mobile internet since the 90s. He's an engineer by training and now, he's the CEO and founder of Widespace, a mobile adtech company. Outside of work, he loves spending time with his family with his four kids and his wife along with many activities and sports.
Famous Five:
- Favorite Book? – Business Insider
- What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk
- Favorite online tool? — Slack and Flatly
- How many hours of sleep do you get?— 6
- If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "Be what you want to be"
Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 02:00 – Nathan introduces Patrik to the show
- 02:36 – Widespace is a mobile advertising campaign
- 02:40 – It was spun out in 2007 from what Patrik thought was a great media channel
- 03:04 – Patrik sold media fueled by their technology
- 03:10 – Selling media per CPM which is $10 per impression
- 03:31 – This was the business model in 2009
- 04:00 – $2M was the total ad spend for the previous model and 40% went to the company
- 04:26 – Team size was 9
- 04:38 – Widespace's current business model spent $30M for ads
- 04:40 – Team size is 130
- 04:41 – "We're moving into selling technology at a rapid space"
- 04:49 – Widespace extends their tools and technology for both the supply and demand
- 05:09 – Widespace focuses more on selling their technology
- 05:28 – The model is close to SaaS, but the pricing depends on the volume and usage
- 06:11 – Of the top 50 global advertisers, Widespace serves 70% of them
- 06:24 – Widespace works with most of the umbrella agency companies in the world
- 06:51 – The tech of Widespace is a full-stack offering
- 07:01 – The algorithm is based on interests
- 07:18 – If Widespace goes against other legacy technologies in adtech, Widespace will outperform them
- 07:46 – A customer pays 50% of their ad spend to make use of Widespace's technology
- 07:54 – It's a volume game, the more a customer pays, the less Widespace charges
- 08:04 – If a customer puts $20M into Widespace's system, it will go down to below $10M
- 08:53 – Average ARR is around $4M
- 09:06 – Since Widespace is a full-stack, they service both demand and supply
- 09:11 – There's a cap on the demand side and a supply cap to serve the supply
- 09:26 – The suppliers are the top publishers in the world
- 09:45 – Widespace takes a cut from the demand and supply side
- 09:56 – Widespace charges on the extended version of the algorithm as well
- 10:11 – Last year's processed ad spend is shy of $40M
- 10:49 – 2016 total revenue is around $17M
- 11:04 – Widespace was initially bootstrapped
- 11:16 – Widespace has raised close to $30M
- 11:33 – Over the years, Widespace had propositions from strategics but they turned them down
- 12:08 –Widespace is currently working with 500 suppliers/publications
- 12:17 – Widespace keeps control of their supply and has deeper integration
- 13:07 – A few years ago, Widespace was the only one who was servicing the publishers
- 13:40 – Widespace doesn't have any exclusivity
- 15:02 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
- Adjust your technology depending on the needs of your target market.
- Find the right partners with whom you can grow your business.
- Be what you want to be!
Resources Mentioned:
- Simplero – The easiest way to launch your own membership course like the big influencers do but at 1/10th the cost.
- 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
- GetLatka - Database of all B2B SaaS companies who have been on my show including their revenue, CAC, churn, ARPU and more
- Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
- Hotjar – Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you're 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 – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
- 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
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives