Suzy
Matt Britton had already tasted major success, selling his agency for $50 million in 2010. But rather than retire, he immediately launched Suzy in 2011 with an ambitious vision: democratize product testing through mobile crowdsourcing. The original product, Crowdtap, let everyday consumers test enterprise products like candy bars and detergents in exchange for rewards.
The consumer-facing model sounded good in theory—get real feedback from real people on real products. But in practice, Crowdtap struggled. The unit economics didn't work, and competing on consumer engagement proved brutal.
Rather than abandon the space entirely, Britton and his team flipped the business model 180 degrees. Instead of selling to consumers, they went upmarket and sold to enterprises directly. Suzy became a B2B software platform where large companies could run user research studies themselves. This pivot worked. By 2018, the company had hit $10M in revenue. The trajectory accelerated: last year (2023), Suzy did $65M in revenue, though the company burned $12M in cash. Britton is confident in the unit economics, projecting $82M in revenue this year with plans to burn just $9M—a significant efficiency gain.
With that trajectory, Britton is mapping a clear path: "We'll hit $82m revenue this year and plan to burn $9m with a track to $100m ARR by mid 2025." For a company that nearly died as a consumer app, becoming a $100M+ ARR enterprise software business would be a remarkable redemption arc.
- •Founding a business to solve your own pain point gave the founder deep domain expertise in enterprise research, enabling him to recognize when the consumer model failed and pivot to where real value existed.
- •Moving from consumer engagement competition to enterprise direct sales allowed Suzy to leverage higher contract values and longer customer lifetime value, fundamentally changing unit economics from unsustainable to profitable.
- •The founder's prior $50M exit gave him credibility and resources to survive the pivot and invest through the unprofitable consumer phase, something most first-time founders cannot afford.
- •Selling directly to enterprises rather than through intermediaries let Suzy capture full margin and build relationships with decision-makers who could commit to ongoing subscription revenue.
- 1.If your initial go-to-market isn't working within 12-18 months, test a 180-degree reversal of your customer segment or sales model rather than iterating on the same failing approach.
- 2.Conduct structured unit economics analysis on your current model (customer acquisition cost vs. lifetime value) to identify quantitatively whether the problem is market fit or business model viability.
- 3.Build direct relationships with enterprise buyers in your problem domain by leveraging any credibility or network you have, even if it means starting with outbound sales to validate willingness to pay.
- 4.Track both revenue growth and burn rate trends quarterly to measure whether your new model is actually improving efficiency; set concrete targets (like reducing burn from $12M to $9M) and hold yourself accountable.
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