Tacit knowledge, easy-to-update process automation and a broader view of what to outsource, from SupportNinja's founder
Cody McLain · SupportNinja
Published September 1, 2022Cody McLain, Founder of SupportNinja, shares his insights from serving 100+ startups:
- The power of tacit knowledge
- Easy to update process automation tools
- Smart founders outsource more than just customer support
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Cody McLain connects his founder story with SupportNinja’s growth model: apply hard-won support experience to a validated market, preserve tacit knowledge through employee retention, design repeatable onboarding workflows, and expand the definition of what can be outsourced.
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“with him called support Monk and so I helped him find other hosting come in and actually build out the the team in India and we were able to build that together and so I sold both my stake in Pacific coast and support muck at around the same time here's here's a small team the relatively small team that I had when I was maybe 22 23 especially small compared to the team that support ninja is today”
“in a way that you might not have thought about before so the power of tacit knowledge so back in 2019 I was able to actually open up what was effectively my dream from the from the get-go was to create this really hit neat office that was going to not only appeal to our customers but also set us apart from our competitors because we had to have this type of environment in order to attract”
“you'll see if hopefully the audio works that you'll see what I mean by this piece of bread spread it around with the butter knife no dad with the peanut butter I'm just doing what it says it says take one piece of bread spread it around with the butt with the butter knife hold on get some jelly rub it on the other half of the bread”
“actually build this so one of the most important processes with any outsources the client onboarding procedure and so very early on I we realized that we need to actually build out this workflow and so that's effectively what we did because there's so many moving parts and you have to know how is the sales team going to hand off the client to the to the client team how are we going to then have the client team give the appropriate instructions to the recruiting team in the Philippines so that they know exactly what agents and specifically what they need to hire so”
“in any kind of documentation type of mentality and so going on to Outsourcing creatively there are a wide array of ways that you can actually Outsource your company or out use an Outsourcing company to to service your company as well so one of them is Corporate BPO which is what support ninja was these are typically companies that you approach and you have kpis metrics and you're handing off the training and the management to these companies and they take on the burden of managing that for”
“The power of tacit knowledge”
“Sold stake for $1m (22 years old)”
“Built a Business Process Management System (BPMS) in Pipefy”
“Client Example: Employee Expense App”
Video
How I bootstrapped to $20m in 5 years - Slide Deck
Cody McLain founded his first company at the young age of 15, starting in his parents' basement. Over the next decade, Cody successfully built and sold four companies, accumulating millions in gross revenue. His ventures spanned Hosting, Software, and Support-based industries, establishing offices globally. Collectively, Cody's companies have catered to over 30,000 customers and businesses across 100+ countries. Currently, Cody maintains an active blog on his website, codymclain.com, and manages a Creative Digital Agency along with a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm.
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
39 passages
Cody McLain Founder of SupportNinja Bootstrapped to $20m in 5 years … 3 growth channels we used to hit our first 100 customers Founder500, Sept 2022
The talk moves from McLain’s personal path into entrepreneurship, through his bootstrapping journey, and then into lessons from serving startups.
Over the next 20 minutes: The power of tacit knowledge I’m going to show you BOOTSTRAPPING ALL MY LIFE Easy to update process automation tools Smart founders outsource more than just customer support Personal story and childhood struggles Finding joy in building something that was my own Realizing my potential far exceeded my limitations Repeated success in the hosting industry Pivoting from hosting but feeling imposter syndrome Finding the right fit in a validated market INSIGHTS FROM SERVING 100+ STARTUPS WHY I BECAME AN ENTREPRENEUR
The brochure positions SupportNinja for technology companies, startups, and online businesses, with customer support, technical support, data entry, content moderation, lead mining, and back-office support among its services.
A historical black-and-white photograph of workers digging with shovels sets a visual theme of labor and persistence.
A collage of company and organization logos overlays the worksite photograph, mixing real brands with fictional or playful references.
Pixelated pickaxes appear across the logo collage, adding a playful visual build to the preceding image.
The chart shows subscription revenue ARR rising each year from $3.9m in CY17 to $24.5m in CY21, with growth accelerating in the final two years.
SupportNinja Revenue Growth
McLain describes losing his parents before 18, experiencing bullying and school difficulties, and feeling isolated without a clear purpose.
When You Have Nothing… You Bet Everything. Parents died before I turned 18, partly ran my hosting business out of foster care for a while. I was bullied, weird and had no friends (Aspergers) Poor performance in school with Dyscalculia All of this added up made me think I was a misfit with no purpose for a long-time in my late teens and early 20’s.
The slide links McLain’s decision to leave high school and focus on his business with later personal interests in flying, scuba diving, and photography.
Your Potential Can Far Exceed Your Expectations. Dropped out of High School, with no backup plan, my only option was to make money with my business. Discovered myself along the way, and picked up flying, scuba diving and photography.
The timeline begins with McLain starting at 14, then shows a 2006 merger into AptHost as an early company milestone.
‹#› My Startup Timeline 2004 2015-2021 2006 2009 2012 I was 14 years old Merged into AptHost
The timeline adds AptHost’s growth to $800k ARR and a scam by a penny-stock investor, showing both business progress and a major setback.
‹#› My Startup Timeline 2004 2015-2021 2006 2009 2012 I was 14 years old Merged into AptHost Grew to $800k ARR Scammed by penny stock investor guy
The timeline adds a new venture started with less than $100k in the bank at age 19, followed by a growing need for support.
‹#› My Startup Timeline 2004 2015-2021 2006 2009 2012 I was 14 years old Merged into AptHost Grew to $800k ARR Scammed by penny stock investor guy Started with less than $100k in bank (19 years old) Grew to have massive need for support
The timeline shows SupportMonk beginning to solve a need, followed by a stake sale for $1m at age 22 and the later SupportNinja brand.
‹#› My Startup Timeline 2004 2015-2021 2006 2009 2012 I was 14 years old Merged into AptHost Started because I needed it Sold stake for $1m (22 years old) Grew to $800k ARR Scammed by penny stock investor guy Started with less than $100k in bank (19 years old) Grew to have massive need for support
A group photograph shows the SupportMonk team together outdoors, illustrating the people behind the early operation.
‹#› My Startup Timeline 2003 2006 2009 Support Monk India Team Support Monk India Team 2012 SupportMonk India Team
After selling Pacific Host, McLain describes feeling imposter syndrome and deciding that the economics of a cloud-hosting company did not work.
Looking Forward After selling Pacific Host, I had imposter Syndrome Tried to build a cloud hosting company but the numbers didn’t make sense.
McLain wanted to build a startup but was wary of the risk of creating a completely new kind of business.
I always wanted to be a Startup but I didn’t want the risk of creating a totally new business. 🤔
McLain saw his customer-support experience as an advantage in a market where outsourcing providers mainly served large enterprises, with one provider dominating among tech startups.
Realized my customer support experience was an asset to the right market. Outsourcing was an antiquated industry primarily targeting Enterprise-level Companies. One company was dominating the market for tech startups:
McLain says an established provider validated the market, then lists SupportNinja’s initial approach: a Philippines call center, a startup-oriented website, and targeted online marketing.
They validated the market but had no competitors… …I used their offering as my baseline and founded SupportNinja. Have a Philippines Call-Center Have a cool, upbeat, clean site that appeals to other millennial entrepreneurs. Utilize my knowledge in Online Marketing to target specific audiences on Google
McLain’s lessons are to retain employees to build tacit knowledge, automate workflows, and consider outsourcing beyond customer support.
Key to my success (and yours): A strong culture retains employees, which develops a deep bank of tacit knowledge Automation: the key to a lean and mean workflow Think outside the box with what can be outsourced What I learned running an outsourcing company for hundreds of start-ups just like yours.
This section turns to tacit knowledge, the practical know-how that develops through experience and working together.
The Power of Tacit Knowledge
A photo of McLain in the SupportNinja office accompanies the claim that the company opened 20,000+ square feet in Clark, Philippines, in 2019.
Opened 20,000+ sq ft office space In Clark, Philippines in 2019
A client-logo panel sits beside photos of SupportNinja teams, pairing customer examples with images of the staff delivering the work.
‹#› Clients Include
This build adds an Inc. 5000 recognition screenshot beside the client and team imagery, highlighting SupportNinja’s appearance in the 2019 company ranking.
‹#› Clients Include
A red arrow points toward a jar on a table as a man and child look on, creating a humorous visual beat between sections.
The diagram contrasts explicit knowledge, which can be codified and stored, with tacit know-how rooted in context and experience and passed through social interaction. The slide argues that retaining staff helps preserve this hard-to-document knowledge.
Tacit Knowledge How much pressure do you apply to the brakes to not stop too soon or late at a given speed? Processes are easy to create & hard to keep relevant Prioritize staff retention over price when considering an outsourcing company. Explicit Codified knowledge found in documents, databases, etc. IT systems essential for transfer and storage Tacit Intuitive knowledge & know-how, which is: Rooted in context, experience, practice & values. Hard to communicate - resides in the mind of the practitioner. The best source of long term competitive advantage and innovation. Transferred through socialization, mentoring, etc.
This section shifts from tacit knowledge to building lean workflows through process design and automation.
Lean Mean Workflows
The collage shows office construction, workstations, a company sign, and McLain at an event, giving a visual account of SupportNinja’s physical setup and growth.
‹#›
The diagram defines who is involved, what each process step represents, and the symbols used for phases, inputs, outputs, and new sequences.
The road to process flow automation… TYPE WHO WHAT The Client U.S. Operations PH Operations Sales Training Recruitment Email/Document Manual step A process within the sequence Required Input/Output Part/Phase in a sequence New Sequence Client Portal Boxes
A large swimlane diagram connects client setup, hiring, onboarding, training, and communication steps across several teams, showing how easily a process can become difficult to manage.
‹#› … Is paved with good intentions
The slide presents four process tools and describes their uses: controlling processes, managing recurring workflows, documenting repetitive tasks, and standardizing how teams document, delegate, onboard, and scale.
Process Software Systems I Use: Real-time control of all your processes in one place, from start to finish. The simplest way to manage recurring workflows for your team Document all those repetitive tasks that eat up your precious time, so you can grow your team and grow your business. Document and delegate, onboard and train, test and retain, systemize and scale.
A hiring card and form illustrate how a business process system can collect employee information and guide a team through a repeatable hiring workflow. The accompanying points emphasize improving the process through repeated use and overnight updates.
Example Process Built a Business Process Management System (BPMS) in Pipefy As my team runs the process over and over, it becomes obvious how to improve process Update components overnight
A process-tool screenshot lists field types and connections, including dynamic content and conditional fields, illustrating how teams can standardize and link workflow data.
Example Process Automates repetitive tasks Track, manage & maintain processes across the company Reduce errors by standardizing communication between departments
This section broadens the discussion to outsourcing models and services beyond customer support.
Outsourcing Creatively
The slide describes a third-party provider running defined processes while the client supplies the process design. It presents a 20-seat minimum at $15-$18 an hour and positions this model for large companies focused on risk and compliance.
Corporate BPO Outsourcing Business Process Outsourcing Third party provider - runs set/part processes You provide the “process” and they take care of everything to provide the outcome of that process Minimum 20 seats - $15-$18 an hour Ideal for LARGE corporations concerned with Risk Minimization and Compliance
Staff leasing bundles space, employment, recruitment, HR, and behavioral management, typically from one seat at $7-$9 an hour. Seat leasing provides space and equipment while the client handles employment, typically from one seat at $500-$600 a month.
Staff / Seat Leasing STAFF LEASING Provides office space & equipment Provides legal employment structure Provides recruitment/HR functions Provides behavioral management Usually starts with 1 seat - $7-$9 an hour Cash flow friendly Focused on local management Provides office space & equipment only You are responsible for incorporating and employing Is a way to incorporate without committing to a lease Starts with 1 seat - $500-$600 a month SEAT LEASING
The slide groups offerings across accounting, IT, marketing, engineering, and call centers, with example rates of $17 per hour for accounting and $15 per hour for marketing. It describes these services as moving from wholesale delivery toward direct retail.
Specialized Services SERVICES Wholesale (white label) Trending to Direct Retail Accounting - financial services. $17 per hour IT & all its derivatives Marketing & all its derivatives. $15 per hour Engineering/building services Call-Centers Can be virtual Fundamentally a “crowdsourcing” solution
A service-page example shows back-office work beyond customer support, including data mining, image editing, data entry, real-estate image processing, portrait services, clipping, and restoration.
Image Moderation * Real Estate Image Processing * Photo Manipulation * Portrait Services * Image Enhancement * Photo Clipping * Photo Restoration * Photo Editing Outsourcing Outside the Box
A phone app scans a paper receipt, illustrating an employee-expense workflow that turns a physical receipt into a digital record.
Client Example: Employee Expense App
McLain closes by urging founders to retain staff to preserve tacit knowledge, use process systems to scale, and look for outsourcing opportunities beyond customer support.
September 2022 Cody McLain Founder of SupportNinja Prioritize staff retention to maximize tacit knowledge Incorporate BPMS to maximize scalability The most effective use cases for outsourcing is often not customer support
