Won "Bootstrapper of the Year" 🏆 at Tekpon Awards.
Scaled Expandi to $9M+ ARR. It has been a roller coaster ride...
Here are my top 5 lessons for every founder👇
1️⃣ Choose the Right Cofounders
Expandi survived 14 months even without income.
All credit to my cofounders Glenn Miseroy & Aad van Vendeloo
We combined forces and brought in:
↳ Complementary skills and expertise
↳ Expanded networks
↳ Fresh perspectives
↳ A morale boost
They filled in where I fell short.
RIGHT CO-FOUNDERS = COMPOUNDING GROWTH.
2️⃣ Join a Community
Entrepreneurship is a lonely ride. You won't be related to 99% of the people around you.
So how do you keep yourself sane?
By being part of supportive communities. Communities mean👇
→ Learning from others' mistakes
→ Sharing valuable insights
→ Uplifting fellow founders
Thanks to Alexander Theuma & SaaStock for giving me a SaaS family to lean on for the last 2 years, where I met some great founders & built some long-lasting relationships 🫶.
This includes:
- David Neuhaus
- Geeta Chandra
- Zandra Moore
- Alex Delivet
- Osman Koc
- Anvar T K
- Joran Hofman
- Yann A. Skaalen
Also big kudos to Alexandru Stan for starting Tepkon Awards - an Oscars 🏆 equivalent for the SaaS community. It's not easy to get ~500 SaaS investors, founders, leaders, and visionaries in one single room. It is UNREAL.
Big Kudos to the entire team💫
Met great people like 🔥 Bridget Harris Mads 🍎 Wedderkopp Walls.io Thomas Smale Zandra Moore and many more!!
3️⃣ Build a Strong Team
A founder is nowhere without a great team.
Initially, we focused on hiring university graduates.
This strategy lets us nurture talent while keeping hiring costs low.
✅Hire talented people who align with your vision
✅Give them the freedom to do their work
✅Pay them well
We're now 50 highly skilled professionals strong 💪
Smart hiring → Talent retention → Growth → REPEAT
4️⃣ Build in Public
Here's my Social Growth Snapshot:
↳ LinkedIn: 18K+ followers
↳ X: 34K+ followers
Sharing your journey = Growing user trust
Building in public:
✅Boosts credibility
✅Humanizes your brand
✅Fosters a strong community
Build in public → Foster a community → Expand Network & Customer Trust
5️⃣ Out-of-the-box marketing strategies
This one simple practice brought immense growth—experimentation with innovative ideas
Our strategies👇
i.) Affiliate programs
When others promote your product, you get:
→ Higher visibility
→ Boosted conversion rates
→ Reduced marketing expenses
ii.) Micro-influencer partnerships
We partnered with niche influencers to target our ideal customers & got:
↳ Heightened user trust
↳ More early paid users
↳ Low ad costs
Keep experimenting.
Keep trying new ideas.
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I'm beyond grateful for this recognition of our hard work. Follow @StefanSmulders for everything SAAS & entrepreneurship 🌟
#startups #SaaS #entreprenuership
The best! 🤩