Why WhatConverts stayed bootstrapped: fast support, public revenue storytelling and an agency focus that reached 40,000 companies
Michael Cooney · WhatConverts
Published September 1, 2022Michael Cooney, CEO of WhatConverts, shares:
- Bootstrapped vs. Funded: how we chose
- How to have patience when competitors raise $100m+
- How our agency focus created huge growth to 40,000 companies
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Michael Cooney explains why his company remained patient and bootstrapped, using fast customer support, public revenue storytelling, measurable paid acquisition, and optionality to grow.
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“the product and I will go ahead and do the sales and marketing. So we wanted to do bootstrap and throughout journey this is the the growth. You can see in the first year we started in March 2015 and we grew almost to a $100,000. And I've got little labels there. So the first million it took us four years to get to the first million because we're still working in the agency uh while we're building the product. And I called”
“what this enabled us to do is not only develop a great product, but it's also enabled us to develop the messaging. When we talking messaging, we're talking to our target market, we know what they're feeling. We can position the product, um, to solve the problem very, very nicely. So, that's allowed us to go 60% year on year since we started. Um, the other thing I've got here is avoid shiny objects. So, once you start a product and you get customers, what you're going to find is”
“marketing attribution, and then they're getting this great reporting as well. So, just by having that great product, and it's obviously better than our competitors who are well-funded, has allowed us to grow and compete even though we didn't we thought this well-funded competitors. Another benefit of having a better product than your competitors is you can use a land and expand strategy. So, our land and expand strategy is around marketing agencies. We don't have a sales team, or we”
“strategy, which comes next. So, in year one, what you'll notice is we have a 64% impression share. And what that means is every time somebody searched the keywords we were targeting, 64% of the time we would be somewhere on the page with our ad. And that was 2015. Um our impression share was great. And we actually came at the tail end of the call tracking space. Call tracking went through a big disruption in 2011. It was”
“you can find out what pages generate the most value, you can be very effective. So, next goals um when we started the company, our goal was to get to 2 million ARR. We thought it was two founders, it was going to be terrific. And um we got there in about uh I think 6 years. And the interesting thing is once we got to 2 million, we thought, you know, we would have made it by then. We got to 2 million and Jeremy and I went for a round of golf.”
“Why We Chose to Bootstrap Avoid Risk Optionality, Product & Execution Control Grow Value for Higher valuation”
“Solve Problem Lived the problem that we solved. Bootstrapped vs. Funded When can you skip funding? Customers Double down on customers. Core Value 100 Year Test Execution Better product Feedback Demos and support for customer feedback. Focus Laser focused product development Reviews & Community Get your name out Paid Promotion Research & signups Content & Media Spend Take a photo and share it! @FounderpathHQ 3 GROWTH LEVERS PRODUCT PROBLEM PROMOTION”
“Unlock growth with product. 70% Trial to customer conversion rate. Better product, better conversion. 4X ARPU with usage based pricing. Mousetrap feature and pricing. 3X growth with a better product. Land and expand strategy 2) Product”
“I can see how bringing the businesses together would make a lot of sense for XXXX, and you’re willing to pay a good amount to acquire WhatConverts. However, if you look from the WhatConverts side the only benefit we would get is the money we can sell it for (normally that alone is more than enough). Once we get the money, we’re out of the game. Now we would have to find a new game to play in. And, we like the game we’re in. My Response”
“WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Content and Media is where we get leads today Organic still winning…. 2022”
Video
Land & Expand Strategy (Graph)
How We Stay Patiently Bootstrapped While Competitors Raise $100m+ - Slide Deck
Michael Cooney is the co-founder of WhatConverts, a product that lets you track phone calls, web forms, and web chats, back to specific marketing campaigns so you know exactly where your best leads are coming from. Michael is highly respected for his unparalleled expertise and innovation in marketing and engineering. One of his former colleagues believes that Michael's visionary thinking transformed EngNet (his former company) into an industry leader.
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23 passages
March 2022 March 2022 | Michael Cooney, CEO of WhatConverts.com Michael Cooney CEO of WhatConverts How We Stay Patiently Bootstrapped While competitors raise $100m+ (and we’re winning)
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth Scary Phase Busy Phase Change Phase Expansion Phase
Bootstrapped vs. $1B in VC dollars
Why We Chose to Bootstrap Avoid Risk Optionality, Product & Execution Control Grow Value for Higher valuation
Solve Problem Lived the problem that we solved. Bootstrapped vs. Funded When can you skip funding? Customers Double down on customers. Core Value 100 Year Test Execution Better product Feedback Demos and support for customer feedback. Focus Laser focused product development Reviews & Community Get your name out Paid Promotion Research & signups Content & Media Spend Take a photo and share it! @FounderpathHQ 3 GROWTH LEVERS PRODUCT PROBLEM PROMOTION
Problems are opportunities How we were able to grow 60% YoY by living our problem. Avoid shiny objects, use our 100 year test for focused development. How doubling down on customers has become a huge differentiator and growth lever. Problem
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Doubling Down on Support Real competitive advantage Today
Unlock growth with product. 70% Trial to customer conversion rate. Better product, better conversion. 4X ARPU with usage based pricing. Mousetrap feature and pricing. 3X growth with a better product. Land and expand strategy 2) Product
Land and Expand Better Product is Key to Land and Expand Land Trial Expand LAND TRIAL EXPAND AGENCY
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform How I measure “Land and Expand” You should have this chart 80 MONTHS
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform $15m Acquisition Offer 7x multiple after Buyers heard him on Latka podcast 2021
I can see how bringing the businesses together would make a lot of sense for XXXX, and you’re willing to pay a good amount to acquire WhatConverts. However, if you look from the WhatConverts side the only benefit we would get is the money we can sell it for (normally that alone is more than enough). Once we get the money, we’re out of the game. Now we would have to find a new game to play in. And, we like the game we’re in. My Response
… and we kept building, hit $3.5m 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Scary Phase Busy Phase Change Phase Expansion Phase
Products don’t sell themselves. How we used google ads to get new customers. How our agency focus created huge growth to 40,000 companies Using content marketing & media as a hedge. 3) Promotion
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Google Ads Year 1 Not a ton of competition... 2015-2016
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Scary Phase Busy Phase Change Phase Expansion Phase
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Google Ads Year 2: Impression Share Down Down from 64% in 2016 to 28.4% in 2017, VC dollars flowing in 2016-2017
Top 4 Marketing Channels Year 2 Top 4 Marketing Channels Mateusz please design. 2016-2017
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Content and Media is where we get leads today Organic still winning…. 2022
Next Goals Bootstrapped with updated goals Mission Focused Product & Execution Challenges $10M ARR
Whats Next? 2010 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Technology Intelligence Added to App Exchange Intent by Category Ideal Customer Profile, Enrich Launch, RainKing Corporate Hierarchy, Combined Platform Scary Phase Busy Phase Change Phase Expansion Phase
Solve Problem Lived the problem that we solved. I just showed you: Playbook to skipping VC Customers Double down on customers. Core Value 100 Year Test Execution Better product Feedback Demos and support for customer feedback. Focus Laser focused product development Reviews & Community Get your name out Paid Promotion Research & signups Content & Media Spend Take a photo and share it! @FounderpathHQ 3 GROWTH LEVERS PRODUCT PROBLEM PROMOTION
March 2022 Michael Cooney CEO of WhatConverts
