Christof Wittig. He’s a serial, software entrepreneur and investor. Currently, he’s the founder and CEO of Hornet Networks, the world’s second largest gay social network and is a managing partner of Strive, based in San Francisco. He’s an investor and board member of various companies including Enish, Metago, KeepSafe, VirtaHealth, Black Medicine, Movie Pilot, Box Fish and App Annie. He has been active in the US, Germany, and throughout Asia.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Zero to One
What CEO do you follow? – Sami Inkinen
Favorite online tool? — Capshare.com
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Christof wished he told himself to be bold, that he didn’t need a degree, and to follow his dreams

Time Stamped Show Notes:

02:19 – Nathan introduces Christof to the show
03:09 – Strive and Hornet came at the same time to Christof
- 03:32 – Hornet started as a side project
03:50 – Christof exited Servo Software before Hornet
04:00 – Hornet is Christof’s first consumer business
04:10 – Servo Software was launched in 2004
05:02 – Christof sold Servo software in 2010
05:20 – Hornet’s capital came from that exit
05:48 – Christof is now 48
05:58 – Nathan had Sean Howell, Hornet’s co-founder in Episode 440
06:20 – Sean focused on marketing
06:50 – Sean and Christof are running it together
07:10 – Hornet had a subscription model and premium option
07:50 – Hornet’s revenue is 2/3 from subscription and 1/3 from ads
08:00 – Hornet’s future revenue model
08:28 – GHI
09:02 – Hornet raised their $8M in their Series A
10:05 – Hornet’s focus is the advertising revenue
10:46 – “Our focus is to get more engagement”
- 10:57 – Engagement is measured through sessions
- 11:12 – Peak days
11:30 – User base
- 11:41 – 3M monthly active and 1.5M daily active
12:09 – The key metrics to track the number of sessions
12:30 – Christof shares about Tinder
13:16 – Hornet sells CPM and provides premium exposure
14:00 – Hornet has a feed model to drive more organic traffic
14:34 – Hornet has the following features
15:20 – Hornet’s published price for CPM
15:56 – The number of advertisers currently working with Hornet
16:28 – Hornet uses TFP for their ads
17:10 – Hornet has the largest gay media newsroom in the USA
- 17:30 – The story feed makes the interaction in the gay community easier
18:05 – Christof shares where they spend the $8M
18:25 – Hornet also spends in marketing
18:39 – Christof wants users to understand that Hornet isn’t just about dating
19:00 – User growth
19:30 – Hornet takes the new concept of the gay app to the next level
20:14 – Hornet is about creating a new digital space for the gay community
21:35 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

They gay community needs a place where it’s not just about dating, but having interactions with the whole community.
The focus isn’t always on the number of users, specially if you’re driving traffic well.
A degree isn’t as important as just following your dreams.

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.
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
Jamf – Jamf helped Nathan keep his Macbook Air 11” secure even when he left it in the airplane’s back seat pocket
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 606: Hornet Raises $8M to Become Gay Content Hub, 17M Users, 3M MAU with CEO Christof Wittig

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