Founder stories
$10K MRRin 1 year
3 milestones
Bootstrapped to acquisition: Drip sold to Leadpages
Founder
Rob Walling
Co-Founders•Technical•USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
ExperiencedProduct
Email marketing automation for ecommerce.
Type
SaaSIndustry
MarketingModel
SubscriptionMarketing Strategy
How Rob acquired customers
Primary Channel
Communities
Also Used
Twitter / XWord of Mouth
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Drip
Ruby on RailsPostgreSQLStripeAWS
The Full Story
I bootstrapped Drip from zero to acquisition by Leadpages. The key was focusing on a specific niche and building in public.
The Pivot
Drip started as a widget tool but pivoted to email marketing automation. The pivot came from listening to what customers actually needed.
Growth Strategy
I had built an audience through my podcast and blog about bootstrapping. This gave us early adopters who were invested in our success.
The Acquisition
After hitting $300K MRR, Leadpages acquired us. The bootstrap journey validated that you don't need VC to build a successful SaaS.
- Started: 2013
- $10K MRR: ~1 year
- Acquired: 2016 at $300K MRR
- Sale price: ~$20M
Key Takeaways
1
Pivots can save a product
2
Audience building pays dividends
3
Bootstrap is a viable path to exit
4
Listen to customers, not your vision
Originally published onStartups for the Rest of Us
Inspired by Rob's journey? Generate a business idea in the Marketing space using AI and real founder data.
Milestone Journey
Rob achieved 3 milestones on the path to $10K MRR
First Customer
1 month
July 2013
69% faster
vs avg 3 months+3 months to next milestone
$1K MRR
$1,000
4 months
October 2013
64% faster
vs avg 11 months+8 months to next milestone
$10K MRR
$10,000
1 year
June 2014
43% faster
vs avg 1 year1 year
Total journey time
3
Milestones achieved
Rob's Path to $10K MRRPremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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