How Salence Reached $40K MRR with 80 Customers After Spinning Out of an Agency (Interview with CEO Eynar Isayev)

Introduction and Background

Nathan Latka

00:00Hey, folks. My guest today is Eynar Isayev. He's building a great tool called salence.io. He was born and grew up in The Czech Republic. He's a three time founder and CEO, multicultural mindset, has been in space tech and loves space tech in terms of being enthusiastic about the space, but again, focused on Salence, a sales automation tool. Eynar, are ready to take us to top?

Eynar Isayev

00:21>> Absolutely, Nathan. You very much Well, for having

Nathan Latka

00:24you know what to expect. It sounds like you listened to the show, right?

Eynar Isayev

00:27>> Not quite as much as I would like, but yes. Did listen to a few episodes.

Raising Now After Bootstrapping Since 2020

Nathan Latka

00:33So how is Salence doing? What are you guys doing and how are you competing in the sales space? Obviously, there's a lot of funding going to the space right now.

Eynar Isayev

00:41>> Absolutely. I mean, just about right now, can judge from my background. I'm hoping between two investor meetings and, you know, the interview just caught me in the middle of a traffic jam that, you know, I got stuck, I pulled over and it's good that I had my laptop next to me. We're raising the funds right now, we have the working prototype. I think the only reason, Nathan, that you, you know, we're having this interview is because

01:06>> of the way we've been bootstrapping the company ever since we started it back in 2019. 2020. We started with an agency model. Story dates back to 2017 when I started my first business, it was an events management company. And

Origin Story: Events Agency to SaaS Spin-Out

Eynar Isayev

01:23>> one of the channels, one of the sales channels brought us $500,000 in the first year of operations and that was the that's when I realized that this channel could be used as something essentially as a separate stand alone service. So that was the b to b marketing. Based on that, we started developing

Nathan Latka

01:42In our what channel was that that made 500 ks?

Eynar Isayev

01:45>> It's essentially a multi channel outreach sequence.

01:52>> We've learned how to do the market research in terms of identifying the ideal prospects for the C level conferences that we were organizing, and then how to find the contact details. And then essentially it was all about creating a multi channel sequence that would at the end of the day increase the likelihood of the prospects getting back to us, and

02:15>> starting a conversation. Know, because I've started the company without the outside financing. It was all about being inventive about the sales methods that I could use that would essentially lift the company from zero in terms of financing.

Current Customer Count: 80 Customers

Nathan Latka

02:28So you launched in 2019. How many customers are you now serving today?

Eynar Isayev

02:33>> So we have 80 customers right now.

Nathan Latka

02:35Eight zero. And what do they pay for the sales tool?

Eynar Isayev

02:39>> At the start, upfront. So the thing is right now we have the working prototype, if I understand your question correctly, Nathan.

Nathan Latka

02:47What are they paying on average per month? Is there a SaaS play?

Pricing and ARPU: £2,000 per Month

Eynar Isayev

02:51>> It is a SaaS. They're paying around £2,000, so they're paying a premium right now because the

03:00>> prototype is still operated by the account manager internally. And so we're looking to have our first fundraise happen this month so that we can get the service ready by October, the itself.

MRR Reality: $40,000 per Month

Nathan Latka

03:14So Eynar, just to be clear, you have 80 current customers paying 2,300 US dollars per month. That's like $180,000 a month in revenue, correct?

Eynar Isayev

03:23>> Correct. Well, here's the thing. Some of our customers are putting their campaigns on pause simply because the campaigns are effective. They have way too many leads that they can handle. We have a three month pause agreement. So what we're having right now, on average a month, is $40,000 That's our monthly recurring revenue.

Revenue History and First Ten Months

Nathan Latka

03:48Got it. So last month you did $40,000 and what were you doing a year ago in terms of monthly recurring revenue?

Eynar Isayev

03:54>> Well, overall, we've been operational for the past ten months, and we've made a little over $250,000

Nathan Latka

04:02I thought you said you launched in 2019.

Eynar Isayev

04:06>> In sorry, in 2020. January 23. That's when the company was so that's a long story short, the events management company had a spin off, and the spin off was this agency that started selling from July 2020.

December 2020 MRR Baseline

Nathan Latka

04:26I see, so what did you finish December at last year? How much MRR?

Eynar Isayev

04:31>> 68,000, that was essentially from July to December. October being the most profitable month, we've clocked in $35,000.

Nathan Latka

04:42Eynar, how much did you do in December, just December of last year?

Eynar Isayev

04:46>> December, it was $25,000

Nathan Latka

04:49Okay. Got it. So you've grown from $25,000 a month to about $40,000 per month over the past seven months.

Eynar Isayev

04:56>> Yeah. You're right.

Nathan Latka

04:57And and you've bootstrapped this so far. Correct?

Eynar Isayev

04:59>> Exactly, yes. That's absolutely right.

Fundraising Plans: Pre-Seed and Seed Rounds

Nathan Latka

05:01So, you're out raising, you're in between investor meetings right now and doing this interview from your car. How much are you looking to raise?

Eynar Isayev

05:07>> Well, right now we're raising a pre seed round despite the fact that we're having clients. Still consider ourselves the SaaS agency, A SaaS business. So, we're raising $150,000 to complete the development of the software. We have the backing from the investors for the seed stage at a $1,100,000 value, at a $1,100,000 investment ticket.

Nathan Latka

05:35I have no idea what that means. 1,100,000 valuation?

Eynar Isayev

05:39>> Our valuation is $11,000,000, but we're raising $1,100,000 for the seed stage. Now

Nathan Latka

05:47Okay. You had a 150 k. You were raising a 150 k. So how much are you raising?

Eynar Isayev

05:53>> We're raising a 150,000 right now to complete the software development.

Nathan Latka

05:59Okay.

Eynar Isayev

05:59>> And our plan is to get it done by October, because we already have a backing from an investor that wants to see the software already.

Nathan Latka

06:08Hold on. We're over the place. You just said you're gonna raise 1,100,000, and then you said you're raising a 150 k, and then you said you're bootstrapped where you already have an investor. So like, let's get this straight. So how much have you already raised to date, total in the company?

Eynar Isayev

06:20>> Alright. Here we go, Nathan. Once again, we'll take it as a as a straight timeline. Right now, we're bootstrapping.

Nathan Latka

06:28No the next one has given you money. You have no investors in the company.

Eynar Isayev

06:32>> Absolutely right.

Nathan Latka

06:33Okay.

Eynar Isayev

06:33>> So right now, we're raising at the pre seed stage, a $150,000.

Nathan Latka

06:40At what valuation?

Eynar Isayev

06:42>> At $5,000,000.

Nathan Latka

06:43Okay. That's what I was missing. So, you're raising 150 at 5,000,000 right now, and then you want to go out later and raise 1,100,000 at $11,000,000 valuation.

Eynar Isayev

06:52>> You're absolutely right. That's something that we're looking to

06:57>> to raise have in October, November. The software is about to be released, we just need this remaining 150,000 to really get the software off the ground and have it released. And we're pretty much going with a favorable valuation.

Personal Investment and Founder Background

Nathan Latka

07:12How much money personally have you put into the business?

Eynar Isayev

07:15>> Excuse me?

Nathan Latka

07:16How much money personally have you put into the business?

Eynar Isayev

07:19>> A $100,000, exactly.

Nathan Latka

07:21Does that make you nervous?

Eynar Isayev

07:24>> Absolutely not. It makes me excited.

Nathan Latka

07:26Well, and is that like a for you or are you like some rich guy?

Eynar Isayev

07:31>> No. I've made my money myself.

Nathan Latka

07:33Where where did you make your previous exit?

Eynar Isayev

07:37>> I didn't make an exit, that was the events management company. In fact, when I started the my business activities when I was 21, I didn't drop out of college as you did, and then had the $10,000,000 exit. For me, it was that I still continued the education. It was more of a tribute to my parents, I suppose. And then, but I still, I to do something, because the university's not gonna, the piece of paper wouldn't get

08:06>> me that far. So, that's when I started the events management company, and that's where I we as a company made a million dollar in profits in 2019.

Nathan Latka

08:18I Just

Eynar Isayev

08:19>> before the COVID came.

Team Size and Engineering Hires

Nathan Latka

08:21I see. You have money to pour into the Salence now. Now what's your team size today, Eynar? How many full time employees?

Eynar Isayev

08:27>> We have 10 employees right now.

Nathan Latka

08:29How many engineers?

Eynar Isayev

08:31>> Two engineers.

Nathan Latka

08:33Okay. Got it. And how many do you think you have to hire with a 150 k to get the software done?

Eynar Isayev

08:38>> Two more.

Nathan Latka

08:39Two more. Got it. Where are they based?

Eynar Isayev

08:42>> Ukraine.

Nathan Latka

08:43Is that a good place to hire developers from?

Eynar Isayev

08:46>> I believe it's one of the best places.

Nathan Latka

08:48Why is that?

Eynar Isayev

08:50>> Quality versus cost.

Nathan Latka

08:52What's it cost to get a senior developer in Ukraine?

Eynar Isayev

08:55>> Between 2,000 to $4,000 a month.

Nathan Latka

08:58Okay. That's pretty darn good. Now, are you based right now?

Eynar Isayev

09:01>> Czech Republic. Prague.

Nathan Latka

09:02Close to you. Not too far.

Eynar Isayev

09:05>> Yeah. We already have a branch and when we had the Events Management Company, I opened up three branches, actually: UK, India, and Ukraine. The branch that we have in Ukraine, we're using that as kind of expand the software engineering team.

Customer Acquisition via Cold Outreach

Nathan Latka

09:20Interesting. Now, how are you getting new customers? What's your fully weighted CAC?

Eynar Isayev

09:26>> Well, it's the cold outreach. The very sequence, the very Kool Aid that

09:35>> we're prescribing to our clients. Email, LinkedIn, and then on top of that, some paid ads on Google and LinkedIn.

Website Design and Talent Sourcing

Nathan Latka

09:44Yeah, very cool. And who did your website, by the way? It's beautiful, especially considering that the software is not ready and you're building a waitlist.

Eynar Isayev

09:52>> Oh, thank you. Thank you, Nathan. His name is Igor. He's a UX developer from Estonia. He's part of your How

Nathan Latka

10:00did you find him?

Eynar Isayev

10:01>> Oh, he's part of your team full time.

10:03>> No, he's not a full time right now, but I'm hoping he's going to be full time.

Nathan Latka

10:07Oh, very cool.

Eynar Isayev

10:08>> I mean, by the time we raised the funds, how I found him? Skilling. That's how I raised the business overall. Think like one thing that I'm missing is a is a a brilliant scouter, you know, a brilliant HR manager in in our company Scouting.

Nathan Latka

10:23Because Specifically, what platform did you find Egor on? LinkedIn, Fiverr, somewhere else, Dribbble?

Eynar Isayev

10:30>> Behance.

Nathan Latka

10:31Behance, got it. So you just cold messaged him on Behance, he did a good job for you, you paid him for an initial project, and now you want hire him full time.

Eynar Isayev

10:38>> Well, here's the thing, I looked at his artwork and I liked it. I found him on LinkedIn, contacted him, said Hey, there's something interesting I'd like to discuss with you. We got on a call, we started discussing, he kind of felt passionate about the idea and there we go, we have the website now ready.

Nathan Latka

10:52How much did you pay him for the website design?

Eynar Isayev

10:56>> 1,500.

Famous Five Rapid Fire Questions

Nathan Latka

10:58Okay, that's pretty darn that's pretty fair. Nice work there. Very cool. Alright, well, listen, you're out raising, so I'm going let you go. Let's wrap up quickly here with the famous five. Number one, favorite business book?

Eynar Isayev

11:10>> Favorite business book?

11:15>> Rich dad, poor dad.

Nathan Latka

11:16Number two, is there a CEO you're following or studying?

Eynar Isayev

11:23>> Steve Jobs. He's the CEO, no longer.

Nathan Latka

11:25Number number three, what's your favorite online tool, A and R, for building a business besides your own?

Eynar Isayev

11:34>> Gmail.

11:35>> Alright.

Nathan Latka

11:36Number four, how many hours of sleep do you get every night?

Eynar Isayev

11:39>> Five.

Nathan Latka

11:39And what's your situation? Married, single, kids?

Eynar Isayev

11:43>> Married, with kid.

Nathan Latka

11:44How many one kid?

Eynar Isayev

11:46>> One kid. The next one is about to, you know, pop out.

Nathan Latka

11:50Very cool. And how old are you?

Eynar Isayev

11:54>> 25.

11:56>> 25. Last question.

Nathan Latka

11:57What's something you wish you knew when you were 20?

Eynar Isayev

12:01>> Doing myself as a mentor when I'm 25.

Nathan Latka

12:05Guys, there you have it. His agency did 1,000,000 in revenue back in 2019. He used that to spin out a SaaS tool called salence.io, playing in a sales space sales process. Basically, he got 80 customers already doing up $40,000 a month in revenue up from $25,000 a month just about six months ago. He's raising $150,000 right now at a $5,000,000 valuation. We'll see if he can get it done. Eynar, congratulations, thanks for taking us to the

12:27top.

Eynar Isayev

12:28>> Thank you very much, Nathan.

Nathan Latka

12:31One 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 1PM

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