Bootstrapping Expandi from $0 to $6m ARR in just 18 months (Case study)
Heyo Indie Hackers ;)
I had the pleasure to speak with Stefan Smulders about how he grew a brand new SaaS product from $0 to $6m ARR in just 18 months (bootstrapped).
So let me share some of my key learnings, lessons, and actionable takeaways from that interview.
FIRST 100 PAID CUSTOMERS
Stefan figured one of the biggest problems of the people using lead gen and IP tracking software on their websites was to find an effective way to follow up with their website visitors.
So he made a list of prospects by scraping websites with IP tracking scripts and reached out to users with a potential solution of using LinkedIn to send follow-up messages to their website visitors.
He also approached marketing managers on LinkedIn to understand their most significant problems around follow-ups and prospecting.
THE CHALLENGE
Stefan was testing Expandi in the Netherlands before going global.
But the problem emerged.
People in the Netherlands weren't accustomed to using LinkedIn as a sales/outreach channel.
So they were spending a lot of time educating their potential market.
First, they had to educate them on using LinkedIn as an outbound channel. Then they had to educate them (and actually sell) Expandi.
That's when Stefan realized that his first 300 paying users might not be his ideal customers after all.
He'll need to change his approach.
FIGHTING THE OBSTACLES
To get at least "some" money from the first 300 customers, Expandi gave out an annual payment offer along with helpful LinkedIn messaging templates and strategies.
60 members opted in for the annual offer, which generated $50k in revenue for Expandi.
Now they had money to test their idea globally, with a better audience.
💡Learning #1 - Even when you make mistakes, try making the most out of them. Oftentimes, besides learning, we can get more value from past experiences and failures.
Try looking at failures from different perspectives and see what can you make out of them that will bring the biggest business value.
💡Learning #2 - To get more annual subscriptions, try making your offer irresistible. In this case, besides giving a significant discount, Expandi also offered exclusive educational collateral (templates and strategies).
To have a mind-blowing offer, the price should be at least 10x of value your customers get.
After the feedback of the first 300 customers, Stefan decided to define his ideal customer needs in a better way.
Since he was an agency owner himself, he started Expandi because:
He faced many challenges with automation tools in terms of safety
Many of those tools were not appropriate for managing multiple accounts as an agency.
So he decided to only focus on agencies and growth hackers.
Agencies and growth hackers were already managing multiple profiles using LinkedIn and automation tools.
This cut down the education burden for Expandi and made it easier for them to sell their service.
💡Learning #3 - It's essential to go through a lot of trial and error in the company's first few months. Embrace it. It makes you even stronger.
💡Learning #4 - It's okay to do things that are not scalable at first. What's important at the beginning is to learn as much as you can about your target audience. Doing things that scale will come later.
Loved it so far? Here's the rest of the interview:
You can read the entire case study here (https://www.myfirst1000s.com/how-expandi-grew-to-6m-arr-in-just-18-months/), and find out:
How he went from 100 to 1000 paying customers by using micro-influencers
How are they creating partnerships with other thought leaders in the field
and other actionable strategies that helped them grow from $0 to $6m ARR in just 18 months.
Also, I will invite Stefan to join us here in this thread. So if you have any questions, feel free to write them down and we'll answer as soon as possible :)
