EP 576: Will This Mobile Payments Startup Survive with CEO Rode Luhaaar?

Rode Luhaäär. He's an enthusiast and entrepreneur who has years of experience as an e-marketer and digital strategist. During his career in the digital field, he's been overseeing execution and delivery of activities such as digital concept, e-business concepts, creative solutions design, software development, SEO, social media marketing, and global solutions. Over the last few years, he's been an active member of a startup community and currently manages a large software company called, Paytailor.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? — Lean Startup
• What CEO do you follow? — n/a
• Favorite online tool? — n/a
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "Think faster"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 02:30 – Nathan introduces Rode to the show
• 03:10 – Paytailor is a smart payment solution allowing merchants to get paid the way they want
• • 03:26 – Paytailor gives merchants an app and the users a card wallet
  • 03:45 – Paytailor is a SaaS company
• 03:50 – Paytailor charges €10 monthly
• 04:05 – Paytailor's revenue comes from the monthly fee
• 04:10 – Average number of customers is 40
• 04:20 – MRR
• 04:28 – Paytailor has raised €70K in a convertible note
• 04:45 – Paytailor was launched in 2015
• • 04:55 – Paytailor started as a side project
• 05:15 – Team size
• 05:24 – Paytailor's development is based in Estonia
• 05:38 – Why did you give up good pay in the digital field to start Paytailor?
• • 05:52 – "We see a problem"
  • 06:31 – Paytailor also has a 1.8% per transaction fee
  • 06:58 – Paytailor's payment gateway
• 07:14 – Rode is 32
• 07:32 – What Rode is being paid as a founder
• 08:09 – Rode's plan for 2017 is to expand in Europe
• • 08:30 – "We don't want to be a financial institution"
• 08:50 – Rode sees that they have to expand as they make adjustments
• 09:31 – Last month sales is €450
• • 10:50 – Paytailor has 20 taxis as merchants
  • 11:22 – Some of the merchants' usage is once a month
• 13:14 – Paytailor's focus is to test out different kinds of users
• 13:24 – Paytailor currently has 4 bars as merchants
• 14:44 – Paytailor's merchants are not using their service exclusively
• 16:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• If you can see a problem then try to create a solution.
• Expanding helps your company to improve and grow.
• You have to start somewhere – regardless of how small it is.

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