The $40M Veed story

Hey, it's Guy & Farzan.

I’m a day late, my bad, no good excuses. I’m enjoying writing these newsletters right now. I think the more I enjoy doing it the better they get. Few good stories today. Enjoy.

Reading time: 9.25 mins

In the mail today. 3 founder stories, 1 founder note, 1 founder book tip

 Founder story 1 

Sabba Keynejad & Tim Mamed with VEED

From rejected Y Combinator applicants to video editing giants: How Sabba and Tim built a $40M ARR bootstrap success story after being kicked out of their office."

The Journey
- Started as broke founders in 2019, kicked out of borrowed office space
- Met at a global hackathon and became co-founders with war-buddy loyalty
- Applied to Y Combinator as a last-ditch effort and got rejected
- Implemented a $5/month paywall over one weekend that changed everything
- Bootstrapped to $6M ARR before raising $35M from Sequoia in 2021
- Built VEED into a 10 million monthly user platform by 2025

The Evolution of Vision
- 2016: "How can I combine creativity and entrepreneurship?"
- 2019: "Why is video editing so damn hard for regular people?"
- 2020: "Let's build the simplest browser-based video editor" 2021: "Focus on what people are actually searching for"
- 2024: "Create an AI-powered, comprehensive video creation suite"
- 2025: "Serve 10 million users monthly with prosumer-focused tools"

Overcoming Obstacles
- Developers quit on the same day they were evicted from office
- Survived on Tim splitting his contract salary in half to fund Sabba
- Got rejected by Y Combinator after flying to California for interviews
- Had to pivot from feature-heavy product to stupidly simple MVP
- Chose bootstrapped growth over venture funding for years
- Built everything through sweat equity and relentless content creation

Today's Impact
- $40M annual recurring revenue 10 million monthly active users
- 76% of Fortune 500 companies have used VEED
- 200-person team serving global market AI-powered video editing suite with comprehensive features

Growth Strategies That Worked
- SEO Obsession: Answered 160 Quora questions and wrote 30 hyper-specific blog posts
- Content Marketing: Created 30+ YouTube tutorials teaching VEED functionality
- Keyword Strategy: Built around 500 specific search terms users were already looking for
- Product Hunt Launch: Used early platform exposure to gain initial traction
- Freemium Model: Started with $5/month paywall that validated market demand
- Organic Growth: Focused on where pain already existed rather than manufacturing demand

Key Milestones
- Teenage entrepreneur selling red Solo cups and Breaking Bad costumes online
- 2016: Quit corporate design jobs to pursue entrepreneurship full-time
- 2019: Founded VEED with Tim after hackathon partnership
- 2019: Got rejected by Y Combinator but implemented their feedback anyway
- Weekend 2019: Added $5/month paywall and got 20 paying customers in 72 hours
- 2021: Reached $6M ARR completely bootstrapped
- 2021: Raised $35M Series A from Sequoia Capital
- 2025: Achieved $40M ARR with 10 million monthly users

The Philosophy

"I'm not even a good designer. I'm not a good developer either. I'm just relentless."

"Free users lie. Paying users scream the truth."

"Show up where the pain already exists. Don't try to manufacture demand, surf it."

"Most of us stop too soon. We stop when the office gets pulled. When the rejection email lands. When the devs quit. Sabba didn't."

Founder story 2

StageTimer: From Simple Idea to $25K/Month SaaS

Founder: Lucas Herman (German solopreneur)
Business: StageTimer - A remote-controlled countdown timer for events
Revenue: $25K/month with 80-90% profit margins

The Story
- Lucas built what might be the world's simplest SaaS
- A countdown timer that one person controls while others view it remotely.
- Started as a side project in 2020, it now serves 20K users with 4,400 paying customers.

Key Lessons
- Validation: Used Reddit to validate in niche subreddits where target customers hang out
- MVP Speed: Built first version in 3 days using familiar tech (Vue.js, Node.js)
- Family Business: Wife handles marketing, ads, and customer support while Lucas codes
- Distribution: 50% traffic from Google, 33% from word-of-mouth referrals

Why It Works
Simple problem: Events need visible timers that multiple people can see, controlled remotely. iPhone timers don't cut it for TV broadcasts, conferences, or live productions.

Bottom Line
- Sometimes the simplest ideas win.
- Lucas found a boring, unsexy problem that people actually pay to solve - and turned it into a life-changing business by just getting started.

Founder story 3

Pars Barghandan & Noxi: From Connectivity Chaos to Quantum-Powered Solutions

From IoT Frustration to Global Innovation: How Pars Built a Quantum-Inspired Telecom Platform That's Revolutionizing Global Connectivity and Reaching $10K MRR in Just One Year.

The Journey
- Born in Istanbul with Iranian and Turkish roots, never built for traditional systems
- Studied Computer Engineering, Information Technology, and Business IT across multiple institutions
- Founded and exited from a successful SaaS platform before Noxi
- Gained corporate experience at Nokia, Nike, Morningstar, Baxter, and Organon
- Founded Noxi in San Francisco in 2024, incorporated in May 2025
- Now lives in Switzerland while leading the global telecom company

The Evolution of Vision
- 2024: "Why is global IoT connectivity so complicated and expensive?"
- Early 2024: "Let's eliminate roaming charges and connectivity barriers"
- Mid 2024: "We need quantum-inspired AI for real-time network optimization"
- Late 2024: "Global connectivity should be borderless, instant, and affordable"
- 2025: "We're building the future of seamless global telecom infrastructure"

Overcoming Obstacles
- Personal frustration with juggling multiple SIM cards across countries for IoT projects
- Dealing with unexpected roaming charges and restrictive provider contracts
- Realizing initial target segment was too broad and had to narrow focus
- Building trust in a competitive telecom market dominated by established players
- Developing quantum-inspired technology while maintaining practical scalability
- Balancing innovation with regulatory compliance across multiple countries

Today's Impact
- $10,000 monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
- 2,500 subscribers across the platform
- 10,000 monthly website visitors 8 employees building the future of connectivity
- Bootstrapped with $60K + $28K pre-seed from Startupbootcamp
- Patented technology eliminating traditional roaming costs

Growth Strategies That Worked
- Private Pilot Programs: Offered risk-free testing to build trust and collect feedback
- Direct Outreach: Targeted decision-makers in logistics and smart city infrastructure
- Strategic Partnerships: Built relationships with industry associations and local telecom operators
- Freemium Model: First month free with no minimum order commitment
- Quantum-AI Technology: Developed SERAPH system with quantum LSTMs for network optimization
- Transparent Pricing: Fixed costs 5-20 times less than traditional providers

Key Milestones
- Founded Noxi in San Francisco in 2024 after IoT connectivity frustrations Incorporated the company in May 2025
- Secured pre-seed funding from Startupbootcamp
- Developed proprietary quantum-inspired AI architecture (SERAPH)
- Filed patents for telecom processes eliminating roaming complexity
- Reached $10K MRR with 2,500 subscribers in first year Planning satellite launch to reduce reliance on external providers

The Philosophy

"I never chased grades. I chased momentum."

"I'm driven by the need to build things that matter. I hate limits. I want to create solutions that remove friction and give people and businesses the power to do more, go further, and move faster."

"If it exists, I disrupt it. If it doesn't, I invent it."

 Founder note from Mavens founder Wes Kao 

We will always have too much work. My solution for this used to be simple: brute force.

I would use my raw energy to power through. I have an obsessive personality and a high pain tolerance, so this actually worked pretty well in my twenties and early thirties. I learned a lot this way and am glad I did it.

But if you only use brute force, eventually you'll hit a point of diminishing returns. Your plate literally cannot be piled any higher. (For real this time.)

This is when you might need to practice some new skills:

Practice learning how to deal with conflict.

Practice talking about trade-offs.

Practice explaining your POV.

Practice delegating.

Practice building in buffers.

Practice disagreeing respectfully.

Practice identifying where you have leverage.

Practice saying no to what won't really move the needle.

In my experience, these are the hard parts of maturing and continuing to improve as an operator, that aren't as easily solved by simply putting in more hours.

 A founder book tip we loved

All done. Sorry about missing our Monday date.

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See you next week.

Guy + Farzan
Founderoo