In this episode, Wes Bush interviews Philippe-Antoine Lehoux, co-founder of Missive, about how they built a $7.5M ARR email collaboration platform with a lean team of just 15 people over 9 years.
Philippe reveals their unconventional approach to growth, why they ignored startup playbooks for years, and how focusing on the "first five pages" of product fundamentals helped them compete against well-funded competitors like Front.
Key Takeaways:
[00:02:25] The biggest challenge: scaling the founders, not just the product
[00:05:45] Why they ignored startup playbooks for years
[00:06:59] How Front became their biggest growth channel by creating the market category
[00:12:06] The differentiation strategy: Email-centric vs customer service-centric approach
[00:15:49] Philosophy of fixing "paper cuts"
[00:24:47] The depression after hitting $100K/month
[00:34:03] Current channel breakdown
[00:39:41] The lean team structure
[00:46:31] The 3-4 year grind from $300K to $1.2M ARR
[00:50:51] Positioning as the alternative to every funded competitor early
[00:56:17] What he'd do differently
Resources:
📧 Missive
💼 Connect with Philippe-Antoine Lehoux on LinkedIn and X
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