Dan & David's $3.5B film company

Hey, it’s Guy & Farzan.

Friday night pints with an old mate. His eyes lit up describing his new business idea on a wrinkled beer mat. I recognized that founder fever. Infectious. Reminded me why Farzan and I started this newsletter in the first place. This week's stories might just give you the same buzz. Let’s get into it.

Reading time: 8.5 mins

In the mail today. 3 founder stories, 1 bit of founder advice, 1 tweet

 Founder story 1 

From a small distribution company to a $3.5B cultural powerhouse: How three film industry veterans built the coolest indie studio in the business.

The Journey
- Founded A24 in August 2012 with seed funding from Guggenheim Partners
- Daniel Katz came from film finance at Guggenheim Partners
- David Fenkel brought indie experience as co-founder of Oscilloscope Laboratories
- John Hodges contributed production expertise from Big Beach Films
- Started solely as a distribution company before expanding to production in 2016
- Named after a moment of clarity while driving on Italy's A24 highway

The Evolution of Vision
- 2012: "Let's distribute independent films and give filmmakers creative freedom"
- 2013: Pivoted to bold, fresh films after initial stumble with Charles Swan III
- 2016: Expanded from distribution to full film production with Moonlight
- 2017: Moved into television production with shows like Euphoria
- 2022: Proved indie films could compete with blockbusters (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
- 2024: Expanded beyond films into theatre, consumer products, and music

Overcoming Obstacles
- The first film (A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III) flopped
- Had to compete in a risk-averse industry dominated by franchise films
- Needed to find ways to market indie films with limited budgets
- Had to convince investors that artistic, boundary-pushing films could be profitable
- Built a studio in an industry controlled by established legacy players

Today's Impact
- $3.5 billion company valuation (40% increase since 2022)
- Over 50 Academy Award nominations and 16 wins
- Secured $75 million investment from Thrive Capital in 2024
- Created cultural phenomena like Everything Everywhere All at Once ($140M box office)
- Established as the gold standard for independent cinema

Growth Strategies That Worked
- Creative Freedom: Gave directors complete artistic control over their projects
- Innovative Marketing: Used social media, memes, and guerrilla tactics instead of traditional ads
- Distinct Brand Identity: Created a recognizable aesthetic and storytelling approach
- Genre Expansion: Redefined horror with psychological, artistic films like Hereditary
- Strategic Partnerships: Collaborated with streaming services to reach wider audiences

Key Milestones
- 2013: Breakthrough success with Spring Breakers using viral marketing
- 2016: First in-house production with Moonlight wins Best Picture Oscar
- 2018-2019: Revolutionized horror genre with Hereditary and Midsommar
- 2022: Everything Everywhere All at Once sweeps the Oscars with seven wins
- 2024: Secured funding to expand beyond film and television

The Philosophy

"In an industry often driven by formulaic trends and prone to creative stagnation, compelling storytelling always stands out."

"The best marketing feels organic and turns your audience into promoters."

Founder story 2

From $100 to $77M: How Ben Taylor built his pet portrait empire selling 1M portraits.

Ben Taylor built a million-dollar pet portrait business (Weston Willow) starting with just $100. After 8 years in marketing and feeling trapped by client work, he discovered print-on-demand and saw an opportunity to modernize pet portraits.

His journey went from:
- Researching obsessively but hesitating to start
- Finally launching after seeing an outdated competitor
- Growing revenue incrementally each day
- Appearing on the Today Show and in Martha Stewart's home
- Scaling to over 1 million portraits sold in 5 years

Key lessons he shares:

1. Take action immediately - Even small steps like registering a domain name move you forward. Failures are learning opportunities.

2. You don't need an original idea - Innovation beats originality. He didn't invent pet portraits, he modernized them.

3. Do everything yourself at first - Understanding every aspect makes you a better leader when you start hiring.

4. Invest in brand trust early - He prioritized PR before ad management to build credibility and separate from copycats.

5. Collaborate with "competitors" - Partnerships with BarkBox, Oli, and Kong elevated his brand by association.

His business success allowed him to quit his job and create a lifestyle of freedom, all while staying bootstrapped despite investment offers.

Founder story 3

How two former marketers transformed their agency into a 5-figure revenue content strategy tool in just one year.

The Journey
- Dan dropped out of civil engineering and computer science to pursue marketing
- Started with affiliate marketing, e-commerce ventures, and social media growth
- Maria pursued three degrees, including a Film degree that shaped her storytelling approach
- Worked with marketing agencies for 5+ years before launching their content agency
- Built Yahini initially as an internal tool to optimize their agency workflow

The Evolution of Vision
- 2024: Created Yahini as an internal tool to handle tedious content research for their agency
- 2024: Transitioned from using it internally to offering it as a SaaS product
- 2024: Launched a lifetime deal (LTD) to build a dedicated core user base
- 2025: Added a free plan after analyzing user behaviour and acquisition patterns
- 2025: Reached 5-figure USD revenue with 170 SaaS subscribers

Overcoming Obstacles
- Overwhelmed by potential marketing activities as first-time product founders
- Email outreach didn't yield expected results for feedback
- YouTube affiliate strategy proved more challenging than anticipated
- Had to identify who wasn't their target audience to refocus efforts
- Navigated the transition from agency services to product business

Today's Impact
- 5-figure revenue in USD
- 170 SaaS subscribers
- 300 website visitors per month
- Bootstrapped company
- 2 employees

Growth Strategies That Worked
- Direct Outreach: Manually reaching out to potential customers on LinkedIn
- Community Engagement: Becoming active members in Facebook communities focused on content marketing
- Social Media: Using LinkedIn as their strongest channel for reaching their audience
- Strategic Pricing: Creating tiered pricing based on distinct usage patterns
- Lifetime Deal: Offering LTD as a strategic move to build a dedicated core user base

Key Milestones
- Started as a tool to optimize their agency workflow
- Launched the product to the public in 2024
- Partnered with Facebook groups for lifetime deals
- Added a free plan to allow users to experience the platform before committing
- Reached 87-92% match rate compared to human content strategist recommendations

The Philosophy

"The real value isn't in simply creating more content, but in creating the right content with the right strategy behind it."

"Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like." - Paul Graham

 Founder advice from Marshall advice

I’m 35. What would I tell my 20-year-old self?

Not much.

Because if I knew how hard the journey would be, I might not have started.

Imagine a "career day" where they tell you what it's like to be a doctor.

They talk about med school, long hours, and the potential salary.

Now, imagine an entrepreneur stepping up and saying:

- "You’ll probably fail at 30 different ideas before one works."
- "You’ll doubt yourself more times than you can count."
- "It will be brutal."

Would you still go for it?

Truth is, grit is a requirement.

But there’s also beauty in being naïve.

That blind optimism that says, “Screw it, I’ll try anyway.”

If I had known how hard it would be, I might have hesitated.

And that hesitation would have cost me everything.

So what’s my advice?

Go for it, man.

Jump in, get punched in the face, learn, adapt, and keep pushing.

The struggle is part of the process.

👋 Hey 20 year old me, see you on the other side.

 A tweet we loved

That’s me done for this week.

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See you in 7 days.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo