Proleads

Anders Fredrickson launched the initial version of what would become Proleads in 2010, inspired by the need to help B2B sales teams automate their outreach. The product solved a real problem: enabling sales development reps to personalize emails at scale rather than manually crafting each outreach message. For nearly a decade, the team built and iterated on the core technology.

By early 2017, Proleads had grown to approximately 100 paying customers at an average of $150 per month, generating around $180,000 in ARR. However, growth stalled. The fundamental problem wasn't the product's core value proposition—it genuinely solved a critical sales problem. The issue was execution: they had built "this perfect race car, like a Ferrari, perfect for driving on the track, but we were selling it to people that just got their driver's license and didn't really know how to drive that product." Customer churn was brutal, hitting approximately 50% annually, which meant half their customer base churned every year.

In summer 2017, seeking to address these challenges, Proleads made a strategic acquisition of Brisk.io's assets for a six-figure deal (between $100,000-$300,000). The Brisk technology was an advanced browser extension connected to Salesforce that automated interactions within the CRM and on other websites. The deal came with approximately 20 existing customers. Around the same time, Anders brought on a co-founder, Brendan Short, and the team joined the Alchemist Accelerator with an additional $150,000-$200,000 in funding, bringing total raised capital to approximately $880,000-$900,000.

The Brisk acquisition proved successful, and the Alchemist Accelerator experience transformed the trajectory. With professional guidance and improved product positioning, the company gained meaningful traction and prepared for demo day. During Dreamforce, Anders met Ben Sardella, founder of Outbound Works, a services-driven company attacking the same sales automation problem from a different angle. They realized they were pursuing identical goals through different means—Proleads via technology, Outbound Works via services. The conversation evolved into acquisition discussions.

After approximately 3.5 months of negotiations, Proleads was acquired by Outbound Works in February 2018 for approximately $1.8 million—more than 2x the capital raised—consisting primarily of cash with a minority stake in stock. Anders stayed on as head of product, finally able to work with "professional in-house drivers" who understood the sophisticated technology. Outbound Works itself was subsequently acquired in October 2019 by an unnamed buyer (pending announcement), with Anders remaining as the sole full-time employee from the original Proleads team, continuing to lead product development for the combined entity.