In Episode #623, Nathan interviews Richard Brasser. He’s the foremost expert in helping companies increase the effectiveness and influence of their Salesforce’s strategic use of social communication. He does this through his company, rFactr. Richard pursues his focus in enabling salespeople to leverage social communication and build more meaningful relationship.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Crossing the Chasm
What CEO do you follow? – Tony Robbins
Favorite online tool? — Outlook
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Very rarely
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Richard wished he knew the concept of compounding interest and the concept of deferred asset allocation

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:34 – Nathan introduces Richard to the show
02:15 – Companies need to engage their buyers in a more meaningful way
02:32 – rFactr is focused on enhancing sales people’s ability to connect with people
02:51 – rFactr’s platform is called a social port
- 03:15 – rFactr has a per month/per user model
03:26 – rFactr is not a marketplace
03:33 – rFactr is directly plugged into companies’ CRMs
03:55 – Average customer pay per month
- 04:15 – rFactr has channel activations
04:40 – rFactr’s starting price is $5K a month
04:49 – rFactr was launched in 2009
04:57 – rFactr was bootstrapped for the first 8 years
05:04 – rFactr had a seed round and will probably have a series A
05:17 – rFactr has raised a total of $9M
05:32 – Richard played golf on tour for 7 years
- 05:45 – Richard made a good amount from playing golf
06:01 – Richard was already 7 years in business when he needed someone for the operations and finance side of the company
06:08 – Richard’s partner was just exiting his software company when he joined rFactr
06:25 – Nathan tells Richard about Episode 615 where he had Shin as a guest whose company makes carbon fiber golf shafts
- 06:47 – Richard hasn’t seen Shin’s product
07:05 – The seed round is an equity round
- 07:17 – The last round was in 2010
07:40 – The company has been around for 16 years, but the main product was developed 9 years ago
07:51 – Richard’s company started as a strategy and consulting firm
08:33 – Richard shares how the first company was valuated
09:31 – Team size is 18
09:39 – rFactr has 220 paying customers
09:44 – Average MRR
10:29 – Richard shares why they’re having the small companies together with the biggest ones
11:25 – Gross customer churn
11:37 – CAC
- 12:08 – rFactr has no paid marketing
12:23 – Team’s location
13:45 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Small companies may not be able to pay as much as the big companies, but the level of help they need is similar.
Use your money from your exit for your new company.
Paid marketing isn’t always necessary—know your options to better decide if it’s right for you.

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

EP 623: rfactr Raises $9m, $900k MRR Helping 220 Customers With Social Selling With CEO Richard Brasser

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders