EP 503: $125k for 5%, How To Grow Into $2m+ Valuation with InDemand CEO Alex Saidani

Alex Saidani, founder and CEO of Indemand. Alex is a developer who started coding at the age of 11.  He started his first business at the age of 13 and was the youngest founder of a team to participate in the DotForge accelerator program with Hashtrack.  Indemand supports businesses with providing online ordering software and an hourly delivery network.  On top of this, Alex also finds time to mentor people in their start-ups and provide them with the necessary support. 

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Steve Jobs Biography
• What CEO do you follow? –  Elon Musk

• Favorite online tool? — N/A
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “Don’t waste time pursuing people who are not going to help you or create value”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:25 – Nathan introduces Alex to the show
• 01:52 – Alex went to the 500 startups program
• 02:12 – Indemand sells software to groceries and other retail stores
• 02:25 – Indemand charges the stores directly
• 02:36 – Indemand is a SaaS business
• 02:52 – Indemand started in 2015
• 03:14 – First year revenue
• 03:38 – Indemand’s usual customers
• 04:15 – Indemand has worked with 150 companies and there are 25 active customers
• • 04:28 – Most of the inactive customers are startups
  • 05:04 – Indemand had to increase their fees to make money
• 05:10 – ARPU per month is around $250
• 05:22 – MRR
• 05:55 – October 2016 revenue was $25,000
• 06:45 – What do people get when they pay $400 a month?
• • 06:51 – help with start-up, customize branding, end up with a customer facing application
  • 07:14 – Users get to monitor all the orders in real-time
• 07:40 – Total transaction volume in October 2016, is around 200 orders
• 08:20 – Indemand had a capital raising
• 10:30 – Indemand’s other expenses
• 10:46 – Indemand sources people from Fiverr to find information
• 12:00 – Alex and his team are based in California
• 12:18 – Connect with Alex through his LinkedIn and email
• 13:51 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

• An entrepreneur can start as early as 13 years old—you’re never too young or old for that matter!
• Raising fees is often necessary to meet your clients’ demands and update your services.
• Don’t waste your time on “non-value creating” people.

 

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 use