What Works for Startups Like Yours?

Leadboxer is a customer data platform founded in 2014 by Ward Frans and team that combines customer data from multiple sources (email, web behavior, social, etc.) into unified profiles and customer journeys. Operating cash flow positive with ~$25k-30k MRR across 100-150 customers at $3,400-5,000 ACV, the team of 15 is targeting $1M ARR in 2019 with a healthy unit economics (2% monthly churn, $300 CAC on $5,600 LTV).

Life Aid is a functional beverage company founded by Aaron Hinde and Orion that creates clean energy and recovery drinks for active lifestyles. Starting from a party conversation in 2011, the founders bootstrapped the company through extreme sacrifice (living in a 400 sq ft trailer on $1-3k/month) and grew it to $35M in annual revenue by focusing on the CrossFit community through direct mail campaigns and strategic partnerships. The company now produces multiple product lines (Fit Aid, Golf Raid, Focus Aid, Immunity Aid) and is positioned as a billion-dollar opportunity in the health-conscious beverage space.

First customers: Direct sampling and sales at golf courses, where they distributed product to golfers at the tee-off and turn.

Vongole was a mobile app advertising network founded by Jack Smith that pioneered cost-per-install (CPI) pricing rather than traditional CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions) metrics. The company discovered product-market fit in just two weeks by pivoting from an app store review aggregator after customer research revealed that app developers' biggest pain point was user acquisition. The company achieved hundreds of millions in revenue and sold for approximately $750 million.

First customers: Direct outreach to prospective app developers during incubator customer research calls. After proposing the idea of movie trailer-style video ads for apps, developers requested to be first customers willing to spend $5,000-$10,000 on ad spend.