Fresh Salmon
Posts
Nathan Latka Story: Turning Knowledge into a Money-Making Machine

Nathan Latka Story: Turning Knowledge into a Money-Making Machine

Boosting B2B Conference Buzz + Apple's FOMO Magic

Vivek Nanda
September 16, 2023

Have you heard of Nathan Latka?

Get ready to be blown away by this entrepreneurial masterclass!

Back in 2015, Nathan Latka kicked off "The Top Entrepreneurs Podcast". He didn't just interview successful CEOs; he unleashed a business data goldmine.

Nathan interviewed (~ grilled..lol) these founders for details like company revenue, valuation, headcount, and customer stats right there on the podcast!

And guess what?

He didn't stop there. Nathan turned that juicy intel into one of the mightiest SaaS databases out there. 🏆

This database became the holy grail for investors, acquirers, and fellow entrepreneurs.

Nathan had turned knowledge into a money-making machine.

I know what you're thinking, what's in it for me? 🤔

Well, there's a massive opportunity here for all you content creators out there. By curating and aggregating the key info from your media assets, you can create a cash cow of your own. 💸 💸

And the best part?

Nathan Latka is living proof right before your eyes. This ain't no fairy tale; this is real-world entrepreneurship at its finest. 🌟

He also discovered a really interesting subsegment while interviewing all the founders - the bootstrapped founders.

Nathan was blown away by the fact that so many bootstrapped businesses are making millions of dollars of revenue each year, and no one knows about them. That's crazy!

In the end, he came up with Founderpath, which helps bootstrapped SaaS founders get non-dilutive capital up to $3m overnight. Yes, yes, yes!

In spite of the fact that I'm a big Nathan fan, I don't have any affiliation with him. If you would like to ask him, just tweet him 🙂

These are some very important key takeaways:

1. Media-first approach to content

Nathan broke through the noise by adopting the media-first approach to content marketing by launching his podcast. We all know SEO takes a very long time, and media content in today’s world is a cheat code to amplify your message and cut through the noise.

2. Creating monetizable data

It is great that you are building your audience, using media, and owning platforms, but monetization must be the primary focus. Nathan focused on extracting information that would have more value for investors, founders, and acquirers, and that helped him create the most accurate SaaS database available today.

Taking away anything from Nathan's story today would be to think about monetizing information as a creator. It is truly an untapped area for creators, and it is not a conventional revenue model.

3. Be opportunistic and dig deep

Nathan was collecting and monetizing SaaS data when he noticed trends and patterns and found bootstrapped founders to be an interesting segment.

Upon digging deeper, he discovered that bootstrapped startup founders could be financed. A new business was created around it. Discovering new value-creation opportunities by going deeper is a great lesson.

Boosting Conference Buzz with Badges

Surely you're aware of G2, their badges, and their reports if you're in B2B.

The following is an example from the company where I previously served as VP of Marketing:

A really cool thing G2 did at SaaStr was to make physical badges for the companies that are listed on G2. For what purpose?

You know, folks, even though I've got my fair share of criticisms, I've got to hand it to G2 – those G2 badges are pure genius. And let me tell you, they've really cranked up the game over at SaaStr.

Throughout the conference, G2 handed them out like candy to anyone and everyone with a booth. Guess what? Those badges were snapped up like hotcakes by companies. What's the reason? It's a classic case of social proof and status symbolism.

Here's where it gets really brilliant. This allowed G2 to get their name out there during the conference in a big way. That's a sneaky, but brilliant move, and I applaud them for it.👏

I came across this nugget of wisdom in a post by none other than Tim Davidson on LinkedIn - one of my favorite B2B creators, by the way. There's no doubt that the man knows his stuff!

Apple's FOMO Magic: The Power of Blue Bubbles

Those blue iMessage bubbles deserve much more recognition than Apple gets for their sheer brilliance. Seriously, it's like they've cracked the psychology code!

Here's what I think is a genius move. Apple has mastered guilt and FOMO, the fear of missing out, into a downright masterful business strategy. It's like a chef's perfect kiss, absolutely beautiful!

It's not uncommon for people out there to switch from Android to iPhone because they can't stand having that green bubble and being the “only one” in the chats with the green bubble. Do you believe it? In order to avoid the stigma of the green bubble, people changed their entire tech game.

So, what's my opinion?

As far as I'm concerned, Apple has this game down pat. The art of making people want what they didn't even know they needed has been mastered by them.

Apple is at the forefront of technology for many reasons, including its marketing brilliance.