$100K ARRin 3 years

4 milestones

Current revenue

$66.9M ARRas of December 2024Source

Public (TSX: THNC). FY2024 revenue $66.9M (+13% YoY). Q1 2025 ARR $60.1M; TTM May 2025 $72.08M.

De Proyecto Secundario en la Facultad de Derecho a IPO de $160M: La Historia de Thinkific

Founder

Greg Smith

Co-Fundadores•Technical•Canada

Commitment

Full-time

Experience

Experienced

Product

Thinkific

Plataforma que permite a emprendedores y empresas crear, comercializar y vender cursos en línea

Type

SaaS

Industry

Creación de Contenido

Model

Suscripción

Marketing Strategy

How Greg acquired customers

Growth Channel

SEO / Contenido

Also Used

ComunidadesBoca a Boca

Tech Stack

Tools used to build Thinkific

Ruby on RailsReactPostgreSQLAWS

The Full Story

TL;DR

Greg Smith creó un curso de preparación LSAT mientras estaba en la facultad de derecho, se mudó nuevamente con sus padres, y construyó Thinkific hasta alcanzar una capitalización de mercado de $1.36 mil millones.

"Greg tomó la decisión de mudarse nuevamente con sus padres para ahorrar dinero, y con su hermano ingeniero informático como socio, comenzó la primera versión de lo que se convertiría en Thinkific."

El Parque Temático de Canicas

El viaje emprendedor de Greg comenzó a los 11 años: "Construyó un 'parque temático' de canicas e invitó a los niños del vecindario a venir a jugar, y luego les vendía caramelos que había comprado al por mayor."

El Pivote de la Facultad de Derecho

Mientras estudiaba derecho, Greg creó un blog para compartir lecciones sobre cómo aprobar el LSAT. "Luego creó su primer curso en línea, también sobre el LSAT. Eran días muy tempranos para vender cursos en ese entonces, así que Greg no podía encontrar buenas plataformas para ayudar."

Así que contrató a un programador para construir algo básico. "¡Eso fue hace 13 años, y su curso LSAT sigue vendiendo en línea hoy!"

De Abogado a Emprendedor

"Aunque Greg amaba trabajar como abogado, no podía resistir el impulso de construir algo propio, y finalmente dejó su trabajo para iniciar un negocio."

La Asociación con su Hermano

Greg se asoció con su hermano ingeniero informático. Inicialmente "vendieron un servicio mucho más práctico" antes de construir la plataforma.

El IPO

En 2021, Thinkific realizó un IPO en el TSX recaudando $160 millones. La empresa alcanzó una capitalización de mercado de $1.36 mil millones, una de las raras empresas tecnológicas canadienses unicornio.

Key Takeaways

Mudarse con los padres para ahorrar dinero es una estrategia de startup válida

Los proyectos secundarios de la facultad profesional pueden convertirse en empresas multimillonarias

Las asociaciones entre hermanos funcionan cuando las habilidades son complementarias (diseño + ingeniería)

Un curso LSAT de hace 13 años puede seguir generando ingresos

Comienza con un servicio práctico antes de construir software

Originally published onYaro Blog

Founder proof brief

A one-page proof brief turns Greg's Thinkific playbook into your next test.

See what it covers before you sign up: the pattern worth copying, the channel to test, and the risk to avoid when you adapt this story.

Pattern

$100K ARR

Channel

SEO / Contenido

Output

Action checklist

What a proof brief covers

A one-page brief that turns Greg's pattern into a testable plan
Channel bet: start from SEO / Contenido
A risk check before copying the Thinkific playbook

See what a proof brief covers

See what it covers first. Create an account only if you choose to unlock.

Inspired by Greg's journey? Generate a business idea in the Creación de Contenido space using AI and real founder data.

Milestone Journey

Greg achieved 4 milestones on the path to $100K ARR

Primer Cliente

1 month

February 2012

70% faster

vs avg 3 months

+11 months to next milestone

$1K MRR

$1,000

1 year

January 2013

Avg: 11 months

+1 year to next milestone

$10K MRR

$10,000

2 years

January 2014

Avg: 1 year

+1 year to next milestone

$100K ARR

$100,000

3 years

January 2015

Avg: 3 years

3 years

Total journey time

Milestones achieved

Greg's Path to $100K ARRPremium

The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone

How Greg actually did it

7/7 funnel stages sourced

Reconstructed from Greg's own published sources. Quoted claims are the founder's words, verified verbatim; anything marked as our analysis is exactly that.

Where the idea came from

Personal pain

Greg built Thinkific after struggling with the mechanics of building, hosting, and selling his own LSAT prep course, and wanted to make that whole process easy for other knowledge experts.

“how hard it was to build a course, host it, brand it, market it, sell it”

A $22 Million Boost Toward Empowering Knowledge Entrepreneurs (Thinkific blog, bylined Greg Smith)

Validation

Validated before building

MvpValidated

Before building self-serve software, Greg and his brother Matt sold a hands-on, agency-style course-building service to prove people would pay, using service revenue to fund product development.

Greg described the early business as operating like an agency specifically because the product was not built yet, using paid service work to generate revenue while it was under construction.

“we were basically operating as an agency, it was because our product wasn't ready yet”

Greg Smith LinkedIn post on how he and his brother got Thinkific's first few customers

First test users

In person eventPaying from day one

They located prospects, coaches, authors, and trainers who ideally already had a course, at industry conferences and events, then pursued them by phone or in-person meetings.

“We would find out where these people would be (e.g. conferences, events), find their contact information”

Greg Smith LinkedIn post on how he and his brother got Thinkific's first few customers

First paying customer

In person eventAgency client converted

After custom-building a course from a prospect's raw video files, Greg and Matt would get on a second call specifically to collect payment and close the sale.

“we'd hop on another call to get their credit card information and get paid”

Greg Smith LinkedIn post on how he and his brother got Thinkific's first few customers

Acquisition channels, and whether they worked

Cold Outreach · conferences and industry events, followed by phone or in-person meetingsFirst customersWorked

They manually found prospects at conferences and events, got their contact details, and closed them by phone or in person before the self-serve product existed.

“find their contact information and either hop on a phone call with them or meet them in person to convince them”

Greg Smith LinkedIn post on how he and his brother got Thinkific's first few customers

What didn't work

OpsFirst customersCost: time

One prospect sent over his raw course videos, and the team spent a month custom-building his entire course and website funnel before ever collecting payment.

“we spent a month building out his course and website, funnels etc. and sent it back”

Greg Smith LinkedIn post on how he and his brother got Thinkific's first few customers

When they followed up afterward to collect payment for the finished work, the customer disappeared without paying.

“When we tried to follow up and get paid… ghosted.”

Greg Smith LinkedIn post on how he and his brother got Thinkific's first few customers

What they did instead: Kept running the same manual conference-and-outreach process with new prospects rather than changing the model, treating it as a cost of the early hands-on approach.

How it changed as they grew

At launch: 2 people (Greg Smith (lawyer background, sales and course-building side) and his brother Matt Smith (computer engineer), before the platform brought on co-founders Miranda Lievers and Matt Payne.)

Bootstrapped

Series a plus · $22,000,000 · 2020-09

Sources (3 in the founder's own words)

A $22 Million Boost Toward Empowering Knowledge Entrepreneurs (Thinkific blog, bylined Greg Smith) · founder-authored · 2020-09
Thinkific Goes Public: What's Next? (Thinkific blog, bylined Greg Smith) · founder-authored · 2021-04
About Us (Thinkific company page, not individually bylined) · third party
Greg Smith LinkedIn post on how he and his brother got Thinkific's first few customers · founder-authored

Persistence

Projects attempted before finding success

failed projects before this one worked

Learned from a previous attempt

Launch Strategy

How they introduced the product to the world

Soft Launch

Initial go-to-market approach

Low risk — lets you iterate quietly

Validation

How they tested demand before building

MVP

Method used to confirm market interest

Most common approach — build and learn fast

Launch Pricing

Price point when the product first launched

Gratis

Initial pricing strategy

Common for building initial traction

Starting Audience

Whether they had followers before launch

Existing Audience

Leveraged existing followers

Having an audience accelerates early growth

Time Investment

Average weekly hours during building phase

50 hrs

per week on average

Full-time dedication

Initial Investment

Capital required to get started

$5,000

in startup costs

Moderate investment for tools and marketing

Biggest Challenge

Mudarse nuevamente con los padres para ahorrar dinero mientras construía la empresa con su hermano

Unlock Greg's Full Journey

See the complete breakdown: launch strategy, validation methods, startup costs, expert analysis, replication playbook, and more actionable insights.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does Thinkific make?

Thinkific reports $66.9M ARR as of December 2024. Public (TSX: THNC). FY2024 revenue $66.9M (+13% YoY). Q1 2025 ARR $60.1M; TTM May 2025 $72.08M. Source: Thinkific IR (TSX: THNC).

What is Thinkific?

Plataforma que permite a emprendedores y empresas crear, comercializar y vender cursos en línea. It operates in Creación de Contenido.

How long did it take Thinkific to reach $100k arr?

Greg Smith took 3 years to reach $100k arr with Thinkific.

Was Greg Smith a solo founder?

No. Greg Smith built Thinkific with co-founders.

What marketing channel did Thinkific use to grow?

Thinkific grew primarily through SEO / Contenido.

What industry is Thinkific in?

Thinkific operates in Creación de Contenido.

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