Founder stories
$100K ARRin 8 years
4 milestones
Mom and son startup built Whiteboard Friday into multi-million ARR
Founder
Rand Fishkin
Co-Founders•Non-technical•USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
First-timeProduct
SEO software and tools for search marketing.
Type
SaaSIndustry
MarketingModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How Rand acquired customers
Primary Channel
SEO / Content
Also Used
CommunitiesTwitter / X
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Moz
PythonPostgreSQLAWSStripe
The Full Story
Moz started as a mom and son startup. Whiteboard Friday was our worst performing content for 2-3 years, then became our #1 growth driver.
The Whiteboard Friday Journey
We almost killed Whiteboard Friday because it underperformed for years. But we stuck with it, and it became the most recognized content series in SEO.
Consistency Wins
Don't expect overnight success with content. It took 2-3 years for Whiteboard Friday to take off.
Episodic Content
Building a regular series creates loyal audiences who return weekly.
- Years to success: 2-3 for Whiteboard Friday
- Current status: Multi-million ARR
- Started: Mom and son team
Key Takeaways
1
Don't expect overnight success with content
2
Episodic content builds loyal audience
3
Stick with formats even when they underperform initially
4
Family businesses can scale
Originally published onSparkToro Blog
Inspired by Rand's journey? Generate a business idea in the Marketing space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
Rand achieved 4 milestones on the path to $100K ARR
First Customer
6 months
May 2005
Avg: 3 months
+6 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
1 year
November 2005
Avg: 11 months
+1 year to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
2 years
November 2006
Avg: 1 year
+6 years to next milestone
$100K ARR
$50,000,000
8 years
November 2012
Avg: 3 years
8 years
Total journey time
4
Milestones achieved
Rand's Path to $100K ARRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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