The $648 invoice that made me finish my side project.
I have been contracting at a health tech company for the past year as their email deliverability and marketing specialist.
Last month I saw their ESP invoice: $648 for one month. $450 of that was just to store 92,000 contacts they barely emailed. The rest covered transactional emails and automation drips.
That invoice was the push I needed to finish something I had been building on the side.
I am building ConvertNow (convertnow.co), an email API and marketing platform running on dedicated infrastructure we own.
Two products:
Email API — for developers sending transactional email via HTTP API or SMTP. Built on infrastructure we control, not a wrapper around someone else's service.
Email Marketing — for organisations with large lists who send infrequently. Schools, churches, nonprofits, SaaS companies. You pay for emails sent, not contacts stored.
We just opened founder pricing. The free plan sends up to 10,000 emails per month with unlimited contacts.
I am looking for developers and founders who are overpaying for email and want early access to something built by someone who has spent the last year diagnosing deliverability failures, managing dedicated IP warming, and watching $450 of a $648 invoice disappear into contact storage fees.
Sign up at convertnow.co. Happy to answer questions in the comments on architecture, deliverability setup, pricing rationale, or anything else.
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
What made you pick this stack over the alternatives?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Interesting take. Would you still recommend this approach to someone starting today?
Nice work shipping it. What has been the biggest challenge since launch?
Really relatable. How much time do you put into this each week?
This is useful. How are you finding your first users so far?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Makes sense. Are you planning to charge for it, or keep it free for now?
How did you decide this was worth building in the first place?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Appreciate the honesty here, most people only share the wins.
How did you decide this was worth building in the first place?
How did you decide this was worth building in the first place?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Appreciate the honesty here, most people only share the wins.
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
This is useful. How are you finding your first users so far?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Among schools, nonprofits, SaaS companies, and developers, which group has shown the strongest willingness to switch—not just interest in lower contact-storage costs?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
How did you decide this was worth building in the first place?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
This is useful. How are you finding your first users so far?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
Appreciate the honesty here, most people only share the wins.
Appreciate the honesty here, most people only share the wins.
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
This is useful. How are you finding your first users so far?
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
How did you decide this was worth building in the first place?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Really solid approach — curious how you're thinking about this, what's been the hardest part to figure out so far?
Love this angle, honestly. What made you look into it in the first place?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
How did you decide this was worth building in the first place?
This is useful. How are you finding your first users so far?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Appreciate the honesty here, most people only share the wins.
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
How did you decide this was worth building in the first place?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Thanks for sharing the numbers, that makes it much easier to follow.
Appreciate the honesty here, most people only share the wins.
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
This is useful. How are you finding your first users so far?
Love this angle, honestly. What made you look into it in the first place?