The team, idea and story behind Fello's growth since its October 2022 launch, from a flat org of experimenters to brand building
Stephen London · Fello
Published September 6, 2024Explore the lesson. Sign in to access the slide download.
Topics covered: My name is Steven London I am the co-founder…; Good idea so stay fluid with the idea we…; Challenge so we gave away the software for free….
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“uh my name is Steven London I am the co-founder of fellow and I am super super excited to share how we went from zero to 10 million in ARR in 18 months we can actually change that title in two weeks to 0 to 15 million in 24 months uh hopefully um so first of all who is fellow we are a marketing engagement platform uh AI powered we're building”
“good idea um so stay fluid with the idea we launched actually not in software we raised a seed round in 2021 off of the I buying concept so it's asset based um and we pivoted because we had the software in October of 22 and it's just taken off ever since then so we raised a $3 million seed round so while the idea isn't important I think the story is everything and I'm going to get more into the personal brand and the how”
“challenge so we gave away the software for free for a year uh to whoever won this 30-day challenge it engaged our entire Community uh text message post people text oh man this software is awesome everywhere um so the social proof of that get on as many many podcasts and webinars as possible it is one of the most uh you know easiest hacks both from it helps you practice telling that story but also it's just free you can repurpose that I think Nathan talked about it talked about it”
“if you do this right how powerful this exercise is last couple things um culture another thing we learned uh from rocket ship standpoint your internal culture reflects your out uh external culture um and it's not uh some words on a slide so we used we had five 10 employees we used to write these exact uh core values down and have people read it every meeting”
“Arranging a Team is One of the Most Important Decisions Know Thyself Know Thy Roles Foxholes & Friends Letting Go of Ego & Trusting And not for the obvious reasons”
“Yet the Story is Everything Brand is more important than ever Personal brand even more so Key Questions to tell a great story: Why are you really doing this? Who is going to be the face? What is the origin story? Who is your hero?”
“Power users all the way down Founder-led sales CPO & CTO obsessed Investors as users Hyper-connected to product and market”
“Whoever runs the most experiments wins Create flat org Empower everyone to build / test Immediately triple down on the wins Stay scrappy. Spending ≠ good marketing.”
“Leverage is only way to hyper-growth Leverage content for marketing Leverage affiliates for sales Leverage shared knowledge for CS Leverage debt for ROI Leverage the world for talent”
Video
How We Went From $0 to $10m+ ARR in 18 Months...The Playbook! - Slide Deck
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
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SaaSOpen, September 2024 How We Went From $0 to $10m+ ARR in 18 Months...The Playbook! Stephen London President & Co-Founder, Fello
Fello is an AI-powered B2B SaaS marketing engagement platform that started in real estate. Software launched in October 2022. The product screenshot is a dashboard under the tagline "Turn your database into a 24/7 listing engine."
Who is Fello? Marketing Engagement Platform AI-powered B2B SaaS Started in Real Estate Launched software in Oct 2022
Fello's ARR rose in each quarter shown, from a small bar in Q4 2022 to above $10,000,000 by Q2 2024. The bars get taller each quarter, with the largest steps in 2023 and 2024.
Our Revenue Growth
The talk is organized by revenue stage. Dots (under $0m) covers the idea, team and story; Ants ($0-1m) covers power users, a flat org of experimenters and a memetic world; Rockets ($1-10m) covers dream state, culture and leverage.
The Fello Story The hacks that allowed us to scale from $0-10m+ in 18 months Dots: <$0m The Idea The Team The Story Ants: $0-1m Rockets: $1-10m Power Users Flat Org of Experimenters We Live in a Memetic World Dream State Culture Leverage
Opens the first stage by splitting it into three parts. The Team: know thyself, know thy roles, foxholes, letting go. The Idea: great ideas sound crazy, don't worry about sharing, the why. The Story: brand is everything and key questions to know.
Know thyself Know thy roles Foxholes Letting go Great ideas sound crazy Don’t worry about sharing The Why Brand is everything Key questions you need to know Connecting the Dots The invisible framework that guides you The Team The Idea The Story
Arranging a team is framed as one of the most important decisions, and "not for the obvious reasons." Four points are listed: know thyself, know thy roles, foxholes and friends, and letting go of ego and trusting. A photo shows four smiling men raising glasses outdoors.
Arranging a Team is One of the Most Important Decisions Know Thyself Know Thy Roles Foxholes & Friends Letting Go of Ego & Trusting And not for the obvious reasons
The slide argues for staying flexible about the original idea as long as it is big enough. In this September 2024 presentation, London contrasts a Fello announcement of $25 million with an annotation identifying $3m in equity.
The Original Idea is Mostly Irrelevant… Great ideas sound crazy Don’t worry about sharing The Why Stay Fluid as long as it is big enough really $3m in equity…
Brand matters more than ever, and personal brand even more so. Four questions help tell a great story: why you are really doing this, who is the face, what is the origin story, and who is your hero. The screenshot is Fello's "Our story" page.
Yet the Story is Everything Brand is more important than ever Personal brand even more so Key Questions to tell a great story: Why are you really doing this? Who is going to be the face? What is the origin story? Who is your hero?
Introduces the second stage, an organization of ants, built on three ideas. Power users: founder sales, CPO obsessed, investors as users. Flat org: experiments, empower, stay scrappy. Memes: live in a memetic world, social proof, hit them from every angle.
Founder Sales CPO obsessed Investors as users Experiments Empower Stay scrappy We live in a memetic world Social proof is everything Hit ‘em from every angle An Organization of Ants And why it’s so important Power Users Flat Org Memes
Power users run all the way through the company: founder-led sales, product and technology leaders obsessed with the product, and investors who use it. The screenshot shows Fello's lead dashboard with lead counts and a feed of recent lead activity.
Power users all the way down Founder-led sales CPO & CTO obsessed Investors as users Hyper-connected to product and market
Whoever runs the most experiments wins: build a flat org, let everyone build and test, and triple down on wins right away. The slide adds that spending is not good marketing. A 2023 pro forma table shows monthly marketing spend totaling $82,048.
Whoever runs the most experiments wins Create flat org Empower everyone to build / test Immediately triple down on the wins Stay scrappy. Spending ≠ good marketing.
Failures: free product, free onboarding, hiring without an exercise, ruining the domain with mass emails, and hiring a demand gen agency. Wins, called random: free parties, a 30 Day Challenge, text message posts, podcasts and webinars, and building community.
Experiments we ran… Things that didn’t work: Free product Free onboarding Hiring people w/o an excercise Ruining domain w/ mass emails Hiring demand gen agency Random things that worked: Free parties 30 Day Challenge Text Message Posts Podcasts / Webinars Building Community
The goal is to be everywhere so prospects ask "Where did I hear that?" and say "I see you all over the place." The collage shows customer success stories, a video testimonial, and praise from agents in chat and text messages.
We live in a memetic world “Where did I hear that?” Hit ‘em from every angle “I see you all over the place”
Introduces the third stage, the hacks for rocket growth, in three parts. Dream state: dream with your heart, dream big, play the dream game. Culture: not core values on a slide, but contagious. Leverage: hyper-growth is impossible without it, so find leverage points per department.
Dream with your heart Dream big How to play the dream game Culture is not core values on a slide Culture is contagious Hyper-growth is impossible w/o leverage Find true leverage points for each dept The hacks for rocket growth The mental and tactical tips that fueled our success Dream State Culture Leverage 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
Dream with your heart, not your mind. Dream so big it feels uncomfortable to write down. Dissociate from reality and play the "How would I?" game. The image is a blank sheet of paper with a pen.
The 3 rules for dream state Dream with your heart not mind. Dream so big it makes you feel uncomfortable to write it down. Dissociate from reality and play the “How would I?” game
Culture is not core values on a slide but a radiation of who the co-founders really are, and it is who you should hire towards. To find your actual values, ask who has and has not worked out, and why. A crossed-out values list is shown, along with "Virtual is not human."
Culture is not core values written on a slide It’s a radiation of who the co-founders really are And it is who you should hire towards: To determine your actual core values: Who hasn’t worked out and why? Who has worked out and why? Virtual is not human
Culture is contagious and builds a brand. Create "the vibe" for your ICP, overspend on your community, and make your users heroes. Photos show a person holding a "we love fello" sign, an industry award stage, a large conference crowd, and a team celebrating a sale.
Culture is contagious and truly builds a brand Create “the vibe” for your ICP Overspend on your community Make your users heroes
Leverage is called the only way to hyper-growth, with a lever for each function: content for marketing, affiliates for sales, shared knowledge for CS, debt for ROI, and the world for talent. Screenshots show a Fello training academy and a customer community group.
Leverage is only way to hyper-growth Leverage content for marketing Leverage affiliates for sales Leverage shared knowledge for CS Leverage debt for ROI Leverage the world for talent
Repeats the opening overview of the talk: Dots (the idea, the team, the story), Ants (power users, flat org of experimenters, memetic world) and Rockets (dream state, culture, leverage), spanning $0 to $10m+ in 18 months.
The Fello Story The hacks that allowed us to scale from $0-10m+ in 18 months Dots: <$0m The Idea The Team The Story Ants: $0-1m Rockets: $1-10m Power Users Flat Org of Experimenters We Live in a Memetic World Dream State Culture Leverage
Closing card thanking the SaaSOpen audience, with Stephen London's photo, title at Fello, a QR code and an email address for reaching him. It invites the audience to get in touch.
SaaSOpen, September 2024 Thank you! [redacted email] Stephen London President & Co-Founder, Fello