Steven Benson. The founder and CEO of Badger Maps – the number one sales app in the Apple app store which helps salespeople become more successful. Badger shows salespeople their customers and leads on the map and connects them with their calendar to build a daily route.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Tools of Titans
What CEO do you follow? – N/A
Favorite online tool? — Baremetrics
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Steven wished he had known that he’d learn more working for small companies than big companies

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:27 – Nathan introduces Steven to the show
02:00 – Badger Maps helps salespeople with their jobs
02:37 - Badger Maps is a SaaS model
02:50 – Average customer pay per month is $35
02:58 – Badger Maps was founded in 2012
03:24 – Badger Maps has 3 co-founders
03:50 – Steven and the other co-founders didn’t really split the equity
04:00 – When splitting the equity, everyone gets a fair deal
- 04:44 – Steven shares what to consider in splitting equity
- 05:58 – Badger Maps has an accelerator clause
06:44 – First year revenue is $70K
07:10 – Number of current customers is 4K
07:40 – Apple ranked Badger Maps as #1
08:50 – There are Fortune 500 companies who use Badger Maps
09:01 – The number of customers is both team and individual sales reps
09:16 – Gross monthly customer churn is 3.3%
09:37 – The customers are finding Badger Maps through word of mouth, SEO, and SMM
10:08 – The amount Badger Maps is willing to spend to acquire new customers
10:46 – Badger Maps spent $12K on paid marketing
11:00 – Average CAC
- 11:24 – Google is around $300
- 12:06 – In San Francisco, people are spending 100% of LTV on acquisition
12:53 – Badger Maps is bootstrapped
- 13:03 – Badger Maps had a loan from Lighter Capital
- 13:45 – Steven shares how Lighter Capital makes loans for SaaS companies
- 14:10 – Steven is paying 22-28% for the amount they have loaned and there’s no personal guarantee
15:06 – Total revenue in 2016 is around $1.2M
15:20 – Revenue goal in 2017 is $4.5M
17:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Be fair and make sure it is a great deal for everyone when splitting equity.
Getting a loan can also be a good option for SaaS companies.
In San Francisco, people are spending 100% of LTV on acquisition.

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 560: Badger Maps Does $1.2M in 2016, $120k MRR, Looking to 3x with CEO Steven Benson

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders