EP 527: Proposify Hits 3200 Customers and $150k in MRR with CEO Kyle Racki

Kyle Racki, co-founder and CEO of Proposify. He's passionate about design, SaaS, and marketing. He loves jamming out to 90s covers/tunes at open mic nights, and also has the unique ability to work in perfectly, cromulent Simpsons' references to any conversation.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Lean Analytics
• What CEO do you follow? – Alex Turnbull

• Favorite online tool? — Heap Analytics
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Sometimes
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – "That it's all going to be okay and…I'm going to give myself a hug"

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:40 – Nathan introduces Kyle to the show
• 02:24 – Proposify is a SaaS business and it helps people streamline their sales and close more deals
• 02:40 – Average customer pay per month is $40-$50
• 02:53 – Current number of customers
• 03:10 – Average MRR
• 03:25 – Proposify was launched in 2013
• • 03:35 – Proposify had less than $1000 MRR for 17 months
  • 04:03 – Kyle and his co-founder had an agency
  • 04:22 – Kyle raised $250K in seed capital from a local investor
  • 04:39 – Kyle and his team's pay is around $60K a month during that time
• 05:40 – Team size is 15 and are located in Halifax, Canada
• • 06:20 – Kyle shares how the startup market is in Halifax
  • 06:50 – Known startup companies from Halifax
• 07:24 – Kyle does weekly phone calls with customers to check in on them
• 07:50 – Kyle shares how one of their customers beat VaynerMedia in a proposal
• 09:15 – How Proposify creates proposals in a flash
• 09:40 – Proposify's competition
• 10:04 – Proposify is more focused on the digital agency space
• 11:25 – Average number of new customers per month
• 11:50 – Proposify has a free and no-credit card sign-up
• 12:00 – Proposify does inbound sales, but organic search is the biggest source of traffic
• 12:43 – Best podcast that drives Proposify's traffic
• 13:05 – Proposify has a general marketing budget
• • 13:28 - $10K for paid marketing
• 13:45 – CAC is quite low
• 14:18 – LTV
• 14:40 – Gross monthly customer churn
• 15:00 – Proposify currently has 2 sales people
• 15:35 – Other system Kyle uses for business intelligence is Heap Analytics
• 16:16 – Total 2015 revenue is $551K
• 17:11 – Proposify is profitable and continually growing
• 18:30 – "We'll always entertain acquisition offers if it makes sense"
• 19:00 – The process Kyle will go through if there's a possible acquisition
• 19:47 – Number of Proposify's developers
• 20:00 – Connect with Kyle through their website and help Kyle look for Proposify.com's owner and he'll pay you
• 22:00 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• There's a temptation to spend VC money; be decisive when you want to raise capital and stick to your goals.
• Organic traffic is good, but getting paid marketing can still drive more traffic and customers.
• There are a lot of things to consider in an acquisition – it should match your personal goals, be a cultural fit, and the numbers need to make sense.

Resources Mentioned:

• Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Drip – Nathan uses Drip's email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
• Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn't have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
• The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens and follow-up with email sequences
• Proposify.biz – Kyle's business website
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives