Dave: Hey everyone, Dave here with another episode of the Philly Tech Connect podcast for our group, Philly Tech entrepreneurs. Today, I’m with John Soal. John is a data scientist and founder at Leadex, a sales enablement platform that uses machine learning to streamline the sales process. He started Leadex in August 2022 and he’s been bootstrapping his way from zero to one. John, how are you doing today?
John: Dave, how are you doing, man? Great to be on with you.
Dave: Awesome. It’s a pleasure to be doing this with you. I know we’ve seen you at a couple of events, and you’ve been coming out to some of the meetups, which is awesome. I know you travel from a bit away, so really appreciate the effort you’ve made to get involved in the community. And just in general, I’m excited to talk about what you’re doing over at Leadex and your approach because, if I’m not mistaken, you’re a bootstrapper, and that’s something that I relate to well as someone who’s bootstrapped a software business. So tell me a little bit about the journey starting Leadex, what you guys have been up to for the last year or so, and how you’re approaching this zero-to-one bootstrapping business process.
John: Sure. So, my philosophy has always been a bootstrap mindset in regards to building a business. To take a step back, I’ve always been very entrepreneurial. I started out working at an equipment finance company in Philadelphia, so Philadelphia is very much like home to me. I was their lead generation guru, lead zar as they affectionately called me, and data scientist all in one. And that’s where I really developed my entrepreneurial spirit as well as my technical skills. I realized that if I could take the knowledge that I’ve cultivated at the company and democratize it across the entire industry with a focus on vertical-based solutions that no one has ever done before, it would be a significant market fit. I’m excited to elaborate upon that further as we progress in the podcast.
Dave: Yeah, no, I love it. I’m a bootstrapper at heart as well. I’ve never raised money. I’ll be honest, sometimes I feel almost a little shy about saying that because it feels like the dialogue out there in entrepreneurship is so much about how much have you raised, and are you talking with investors. But I think it’s overlooking a huge opportunity to build a nice business. Maybe it won’t be Uber, but could you build a very profitable, stable, sound business? Absolutely. People are doing it. So, lead generation is a space that I mean, I love. Everyone needs leads, but it’s also a crowded space. How are you approaching getting into this crowded market?
John: It’s a good question. We’ve all gotten the spam emails and messages on LinkedIn, and it’s because of the crowded market there’s a lot of poor-quality players out there. Where I differentiate myself is a vertical-based solution, building a data solution specific to an industry. I have data on companies, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, that no one else has. I develop web scrapers, all my own IP, where I’m constantly scraping the internet for new companies, new information. So, I have these proprietary systems in place that differentiate me from the crowd. Really, it’s all about listening to my clients, hearing their feedback. I’ve been using the biggest and best tools like ZoomInfo, Dun & Bradstreet, Hoovers since the inception of my data science career. I know what they do well, where their deficiencies are, and I iterate and improve upon them to create the best product.
Dave: That makes total sense. It’s really all about the data, right? Because at the end of the day, whatever lead gen tool is going to have revenue, but it’s why so many of us feel like we’re getting spammy messages. The emphasis on the data here is key. You don’t necessarily need to go revolutionarily different with the approach, but you need a hook, something nuanced that says, “Hey, this is why we’re different.” It sounds like you’re on to that and you’re listening to customers, which is always going to guide you in the right direction. One approach many would consider is to go low-priced. That’s usually a potential tactic to enter the market. But that doesn’t seem to be your approach. Yours seems to be more targeted at medium, enterprise-style businesses. Tell me a little bit about the pricing strategy.
John: Good question. My target clientele isn’t individuals; it’s enterprises or businesses in general that have company-wide contracts. My contracts are annual, ranging from $6,000 to $7,000 up to the professional plan, which is around $12,000 a year, and then upwards of that. I really wanted with the pricing strategy to differentiate myself. Compared to a ZoomInfo or another offering, it’s actually pretty competitive. ZoomInfo charges $20,000 to $40,000 for annual contracts, so I’m undercutting them significantly. It’s more cost-effective compared to other players. I’m not looking to partner with individuals on an individual level; it’s really on a company level. Companies are able to afford those types of contracts.
Dave: That’s very cool. It feels as though you really know who you’re after and instead of trying to maybe attract a bunch of people along the way that are not really your target, you’ve honed in on who you’re going for from the get-go. What’s next for you guys? Where are you heading in 2024?
John: 2024 is all about getting my feet off the ground regarding a hard platform launch, putting a bow ribbon on the web application. I’m going to do an official rebrand/launch at the beginning of the new year. The next step is to create a recommendation system, think of it as a Netflix for sales. I want to reduce as much friction as possible from the lead search process perspective by creating a Salesforce connector. The platform will interface with my client’s Salesforce or HubSpot, identifying companies where my clients are succeeding and finding similar companies. This approach, leveraging AI and machine learning, will be a significant game changer.
Dave: Super cool, man. People that want to get in touch with you, where do they go?
John: They can email me at john@leadex.com. I have my LinkedIn page, and the website is www.leadex.com. I’m available on those channels, but email and LinkedIn would be the preferred channels.
Dave: Awesome, man. Thanks so much for being on the show. Appreciate it.
John: Dave, thanks for having me, man. Appreciate it.