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.”
“WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth”
“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.”
“Lived the problem that we solved.”
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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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
24 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’ revenue rises from $97,000 in 2015 to $3,500,000 in 2021. The chart marks a gradual early period as the scary phase, then busy, change, and expansion phases as revenue accelerates.
WhatConverts.com Revenue Growth Scary Phase Busy Phase Change Phase Expansion Phase
The chart compares six competitors’ funding, ranging from $29.1m to $400m, for a combined total of about $1B. It sets their financing against WhatConverts’ bootstrapped approach.
Bootstrapped vs. $1B in VC dollars
The deck gives three reasons to bootstrap: avoid risk, retain optionality and control over product and execution, and grow company value before seeking a higher valuation.
Why We Chose to Bootstrap Avoid Risk Optionality, Product & Execution Control Grow Value for Higher valuation
The framework groups growth into solving a real customer problem, building a focused product, and promoting it through reviews, paid channels, content, and community. Customer feedback and a long-term product test connect the three levers.
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
Living the problem helped the company grow 60% year over year, according to the slide. It recommends avoiding distractions with a 100-year test and treating deeper customer focus as a differentiator and growth lever.
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
A customer review praises the support experience, while the timeline shows product and platform additions alongside a focus on support. The slide presents customer service as a durable differentiator through successive growth phases.
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
The slide links product improvements to a 70% trial-to-customer conversion rate, 4X ARPU with usage-based pricing, and 3X growth through a land-and-expand strategy. Its claim is that product value can improve conversion and revenue per account.
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
The product page groups capabilities into lead tracking, lead management, and analytics. Examples include call and form tracking, qualifying and exporting leads, and sharing marketing reports and real-time data.
The diagram moves from winning an agency account through a trial to expansion across many customer accounts. It frames a better product as the mechanism that turns an initial land into broader adoption.
Land and Expand Better Product is Key to Land and Expand Land Trial Expand LAND TRIAL EXPAND AGENCY
The chart follows customer revenue by spend tier across 80 months. Its stacked bands widen over time, illustrating how accounts can move into higher-value tiers as the relationship expands.
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
The company received a $15m acquisition offer at a 7x multiple after buyers heard the founder on a podcast. The timeline pauses at 2021, when the offer was discussed, and the following slide explains why the founder preferred to keep building.
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
The response recognizes the buyer’s interest but says a sale would leave the team with cash and no company to build. The founder declines because he values the business and wants to continue playing the game they are in.
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
After the acquisition discussion, WhatConverts continued building and reached $3.5m in 2021. The timeline connects that result to product milestones and a progression from early uncertainty to expansion.
… 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
The promotion plan combines Google Ads, an agency focus that reached 40,000 companies, and content and media as a hedge. It treats paid acquisition, a clear customer segment, and owned content as complementary routes to demand.
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
The first year of Google Ads produced 5.29K clicks, 151 conversions, and a 63.69% impression share at a cost of $8.28K. The chart spans March 2015 to February 2016 and shows limited competition as the context for the campaign.
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
The revenue timeline pairs company milestones with four stages: scary, busy, change, and expansion. Product additions and support investment appear alongside the upward revenue curve, tying operating choices to growth.
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
In the second year, Google Ads impression share fell from 64% in 2016 to 28.4% in 2017 as venture-funded competitors entered. The campaign recorded 13.9K clicks and 241 conversions at a cost of $22.7K.
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
The chart compares organic search, direct visits, partner referrals, and paid search across March 2016 to February 2017. Direct and organic traffic make up much of the monthly mix, while channel contribution varies over the year.
Top 4 Marketing Channels Year 2 Top 4 Marketing Channels Mateusz please design. 2016-2017
The 2022 chart ranks quoteable leads by source: Google organic leads with 738, followed by direct at 661, Google Ads at 437, and referral at 23. It supports the claim that organic content is still a leading source of valuable prospects.
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
The next goals are to stay bootstrapped and mission-focused, address product and execution challenges, and reach $10M ARR. The slide presents financial growth alongside operational priorities.
Next Goals Bootstrapped with updated goals Mission Focused Product & Execution Challenges $10M ARR
The revenue projection rises to $10m in 2023, following $5.2m in 2022 and $3.5m in 2021. The chart carries the earlier phase labels forward and frames expansion as the next step.
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
The recap organizes the approach around solving a lived problem, building a better product through customer feedback, and promoting through paid channels, reviews, community, and content. Customer focus and long-term product discipline tie these levers together.
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
Michael Cooney closes the talk with a thank-you and identifies himself as WhatConverts’ CEO. The final card returns attention to the founder and company behind the bootstrapped growth story.
March 2022 Michael Cooney CEO of WhatConverts
