Founder Interview
How Popup SRL Reached $10.5K Revenue and 25 Paying Customers with a Team of 3 (Interview with CEO Francesco Teodori)
- Interview Date
- November 2, 2022
- Interviewee
- Francesco TeodoriCo-Founder and CEO
Company Metrics at Interview Time
Revenue (2022)
$10.5K
Paying Customers (2022)
25
Valuation (2022)
$900,000
Total Funding Raised
$80,000
Team Size (2022)
3
Historical Snapshot
These numbers were reported by Francesco Teodori during the interview recorded in November 2022 and are a historical snapshot, not current figures. See Popup SRL’s current numbers.
Key Takeaways
- 01Popup SRL had 25 paying customers as of November 2022, out of 100 total restaurants using the platform
- 02Revenue stood at $10.5K at the time of the interview in 2022
- 03Average revenue per user was approximately 30 euros per month
- 04The company raised $80,000 from friends and family, who own 20% of the company
- 05The latest valuation at interview time was $900,000
- 06200 new users registered in the month prior to the interview
- 07Monthly active users on the platform reached 500 at interview time
- 08The company launched to market in February 2022 and grew from zero revenue
- 09The team consisted of 3 people, with 2 full-time and 3 part-time contributors
- 10The product operates as a social QR code menu for bars and restaurants, piloted in the Marche and Abruzzo regions of Italy
Company Metrics at Time of Interview
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (2022) | $10.5K | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Paying Customers (2022) | 25 | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| ARPU (2022) | 30 euros per month | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Total Restaurants on Platform (2022) | 100 | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Monthly Active Users (2022) | 500 | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| New Registered Users (2022) | 200 | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Total Funding Raised | $80,000 | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Valuation (2022) | $900,000 | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Friends and Family Ownership (2022) | 20% | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Team Size (2022) | 3 | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Founder Equity (2022) | 50% | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
| Co-Founder (CTO) Equity (2022) | 25% | Founder interview, Nov 2022 |
Growth Breakdown
Revenue
Popup SRL reported $10.5K in revenue in 2022, growing from zero since launching to market in February 2022. The company had 25 paying customers at an average of 30 euros per month, with some customers on annual subscriptions paying upfront.
Customers
The platform had 100 restaurants using it at interview time, with 25 on paid plans and the remainder on a free tier with limited features. The pilot was concentrated in the Marche and Abruzzo regions of Italy.
Team
The team consisted of 3 people at interview time, with Francesco Teodori as co-founder and CEO and Daniele as co-founder and CTO. The company also had part-time contributors bringing the broader headcount to five.
Funding
Popup SRL raised $80,000 from a friends and family round, with investors owning 20% of the company. The valuation at the time of the interview was $900,000, reached through a series of smaller rounds at increasing valuations.
Growth Strategy
Organic Virality via QR Code Social Features
Francesco credited organic registrations as a key growth driver, noting that users would scan the QR code out of curiosity and register for the social features without any marketing push. The product's social layer was designed to encourage word-of-mouth within venues.
Event-Based Pilots
The company validated its product primarily through special events at venues, where attendees were introduced to the platform and its social features in a controlled setting. This approach helped demonstrate the product's value before broader rollout.
Improving User Experience
Francesco highlighted ongoing work to simplify the registration and onboarding flow, making it easier for new users to understand and engage with the social menu features quickly.
Raising New Capital for Expansion
The team was actively seeking additional funding at interview time to scale marketing and go bold on growth through events and mass-market efforts beyond their current regional pilot.
Best Quotes
“Our is a digital solution. We came up with the special QR code, which doesn't give you only a digital menu, but there is a real time social experience where people can actually interact in real time in venues.”
“So basically, imagine you are you are in a bar or in a restaurant, scan a QR code, you land in a digital menu. Together with the digital menu, you have another section section where you have a people room and a boardroom where people can actually see who is nearby in the venue. They can interact with the chat messages and dating interactions, and they can also post the board meeting.”
“You can actually access the the menu without any login. But in order to access the social features, you have to access by logging in. And the reason why you you would log in is to see what are the other people.”
“We currently are running a pilot in Italy, in the center of Italy. We mostly are working in the Marche, Abruzzo, which are two regions in Italy.”
“So they on average, they pay €30.”
“We have 25 paying.”
“Yes. Sometime more because we also have annual subscriptions where they basically pay upfront the whole fee.”
