Darren Pierce. He’s the founder and CEO of eTailInsights. Prior to launching the business, he has spent many years working with B2B companies specializing in leadership, strategic development, client relationships, and maximizing revenue growth. Darren was the Director of Sales for First Research which was acquired by Hoover. Darren helped Bronto Software accelerate their revenue market share to become the leading email service provider in the ecommerce industry. He’s a graduate of The Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University with 2 BSBAs in Management and Marketing.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – The Hockey Stick Principles What CEO do you follow? – N/A Favorite online tool? — Buffer Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – Darren wished that his 20-year old self could have been more patient
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:50 – Nathan introduces Darren to the show 02:35 – Darren didn’t want to leave Bronto Software, but he came up with the eTailInsights’ idea and couldn’t let it pass 02:53 – Darren joined Bronto, in 2008, to help sell their email marketing and make offers to online retailers 03:25 – One of the early problems in Bronto was how to find the companies/retailers 03:47 – eTailInsights is a database that indexed the e commerce companies 04:03 – eTailInsights is a SaaS business 04:10 – Average MRR/ARR 04:43 – The pay is manual upfront 04:48 – eTailInsights was launched in 2011 04:51 – Total 2015 revenue 05:15 – 2016 goal 05:50 – Average MRR 06:18 – Average churn is adjusted 06:50 – CAC 07:29 - eTailInsights’ average pay per click 07:48 – LTV 08:25 – eTailInsights has been tracking hundreds of thousands of retailer globally 08:36 – eTailInsights will start indexing next year 08:58 – Number of current companies is 3000 09:09 – The three biggest competitors of eTailInsights 10:08 – Exit is not Darren’s priority at the moment 10:16 – Darren’s dream number is $100M 11:18 – Darren wants to know how far his business can go 11:30 – eTailInsights is completely bootstrapped and they have $100K in it 12:06 – Current head count 12:20 – Average compensation 12:36 – eTailInsights’ location 12:52 – eTailInsights sourced their own data and they built their own tech 14:38 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
When you become predictable, you lose SO much leverage. If the idea of a business strikes you, go with that passion and just do it. Be patient—it takes patience to be a successful entrepreneur.
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 Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives