$1mm ARR with $0 Marketing Spend
“$1mm ARR with $0 Marketing Spend”
Founder resourceBuilder <$5m
The Simple PR Template We Used to Bootstrap to $1m in ARR
A press-release template, a $50k domain-name bet and an MVP built in 72 days for under $30k
Ben Gabler · Rocket.Net
Published September 1, 2022About this resource
Ben Gabler, CEO and founder of Rocket.Net, bootstrapped to $1m in ARR – with $0 in marketing spend.
In 20 minutes, you’ll learn how they did it:
- Playbook for building your MVP in 72 days for less than $30k
- Why domain names matter (their $50k bet)
- Formula for landing your first 100 customers
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What you’ll learn
Ben Gabler’s slides present a path to $1 million in annual recurring revenue without marketing spend, including guidance on press releases and naming a startup.
Read the source passagesKey moments
Find the ideas you need and go straight to the source.
Press Release
“What is your product? Who is it for? What problems does it solve? How is it different?”
Naming a Startup
“Harder than you think! I always like to start with keywords and something like BrandBucket.”
Preview slides
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The Simple PR Template We Used to Bootstrap to $1m in ARR - Slide Deck
Ben Gabler is the CEO/Founder at Rocket.net, where they’re on a mission to Accelerate & Protect WordPress at the edge of the cloud, all while delivering a true SaaS experience for the customer. Ben has been in the hosting industry for twenty years with a few notable stops along the way at HostGator, HostNine, GoDaddy, and StackPath. He’s been a fan of WordPress since its early days.
- Company revenue
- $3.1M
- Team size
- 10
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Slide by slide
Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
19 passages
Introduction
Slide text
Ben Gabler CEO, Founder of Rocket.Net How we bootstrapped to $1m in ARR … Starting with a simple PR template Founder500, Sept 2022
$1mm ARR with $0 Marketing Spend
Revenue grew without marketing spend
Rocket.net’s chart rises from $88,000 in 2020 to $1,000,000 in Q3 2022, while the headline says the growth came with $0 marketing spend. The steep climb suggests the company relied on other ways to reach customers.
Slide text
$1mm ARR with $0 Marketing Spend
A profitable team with global reach
The quick stats pair $1.1mm ARR with a $110k largest customer and $100k of capital in. A map-free row of flags, customer logos, and operating figures presents a globally distributed team supporting more than 1,000 customers.
Slide text
Built with over twenty years of Hosting and SaaS experience Bootstrapped, profitable & growing Founded 2020 ARR $1.1mm Largest Customer $110k ARR TTM $650k Capital In $100k Quick Stats Over 1,000 customers around the world, and growing... FOUNDED IN 2020, IN SOUTH FLORIDA MONTHLYBANDWIDTH AVERAGESUPPORT RESPONSE TB SECOND 175 41 Clients ..with a global team powering it all!
A three-stage path to growth
The roadmap moves from getting off the ground, through a $50K bet on the company name and domain, to reaching $1m in ARR. Its listed steps combine a focused plan, a 72-day MVP, relationships, growth hacking, and team building.
Slide text
Our Recipe for Success: Our Journey from the beginning GET OFF THE GROUND $50K BET ACHIEVE $1m IN ARR Leveraging relationships Naming your startup Domain Names matter Great name! Friends and family Growth Hacking Build a strong team Building the plan without boiling the ocean. MVP in 72 days.
Launch with less than $30k
The launch plan pairs a focused scope with a 72-day path from first code to MVP. It also highlights relationships and startup programs as ways to build without spending millions.
Slide text
How we got off the ground with less than $30k You don’t need millions to launch Building the plan without boiling the ocean. First line of code to MVP in 72 days. Leveraging relationships and startup programs.
Press Release
Use a press release to shape the MVP
A press release can help define the product before building it. The prompts ask who it serves, what problem it solves, why customers should trust it, and what benefit it adds to the market.
Slide text
Press Release The Plan: Understanding your Product What is your product? Who is it for? What problems does it solve? How is it different? Who are you? Why should they buy your product and trust you? What benefits does it provide that the market does not today? Start with a Press Release. Use this approach to outline the excitement for your product to ultimately outline your MVP. Be sure it answers the following:
Build the visible MVP first
The slide advises taking the product to market around what customers can see, then solving for scale later. A browser mockup surrounded by hosting and performance tools illustrates the product context.
Slide text
Don’t Build the “Perfect” MVP Focus on getting to market and what your customers can see. Solve for scale later
Use startup programs to cut costs
Startup programs and partnerships can lower the cost of getting to market. The slide pairs a software savings directory with examples of cloud credits and startup assistance.
Slide text
Get to market without breaking the bank Startup Programs and Partnerships
Treat naming as a real investment
The naming process begins with the realization that a good name is hard to find and that the domain matters. The sequence sets up the next step: turning an initial idea into a usable brand.
Slide text
How we built our brand and took a $50k bet. Jump off the cliff and build the parachute on the way down Turns out, naming your startup is hard... Domain Names matter. I have a great name… Now what?
Naming a Startup
Start naming with keywords
The slide groups fast, speed, edge, and hosting as starting keywords, then shows a message and domain marketplace result as part of the search.
Slide text
Naming a Startup #fast#speed #edge#hosting Keywords Harder than you think! I always like to start with keywords and something like BrandBucket.
Choose a name that can evolve
The brainstorming results compare several name concepts before moving from onRocket to Rocket. The sequence illustrates how the final brand became shorter and easier to use.
Slide text
At last… We found the one onRocket! I’ve seen a lot of companies prefix their name with things like on, get, lets, go… Brainstorming Results
Resolve confusion around the brand
A billboard mockup and the logo sequence show why the original mark was read as Rocket rather than onRocket. The slide presents a domain change as the response to that confusion.
Slide text
But wait… is it Rocket or onRocket? The world was quickly confused by our logo… it didn’t say “onRocket” it said “Rocket” Okay.. We need a better Domain Name! Let’s contact Michael at VPN.com
Build trust when search is empty
A search screenshot shows no matching review documents for a new company, underscoring how little proof may be visible at first. The closing prompt is to start building that presence.
Slide text
Okay… Rocket.NET… still can’t find you As a new company it’s often difficult to win trust when there isn’t much about you out there. Time to get to work!
Grow through people and service
The slide connects $1m in ARR and $0 successful ad spend with three growth inputs: friends and family, marketing without a budget, and a team focused on customer success.
Slide text
$1m in ARR with $0 in successful ad spend. Creative growth and lots of patience. Friends, Family, and everyone in between Marketing… with no budget Building a team and strategy around customer success
Find the first 100 customers
This section frames early customer acquisition around friends, family, and people in between.
Slide text
Initial Growth: Landing your first 100 customers Friends, Family, and everyone in between.
Market through useful community work
The slide recommends helping communities on social media, offering free service in exchange for an unbiased review, and asking friends and family to spread the word. The adjacent discussion screenshot illustrates the kind of customer conversation that can follow.
Slide text
Marketing: It’s expensive… but not always. Get involved on Social Media and provide unsolicited help to the community. This builds thought leadership for you and your brand. Provide free service to influencers and your target audience in return for an unbiased review of your product. This ultimately gets exposure, real world feedback, and customers! Leverage friends and family to help spread the word and build buzz around your brand.
Measure support as a team
The support table tracks chat response, ticket response, migration time, satisfaction, and Trustpilot rating alongside a team roster. Together, the figures and headshots frame customer success as a shared operating function.
Slide text
Building a solid foundation and measuring around customer success is crucial for scale. Customer Success takes a village Chat Response Time 41s Ticket Response Time 6m Migration Time 43m Satisfaction Rate 98.3% Trustpilot Rating 4.9 Support Averages Tools
Listen to ranked customer requests
The slide warns that customer-driven development needs balance, then makes listening the central instruction. Its feature-request screenshot shows a way to collect and rank customer ideas.
Slide text
Some say this is very dangerous, but the reality is it just takes proper balance like everything in life. Customer Driven Product Development Tools Don’t just talk to your customers… LISTEN
Thanks from Ben Gabler
Ben Gabler closes the talk with a thank-you and identifies himself as Rocket.net’s CEO and founder.
Slide text
September 2022 Ben Gabler CEO, Founder of Rocket.Net