Rivo

In Q3, Rivo grew 24% to end a record quarter at $2,070,069 ARR, adding just under $400K ARR. Here’s the numbers as we bootstrap towards $10M+ CONTEXT: I’m currently in the $2M-$10M phase of bootstrapping my ecom SaaS startup Rivo. We're a loyalty and referrals platform focused on generating repeat purchases for DTC brands on Shopify Plus. NUMBERS: ↳ MRR: $172,505 (+24%) ↳ Active Subscribers: 1,426 (+17%) ↳ Net Revenue Churn: 2.8% (-15%) Q3 HIGHLIGHTS: Sweepstakes: The customer experience for a sweepstakes program across a Shopify store functions almost exactly the same as a loyalty program, without redemption. After months of working closely with both teams, we launched sweepstakes programs with two of the most legendary brands in DTC, HexClad Cookware and Ridge. From a retention perspective, we’ve seen activation rates on customer accounts go through the roof along with email & sms subs. Things that are working: - High-level brand awareness campaigns. - New branding and our new marketing site. - Direct Slack channels with response times as fast as possible. - Self-serve installs continue to funnel in as we improve onboarding. - Amir Nazemian joined as our first sales hire and has been crushing it. - IRL events, specifically co-sponsoring events around the event itself. Shout out Noah Tucker ☃️ and the Social Snowball team for the SD bash. - Travis Brault joined us as head of operations after spending 9 years at one of the largest companies in our industry and has been stellar in getting us on the right track across the board. What we’re working on fixing: - We lost our Built for Shopify badge after an app store audit issue that was resolved in under 2 hours :_/ - I try to make hiring a last resort to fix problems - but we’re on the horizon of becoming stretched due to growth and are actively hiring across engineering, sales, and support. TAKEAWAYS: We’re still on track for our goal of $2.4M ARR by the end of the year but it will be tight. Ecom sentiment is on a bounceback right now and things look to be finally lifting across the industry coming into Q4.

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A couple of hours ago, we hit $2,000,000 ARR at Rivo. Here are my takeaways from bootstrapping an ecom SaaS startup over $1M ARR in 2024. CONTEXT: We're a loyalty and referrals platform for Shopify Plus working with brands like HexClad, Ridge, Kitsch, Unique Vintage, DRMTLGY, and over 7,000 more. After a flat start to 2024, we've grown over 50% in the last 6 months, past $2M ARR, and closing in on net negative churn for our ICP. My takeaways as a solo founder bootstrapping from $1-2M for the 2nd time in the Shopify ecosystem: 1. If you don't have word of mouth - you're screwed We got to just under $1M ARR purely through the Shopify app store. No brand, marketing, sales, paid ads, or outbound. IMO that's still possible, but it's the ceiling if starting in 2024 given how competitive the app store is (in our niche anyway) I hadn't seen growth quite like when 8 and 9-figure brands started consistently recommending us this year. This takes a long time and is only built on getting brands results over time. If you can earn the trust of large brands, they will refer you to their friends because they want them to have a stellar experience too. Not just to get a gift card or a free pair of shoes. 2. Product + brand = magic We aggressively ship updates every day. Always have, always will. This year we've made a concentrated effort on building our brand as we move upmarket. In hindsight, we would have moved much faster if I had done this from day one. 3. Real tech partnerships are underestimated Partnering closely with a handful of tech partners offering complimentary products has been a major W for us. Ecom SaaS is as much about the tech stack as any other industry. Things need to tie together. Find other similar-minded vendors -> Send them leads -> They will send leads back -> start recommending each other where it makes sense -> everyone makes more revenue. James Dohm is the goat for leading this here. 4. This is much, much harder than I expected When I started this in 2021, we were in peak SaaS multiples and spending. Competition is 10x harder than it was when we first started. I see a new competitor pop up every week. The market has hit a lot of vendors. In the last month, I know of 3 funded companies in our circles that have effectively shut down. Tough landscape to scale a biz out there. No complaints though. Others: - There is a frustrating lack of content for anyone scaling from $1-10M (Jason M. Lemkin and SaaStr remain the gold standard) - You can go faster with fewer people - Go to more events (See you at Jimmy Kim's Sendlane event next week) - The app store still works, but see it as the cherry on top past $1M. Shout out to our small but mighty team on unlocking this next step: Jeffrey Haga, Kyle Dicker, Bernie Chiu, Laurence Leech, Ana R., Mariana Silva, James Dohm, Katherine Cornick, Amir Nazemian, Travis Brault. TAKEAWAY: Scaling an ecom SaaS startup in 2024 can be brutal. Just keep building

The real founder mode will be the vibes at the Commerce Roundtable Bayview Bash in San Diego on September 23rd. Unwind after day 1 of Sendlane's event with Social Snowball ☃️, Agital, AfterSell by Rokt, Alia, Nectar, Skio and Rivo with some top brands for an evening of networking above a stunning view overlooking San Diego. What: Commerce Roundtable Bayview Bash When: Monday, Sept 23rd Where: TBD We'll have great music, delicious bites, and refreshing drinks as you soak in the vibes and share your insights from the day's events. We look forward to seeing you there for an evening of fun, conversation, and new connections! Brands and Agencies Only! Link in comments!

Download the guide from Longplay x Rivo on all the flows and campaigns you need to launch & scale your loyalty program through email & SMS. Get the Figma Playbook + email templates to drive loyalty & membership growth.

I've bootstrapped two SaaS startups from $0 - $1,000,000 ARR in the Shopify ecosystem, making every mistake you can imagine. Here’s how I’d do it again if I started today: 1. PICK A LANE: - There are two lanes. Brands doing > $1M and brands doing < $1M. - The GTM motions for each are RADICALLY DIFFERENT. - Don't try to do both until you have mastered at least one. Let’s focus on building for brands > $1M, as this is where I’ve screwed up the most. 2. PRODUCT: - Don’t write a_single_line_of_code. - Spend 60-90 days talking with brands. - Refine the pitch/solution/value each time. - Look at their face for signs of interest, instead of their words. - Focus on where you are adding revenue for the lowest lift possible. - Brands will not switch providers or onboard a new tool otherwise. - See how many will commit to a 3-4 month free trial based on hardcoded screenshots of what the solution will look like. Super hard, but it's gonna be a tough first 18 months without this. 3. DISTRIBUTION: - Build in public on LinkedIn and X as a founder. 100x more effective than any paid ads you could run at this stage. - Build a TAM list in Hubspot (around 25,000 brands) to work from. Companies and Contacts. Enrich the data and work backwards. Track how much of the market you are penetrating as you grow. Study how Romain Lapeyre did this at Gorgias (his SaaStr videos are essential viewing) - GOOD cold email. Good, being the key. I’ve been fortunate to have some people in the ecosystem share their strategies in detail with me recently. Still works if done right vs spray and pray. - Invest in SEO early. I’m surprised at how much traffic we get from our blog and the people who show up through RB2B every day. - Buy a $299 Webflow template and hire a good designer to work on branding. Update the template. - Build best-in-class integrations for Klaviyo / Postscript / Gorgias / Skio/ etc. Use their latest tech/API's they want to promote. There’s a chance they could refer/promote to their customer base based on the strength of the integration. At the very least you'll make connections. Tech partnerships will be critical. - Do the same for agency partnerships. No one will take you seriously yet and that’s fine. We’re playing the long game. For every brand you onboard, identify if they’re currently looking for X,Y,Z solution if possible. Refer business to agencies whenever it makes actual sense. Start small, work up. This will come back to you eventually. Leads are the currency. - Show up to every event in your area and every event you can financially make it to. Meet people IRL, it goes a long way and most people in the ecosystem are happy to help. - As soon as you deliver over-the-top service for a brand, ask to put their logo on your site, and plaster over your social. Social proof is HEAVILY Weighted here. Ask for case studies once real results come through. Looks like we're going to the comments to continue 👇

NEW LOYALTY PROGRAM PLAYBOOK 📖 Our teams at Longplay and Rivo have come together to put together this 98-PAGE guide on everything you need to know to grow a successful loyalty program. ALL for you. ALL for free. All HERE https://t.ly/pqP4c In our 3+ years scaling retention marketing for DTC brands, we’ve seen one common problem: It’s easy to launch a loyalty program. But most brands don’t have a strategy to drive signups or engagement. So the program flops. That’s why we’ve put together this 98-page guide on: 1. The role of a loyalty program in your Retention Ecosystem 2. The (real) KPIs to measure success 3. How to build a launch strategy 4. 9 ways to drive signups through email & SMS flows 5. 6 ways to drive signups through email & SMS campaigns 6. 50+ examples (and templates!) Let's go!

The Domaine team had a great time at Pre/Ditions ahead of Editions.dev this year. Our CRO Mac King, CTO Max Rolon, and Director of Partnerships Karolina Kondrat spoke on panels for Shopify Agencies and App devs looking to learn & grow. Thanks to Gadget and Mantle for hosting us 🍏

Going to Grow NY or The Lead in New York this week? Join Domaine, Postscript and Rivo for a sunset sail Tuesday evening. Link in comments ⛵⛵⛵ (brands only!)

The Domaine team will be at the Lead Summit next week 🌠 To celebrate, we are hosting a sailing event alongside Postscript and Rivo. Join us on a private charter as we sail into the New York sunset on an iconic Schooner sailing ship on Tuesday July 9 ⛵ Whether you are a brand based in New York, attending the Lead Summit or Grow NY conference, or in town for any other reason, we would love to have you. There will also be a private shuttle picking up guests from Center 415 following the Grow NY conference. Appetizers and drinks will be available for your enjoyment as you connect with other leading brands in the space. 📧 Email us at hello@meetdomaine.com for your exclusive invite. Brands and merchants only.