EP 496: PayByGroup $3.4M Raised, $10m in Transaction Volume to Help Groups Pay with CEO Camilo Acosta

Camilo Acosta, CEO of Pay By Group, which is based out of San Francisco. Their team is working with global brands to make it easier for people to minimize the cost of any purchase at the online checkout.  One of their customers expresses their gratitude for the company by saying that their “family reunion [wouldn’t] happen without Pay By Group.” Listen as Camilo shares how Pay By Group’s revenue grew from zero in 2011 to nearly $30 million in 2016.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – High Output Management
• What CEO do you follow? –  N/A

• Favorite online tool? —Hubspot Sales
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— “Now, I do”
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “I wish I moved to San Francisco earlier”

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:36 – Nathan introduces Camilo to the show
• 02:05 – Pay By Group is a worldwide payment solution that allows families and friends to split the cost of their online purchases
• • 02:20 – Pay By Group is plugged-in directly to online merchants
• 02:33 – Pay By Group is a checkout option
• 02:47 – Pay By Group charges the business and consumers
• 03:07 – Camilo gives an example on how to use Pay By Group using Walmart’s website
• 03:44 – Pay By Group makes more money on the consumer charges
• 03:50 – Pay By Group is active on vacation rental sites like CaboVillas
• • 04:19 – The organizer is free but every invite will be charged 2.9%
• 05:17 – Pay By Group is a pay-as-you-go model
• 05:34 – Pay By Group was founded in 2011
• 05:38 – Team size is 20
• 05:41 – Pay By Group raised $3.4 million in the second round
• 05:56 – The first round of raised capital
• 06:28 – Average order value:
• • 06:46 – There’s no one number because it depends on the merchants
• 06:56 – Vacation rentals is Pay By Group’s current “bread and butter”
• 07:08 – Number of merchants currently using Pay By Group is over 300
• 07:20 – Pay By Group tracks the number of groups/families that have used their system
• 07:52 – Pay By Group had tens of millions of transactions
• 08:11 – 2011 total transaction volume number is zero
• 08:25 – Pay By Group was in 500 startups in 2012
• • 08:58 – Pay By Group’s first merchant was Rent Like A Champion
  • 10:04 – 2012 total transaction volume number is less than a hundred thousand
• 10:30 – 2013 total transaction volume number is around $3 million
• 10:45 – Goal transaction volume number in 2016 is $30 million
• 10:57 – Pay By Group is seasonal
• 11:33 – The Top: Ep. 489 is the episode where Rent Like A Champion’s CEO was featured
• 12:38 – Pay By Group’s team is based in San Francisco
• 12:56 – Camilo’s goal for Pay By Group
• 13:40 – Connect with Camilo through LinkedIn and his website
• 16:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Enjoy WHAT you do and WHO you work with—learn from them.
• The secret is simplicity; less is always more. 
• Dream it and do your best to achieve it.

Resources Mentioned:

• 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  developers.
• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the 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.
• Assistant.to – The site Nathan uses to book meetings with one email.
• 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.
• LinkedIn – Camilo’s LinkedIn account
• PayByGroup.com – Camilo’s business website
• CaboVillas – One of Pay By Group’s vacation rental merchant
• Rent Like A Champion – Pay By Group’s first merchant
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives