Mathilde Collin, CEO and co-founder of Front. Her app has developed email and inbox features meant specifically for teams. Growing up in France, Mathilde realized that being an adult wasn’t fun—that getting a job usually meant a life of misery. She would not settle for that. She knew from the beginning that she had to create a job that she loved, and so Front was born. Famous Five: Favorite Book? - The Hard Thing About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — Patrick Collison Favorite online tool? — Front! and 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? – We can be happy at work. Get a job you love. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Mathilde Collin 02:00 – Front App is an inbox for teams. 02:25 – A SaaS company founded in 2014 02:50 – She started the business when she was 22. 03:05 – She realized a lot of people didn’t like their job, and she wanted to solve that issue for herself. 03:35 – 2015 revenue was $1 million 04:00 – 1210 companies use Front 04:20 – A large variety of company sizes 04:50 – Why they raised millions in capital. 05:25 – Email is complicated, so you need to invest in resources and good engineering. 05:45 – She already had a loan from studying in France. 06:15 – They raised with key people who could help. 06:37 – They wanted to invest in hiring super qualified people. 07:05 – Team of 21 in San Francisco 07:15 – Monthly expenses are about $200k 07:50 – How did you get over the psychological barrier of that red line? 08:20 – Spending money when you have money. 08:35 – A more rational spending plan. 09:05 – She will keep that money in the bank. 09:45 – That extra money has allowed for growth. 10:20 – She has people under her responsibility. 10:55 – She has one cofounder. 11:05 – How they determined equity. 11:15 – An even split for people who will be there for the whole life of the company. 12:05 – They have no marketing team. 12:25 – She publishes content at blog.frontapp.com and @CollinMathilde on Medium and Twitter. 13:10 – Customer lifetime value: Customer churn is 3% 13:35 – Revenue churn is negative. 13:45 – They sell three plans. 14:10 – Selling the upsell versions to new teams in the same companies 15:00 – An inbound sales team 15:15 – Monthly and annual plans 15:35 – Lifetime value is about 33 months, or $6300 16:15 – Valuation was not disclosed 16:45 – Her goal is to make as many people possible happy at this company. 17:20 – They will try to go public eventually. 17:40 – They want to keep their product as it is, which would be difficult if it were acquired. 18:15 – Why customers churn 18:25 – They dislike how often changes happen. 19:05 – They grow 10% each month 19:30 – They would like to hit $300k this year. 19:45 – Connect with Mathilde on Twitter at @CollinMathilde 21:30 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Get a job that you love. Starting a business is hard—all entrepreneurs go through challenges. In the early stages of your company, keep perfecting your product. 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. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app blog.frontapp.com and @CollinMathilde on Medium and Twitter – Follow Mathilde and her company! The Hard Thing About Hard Things – The business book that completely changed Mathilde’s outlook on her business. Slack – The tool that Mathilde and her team use a ton at Front Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives