$40M ARR for Nathan & Kit

Hey, it’s Guy & Farzan.

Sydney's waves are cooling down. Paddled out twice this weekend, shoulders still aching. Later found myself at a mate's Eurovision dinner. He had drinks from lots of the countries. Needless to say, I had a sore head Sunday morning. Let's dive into this week's founder stories while I reach for another painkiller.

Reading time: 9.5 mins

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

 Founder story 1 

$0 VC and $40M ARR: How Nathan Barry Built the First Creators-first SaaS Tool, Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Nathan Barry: $0 VC, $40M ARR with Kit (formerly ConvertKit) "From homeschooled kid in Idaho to building a creator-first SaaS empire valued at $200M without raising a single dollar of venture capital."

The Journey
- Grew up homeschooled in Idaho with unstructured but exploration-rich education
- Finished high school at 15, dropped out of college at 17 after landing a $10,000 web design client
- Self-published three books on app design and business
- Built an audience of nearly 40,000 email subscribers teaching what he knew
- Started ConvertKit in 2013 as a side project with just $5,000 investment
- After slow growth, invested $50,000 of his own money and went all-in
- Grew team to 80+ members worldwide (fully remote)

The Evolution of Vision
- 2013: "I need a better email tool designed specifically for creators"
- 2015: Focused on helping creators build and monetize their audiences
- 2018: Attempted rebrand to "Seva" (later reversed after community feedback)
- 2021: Turned down $200M acquisition offer to stay independent
- 2022: Launched Creator Sponsorship Network to help monetize creators
- 2024: Rebranded to "Kit" as part of expansion beyond just email marketing

Overcoming Obstacles
- Initial stagnation with only $2,000/month after six months
- Had to decide whether to shut down or double down on the business
- Rebranding misstep with "Seva" that had to be reversed
- Weathered executive departures after declining acquisition offer
- Built against established competitors like Mailchimp without venture funding
- Balanced growth with profitability while others focused on blitz-scaling

Today's Impact
- $40M+ in annual recurring revenue
- $200M valuation with zero venture capital
- 45,000+ paying customers
- 100% net dollar retention (customers stick around and spend more)
- Shared over $8M in profits with team ($3M in a single year)
- Created $520,000+ in creator sponsorship deals

Growth Strategies That Worked
- Personal onboarding: Manually migrated users from competitors
- Transparency: Published revenue numbers and business metrics openly
- Content marketing: Taught email marketing through blogs, podcasts, tutorials
- Strategic partnerships: Early advocates like Pat Flynn helped evangelize the product
- Profit-sharing: Distributed millions back to the team, building loyalty
- Focus: Remained laser-focused on serving creators rather than expanding to enterprise

Key Milestones
- 2013: Founded ConvertKit with $5,000 investment
- 2015: Crossed $10K/month in revenue
- 2016: Reached $100K/month with a team of 5-10 people
- 2018: Failed rebrand to "Seva" (rolled back after feedback)
- 2021: Declined $200M acquisition offer
- 2022: Launched Creator Sponsorship Network
- 2024: Rebranded to "Kit" and expanded product offerings

The Philosophy "I don't want to build a billion-dollar company, but build a company that helps a million creators make $1,000 a month."

"Work in public, create everyday, and teach everything you know."

Founder story 2

See how Ian quit his job & accidentally built a $10M business

"I wasn't going to do it because I'm afraid that it's not the path."

This is Ian Meers describing his mindset before building Oceans. Today, his business is valued at $15M. But this "overnight success" took a journey of career pivots.

