$60K ARR for Andrew

Hey - It’s Guy & Farzan,

Today, we have founders related to Google Sheets, WhatsApp, and Ice cream—an eclectic mix. Let’s get into it.

Today we have:
2 founder stories,
1 founder playbook,
and 1 bit of founder advice.

Estimated reading time: 8 mins

Founder story 1

See how Andrew Kamphey achieved $60K ARR with BetterSheets, his SaaS for mastering Google Sheets.

See how Andrew has:

💵 Achieved $60K annual recurring revenue (ARR).
🚀 Attracted over 10K monthly visitors to bettersheets.co
👥 Built a community of 6K members.
📈 Transitioned from a theatre background to creating a thriving SaaS business.
🌐 Established BetterSheets as a leading resource for Google Sheets education and tools.

My top 5 takeaways from Andrew's journey:

👉 Identify problems you're uniquely positioned to solve based on your experiences.
👉 Start small by creating content around addressing those specific pain points.
👉 Leverage platforms like AppSumo to reach customers with purchase intent.
👉 Constantly seek customer feedback to iterate and expand your offerings.
👉 Don't sacrifice too much - transition when the side hustle demands your full focus.

"Solving puzzles within constraints is what drives me - helping users achieve their goals using Google Sheets."

Discover the full story of how BetterSheets is empowering spreadsheet users on Founderoo.

Founder story 2

See how Shawn bought an ice cream shop and brings in $1.2M in annual revenue.

Shawn Allard was 27 years old. He left his job helping dentists to buy two ice cream shops in Arizona called Novel Ice Cream. In 2023, the ice cream shops made $1.2 million in sales.

 Founder playbook

From rejection to a $19 Billion success. The story of WhatsApp.

See how Jan Koum and Brian Acton have:

💵 Built WhatsApp to over $906 million in revenue in 2022.
🚀 Attracted 2.7 billion monthly active users globally.
👥 Grew WhatsApp from a simple status-sharing app to a comprehensive communication platform.
📈 Secured investments from Sequoia Capital before Facebook's $19 billion acquisition.
🌐 Disrupted the telecommunications industry by offering a free messaging alternative to SMS.

My top 5 takeaways from WhatsApp's journey:

👉 Identify real problems and provide simple, user-friendly solutions.
👉 Launch early and leverage new platforms/technologies for growth.
👉 Focus on the core product experience over monetization initially.
👉 Embrace new opportunities like voice/video calls and business messaging.
👉 Stay true to your mission, even if it means departing from acquirers.

"WhatsApp's success stemmed from its simplicity, cross-platform compatibility, and commitment to privacy." Jan and Brian's creation disrupted messaging through viral growth.

Discover the full story of how WhatsApp revolutionized communication on Founderoo.

Founder advice

From founder Greg Isenberg:

I speak to lots of founders, and their eyes light up when I tell them this:

The greatest chance of making your first $1M or $10M is creating some cash-flowing internet assets and taking dividends.

Keep the team small, AI-powered, and global, and use audiences & communities to power distribution.

Cash flow is an exit every year. This is something I try to never forget.

You don't need to "pray for an exit" and hope Google buys you for $500M.

And you don't need permission from VCs for a secondary transaction.

Basically, you wire yourself some money and renovate your house.

It's beautiful.

You don't have the safety net of a bank account of $3M from VCs.

I will say, I miss that.

But the mentality away from "burning cash" to "growing cash" is what will make you wealthy.

And once your eyes open up to a dividend model, you'll realize it's a healthier way of doing business for the majority of businesses.

It's an organic way of doing business. Healthier for customers to your team.

I love it.

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See you next Sunday.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo