Michael Hollauf, cofounder and CEO of MeisterLabs. The company works to provide resources to collaborate across digital platforms. Now they are introducing a new service, MeisterTask, which focuses on better task management and a fun user experience. Hear about how MeisterLabs has hit the ground running and is continuing to introduce new tools to help businesses and entrepreneurs succeed.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Rich Dad Poor Dad
What CEO do you follow? — Stewart Butterfield
Favorite online tool? — Slack

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Buy a flat in London. Be bold. Do it earlier.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:05 – Nathan introduces Michael
01:35 – Managing director of MeisterLabs
02:20 – MeisterTask
03:10 – Trello was their inspiration
- 03:40 – Better task management
- 04:00 – Something more fun to use and focused on tasks
04:15 – 550000 users
05:10 – 60% of the downloads are through the app store
05:30 – Some features only available in the premium model
06:00 – 5000 paying customers
06:50 – Why people upgrade
- 07:00 – Better integration
07:20 – Funding
08:00 – MeisterTask revenue for 2015 was $20k
08:20 – MindMeister was $2.5 M
- 08:35 – Monthly recurring was $220k
- 09:00 – 5 million users
- 09:15 – 30000 paying customers
- Collaboration for mind maps
10:10 – Cost to acquire a new customer is about $30
10:30 – 27% annual churn
11:50 – Average customer stays for about 20 months
- 12:05 – Monthly plan was changed to a longer plan, which increased retention
12:30 – How MindMeister is growing
- 12:40 – about $25k/month on Google Ads
- 13:00 – best keyword is “mind mapping”
13:30 – Competitors
14:00 – Goal for the business is to create a suite of products
14:50 – MeisterTask valuation
16:00 – Michael Hollauf on LinkedIn
16:22 – michael@meisterlabs.com
28:35 -- The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Don’t be afraid to draw from ideas of existing companies.
Establish your end goal for your business.
Be bold. Start your business early.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Trello – A similar service to MeisterTask that inspired Michael
Slack -- Another online tool that inspires Michael and his team
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

EP 398: 5 Million Users, $250k in MRR, SaaS Founder Michael Hollauf of MindMiester.com

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders