Founder stories
$100K ARRin 5 years
4 milestones
Journey to $100K blog series with radical transparency built $5M ARR
Founder
Alex Turnbull
Solo Founder•Technical•USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
ExperiencedProduct
Simple helpdesk and customer support software for small businesses.
Type
SaaSIndustry
MarketingModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How Alex acquired customers
Primary Channel
SEO / Content
Also Used
CommunitiesTwitter / X
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Groove
Ruby on RailsPostgreSQLStripeIntercom
The Full Story
Our "Journey to $100K" blog series with radical transparency got featured in 100+ publications and built Groove to $5M ARR.
Radical Transparency
We shared everything - revenue, failures, challenges. This authenticity resonated with our audience of small business owners.
Content Marketing at Scale
The transparency content performed so well that it became our primary growth channel. Other publications featured our stories.
- Publications featured in: 100+
- ARR: $5M
- Growth driver: Transparent content
Key Takeaways
1
Radical transparency builds trust
2
Sharing failures humanizes your brand
3
Content marketing compounds over years
4
Authenticity attracts the right customers
Originally published onGroove Blog
Inspired by Alex's journey? Generate a business idea in the Marketing space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
Alex achieved 4 milestones on the path to $100K ARR
First Customer
1 month
April 2011
69% faster
vs avg 3 months+5 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
6 months
September 2011
46% faster
vs avg 11 months+1 year to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
2 years
March 2013
Avg: 1 year
+3 years to next milestone
$100K ARR
$5,000,000
5 years
March 2016
Avg: 3 years
5 years
Total journey time
4
Milestones achieved
Alex's Path to $100K ARRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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