SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

729: Will Edelman Digital Creator Lead New AI Marketing World?


Listen Later

David Dunne. He's the CEO and co-founder of Velocidi, a marketing intelligence company that harnesses data for leading brands and agencies. In the 7 years since founding Velocidi, it enables marketers to make data-driven decisions that optimize marketing spend. David is currently leading the firm's next chapter into artificial intelligence.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Selling the Invisible
  • What CEO do you follow? – Richard Branson
  • Favorite online tool? — Tidal
  • How many hours of sleep do you get?— 5-6
  • If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "Hurry up, things are changing fast, you have to move faster"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:07 – Nathan introduces David to the show
  • 01:41 – Velocidi focuses on how AI can speed up insights
  • 01:48 – Velocidi's technology has always been enabling the process of analysts driving the insights
  • 02:22 – The analysts are Velocidi's customers
  • 02:39 – Velocidi is a SaaS business selling licenses
  • 03:01 – Pricing starts at $3K a month
  • 03:23 – Average monthly RPU is around $6K
  • 03:44 – Velocidi charges by the amount of data streams
  • 04:20 – Velocidi uses API calls to bring in the data
  • 04:42 – Velocidi was launched in 2010
  • 05:19 – There are people who are with David in building Velocidi
  • 05:44 – David was a part of a global business
  • 06:11 – David was happy with Edelman, but he wanted to reinvent himself
  • 07:46 – David was 43 when he started Velocidi
  • 09:26 – Every entrepreneur takes risks
  • 09:51 – David has always separated personal assets with work
  • 10:15 – Velocidi was capital intensive for the first few years
  • 10:56 – Velocidi has initially raised $3M from friends and families
  • 11:01 – Velocidi just closed a $12M round
  • 11:18 – David has ambitious plans for growing the business
  • 11:49 – More capital allows you to have more options
  • 12:10 – CAC
  • 12:21 – Most of Velocidi's customers are large global agencies
  • 12:31 – Velocidi is expanding into other industries
  • 13:45 – LTV to CAC ratio
  • 13:58 – David tries to look at some of the classic businesses for comparison
  • 15:19 – Velocidi focuses on what they can give to customers
  • 16:04 – Velocidi keeps their customers for at least 5 years
  • 16:54 – Some of Velocidi's customers have thousands of customers and there's a lot of room to grow
  • 17:39 – Velocidi is innovating their product at a much faster rate
  • 17:55 – The innovations depend on the customer's' needs
  • 18:21 – Velocidi is expanding their automated self-serve platform this year
  • 18:40 – Velocidi has hundreds of customers
  • 19:19 – Self-service means different things
  • 20:08 – Analysts have been using excel and powerpoint
  • 20:42 – Velocidi delivers the core-data and the clients tailor the data
  • 21:11 – The quality of the data alongside a creative makes Velocidi's clients standout
    • 23:01 – David believes that data with creative is a better creative
  • 23:55 – Average MRR
  • 25:36 – David won't sell Velocidi
  • 26:53 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

  1. Entrepreneurs will always take risk—what matters is how big of a risk you're willing to take.
  2. Focus on what you CAN commit to your customers.
  3. Things change faster than you think; so KEEP moving and don't get left behind!

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
  • Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
  • Hotjar – Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you're doing on this site. He gets a video of each user visit like where they clicked and scrolled to make the site a better experience
  • 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

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, FoundersBy Nathan Latka

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

634 ratings


More shows like SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

View all
This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

This Week in Startups

1,291 Listeners

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

535 Listeners

The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors by SaaStr

The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

181 Listeners

Startups For the Rest of Us by Rob Walling

Startups For the Rest of Us

712 Listeners

The a16z Show by Andreessen Horowitz

The a16z Show

1,095 Listeners

Built to Sell Radio by John Warrillow

Built to Sell Radio

214 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

2,188 Listeners

Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

Masters of Scale

3,995 Listeners

Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

Y Combinator Startup Podcast

225 Listeners

My First Million by Hubspot Media

My First Million

2,657 Listeners

The Startup Ideas Podcast by Greg Isenberg

The Startup Ideas Podcast

209 Listeners

Moneywise by Hampton

Moneywise

651 Listeners

The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Deep Dives with Chris Koerner by Chris Koerner

The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Deep Dives with Chris Koerner

256 Listeners

AI + a16z by a16z

AI + a16z

33 Listeners

David Senra by Scicomm Media

David Senra

224 Listeners