Browse Case Studies

A cleaning services marketplace that has achieved $1.2M ARR by scaling through a franchise model offering $35k franchise opportunities. The platform connects customers with cleaning service providers while enabling entrepreneurs to launch their own cleaning businesses through the franchise system.

MeowTel is an Airbnb-style marketplace for cat sitting that shares profits with local shelters. Founded by Sanya Petkovich in August 2015 after she left a career in big tobacco, the platform had 50 registered sitters and 2-3 actual bookings three months after launch. The business is bootstrapped and focuses on building supply and demand equilibrium across its initial markets of San Diego, Richmond Virginia, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

MyTime is a two-sided marketplace and SaaS platform connecting consumers with local service businesses. The company operates a marketplace that takes a 40% commission on new customer acquisitions, plus MyTime Scheduler, online booking software designed to help businesses acquire, book, and retain customers. The platform serves over 2.5 million nearby businesses with approximately 1 million monthly visitors.

Growth Geeks is a marketplace that connects businesses with pre-vetted marketers and growth hackers for hire on-demand, either part-time, full-time, or gig-based. Launched in private beta in January, the platform reached public launch about three months later and now does $55,000 in monthly recurring revenue with over $250,000 in total revenue since launch. The platform takes 25% commission on gigs, with contractors keeping 75%, and has grown to a 5-person team while being accepted into the Techstars Chicago accelerator program.

Lawn Starter is a two-sided marketplace that simplifies lawn care ordering for homeowners while providing backend infrastructure for local lawn care providers. Founded by 23-24 year old Ryan Farley (who left a $100k Capital One job) and Steve (who dropped out of Virginia Tech), the company reached over 2,000 customers across DC, Austin, and Orlando within ~2 years, generating ~$500k in annual revenue with $7.25M in funding.

Tom Hunt is a 26-year-old founder who left his job at Accenture in 2015 to launch Virtual Valley, a marketplace connecting entrepreneurs with vetted virtual assistants from the Philippines. The platform charges a 20% markup on assistant salaries ($500-$1,000/month per assistant) and offers recruitment, payment escrow, and time-tracking software. Tom projects $7,000 MRR by February 2016 and aims to build to $15,000 MRR by year-end, with a long-term goal of selling the company for $4 million.

Open Sponsorship is a two-sided marketplace connecting brands to athletes and sports sponsorship opportunities. Founded by Ishwin Anand (Forbes 30 Under 30), the company grew from a free marketplace to a subscription-based model, generating ~$10K MRR in February 2016 with 25 paying brand customers and 700+ registered users. The founder aims to reach $240K MRR (~$3M ARR) by end of 2016 through building a trained sales team.

Ryan Pahl is COO of Community Co, an umbrella company managing multiple professional communities including YEC (Young Entrepreneurs Council), Founder Society, and Forbes Councils. The company generates revenue through annual membership fees ($500 for Founder Society, $1,200 for Forbes Councils) and has grown to 50+ employees across Boston and the country. They combine proprietary technology with human curation to connect members with peers, business resources, events, and media opportunities.

Steals.com is a daily deal e-commerce marketplace founded by Jaina Francis in 2008 that features one high-quality brand per day across four niche sites (BabySteals, KidSteals, ScrapbookSteals, SheSteals). Built entirely bootstrapped without investors, the company generates approximately $8 million in annual revenue with a 17% net margin, driven primarily by email marketing (55% of revenue) and direct traffic (25%). With 22 full-time employees in Utah and a custom-built platform, Jaina is seeking $2 million in equity funding at an $8 million pre-money valuation to fuel growth.

BrewPublic is a craft beer curation and delivery service founded in 2014 by 26-year-old Charlie Mulligan. The company uses an algorithm to match customers with personalized beer selections from 3,000+ craft beers, serving both offices and consumers across Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, and San Francisco. In 2015, BrewPublic generated $275,000 in revenue with 35% net margins, and projects $1-2 million in 2016 after raising $500,000.

Roost is a peer-to-peer marketplace founded in November 2013 by Jonathan Gillan that allows people to monetize unused spaces (garages, attics, basements, driveways) to neighbors seeking storage or parking. The company takes a 15% cut from transactions and grew from $2 in first month revenue to $25,000 MRR as of May 2016 (running at $300K ARR), with 650-700 unique sellers listing approximately 2,000 spaces and 500-600 buyers. Gillan raised $4.9M in venture capital (with $3.5M in Series Seed at $12M pre-money valuation) and built a 17-person team based in San Francisco, expanding to cities like New York, LA, Washington DC, and beyond.

StudySoup is an education marketplace launched in April 2014 that connects college students by allowing top performers to sell study materials (lecture notes, study guides, flashcards) to classmates via subscription. The platform generated approximately $40,000-$45,000 in first month revenue, grew to $400,000 in 2015 (10x growth), and was tracking toward several million in 2016 revenue. With over 5,000 active monthly subscribers and nearly 1,000 elite note-takers, StudySoup demonstrates strong marketplace dynamics with a subscription SaaS model.

Hirewire is a mobile-first marketplace connecting job seekers and restaurants/hourly employers, founded by Joe Wynn in 2015 after he sold his previous company Campus Special for $25M. In their first year beta in Atlanta (Jan 2016), they acquired 4,000+ employers, 100,000+ job seekers, and placed 20,000 people in jobs, with over 50% organic growth. They've raised $4.1M and charge employers $50-$100/month per location, expecting to reach ~$200k/month in revenue soon.

Belay is a bootstrapped virtual solutions marketplace founded by Brian and Shannon Miles in 2010 that matches dedicated US-based virtual assistants and bookkeepers with busy professionals. Starting with ~$280k in first-year revenue and reaching profitability in 14 months, the company grew to $15M ARR by 2017 with 500+ contractors and 61 employees, differentiating itself through high-touch relationship management and selective contractor onboarding (accepting <2% of 1,200 monthly resumes).

Best Food Trucks is a marketplace platform helping food truck operators book premium locations and enabling consumers to order ahead while reducing wait times. Founded by Kevin Davis (who previously sold GeekAtoo for $20M in 2016) after merging with his co-founder's existing food truck booking platform, the company has 1,000 trucks across 10 cities and processed $1M in transactions in 2017. The business operates on multiple revenue streams: lot booking fees ($5 per $50 transaction), SaaS subscriptions for truck operators ($149/month), and convenience fees for customers.

Writer Access is a content marketplace founded by Byron White in 2010 that connects 25,000 customers with 15,000 freelance writers, editors, and content strategists. The platform pivoted from a pure marketplace transaction model (70/30 split favoring freelancers) to a SaaS subscription model in late 2017, charging $39-$349/month. By 2017, the business generated $7.2 million in total revenue across the marketplace and related conference business, with a small team of 11 operating profitably from Boston and remote locations.

Scripted is a content marketing platform founded in 2011 that connects businesses with freelance writers and provides managed content marketing services. Under CEO Doug Breaker (who joined in February), the company has grown from ~$180k MRR a year ago to ~$250k MRR, with over 500 customers paying an average of $500/month ARPU. The company operates with a 2-month payback period and 10-20% annual revenue churn, recently acquired by Xenon Ventures and focused on becoming a cash-flow-positive alternative to paid advertising.

Suleka is India's leading marketplace for expert services, connecting SME service providers with consumers. Launched in 2007, the company grew from $100k-200k in first-year revenue to $1M by 2010, and projected $30M in 2015. Currently facilitating 600k-800k successful monthly matches between consumers and 40k-50k active service providers, with 7-8M monthly platform users.

G2 is a leading business software review website and marketplace founded in 2012 by Godard Abel. The company has scaled to over 500 employees and raised $257 million in capital, achieving unicorn status at a $1.1 billion valuation. G2 generates over $5 million in MRR today and targets $100 million in ARR next year through its core G2 Marketing Solutions for vendors, plus complementary products like G2 Track (SaaS spend management) and G2 Deals (marketplace procurement).

Ember is a fractional vacation home ownership marketplace that allows buyers to purchase 1/8th to 1/2 ownership stakes in high-end vacation homes across the West Coast. Founded by Kurt Averall, who previously built Canopy (accounting software) to $70M in funding, Ember has generated approximately $3.6M in one-time uplift revenue in its first 10 months by buying homes, furnishing them, and reselling shares with a 12% markup. The company has achieved strong product-market fit with 100+ families buying in and is on track to exceed $100M in GMV this year.