Boomtime

Bill Bice is a serial entrepreneur who had built and invested in over 25 companies before founding Boomtime. Across all these ventures, he kept encountering the same fundamental marketing problem: businesses lacked the resources and expertise to execute effective go-to-market strategies consistently. As a programmer at heart, Bill believed this was a technology problem that could be solved systematically rather than through traditional agency consulting alone.

Boomtime launched in 2014 as a content-oriented marketing automation platform. Bill started on the technology side because he wanted to solve the problem purely through software. However, he quickly realized that technology alone couldn't address the core issue—the vast majority of SMBs simply didn't have the resources and expertise to execute marketing well day-to-day. This insight led him to build a hybrid model combining both technology and service delivery. The platform manages the entire workflow of content creation, from ideation to distribution, leveraging a network of 300 subject matter expert writers rather than building content creation internally.

Boomtime's customer acquisition strategy mirrors the advice it gives clients. The company uses LinkedIn connection campaigns to find exactly the right B2B prospects, converting those connections to email nurture sequences. This approach has been remarkably efficient—new customers onboard at $2,000/month, and the company maintains a 5-month payback period on customer acquisition costs. With only three full-time sales representatives on a team of 35, Boomtime relies on strong lead inflow from its own marketing efforts rather than pure outbound sales.

The biggest lesson Bill learned was the danger of trying to do everything for everyone. Early on, Boomtime served both B2C and B2B customers, which hurt churn metrics and diluted the product-market fit. By focusing exclusively on B2B, where the platform's strengths shine, churn dropped dramatically. Bill also emphasized the importance of building the foundation right before hitting the gas on growth. Rather than chase rapid growth at all costs like many VC-backed companies, Boomtime took time to perfect its platform and process over three years, which positioned it for sustainable, profitable growth.

As of the interview, Boomtime serves 300 paying customers (plus 3,000 total users of the technology piece alone) and generates $250,000 in MRR, with $250k coming from the hybrid SaaS/service model. The company is profitable with a 5-month customer payback period and has raised $8 million in venture funding. Despite "slow growth in the teens" over the previous 12 months, Bill predicted acceleration in 2020 as the platform and go-to-market strategy matured. The team of 35 includes six to seven engineers and a lean sales organization, with the majority of headcount dedicated to delivering the service component that makes Boomtime's hybrid model work.