Elie Khoury's guest appearances

Elie Khoury

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

SaaS Insider

Lodging Luminaries

Jay Baer

Neil Patel

Wade Foster

Aaron Fifield

Drew Canole

Tony Robbins

Omar Zenhom

Webinar Ninja

Laura Roeder

Melanie Duncan

Bernie Sanders

Jason Hartman

Engelo Rumora

Peter Shallard

Gerard Adams

OwlTail

Elie Khoury, executive vice president of operations at Aimbridge Hospitality, has faced many operational challenges over the 25 years he’s been serving in the industry. With each downturn, Khoury believes, hotel operators grow smarter and wiser. The coronavirus crisis has forced hospitality owners and leaders to rethink ways of doing business, including figuring out how to staff an operation amid a shallow labor pool. In Episode 9 of Lodging Luminaries, host Jason Freed and Khoury dig into how Aimbridge Hospitality is taking an unconventional route by embracing the “gig economy” and preparing for the inevitable cultural shift it will create in the hospitality workplace.

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/elie-khoury-596367b/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elie Khoury</a>, executive vice president of operations at <a href="https://www.aimbridgehospitality.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aimbridge Hospitality</a>, has faced many operational challenges over the 25 years he’s been serving in the industry. With each downturn, Khoury believes, hotel operators grow smarter and wiser. The coronavirus crisis has forced hospitality owners and leaders to rethink ways of doing business, including figuring out how to staff an operation amid a shallow labor pool. In Episode 9 of <a href="https://longlivelodging.com/lodging-luminaries/#.YRo1S9NKijA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lodging Luminaries</a>, host Jason Freed and Khoury dig into how Aimbridge Hospitality is taking an unconventional route by embracing the “gig economy” and preparing for the inevitable cultural shift it will create in the hospitality workplace.

09 | Elie Khoury: ‘In every downturn, we learn and we take action’

How can freemium be beneficial to your SaaS business? What is the best way to figure out pricing? Which size of business should you be selling to? Elie Khoury, the CEO of Woopra, talks to Shira Abel about starting his business in Lebanon and moving it to Silicon Valley, his challenges and successes along the way.  About Elie Khoury • Elie Khoury is the co-founder and CEO of Woopra. An engineer by trade, CEO by profession, Elie built Woopra under the belief that data made accessible to everyone in the organization would empower all employees to make better-informed, data-driven decisions. • He studied computer science at the Lebanese American University where he built the first generation of Woopra in 2007. • In addition to Woopra, he co-founded YallaStartup, a non-profit organization established to foster entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa.  Key Takeaways: • Freemium can help you get a head start on your user base, but get ready for challenges when you’re ready to monetize. • Make sure to have enough support for your paid customers and learn to prioritize when it comes to different levels of paid subscriptions. • Don’t get involved with selling to enterprise until you know you’re ready. If you know you want to sell to large businesses, start preparing everything early.  Please rate this podcast.  About Shira Abel Shira Abel is the CEO and Lead Strategist at Hunter &amp; Bard (http://www.hunterandbard.com), a PR, marketing and design agency. Clients include: Folloze, Totango, Cyara, Sarine Technologies, Pushbullet, AXA Tech, CloudEndure, Pitango VC, Allianz, and more. Creator and host of the SaaS Insider podcast. Mentor at 500 Startups. Former professor of Marketing for Startups at Tel Aviv-Jaffa Academic College. MBA from Kellogg School of Management. Loves family time, cooking, and traveling. Hates writing about herself in the third person. She lives with her husband, teen and tween sons and a very large Great Pyrenees.  If you would like to be interviewed on SaaS Insider - please contact Shira at the URL above.  The SaaS Insider podcast is brought to you by Hunter &amp; Bard, an agency specializing in PR, design, branding, and marketing strategy – helping SaaS companies develop mindshare. It’s also a member of the C-Suite Radio Network. Check out Hunter &amp; Bard today at http://hunterandbard.com Tags and Keywords: saas business, data, freemium Facebook Status: @shiraabel and @eliekhoury in this episode of #SaaSInsider discuss analytics, pricing, and freemiums when selling B2B. Tune in to find out how Woopra made it work. Twitter Status: @shiraabel and @eliekhoury of Woopra in this episode of #SaaSInsider discuss analytics, pricing, and freemiums when selling B2B.

