SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders Bootstrapped to $82M: How Callum Mckeefery Built Reviews.io from His Kitchen Table
Nov 26, 2025
Callum Mckeefery, a bootstrapped SaaS founder, scaled Reviews.io from his kitchen table to an impressive $82M exit. He discusses the power of viral loops and how he achieved $12M ARR without giving equity to staff, rewarding them in other ways instead. Callum candidly shares how his son's rare genetic condition influenced the timing of the sale and his new venture, Partner.io, aimed at enhancing partner tech. He also reflects on post-sale challenges and the emotional journey behind his success.
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Kitchen-Table To $82M Exit
- Callum Mckeefery and his wife built Reviews.io from their kitchen table and sold it for $82M all cash.
- The exit was driven partly by his son's rare genetic disease and the desire for family security.
Lawsuit Sparked The Product
- A lawsuit for not removing genuine reviews pushed Callum deeper into building a robust review platform.
- That legal scare became the catalyst for launching Reviews.io and focusing on verified consumer reviews.
Programmatic SEO Fueled By Review Volume
- Callum engineered a programmatic SEO viral loop where more client reviews produced more indexed pages and traffic.
- Winning a few anchor clients and collecting thousands of reviews amplified domain authority and pulled in similar customers.