Nathan Latka: Bootstrapping to $2M ARR, Turning Down $6.5M, and Funding 500+ Startups

Nathan Latka is the founder and CEO of Founderpath, a fintech platform that has deployed nearly $200 million in non-dilutive capital to 500+ software companies. He’s also the creator of GetLatka, a massive SaaS database built off the back of his top-ranked Latka podcast, where he’s interviewed thousands of founders. Nathan’s entrepreneurial journey began at 18 with the launch of Heyo, a Facebook fan page SaaS tool he bootstrapped to $2M in ARR before raising venture capital and eventually exiting.

In this conversation, Nathan shares hard-earned lessons from building and exiting companies, explains why most founders don’t understand the true cost of raising VC, and offers a compelling case for why debt and secondaries can be a smarter option. We also explore:

• How he bootstrapped Heyo to $2M ARR before raising VC
• The $6.5M exit offer he had to turn down (and regrets)
• What most founders misunderstand about venture capital
• How GetLatka became the #1 ranked SaaS benchmarking database
• Why the future belongs to tiny teams with huge revenue
• The three AI trends shaping SaaS company formation
• How FounderPath prices startup equity daily—instantly enabling secondaries
• Why hooks and attention matter more than ever
• And much more

Brought to you by:

• Fondo — Automate your accounting and unlock up to $500k from the IRS: https://TryFondo.com

Where to Find Nathan Latka

• X: https://x.com/NathanLatka
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanlatka/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlatka/
• Podcast: Latka Podcast
• SaaS Database: https://getlatka.com
• Book: How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital

Where to Find David Phillips

• X: https://x.com/davj
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davjphillips/

In This Episode, We Cover

• (00:00) Intro to Nathan and FounderPath
• (01:30) The story behind Heyo and bootstrapping to $2M ARR
• (03:50) Raising venture and losing optionality
• (05:30) The $6.5M offer and why his board said no
• (07:10) Lessons from a slow death and how to move on
• (08:15) Why Nathan started the Latka podcast
• (09:30) Building GetLatka to 3,000+ daily organic clicks
• (11:00) The power of hooks and attention in modern SaaS
• (12:45) Inside FounderPath: non-dilutive capital for SaaS
• (14:30) How venture debt differs from traditional VC
• (16:15) Why secondaries are healthy, not harmful
• (18:00) How FounderPath prices startup equity daily
• (20:10) Big trends: tiny teams, chat-based dashboards, attention > tech

Referenced

• GetLatka – https://getlatka.com
• FounderPath – https://founderpath.com
• Heyo (archived) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heyo
• How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital (Book) – https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Capitalist-Without-Capital/dp/0525534440
• ZoomInfo – https://www.zoominfo.com
• Techstars – https://www.techstars.com
• G2 Crowd – https://www.g2.com