Amit Shanbhag's guest appearances

Amit Shanbhag

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

Bill Gates

Rob Walch

Neil Patel

Barbara Corcoran

Chris Guillebeau

Brian Scudamore

Wade Foster

Aaron Fifield

Drew Canole

Tony Robbins

Omar Zenhom

Webinar Ninja

Laura Roeder

Melanie Duncan

Bernie Sanders

OwlTail

Amit Shanbhag. He bootstrapped RocketReach from 0 to over 300K registered users in its first year. RocketReach and RocketReach API are trusted by some of the largest companies on the planet like Apple, Google, Chase and Morgan Stanley—just to name a few. He has more than a dozen patents and has started his professional life writing code for geostationary satellites. He’s also a judge for the MIT $100K competition and hopes to invest more time and money back into the startup ecosystem. Famous Five:  Favorite Book? – N/A What CEO do you follow? – Sundar Pichai Favorite online tool? — Google Search Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 4-5 If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Amit would tell the young ones to take risks, give everything you’re doing a good shot, and that worrying isn’t productive    Time Stamped Show Notes:  01:28 – Nathan introduces Amit to the show 02:08 – Amit was in Episode 465 and just passed 100K paying customers 03:03 – RocketReach has 300K signup users 03:31 – RocketReach has doubled its growth 04:00 – “We tried to go more into the lead generation space” 04:21 – The end customers hold RocketReach responsible for higher quality data, which is out of their control 05:04 – RocketReach is similar to LeadGenius 05:10 – LeadGenius charges higher for their data  05:48 – LeadGenius uses a combination of people and software to gather data   05:56 – Amit wants RocketReach to rely purely on software, without human intervention 06:25 – The other problem with the lead generation space is when the users don’t follow up with the leads generated for them, then put the blame on RocketReach for not having quality leads  06:51 – Amit isn’t sure if Lead Genius is doing something about this problem   07:36 – CAC is quite high 07:52 – The lead generation part of RocketReach hasn’t really piloted 08:17 – RocketReach was getting $3K – 7K per delivery set, but the retention rate is low 09:00 – RocketReach is using a lot of open APIs like AngelList and Crunchbase 10:17 – Most of the APIs that RocketReach uses are paid APIs 10:55 – Amit has decided that RocketReach will not continue down the lead generation path 11:06 – Amit wants customers to think of RocketReach as a productivity tool that is accessible on their browsers  11:26 – “We wanted to become more of a de facto productivity tool for sales” 11:33 – RocketReach focuses on features that can make a team more productive   12:17 – RocketReach doesn’t have the self-serve team feature on their website, at the moment 12:57 – RocketReach currently has 7 team members and is still bootstrapped 13:02 – RocketReach has one of the highest revenues per employee in the lead generation space 13:12 – If RocketReach had continued with the lead generation model, it would have made sense to raise 13:25 – RocketReach is trying to scale without hiring a sales team 14:20 – RocketReach has an average of $70 monthly RPU  14:30 – But the number of paying users is complicated   15:25 – RocketReach’s 120K users mentioned in Episode 465 is the number of registered users 16:13 – Amit doesn’t see the need to reveal the number of paying customers  17:18 – Customers are paying anywhere from 1K-50K   17:42 – Gross customer monthly churn is 7%  17:53 – The churn has gone down a bit   18:56 – RocketReach has 2 different revenue streams 20:40 – The Famous Five    3 Key Points:  The lead generation space isn’t as easy as it seems. It IS possible to stay bootstrapped while, at the same time, scaling your business. Take risks, give your best shot, and worry less!    Resources Mentioned:  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 Organifi – The juice was Nathan’s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE 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 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

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitshanbhag/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amit Shanbhag</a>. He bootstrapped <a href="https://rocketreach.co" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RocketReach</a> from 0 to over 300K registered users in its first year. RocketReach and RocketReach API are trusted by some of the largest companies on the planet like Apple, Google, Chase and Morgan Stanley—just to name a few. He has more than a dozen patents and has started his professional life writing code for geostationary satellites. He’s also a judge for the MIT $100K competition and hopes to invest more time and money back into the startup ecosystem. Famous Five: <ul> <li>Favorite Book? – N/A</li> <li>What CEO do you follow? – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundar_Pichai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sundar Pichai</a></li> <li>Favorite online tool? — <a href="https://www.google.com." rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Search</a></li> <li>Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— 4-5</li> <li>If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – Amit would tell the young ones to take risks, give everything you’re doing a good shot, and that worrying isn’t productive</li> </ul> Time Stamped Show Notes: <ul> <li>01:28 – Nathan introduces Amit to the show</li> <li>02:08 – Amit was in <a href="http://nathanlatka.com/thetop465/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 465</a> and just passed 100K paying customers</li> <li>03:03 – RocketReach has 300K signup users</li> <li>03:31 – RocketReach has doubled its growth</li> <li>04:00 – “We tried to go more into the lead generation space”</li> <li>04:21 – The end customers hold RocketReach responsible for higher quality data, which is out of their control</li> <li>05:04 – RocketReach is similar to <a href="https://www.leadgenius.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LeadGenius</a></li> <li>05:10 – LeadGenius charges higher for their data <ul> <li>05:48 – LeadGenius uses a combination of people and software to gather data</li> </ul> </li> <li>05:56 – Amit wants RocketReach to rely purely on software, without human intervention</li> <li>06:25 – The other problem with the lead generation space is when the users don’t follow up with the leads generated for them, then put the blame on RocketReach for not having quality leads <ul> <li>06:51 – Amit isn’t sure if Lead Genius is doing something about this problem</li> </ul> </li> <li>07:36 – CAC is quite high</li> <li>07:52 – The lead generation part of RocketReach hasn’t really piloted</li> <li>08:17 – RocketReach was getting $3K – 7K per delivery set, but the retention rate is low</li> <li>09:00 – RocketReach is using a lot of open APIs like <a href="https://angel.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AngelList</a> and <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Crunchbase</a></li> <li>10:17 – Most of the APIs that RocketReach uses are paid APIs</li> <li>10:55 – Amit has decided that RocketReach will not continue down the lead generation path</li> <li>11:06 – Amit wants customers to think of RocketReach as a productivity tool that is accessible on their browsers <ul> <li>11:26 – “We wanted to become more of a de facto productivity tool for sales”</li> <li>11:33 – RocketReach focuses on features that can make a team more productive</li> </ul> </li> <li>12:17 – RocketReach doesn’t have the self-serve team feature on their website, at the moment</li> <li>12:57 – RocketReach currently has 7 team members and is still bootstrapped</li> <li>13:02 – RocketReach has one of the highest revenues per employee in the lead generation space</li> <li>13:12 – If RocketReach had continued with the lead generation model, it would have made sense to raise</li> <li>13:25 – RocketReach is trying to scale without hiring a sales team</li> <li>14:20 – RocketReach has an average of $70 monthly RPU <ul> <li>14:30 – But the number of paying users is complicated</li> </ul> </li> <li>15:25 – RocketReach’s 120K users mentioned in Episode 465 is the number of registered users</li> <li>16:13 – Amit doesn’t see the need to reveal the number of paying customers <ul> <li>17:18 – Customers are paying anywhere from 1K-50K</li> </ul> </li> <li>17:42 – Gross customer monthly churn is 7% <ul> <li>17:53 – The churn has gone down a bit</li> </ul> </li> <li>18:56 – RocketReach has 2 different revenue streams</li> <li>20:40 – The Famous Five</li> </ul> 3 Key Points: <ol> <li>The lead generation space isn’t as easy as it seems.</li> <li>It IS possible to stay bootstrapped while, at the same time, scaling your business.</li> <li>Take risks, give your best shot, and worry less!</li> </ol> Resources Mentioned: <ul> <li><a href="http://thetopinbox.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Top Inbox</a> – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences</li> <li><a href="http://nathanlatka.com/juice" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Organifi</a> – The juice was Nathan’s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia</li> <li><a href="http://nathanlatka.com/analytics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Klipfolio</a> – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE</li> <li><a href="http://nathanlatka.com/schedule" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Acuity Scheduling</a> – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments</li> <li><a href="http://www.hostgator.com/promo/nathan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Host Gator</a>– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible</li> <li><a href="http://nathanlatka.com/audible" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Audible</a>– Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books</li> <li><a href="http://www.nathanlatka.com/freshbooks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Freshbooks</a> – Nathan doesn’t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW</li> </ul> Show Notes provided by <a href="http://www.mallardcreatives.com/testimonials/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mallard Creatives</a>

635: RocketReach Kills Low Margin Product, Doubles Down on $70 ARPU Customers, $10M 2017 ARR goal with CEO Amit Shanbhag

Amit Shanbhag, co-founder of RocketReach.co, a company that allows users to lookup email addresses, phones, social links, etc. for over 250 million professionals worldwide. Amit bootstrapped to RocketReach from zero to over a hundred thousand customers including Apple, Google, and Morgan Stanley to name a few. He has more than a dozen patents and started his professional life writing code for geo-stationary satellites. He loves open water swimming, watching cricket, and spending time with his 4-year old son. Famous Five:  Favorite Book? – N/A What CEO do you follow? –  Marissa Mayer   Favorite online tool? — Google Drive Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Live the moment and enjoy what you have”    Time Stamped Show Notes:  01:53 – Nathan introduces Amit  to the show 02:33 – RocketReach is a sales management tool 02:54 – RocketReach was founded in 2015 03:03 – Amit and his co-founder used to work for a SaaS business 03:15 – They tried to get information from www.data.com for user acquisition   03:25 – They realized that the data is 85% inaccurate   03:31 – They tried different tools 04:25 – Team size 04:40 – Completely bootstrapped 04:51 – They tried to raise a small round   05:18 – Went to institution investors 05:27 – The terms were not profitable 05:40 – Amit stopped fund-raising after 6 months   05:58 – They had 10,000 customers in March 06:40 – Companies that are the competition 07:35 – RocketReach is SaaS and has monthly subscription   07:40 – Plans are $ 49, $ 99 and $ 299 07:46 – Salespeople and recruiters are the biggest user base 08:30 – Most of the users are from the $ 99 plan   09:10 – MRR 09:40 – They were doing a lot of outbound in January 10:04 – Most of their users now are from SEO 11:18 – Customers who buy access to RocketReach API   11:38 – They are considered as competition   12:29 – First year revenue   12:45 – Total of $ 15 from October 2015 to December 2015   13:02 – March 2016 is when the growth started 13:40 – Did a deal with 500 startups companies 14:40 – Gross monthly churn 16:40 – Lifetime value 17:17 – Company expenses 18:09 – The quality of data that RocketReach has sets them apart from their competitors 18:30 – Comparison of RocketReach and Email Hunter 19:50 – Goal for 2016 20:53 – Decent offer in the SaaS space 21:15 – 2-digit percentage average monthly customer growth 22:15 – Connect with Amit through his website and Twitter 24:00 – The Famous Five    3 Key Points:  First year revenue is not always what you’re expecting. Improve your product to the point it makes your competitors, your customers. Live for the moment and enjoy what you have.  Resources Mentioned:  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 quality of Toptal  developers. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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. Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email. Drip – Nathan uses Drip’s email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel. RocketReach.co – Amit’s website @RocketReachco – Amit’s Twitter handle Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives 

Amit Shanbhag, co-founder of <a href="http://RocketReach.co" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RocketReach.co</a>, a company that allows users to lookup email addresses, phones, social links, etc. for over 250 million professionals worldwide. Amit bootstrapped to RocketReach from zero to over a hundred thousand customers including Apple, Google, and Morgan Stanley to name a few. He has more than a dozen patents and started his professional life writing code for geo-stationary satellites. He loves open water swimming, watching cricket, and spending time with his 4-year old son. Famous Five: <ul> <li>Favorite Book? – N/A</li> <li>What CEO do you follow? –  Marissa Mayer</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Favorite online tool? — Google Drive</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? – “Live the moment and enjoy what you have”</li> </ul> Time Stamped Show Notes: <ul> <li>01:53 – Nathan introduces Amit  to the show</li> <li>02:33 – RocketReach is a sales management tool</li> <li>02:54 – RocketReach was founded in 2015</li> <li>03:03 – Amit and his co-founder used to work for a SaaS business</li> <li>03:15 – They tried to get information from <a href="http://www.data.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.data.com</a> for user acquisition</li> <li> <ul> <li>03:25 – They realized that the data is 85% inaccurate</li> </ul> </li> <li>03:31 – They tried different tools</li> <li>04:25 – Team size</li> <li>04:40 – Completely bootstrapped</li> <li>04:51 – They tried to raise a small round</li> <li> <ul> <li>05:18 – Went to institution investors</li> <li>05:27 – The terms were not profitable</li> <li>05:40 – Amit stopped fund-raising after 6 months</li> </ul> </li> <li>05:58 – They had 10,000 customers in March</li> <li>06:40 – Companies that are the competition</li> <li>07:35 – RocketReach is SaaS and has monthly subscription</li> <li> <ul> <li>07:40 – Plans are $ 49, $ 99 and $ 299</li> <li>07:46 – Salespeople and recruiters are the biggest user base</li> <li>08:30 – Most of the users are from the $ 99 plan</li> </ul> </li> <li>09:10 – MRR</li> <li>09:40 – They were doing a lot of outbound in January</li> <li>10:04 – Most of their users now are from SEO</li> <li>11:18 – Customers who buy access to RocketReach API</li> <li> <ul> <li>11:38 – They are considered as competition</li> </ul> </li> <li>12:29 – First year revenue</li> <li> <ul> <li>12:45 – Total of $ 15 from October 2015 to December 2015</li> </ul> </li> <li>13:02 – March 2016 is when the growth started</li> <li>13:40 – Did a deal with 500 startups companies</li> <li>14:40 – Gross monthly churn</li> <li>16:40 – Lifetime value</li> <li>17:17 – Company expenses</li> <li>18:09 – The quality of data that RocketReach has sets them apart from their competitors</li> <li>18:30 – Comparison of RocketReach and Email Hunter</li> <li>19:50 – Goal for 2016</li> <li>20:53 – Decent offer in the SaaS space</li> <li>21:15 – 2-digit percentage average monthly customer growth</li> <li>22:15 – Connect with Amit through his website and Twitter</li> <li>24:00 – The Famous Five</li> </ul> 3 Key Points: <ul> <li>First year revenue is not always what you’re expecting.</li> <li>Improve your product to the point it makes your competitors, your customers.</li> <li>Live for the moment and enjoy what you have.</li> </ul> Resources Mentioned: <ul> <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 quality of Toptal  developers.</li> <li>Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.</li> <li>Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.</li> <li>Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+</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><a href="http://Assistant.to" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Assistant.to</a> – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.</li> <li>Drip – Nathan uses Drip’s email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel.</li> <li><a href="http://RocketReach.co" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RocketReach.co</a> – Amit’s website</li> <li>@RocketReachco – Amit’s Twitter handle</li> <li>Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives</li> </ul>

EP: 465: 120,000 Customers, About $200k MRR, $10M 2017 ARR Goal with RocketReach.co CEO Amit Shanbhag