“We went to the market in in February, but we made some some pivoting in the in the midwife.”
“We as of today, we raise we raise the 80 k.”
“At that time so the latest valuation is 900,000.”
What Happened Next
This interview captured Popup SRL at an early stage in November 2022, just months after launching to market in February of that year with 25 paying customers and $10.5K in revenue. Francesco Teodori indicated the team was actively working to improve user experience and raise additional capital to scale beyond their regional Italian pilot. These figures represent a point-in-time snapshot and may not reflect the company's current state. Visit the Popup SRL company profile for the latest available numbers.
View Popup SRL’s current profile and metricsFull Transcript
Chapters
- 0:00Host Intro and Key Metrics Overview
- 0:24Guest Introduction: Francesco Teodori and Popup SRL
- 0:42What Is a Social Menu for Nightlife
- 1:11How the Product Works in a Venue
- 2:23Login vs. Browse: How Users Access Social Features
- 8:23Pricing: 30 Euros Per Month Per Restaurant
- 8:5325 Paying Customers Out of 100 Total
- 9:26Launch Timeline and Pivots in 2022
- 9:58Founding Team and Equity Split
- 10:19Friends and Family Round: $80K Raised
- 10:59Growth Strategy and Network Effect Challenges
- 12:11Team Size and Full-Time Headcount
- 12:29Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions
- 13:34Closing Recap and Wrap-Up
Host Intro and Key Metrics Overview
Nathan Latka
00:00Guys, popup.lol helps restaurants drive online engagement during physical events. They've got a 100 customers paying, call it $35 a month oh, sorry. 25 customers paying $35 a month doing about $875 a month in revenue. That's up from nothing a year ago because they just launched in February 2022. They raised $80,000 in funding so far from friends and family who own 20%. The last valuation was $900,000. They're building us with a team of three. We'll see what
Guest Introduction: Francesco Teodori and Popup SRL
Nathan Latka
00:24happens next. Hey, folks. My guest today is Francesco Teodori. He's the cofounder of popup s r l, an innovative startup engagement providing innovative solutions to the entertainment and hospitality industry. It's effectively social media, a social menu for nightlife at popup.lol. Francesco, are you ready to take us to the top?
What Is a Social Menu for Nightlife
Francesco Teodori
00:42>> Yeah. Yeah.
Nathan Latka
00:43Alright. What does social menu for nightlife mean? Is this like a list of restaurants or what?
Francesco Teodori
00:48>> Well, it's not actually a list of restaurants. Our is a digital solution. We came up with the special QR code, which doesn't give you only a digital menu, but there is a real time social experience where people can actually interact in real time in venues.
Nathan Latka
01:07Okay. But what are you showing them? What what what tell me how a customer is using you.
How the Product Works in a Venue
Francesco Teodori
01:11>> Yeah. So basically, imagine you are you are in a bar or in a restaurant, scan a QR code, you land in a digital menu. Together with the digital menu, you have another section section where you have a people room and a boardroom where people can actually see who is nearby in the venue. They can interact with the chat messages and dating interactions, and they can also post the board meeting.
Nathan Latka
01:38How would they know who's nearby if the other people nearby haven't logged into the same application? Don't you have to get everyone to log in?
Francesco Teodori
01:45>> Yes. But we also have a geotech mechanism which allows us to actually understand who is within a geo fence. So basically, through the GPS coordinates, we are able to understand
Nathan Latka
01:59Yeah. But how do you get my data? Let's say you're at a restaurant sitting down using popup dot I'm sitting five feet away. You log in to the popup.lol app. How would popup.lol know that I am sitting five feet away?
Francesco Teodori
02:11>> Yeah. You you have to log in.
Nathan Latka
02:12Yeah. So how I mean, isn't that a massive problem? I never log in to I hate scanning things to look at a menu when I sit down at restaurants. Why would I log into a social app inside the barcode QR scanner?
Login vs. Browse: How Users Access Social Features
Francesco Teodori
02:23>> Well, you can actually access the the menu without any login. But in order to access the social features, you have to access by logging in. And the reason why you you would log in is to see what are the other people. So if you don't log in, you you don't see the other people. So it's like a social. So if you if you want to participate in the social experience, you have to register and also show
02:53>> to the other people your your social details.
Nathan Latka
02:56How many people registered last month?
Francesco Teodori
02:59>> We had over 200 people.
Nathan Latka
03:01Okay. So 200 people. And are any specific geography, or is that all over the world?
Francesco Teodori
03:06>> No. We currently are running a pilot in Italy, in the center of Italy. We mostly are working in the Marche, Abruzzo, which are two regions in Italy.
Nathan Latka
03:18And of those 200 that registered last month, how many restaurants was that across?
Francesco Teodori
03:23>> We have, as of today, a 100 restaurants.
Nathan Latka
03:27Okay. So on average, how many people logged in per restaurant last month?
Francesco Teodori
03:33>> This is something I need to check, but usually, we have over 1,000 visits in a in a in a venue.
Nathan Latka
03:42But not visits. People log register, cause you have to register to see people next to you. You told me you had 200 people register last month across a 100 restaurants.
Francesco Teodori
03:52>> Based on logins, we have on average, let's say, 300, 500 people logging in.
Nathan Latka
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06:22the interview. Okay. So what's the difference between a login and a register and a register?
Francesco Teodori
06:27>> Sorry. Can you repeat, Nathan?
Nathan Latka
06:29You told me you have 200 registered last month. What's the difference between a register and a login?
Francesco Teodori
06:35>> What's the? Sorry. I I I don't I don't hear you very well.
Nathan Latka
06:39You told me that you had 200 people register last month.
Francesco Teodori
06:43>> Yes.
Nathan Latka
06:44And you just told me that 500 logged in last month.
Francesco Teodori
06:49>> Yes.
Nathan Latka
06:50How are those two things different?
Francesco Teodori
06:53>> Well okay. What I so over the the life of our of our of our company, we we had to set several registered. So last month, we we had 200 people registered. Mean, log logging in the the platform.
07:14>> So 200 people were the registered. The 500 were those logging in who actually accessed the the social menus.
Nathan Latka
07:23Understood. So the 500 logins came from people that may have registered months ago.
Francesco Teodori
07:32>> Yes. Exactly. Yeah.
Nathan Latka
07:34So 500 logins across 100 restaurants is an average of five logins per restaurant in a month. I mean, what's the likelihood that those five people that log in at the restaurant were even there at the same time so they would see each other at the same time? I mean, don't you log in and register to this thing and you see
07:43no one around you?
Francesco Teodori
07:45>> Oh, that that's correct. This is something we are working on in order to improve our experience. Indeed, of the time, the pilots that we have run were in specific events. So our, let's say, validation was
08:04>> during digital events where people were explained on the functionalities and how this tool worked. So as of now, the restaurants are using this mostly in special events.
Nathan Latka
08:18And how much do the restaurants pay you per month to use the technology?
Pricing: 30 Euros Per Month Per Restaurant
Francesco Teodori
08:23>> So they on average, they pay €30.
Nathan Latka
08:27Okay. So about $30, $35 United States dollars per month, and you're at a 100 restaurants. You said you have a 100 customers?
Francesco Teodori
08:37>> Yes. But let's say,
08:41>> we we have a business model where where we provide some customers with a free version, which has some limits.
Nathan Latka
08:51Then many are paying?
25 Paying Customers Out of 100 Total
Francesco Teodori
08:53>> We have 25 paying.
Nathan Latka
08:55Okay. So 25 times $35 a month. You're doing about $875 per month in revenue. Is that right?
Francesco Teodori
09:02>> Yes. Sometime more because we also have annual subscriptions where they basically pay upfront the whole fee.
Nathan Latka
09:13Well, sure. But I'm not asking on a cash basis. You would divide that fee by 12 to get your monthly recurring revenue?
Francesco Teodori
09:19>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Nathan Latka
09:20Okay. So put this on a timeline for me. When did you guys launch the business?
Launch Timeline and Pivots in 2022
Francesco Teodori
09:26>> We went to the market in in February, but we made some some pivoting in the in the midwife.
Nathan Latka
09:32Oh, so you just launched this year?
Francesco Teodori
09:34>> Yes. Yes.
Nathan Latka
09:35Amazing. And who is we? How many cofounders?
Francesco Teodori
09:38>> We have two people. It's me and Daniele, the the CTO. So the let's the magic mind behind the technology.
Nathan Latka
09:45Did you guys split equity fifty fifty?
Francesco Teodori
09:48>> No. He he has a lower advocate because he has a a small lower involvement in the in the project.
Founding Team and Equity Split
Nathan Latka
09:58So you took, like, 60%?
Francesco Teodori
10:00>> Yes. It's so it's basically 50% me. He has, like, 25. Then we have we have the family and friends round, which has 20%. And then we have 5, 6% for the rest of the deal.
Friends and Family Round: $80K Raised
Nathan Latka
10:19That makes sense. How much did you raise in the friends and family round?
Francesco Teodori
10:23>> We as of today, we raise we raise the 80 k.
Nathan Latka
10:27Okay. 80,000 on the friends and family round. And that was at a sounds like about a 500,000 cap or valuation?
Francesco Teodori
10:35>> At that time so the latest valuation is 900,000.
Nathan Latka
10:40So Yeah. But you raised if you you told me friends and family owned 20% of the company. Right?
Francesco Teodori
10:45>> Yes.
Nathan Latka
10:47And they put an 80 k. Right?
Francesco Teodori
10:49>> Yeah. But we we had we have split this into smaller rounds where
10:55>> we basically
10:56>> increase the the valuation.
Growth Strategy and Network Effect Challenges
Nathan Latka
10:59I see. I see. Okay. Very cool. Tell me how you're gonna grow. Right? So, I mean, this this strikes me as a very, very hard problem to get everyone in a restaurant to register for this because you have to have other people on the platform at the same time in the same spot to get network effects and and, you know, make the app useful.
Francesco Teodori
11:17>> Yeah. So actually, we were so first of all, we are improving our user experience. So we are making it really, really easy to register and to understand how our solution works. And we have we have seen that there are several organic registrations. So without any marketing people by themselves just register on the on the social menu because they are curious of our social features. And second, we are trying to raise new capital in order to go
11:54>> like bold on on this through events and mass
Nathan Latka
12:00Why do have to raise more money? Do you have any money left in the bank?
Francesco Teodori
12:04>> We yes. But we we require more more money to to go bold.
Team Size and Full-Time Headcount
Nathan Latka
12:11Okay. Fair enough. And how many folks are full time on the team today?
Francesco Teodori
12:15>> Sorry. Can you repeat, Nathan?
Nathan Latka
12:17How many folks are full time at the team today? Employee?
Francesco Teodori
12:21>> Full time, we have two people, and we have three people part time. So let's say three three people full time.
Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions
Nathan Latka
12:29Yep. Very cool. Well, Francesco, we're rooting for you, but we're out of time today. Let's wrap up with the famous five. Number one, what's your favorite book?
Francesco Teodori
12:37>> My favorite book, it's the Lord of the Rings.
Nathan Latka
12:40Mhmm.
12:41Number two, is there a CEO you're following or studying?
Francesco Teodori
12:45>> Surely, it's Elon Musk.
Nathan Latka
12:47Number three. What's your favorite online tool for building popup?
Francesco Teodori
12:53>> I would say Figma.
Nathan Latka
12:56Number four. How many hours of sleep are you getting every month?
Francesco Teodori
13:00>> How many hours of?
Nathan Latka
13:01Sleep.
Francesco Teodori
13:03>> Sleep. It's yeah. I would say five.
Nathan Latka
13:06Okay. And what's your situation? Married, single, kids?
Francesco Teodori
13:10>> Single.
Nathan Latka
13:11Okay. And how old are you?
Francesco Teodori
13:14>> I'm 30.
Nathan Latka
13:15Last question. What's something you wish you knew when you were 20 years old?
Francesco Teodori
13:20>> Well,
13:24>> better understanding on what means starting and what means being entrepreneur. Maybe I I would have started being entrepreneur before.
Closing Recap and Wrap-Up
Nathan Latka
13:34Guys, popup.lol helps restaurants drive online engagement during physical events. They've got a 100 customers paying, call it $35 a month oh, sorry. 25 customers paying $35 a month doing about $875 a month in revenue. That's up from nothing a year ago because they just launched in February 2022. They raised $80,000 in funding so far from friends and family who own 20%. The last valuation was $900,000. They're building us with a team of three. We'll see what
13:59happens next. Francesco, thanks for taking us to the top.
Francesco Teodori
14:02>> Thank you a lot, Nathan. See you.
Nathan Latka
14:06One more thing before you go. We have a brand new show every Thursday at 1PM central. It's called Shark Tank for SaaS. We call it deal or bust. One founder comes on, three hungry buyers, they try and do a deal live and the founder shares back end dashboards, their expenses, their revenue, ARPU, CAC, LTV, you name it, they share it. And the buyers try and make a deal live. It is fun to watch every Thursday one
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