Here's the wild story:
→ Started as an academic pursuing a PhD
→ Moved to finance, investing in venture funds
→ Built and sold a VC-backed app company
→ Founded Oceans with no outside investment
→ Now doing $15M ARR with millions in profit

But the fascinating part isn't the numbers, it's how his understanding evolved:
- 2018: "I'll be an academic researcher"
- 2019: "I'll work in venture capital"
- 2020: "I'll build a VC-backed startup"
- 2022: "I want to build something that's 100% mine"

The journey taught him crucial lessons:
- VC-backed startups put you on a treadmill of raising rounds
- The biggest companies use offshore talent as their secret sauce
- COVID made remote work mainstream, opening doors for smaller businesses
- The best marketing costs $0: exceptional service creates referrals
- Hire for capabilities, not just experience (his Chief of Staff ran children's camps)

Today's results:
- $15M in annual revenue
- Millions in profit
- 100% ownership
- Freedom to live where he wants
- Time to pursue personal interests

Key insight about business success:
It's not about chasing the biggest exit or raising the most money. It's about building a business that gives you the freedom to live how you want.

As Ian says:
"If you can't step away and read books, visit friends, travel... then what are you doing it for?"

The best part?
Ian now lives in rural New Hampshire, reads for an hour each morning, and plays video games every Saturday from 6-11am. He built the life he wanted, not the one others expected.

Founder story 3

How two friends built a $1M+ revenue business normalising female pleasure"

Viv Conway & Jo Cummins: Redefining Female Pleasure with Girls Get Off

"From fun socially-distanced drinks to a $1M+ revenue business: How two friends normalised female pleasure and built an empowering brand that's changing the conversation."

The Journey
- Started in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, later expanding to Sydney
- Launched from a driveway conversation during post-COVID lockdown
- Began with minimal investment and small product orders to validate the concept
- Grew from two founders to a team of seven people
- Built a thriving community of 78K Instagram followers

The Evolution of Vision
- 2021: Created a sex toy brand focused on normalizing female pleasure
- 2021: Launched the Missy Mini, their flagship product
- 2021: Leveraged a second COVID lockdown to rapidly grow their online community
- 2022: Expanded beyond products to build an education and conversation platform
- 2023: Focused on diversifying marketing channels beyond Instagram
- 2024: Transitioned from startup mode to scaling operations and systems

Overcoming Obstacles
- Faced initial rejection from influencers (only 4 of 70 contacted said yes)
- Lost their Instagram account temporarily after rapid growth raised flags
- Navigated the challenges of marketing in a traditionally taboo industry_ Balanced rapid growth with developing proper business systems
- Created a professional brand in an industry often viewed as "seedy"

Today's Impact
- $1M+ in annual revenue
- 78K Instagram followers
- Strong email marketing list
- Multiple product offerings
- Team of 7 people across two countries
- Growth Strategies That Worked
- Community Building: Created interactive content like "Sunday confessions"
- Influencer Marketing: Built relationships with aligned content creators
- Content Strategy: Focused on providing entertainment and education
- Lockdown Opportunity: Used increased social media engagement during COVID
- Email Marketing: Built owned channels to reduce dependence on social platforms

Key Milestones
- Met during first COVID lockdown in New Zealand
- Successfully pitched to 4 influencers at launch
- Grew 20K followers in just 10 days during second lockdown
- Recovered Instagram account within 24 hours after being flagged
- Reached $1M+ in annual revenue
- Expanded operations to Sydney, Australia

The Philosophy

"Get started, take advice from people who've been there before, make small changes as needed, and keep going. You're not special - if others have been there, done that, and proven that it's possible, then why can't you? Don't get in your own way."

"Someone who leaps from their safety net in pursuit of a vision for their business and life."

Founder advice from Robert Kaminski (co-founder Fletch) 

I had back-to-back sales call with two startups today, one at $100M ARR, one at $5M ARR.

Their positioning says everything about what early-stage growth really looks like.

Startup #1 (the $100M one)

Their product has one main use case for one industry:

→ Serving legal notices

That's it.

Startups #2 (the $5M one)

Their product has near endless use cases for multiple industries:

→ employee training, sales demos, internal comms, onboarding, knowledge sharing, and more, with applications in Healthcare, Fintech, Education, and Manufacturing

I planned to write up a long post explaining this, but I think I'll just sum it up in one sentence:

Focus is the ultimate growth lever.

 A longish quote we loved 😜 

All done for today.

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See you in 7 days.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo