Custom Hub

Kyle and his brother Nate built Custom Hub in 2009 while working at Infusionsoft (now Keep). They created it as a simple utility app—essentially a portal where Infusionsoft customers' end-users could log in, manage billing information, and make payments on outstanding invoices, similar to logging into a bank account online. "We actually didn't even know what we were building, to be honest with you," Kyle recalls. The MVP took six months to build, driven largely by sweat equity from Nate's software engineering skills and Kyle's product management background.

In that first year (2009), revenue was minuscule—"we probably would have been lucky to do $10,000." The brothers funded development through a consulting business that paid the bills. But something unexpected happened: customers started asking for features beyond the original utility. "Our customers just started asking us for stuff. And, you know, lo and behold, a year or two later, we realized we had built a membership product." By 2011, Custom Hub had grown to sub-$20K MRR, and Infusionsoft acquired the company for between $1-2 million.

Customers came organically from the Infusionsoft ecosystem. The product was built for Infusionsoft users, so distribution was built-in. Word-of-mouth and referrals became the dominant acquisition channel from the start. Under Keep's ownership, the product thrived for several years, eventually growing to $1.5M ARR with peak monthly revenues around $80-85K (likely 2015-2016).

The challenge came when Keep shifted priorities. "The product sort of got shelved and didn't get much attention for about five years before we acquired it," Kyle explains. Users started leaving, and revenue declined significantly. But Kyle and Nate had never stopped believing in the product. In 2018, after Keep's timing finally aligned, they bought Custom Hub back. The deal was structured at 30% cash upfront (~$225K of a larger total), with 70% paid back over 2-3 years. They raised $750K from angels and family/friends to fund the buyback.

What followed was a massive platform rebuild. "We probably spent between $500,000 [and] a million to rebuild the platform," Kyle says, mostly as sweat equity from Kyle and Nate themselves. The new platform launched in early 2024. The results are already visible: customer acquisition cost is just $50 per customer, churn is sub-2.5%, and they're seeing lift from increased ad spend (they nearly tripled ad spend over 30 days). They believe they can sustainably acquire customers at $300 CAC.

Custom Hub is currently at $43K MRR ($516K ARR) with 560 customers. Kyle and Nate own about 70% of the company, with the remainder held by angels and family/friends from two fundraising rounds (buyback round + customer hub raise). With only four full-time employees plus contractors, they're planning to hire seven more in the next six months and raise approximately $1M at a $10M valuation later this year. Kyle believes they can hit that valuation once MRR reaches ~$50K with strong growth metrics. For a bootstrapped team that bought their own product back from a larger company and completely rewrote it, Custom Hub has become a compelling case study in perseverance and product-market fit.