How did Level Up Leads get their first customers?

Level Up Leads got their first customers through One-off sales from initial list-building service. Their most effective growth channel became Inbound engine driving 80-90% of leads.

What is Level Up Leads's revenue?

Level Up Leads generates $542k/month in MRR. They use a subscription pricing model.

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Level Up Leads

by John Karsantvia Tropical MBA

Agency word-of-mouth subscriptionown-pain

See all Agency companies using word of mouth →

MRR$542k/mo

Growthword of mouth

Pricingsubscription

The Spark John Karsant discovered remote work early through Craigslist while exploring location independence. He initially launched a list-building service—a one-off sales model where clients paid for contact lists. The business showed promise but had structural problems: high churn, inconsistent revenue, and no recurring relationship with clients.

Building the First Version The list-building service nearly failed because the model was inherently transactional. John would sell a list, deliver it, and the relationship ended. This taught him a critical lesson about sustainable business: one-off sales don't create lasting value. He needed to find a way to stay embedded with clients longer.

Finding the First Customers John pivoted to full appointment setting—moving beyond list building to actually managing the entire SDR function for clients. This shift was transformative. Instead of selling lists, he was selling outcomes: meetings booked, pipelines filled, and revenue generated. His first customers came through word-of-mouth and referrals as the value proposition became undeniable.

What Worked (and What Didn't) The breakthrough came with cold calling. While email outreach was declining in effectiveness, John discovered that cold calling raised the perceived value of his service dramatically. It doubled the average sale price—moving from lower-ticket packages to $15K–$20K/month contracts. He implemented radical honesty in sales conversations, which won deals. He invested in infrastructure: an experienced ops leader and an in-house client dashboard that improved transparency and reduced churn. Compensation for reps was tied to client retention, aligning incentives. Key metrics tracked were dial-to-connect rates, meetings booked, show rates, and pipeline movement. He also experimented with AI for role play training, transcript analysis, playbook creation, and script generation.

Where They Are Now Level Up Leads now operates as a 73-person agency generating $6.5M/year in annual recurring revenue. An inbound engine drives 80–90% of new leads, reducing reliance on outbound prospecting. John works with an experienced CEO coach, balances personal finance and investing, and manages family life while building the company from Barcelona.

Why It Worked

•Shifting from transactional (one-off list sales) to recurring revenue (full appointment setting) solved the churn problem and created a sustainable business model.
•Cold calling proved more effective than declining email channels, allowing John to position his service as premium ($15K–$20K/month) rather than commoditized.
•Building operational systems—transparent dashboards, retention-based compensation, and experienced leadership—reduced churn and compounded growth through existing clients.
•Radical honesty in sales and commitment to outcomes over outputs built trust and reduced buyer's remorse, improving long-term retention.
•Developing an inbound lead engine (80–90% of new business) reduced the need for continuous outbound prospecting and created a more scalable, predictable acquisition funnel.

How to Replicate

1.Audit your current business model for transactional vs. recurring revenue; if you're selling one-offs, design a way to extend customer lifetime by solving a recurring problem instead.
2.Test cold calling as a premium positioning tool—don't treat it as a cheap channel, but as a way to deliver higher-value outcomes and justify higher pricing.
3.Implement transparent client dashboards showing real metrics (dials, meetings, show rates, pipeline impact) to build trust and reduce churn from perceived underperformance.
4.Tie team compensation directly to client retention metrics, not just output, so your team is incentivized to deliver real business outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
5.Invest in building an inbound lead engine early (content, referrals, partnerships) so you're not perpetually dependent on outbound prospecting to fill the pipeline.

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