Skip to resource content
Founder conversationLeader $5m+

How I Bootstrapped to $5m using profit sharing and open salaries to motivate the team

A free Excel model for profit sharing across 10 employees, an 8-page team explainer and open salaries

Bridget Harris · YouCanBookMe

Published September 1, 2022
About this resource

Bridget Harris shares how they launched their profit sharing plan at their $3m ARR SaaS company.

In 20 minutes, you'll learn:

- Free excel file to model profit sharing across 10 employees

- 8 page document I used to explain profit program to team

- How profit sharing helped our company become more profitable

Explore the lesson. Sign in to access the slide download.

What you’ll learn

Bridget Harris explains YouCanBookMe’s bootstrap approach to profitability, hiring for long-term growth, salary transparency, and a profit-sharing plan for the team.

Read the source passages

Key moments

Find the ideas you need and go straight to the source.

YouCanBookMe bootstrap context

“please help me welcome bridget harris with you can book me to the stage bridgette so my name is bridget harris i run a company called you can book me and as he said i'm here to talk about with my fellow bootstrap founders how we have grown to around 5 million arr using profit sharing and open salaries to motivate the team so you can put with our online scheduling tool um we've got over just a million accounts where where am i looking here there we go million accounts we've got about 22 000 customers and to”
Watch at 00:00

Building a business plan

“didn't realize that they were working for a bet rather than a business plan so good news we're all here nathan's here the whole team is understanding to align against something slightly different even the vcs have woken up to the fact that they have to reinvent some really slightly crazy mathematics which is adding together your profit uh margin with your growth rate and if you come up with more than 40 then you they'll still give you some kind of valuation so okay fine we'll accept that but i have a different way of thinking about it which”
Watch at 03:52

Hiring for profitable growth

“you're going to give them some career paths and promote them and so on and so forth and at the end of the day you've got a profit margin there which what i would call is essentially their ability to impact your uh your growth so who you hire will have a direct impact on that so here it is uh the profit stack of your classic p l or income statement what you're doing in terms of people and team and then how you're actually going to build a product together to make some money so in terms of metrics people metrics”
Watch at 07:46

Using profit metrics

“incredible some incredible ratios coming out of public publicly listed companies in america but 201 times is is essentially the average you can book me 4.3 and i'm going to come on to that it's not because we're massively socialist or weird it's because it's actually a very good uh logic to why we keep our wage ratio low and then costs of living in different regions number indexes tells you where how much it costs to live anywhere and we basically split it into four pay regions inside you can book me anybody recognize this place”
Watch at 11:39

Profit-sharing eligibility and calculation

“detail but basically our logic is you've got to be employed you can't be on a disciplinary and you have to have worked for us for at least a year and a half we then look at our net profit excluding any um you know out sort of extraordinary costs like foreign exchange currency stuff happens a lot and um i know it's like one-off donations or something but otherwise we just take a quarterly three-month p l and we take 10 of our profit and we redistribute it and then what we do is we do reward 10 years so you get a higher percentage of”
Watch at 15:28

Trusted by customers and teams worldwide at

“Trusted by customers and teams worldwide at”
Read slide 3

The “40% rule” includes an element of

“The “40% rule” includes an element of EBITDA as part of valuations”
Read slide 17

Salary metrics

“A labour market works the same as any other market — supply and demand”
Read slide 31

Preview slides

Open slide preview in Google Slides

Resource files

  • Video

    Watch video

  • How to set up profit sharing

  • How I Bootstrapped to $5m using profit sharing and open salaries to motivate the team - Slide Deck

About the speaker
Bridget Harris

Bridget Harris

CEO & CoFounder · YouCanBookMe

LinkedInTwitter

Bridget Harris is the CEO and co-founder of YouCanBook.me - an online scheduling tool that helps businesses manage their customers and calendars. Bridget is the co-founder of YCBM, launched in 2012. Before then she had a career in parliament, government and politics as an advisor.

Company revenue
$5M
Team size
24

More founder interviews

Slide by slide

Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.

55 passages

YouCanBookMe in numbers

  1. Slide 1Open deck
    Slide text

    How I Bootstrapped to $5m using profit sharing and open salaries to motivate the team Profit Sharing Matrix Bridget Harris CEO of YCBM • ycbm.com

  2. Slide 2Open deck

    Youcanbookme by the numbers

    The company lists 1 million accounts, 22,000 customers, and 82 million bookings to date.

    Slide text

    YCBM in numbers 1 million Accounts 22,000 Customers 82 million Bookings all time

  3. Slide 3Open deck

    Customer logos span many sectors

    A logo wall names Mindbody, Shopify, Uber, Yelp, Thumbtack, Bonlook, Korn Ferry, and Tesla as customers or teams using the product.

    Slide text

    Trusted by customers and teams worldwide at

  4. Slide 4Open deck

    Revenue climbed to £4 million

    The revenue chart rises from near zero in 2011/12 to £4 million in 2021/22. A callout marks first profit of £105,791 in 2016-17.

    Slide text

    Revenue 2011-2022 (£) ✨2016 — 2017 First profit £105,791

  5. Slide 5Open deck

    Three topics for the talk

    The agenda moves from the Profit Stack to key metrics, then to the profit-sharing plan.

    Slide text

    Over the next 20 minutes I’m going to show you 3 — Sharing the Profit 2 — Metrics that matter 1 — The Profit Stack

  6. Slide 6Open deck

    A short history of profit

    This section introduces profit history with a rising chart as its visual motif.

    Slide text

    A short history of Profit $ History of Profit

  7. Slide 7Open deck

    Investor returns differ from profit

    The slide argues that investors do not expect business profit itself to deliver their investment return.

    Slide text

    Business profit is not how Investors intend to get a return on their investment. 📢 Attention Founders!

  8. Slide 8Open deck

    Founder and VC plans differ

    The founder plan pairs inventing something with making money, while the VC plan pairs investing in stock with trading for a return.

    Slide text

    Invent something. Make Money 📢 Attention Founders! Founder Business Plan 💰 VC Business Plan 💰 Invest in Stock and Trade. Make Money

  9. Slide 9Open deck

    A build emphasizes making money

    The animation highlights “Make Money” in both the founder and VC plans, emphasizing the shared return-seeking outcome.

    Slide text

    Invent something. Make Money 📢 Attention Founders! Founder Business Plan 💰 VC Business Plan 💰 Invest in Stock and Trade. Make Money

  10. Slide 10Open deck

    Fast growth can mean negative EBITDA

    A quoted post explains that a SaaS company growing quickly may remain EBITDA-negative because it spends heavily to acquire customers before lifetime value is realized.

    Slide text

    “If you want to be a fast-growing SaaS company trying to Go Big”

  11. Slide 11Open deck

    Public SaaS EBITDA is often negative

    A table of 21 public SaaS companies marks EBITDA results, with more negative than positive entries and negative median and average rows.

    Slide text

    EBITDA of 21 Public SaaS Companies since 2018

  12. Slide 12Open deck

    A headline frames venture risk

    A Wall Street Journal screenshot pairs the headline “The Venture Capital Secret: 3 Out of 4 Start-Ups Fail” with the takeaway “VCs expect to lose money.”

    Slide text

    VCs expect to lose money

  13. Slide 13Open deck

    An article questions venture capital

    A news headline quotes Steve Blank saying VCs will not admit they are in a Ponzi scheme, followed by a short description of changing venture capital incentives.

  14. Slide 14Open deck

    Coverage describes a venture downturn

    A Financial Times headline calls the change a “silent crash,” with a subhead saying investors see signs that the technology startup boom is ending.

  15. Slide 15Open deck

    Layoffs accelerated in 2022

    The cumulative layoff line jumps sharply from early 2020 to mid-2020, then climbs gradually before accelerating again through the third quarter of 2022.

    Slide text

    Source: https://layoffs.fyi/ Cumulative startup layoffs since COVID-19

  16. Slide 16Open deck

    A reaction to the layoff chart

    A reaction image reading “Wow...” punctuates the preceding chart on cumulative startup layoffs.

  17. Slide 17Open deck

    Valuations include EBITDA in the 40% rule

    The slide states that the “40% rule” includes EBITDA as one element of company valuation.

    Slide text

    The “40% rule” includes an element of EBITDA as part of valuations

  18. Slide 18Open deck

    Profit should not be endlessly deferred

    An Alice in Wonderland illustration accompanies the phrase “Jam tomorrow, jam yesterday, but never jam today,” evoking rewards repeatedly postponed.

    Slide text

    Image by …

  19. Slide 19Open deck

    Choose profit today

    A childhood jam image crosses out “Jam” and replaces it with “Profit,” framing the choice as earning profit today.

  20. Slide 20Open deck

    Profit sharing followed break-even

    The operating-profit line crosses into positive territory around 2016, and the callout says the first profit-share payout was $75k to five eligible team members in 2017-18.

    Slide text

    We broke even in 2016 YCBM Operating Profit ✨2017 — 2018 First profit share payout of $75k to 5 eligible team members

  21. Slide 21Open deck

    A playful transition to the framework

    A relaxed classroom meme reading “I’ll allow it” bridges the profit discussion into the Profit Stack section.

The profit stack

  1. Slide 22Open deck

    The Profit Stack section

    This section introduces a three-part framework for thinking about the activities and costs that support profit.

    Slide text

    The Profit Stack 1 1 — The Profit Stack

  2. Slide 23Open deck

    Three stacks contribute to profit

    The diagram places profit above company, people, and business layers. Company work includes product development and support, people covers career paths and retention, and business covers expansion, lifetime value, retention, and acquisition cost.

    Slide text

    The Profit Stack Company Stack Business Stack People Stack

  3. Slide 24Open deck

    Company costs are founder choices

    The company stack groups direct costs, core management, product development, and communication, customer research, and support beneath profit. The slide assigns ranges to the upper layers and emphasizes that founders decide their costs.

    Slide text

    The Company Stack <10% 10 - 15% 20 - 40% 10% 20 - 30% You decide on your costs 💰

  4. Slide 25Open deck

    Expansion links product to profit

    The business stack highlights expansion and cost of acquisition, alongside lifetime value and retention. The accompanying claim is that product-led growth supports long-term profitability.

    Slide text

    The Business Stack Product Led Growth will lead to long term profitability

  5. Slide 26Open deck

    Hiring shapes the people stack

    The people stack connects recruitment, turnover and culture, tenure, and career paths to profit. The slide says hiring high-performing problem solvers directly affects the profit a business can generate.

    Slide text

    The People Stack Attract High Performing Problem SolversTM Who you hire will have a direct impact on the profits your business will generate

  6. Slide 27Open deck

    The Profit Stack recap

    The recap shows three parallel layers: company work, people practices, and business economics, each building toward profit.

    Slide text

    The Profit Stack Company Stack Business Stack People Stack

  7. Slide 28Open deck

    Metrics that matter

    This section turns to metrics, introduced with a chart motif carried over from the agenda.

    Slide text

    Metrics that Matter 2 2 — Metrics that matter

People metrics for profitability

  1. Slide 29Open deck

    Track people metrics for profitability

    The slide recommends creating room for high performers, tracking tenure, turnover, and ARR per employee, and exceeding benchmarks for long-term profitability.

    Slide text

    People metrics Maximise opportunity for high performers to hit their stride Track Tenure, Turnover and ARR per employee Long term profitability will come from exceeding these benchmarks

  2. Slide 30Open deck

    YCBM compares favorably on people metrics

    A three-column table compares SaaS benchmarks with YCBM: tenure is 2 years versus 3.3 years, turnover is 9.2% versus 3.6%, and ARR per employee is $125K versus $200K.

    Slide text

    People metrics What we track to ensure long term profitability of our business Metric Saas Benchmarks 2 years YCBM 9.2% $125K 3.3 years 3.6% $200K Tenure Turnover ARR per Employee

Transparent salary metrics

  1. Slide 31Open deck

    Publish salary rates and reward results

    The slide treats labor as a supply-and-demand market, recommends publishing salary rates internally for accountability, and says high wages should reward performance rather than precede it.

    Slide text

    Salary metrics A labour market works the same as any other market — supply and demand We publish our salary rates internally to stay accountable Reward performance with high wages, it doesn’t follow in reverse

  2. Slide 32Open deck

    Salary bands are organized by role

    A spreadsheet screenshot lays out role families and levels across technology, customer success, product, and business operations, alongside a conversion-rate table for currencies.

    Slide text

    Salary metrics A labour market works the same as any other market — supply and demand We publish our salary rates internally to stay accountable Reward performance with high wages, it doesn’t follow in reverse

  3. Slide 33Open deck

    Salary metrics compare markets and regions

    The table compares market rates, pay ratios, and cost of living using Glassdoor and Numbeo references. YCBM lists pay up to double market rates, a 4.3 pay ratio, and four regions.

    Slide text

    Salary metrics What we track to ensure long term profitability of our business Metric Benchmarks YCBM Glassdoor Data X 201.6 Numbeo Index Up to double market rates X 4.3 4 Regions Market Rates Pay ratios Cost of Living

  4. Slide 34Open deck

    Question the cost of one salary market

    Over a photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge, the slide asks whether a global company should anchor salaries to the world’s most expensive place to live.

    Slide text

    Who thinks it is good economics — in a global labour market — to fix salaries to the most expensive place to live in the world? Photo by Kyler Boone

  5. Slide 35Open deck

    Living costs vary by country

    The cost-of-living chart ranks the USA highest among the countries shown and Morocco lowest, with the UK, France, and Germany also above the other listed locations.

    Slide text

    Cost of Living matters R1 R2 R3 R4 Cost of Living Plus Rent Index is an estimation of consumer goods prices including rent comparing to New York City.

  6. Slide 36Open deck

    Employer costs vary across countries

    The bar chart compares mandatory employer social costs, with France and Spain at the high end and South Africa at the low end. The text notes that taxes, benefits, and job security change the total employment cost.

    Slide text

    Not all salaries are equal Country taxes vary widely Benefits and job security inherent in European contracts are ‘priced in’ to higher salaries in USA *Mandatory Employer Social Costs Cost of Employment matters

  7. Slide 37Open deck

    Take-home pay depends on location

    The stacked bars compare employer social costs and effective income tax at $100K across countries, showing that the components and combined burden differ by location.

    Slide text

    Employee take-home matters *Effective Tax Rate when earning $100K in different countries

  8. Slide 38Open deck

    US tech salaries shape hiring markets

    For comparable senior engineering, product, and customer roles, the grouped bars show US salaries above YCBM’s average in most role groups and higher than many of the other country comparisons.

    Slide text

    US tech giants skew the labour market for talent YCBM / Glassdoor comparable sample across senior Engineering, Product and Customer team roles

  9. Slide 39Open deck

    Gross pay has a 331% spread

    The pay-ratio diagram marks a 331% spread in employee gross pay across the compared locations.

    Slide text

    Employee Gross 331% spread Pay Ratio

  10. Slide 40Open deck

    Employer cost has a 324% spread

    The pay-ratio diagram marks a 324% spread in total employer cost across the compared locations.

    Slide text

    Total cost Employer 324% spread Pay Ratio

  11. Slide 41Open deck

    Take-home pay has a 250% spread

    The pay-ratio diagram marks a 250% spread in employee take-home pay across the compared locations.

    Slide text

    Take home 250% spread Pay Ratio

  12. Slide 42Open deck

    Pay spreads differ by measure

    A combined pay-ratio diagram compares a 331% spread in gross pay, a 324% spread in employer cost, and a 250% spread in take-home pay.

    Slide text

    Take home 250% spread Employee Gross 331% spread Total cost Employer 324% spread Pay Ratio

  13. Slide 43Open deck

    Sharing the profit

    This section introduces the profit-sharing plan and its payout structure.

    Slide text

    Sharing the Profit 3 3 — Sharing the Profit

Profit-sharing scheme mechanics

  1. Slide 44Open deck

    The scheme sets clear conditions

    The plan requires 1.5 years of employment and more than 30 hours a week, allocates 10% of annual net profit, and pays quarterly according to eligibility points.

    Slide text

    The Scheme Eligibility 1.5 years employed Must work over 30 hours a week Any disciplinary actions disqualifies for relevant quarter Calculation 10% of net profit made in a year Includes all normal operating expenses and income Excludes FX and abnormal payments Payouts Based on eligibility points from 1.5 - 4 Paid quarterly in arrears Paid as part of normal pay checks

  2. Slide 45Open deck

    Eligibility points vest over time

    Employees earn 0.25 points each quarter, become eligible at 1.5 points after six quarters, and reach full vesting at 4 points after 16 quarters.

    Slide text

    The Scheme Employee builds up 0.25 points each quarter 👉🏻 After a year and a half, they have 1.5 points 👉🏻 By end of 6th quarter they are eligible for a payout 💰 Each quarter, their share from the pot goes up by 0.25 points 💰 💰 After 4 years, (4.0 full points) they fully vest their share 💰 💰 💰 👉🏻

  3. Slide 46Open deck

    Payouts follow each employee’s share

    The example divides a $25,000 quarterly profit-share pool across 21 vested points. Employees with 4 points receive 19.75% or $4,938.27, while those with 1.5 points receive 7.41% or $1,851.85.

    Slide text

    Employee #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 Vested points 4 4 4 3.75 1.5 1.5 1.5 % Share 19.75% 19.75% 19.75% 18.52% 7.41% 7.41% 7.41% PAYOUT $4,938.27 $4,938.27 $4,938.27 $4,629.63 $1,851.85 $1,851.85 $1,851.85 How it’s calculated Employee points / Total vested points = % Employee Share Total profit $25,000 per quarter 21 Points in Total / converted into % Each employee receives a % share of quarterly pot Example $250,000 x 10% = $25,000

  4. Slide 47Open deck

    A shared sheet tracks quarterly payouts

    The spreadsheet example allocates each quarter’s profit share by employee points, adjusts payouts as points accrue, and summarizes final adjustments and annual totals.

    Slide text

    Our Profit Sharing Plan Example spreadsheet that will be shared with everyone

  5. Slide 48Open deck

    A closer look at one quarter

    The spreadsheet zoom focuses on the second quarter, comparing point totals and payouts and showing estimated versus actual turnover, net profit, and employee share.

  6. Slide 49Open deck

    Actual results change the share pool

    The zoomed spreadsheet contrasts estimated revenue of £1,000,000 with actual revenue of £950,000, while actual net profit and employee share exceed the estimates.

  7. Slide 50Open deck

    Consider your own business

    The question “What business are you in?” invites founders to examine their company through the profit framework.

    Slide text

    What Business are you in? ? Your Business

  8. Slide 51Open deck

    The accounts show a return to profit

    The abridged profit-and-loss table compares 2017 with 2016: profit for the year is £105,791 in 2017 after a £28,621 loss in 2016.

    Slide text

    Youcanbookme Ltd Abridged Profit and Loss account for the year ended 31st March 2017 Total 31st March 2017 (£) Total 31st March 2016 (£) Gross profit 977,760 499,625 Administrative expenses (872,595) (564,605) Income from shares in group undertakings 8,664 - Other interest receivable and other income - 20 Interest payable and similar expenses (10,186) (13,941) Profit (loss) before tax 103,643 (78,901) Taxation 2,148 50,280 Profit (loss) for financial year 105,791 (28,621)

  9. Slide 52Open deck

    The prior-year result was a loss

    The build dims the rest of the accounts and highlights the 2016 loss of £28,621 with the label “Not in business.”

    Slide text

    Youcanbookme Ltd Abridged Profit and Loss account for the year ended 31st March 2017 Total 31st March 2017 (£) Total 31st March 2016 (£) Gross profit 977,760 499,625 Administrative expenses (872,595) (564,605) Income from shares in group undertakings 8,664 - Other interest receivable and other income - 20 Interest payable and similar expenses (10,186) (13,941) Profit (loss) before tax 103,643 (78,901) Taxation 2,148 50,280 Profit (loss) for financial year 105,791 (28,621) Not in business

  10. Slide 53Open deck

    The next result returns to profit

    The build highlights 2017 profit of £105,791 with “We’re in business!” while the earlier loss remains visible.

    Slide text

    Youcanbookme Ltd Abridged Profit and Loss account for the year ended 31st March 2017 Total 31st March 2017 (£) Total 31st March 2016 (£) Gross profit 977,760 499,625 Administrative expenses (872,595) (564,605) Income from shares in group undertakings 8,664 - Other interest receivable and other income - 20 Interest payable and similar expenses (10,186) (13,941) Profit (loss) before tax 103,643 (78,901) Taxation 2,148 50,280 Profit (loss) for financial year 105,791 (28,621) We’re in business! 🙌

  11. Slide 54Open deck

    Three lessons close the talk

    The recap returns to the Profit Stack, the people and salary metrics behind hiring, and the profit-share matrix and its payouts.

    Slide text

    In the last 20 minutes I just showed you Profit Share Our profit share matrix and how it pays out How to build a profit mentality into how you design and sell your product Profit Stack What metrics will inform your hiring Digging deep into our salary strategy Metrics

  12. Slide 55Open deck

    Thank you from Bridget Harris

    Bridget Harris closes the talk with a thank-you and a photo of two people talking in a workspace.

    Slide text

    Thank you! Bridget Harris CEO of YCBM • ycbm.com