How can freemium be beneficial to your SaaS business? What is the best way to figure out pricing? Which size of business should you be selling to? Elie Khoury, the CEO of Woopra, talks to Shira Abel about starting his business in Lebanon and moving it to Silicon Valley, his challenges and successes along the way. About Elie Khoury • Elie Khoury is the co-founder and CEO of Woopra. An engineer by trade, CEO by profession, Elie built Woopra under the belief that data made accessible to everyone in the organization would empower all employees to make better-informed, data-driven decisions. • He studied computer science at the Lebanese American University where he built the first generation of Woopra in 2007. • In addition to Woopra, he co-founded YallaStartup, a non-profit organization established to foster entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa. Key Takeaways: • Freemium can help you get a head start on your user base, but get ready for challenges when you’re ready to monetize. • Make sure to have enough support for your paid customers and learn to prioritize when it comes to different levels of paid subscriptions. • Don’t get involved with selling to enterprise until you know you’re ready. If you know you want to sell to large businesses, start preparing everything early. Please rate this podcast. About Shira Abel Shira Abel is the CEO and Lead Strategist at Hunter &amp; Bard (<a href="http://www.hunterandbard.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.hunterandbard.com</a>), a PR, marketing and design agency. Clients include: Folloze, Totango, Cyara, Sarine Technologies, Pushbullet, AXA Tech, CloudEndure, Pitango VC, Allianz, and more. Creator and host of the SaaS Insider podcast. Mentor at 500 Startups. Former professor of Marketing for Startups at Tel Aviv-Jaffa Academic College. MBA from Kellogg School of Management. Loves family time, cooking, and traveling. Hates writing about herself in the third person. She lives with her husband, teen and tween sons and a very large Great Pyrenees. If you would like to be interviewed on SaaS Insider - please contact Shira at the URL above. The SaaS Insider podcast is brought to you by Hunter &amp; Bard, an agency specializing in PR, design, branding, and marketing strategy – helping SaaS companies develop mindshare. It’s also a member of the C-Suite Radio Network. Check out Hunter &amp; Bard today at <a href="http://hunterandbard.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://hunterandbard.com</a> Tags and Keywords: saas business, data, freemium Facebook Status: @shiraabel and @eliekhoury in this episode of #SaaSInsider discuss analytics, pricing, and freemiums when selling B2B. Tune in to find out how Woopra made it work. Twitter Status: @shiraabel and @eliekhoury of Woopra in this episode of #SaaSInsider discuss analytics, pricing, and freemiums when selling B2B.

074: Elie Khoury of Woopra on Freemium, Data, and Starting a SaaS Business

Elie Khoury, co-founder and CEO of Woopra – a customer intelligence platform that helps businesses essentialize customer engagement across all channels. He studied Computer Science in Lebanese American University where he booked the first generation of Woopra in 2007. In addition to Woopra, he co-founded YallaStartup, a non-government organization establish to proper entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa. Famous Five:  Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? –  Steve Jobs   Favorite online tool? — Google Calendar Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “I won’t change a thing”    Time Stamped Show Notes:  01:32 – Nathan introduces to Elie the show 02:09 – Woopra is designed for businesses to help them consolidate their customer activities across channels 02:22 – Woopra is a SaaS model and has monthly subscription 02:34 – Woopra is self-funded but they raised an Angel round few years ago   02:43 – Raised about a million dollars in the Angel round 02:48 – It was an equity round   02:58 – There are 12 people in the team   03:08 – All are based in SF   03:18 – Woopra mainly focused on SaaS businesses but they cater to wide-range of businesses 03:39 – Woopra has around 1000 customers at the moment 03:50 – Woopra has 100,000 active projects and 1000 of that are paying customers 04:10 – Average RPU is around $30,000 a year for enterprise and $ 3000 a year for SMB 04:30 – Woopra introduced their enterprise edition a couple of years ago 05:05 – Average MRR 05:27 – Gross customers monthly churn is lower on enterprise than SMB 06:15 – CAC is $ 1-2,000 on enterprise 06:35 – Lifetime value   07:39 – Average monthly lifetime value   07:53 – Woopra has a sales team that engages with enterprise customers 08:08 – Woopra was launched in 2008   08:25 – Woopra has 15,000 active projects that are running for free   09:25 – 2015 total revenue around $ 1.5 million 09:50 – Woopra is in a good place at the moment 10:02 – “Raising funding is always an option. We are just waiting for the right fit and the right time” 10:13 – Woopra has to scale in a faster pace and identify the perfect marketing tool 10:44 – Connect with Elie through their blog and his email 12:20 – The Famous Five    3 Key Points:  Raising fund is always an option. Just wait for the right fit and the right time. There is time to polish things out. Take things slowly. Embrace your ignorance.    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. Elie@Woopra.com – Elie’s email address Woopra.com/Blog – Elie’s business blog Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives 

Elie Khoury, co-founder and CEO of Woopra – a customer intelligence platform that helps businesses essentialize customer engagement across all channels. He studied Computer Science in Lebanese American University where he booked the first generation of Woopra in 2007. In addition to Woopra, he co-founded YallaStartup, a non-government organization establish to proper entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa. Famous Five: <ul> <li>Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things</li> <li>What CEO do you follow? –  Steve Jobs</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Favorite online tool? — Google Calendar</li> <li>Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No</li> <li>If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “I won’t change a thing”</li> </ul> Time Stamped Show Notes: <ul> <li>01:32 – Nathan introduces to Elie the show</li> <li>02:09 – Woopra is designed for businesses to help them consolidate their customer activities across channels</li> <li>02:22 – Woopra is a SaaS model and has monthly subscription</li> <li>02:34 – Woopra is self-funded but they raised an Angel round few years ago</li> <li> <ul> <li>02:43 – Raised about a million dollars in the Angel round</li> <li>02:48 – It was an equity round</li> </ul> </li> <li>02:58 – There are 12 people in the team</li> <li> <ul> <li>03:08 – All are based in SF</li> </ul> </li> <li>03:18 – Woopra mainly focused on SaaS businesses but they cater to wide-range of businesses</li> <li>03:39 – Woopra has around 1000 customers at the moment</li> <li>03:50 – Woopra has 100,000 active projects and 1000 of that are paying customers</li> <li>04:10 – Average RPU is around $30,000 a year for enterprise and $ 3000 a year for SMB</li> <li>04:30 – Woopra introduced their enterprise edition a couple of years ago</li> <li>05:05 – Average MRR</li> <li>05:27 – Gross customers monthly churn is lower on enterprise than SMB</li> <li>06:15 – CAC is $ 1-2,000 on enterprise</li> <li>06:35 – Lifetime value</li> <li> <ul> <li>07:39 – Average monthly lifetime value</li> </ul> </li> <li>07:53 – Woopra has a sales team that engages with enterprise customers</li> <li>08:08 – Woopra was launched in 2008</li> <li> <ul> <li>08:25 – Woopra has 15,000 active projects that are running for free</li> </ul> </li> <li>09:25 – 2015 total revenue around $ 1.5 million</li> <li>09:50 – Woopra is in a good place at the moment</li> <li>10:02 – “Raising funding is always an option. We are just waiting for the right fit and the right time”</li> <li>10:13 – Woopra has to scale in a faster pace and identify the perfect marketing tool</li> <li>10:44 – Connect with Elie through their blog and his email</li> <li>12:20 – The Famous Five</li> </ul> 3 Key Points: <ul> <li>Raising fund is always an option. Just wait for the right fit and the right time.</li> <li>There is time to polish things out. Take things slowly.</li> <li>Embrace your ignorance.</li> </ul> Resources Mentioned: <ul> <li>Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments</li> <li>Drip – Nathan uses Drip’s email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel</li> <li>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</li> <li>Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.</li> <li>Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.</li> <li>Elie@Woopra.com – Elie’s email address</li> <li><a href="http://Woopra.com/Blog" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Woopra.com/Blog</a> – Elie’s business blog</li> <li>Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives</li> </ul>

EP 497: Woopra $1M Raised, $1.6M 2015 Revenue, $300k MRR To Help Businesses Get Smarter with CEO Elie Khoury