Stefan Smulders 's Linkedin Analytics

Mike Strives built two SaaS companies to $1.7M ARR. No employees, no funding, and always sharing. Learnings from a SaaS legend 👇 Some context: Mike lost his job in 2014, and was $10k in debt with a 3-year-old at home. Today, he runs Upvoty ($60k+ MRR) and previously scaled Vindy ($1M+ ARR). The most legendary part? He did it solo. He did it bootstrapped. And he shared everything along the way through vlogs, posts, and podcasts. Here's his 5-step framework for validating a new SaaS : 1️⃣ Solve your problem first Most founders make this critical mistake: building for an audience they don't genuinely care about. Mike built Upvoty to solve his own problem—managing customer feedback for his first SaaS, Vindy. His rule: "If you're not passionate about your customers and their problems, it's fun short-term but you won't endure long-term." This "scratch your own itch" approach meant: • Intuitive product-market fit • Immediate understanding of the user • He could use the product at Vindy, becoming his own test case 2️⃣ Validate before building Instead of pouring cash into a full-fledged product, Mike launched small: • A landing page + sign-up form. • Immediate traction = proof of demand. ↳ He reached $1k in MRR with barely functioning software—validation that saved him potentially wasted months of development. 3️⃣ Fund new ideas with existing revenue This is where most bootstrappers fail. Instead of risking everything, Mike used a "stepping stone" approach: Marketing Agency → Vindy ($1M+ ARR) → Upvoty ($60K+ MRR) Each successful business funded the next one, creating a risk-free pathway to build what he was truly passionate about. 4️⃣ Target competitors' weaknesses For immediate traction, Mike studied what competitors were doing wrong and deliberately positioned Upvoty as the solution. His exact process: • Created "Alternative to X" content pages • Targeted competitor keywords with ads • Focused on solving competitors' biggest flaws This strategy alone brought in their first 50-100 customers without needing massive marketing budgets. 5️⃣ Build your identity later Mike's counterintuitive approach: don't obsess over your unique brand initially. First 6-12 months: Focus on competitor positioning After traction: Develop a unique brand identity Only after securing initial traction did he invest in: • Content marketing • Podcast show • More efforts on a personal brand (that he is extremely good at) Today, Mike runs Upvoty as a solopreneur while maintaining work-life balance: ↳ Making $60k+ MRR and growing ↳ Giving back to the community by sharing banger tips, resources ↳ Complete freedom to work whenever and wherever he wants What did you love most about Mike's bootstrapped success? Can't wait to meet you, Mike - you're always a source of fresh SaaS insights. Enjoyed this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow me for more content on SaaS & entrepreneurship.

70,130 campaigns analyzed: LinkedIn Outreach success unveiled. Sales prospectors today face an uphill battle. 64% miss their quotas. 32% experience leads ghost them. And buying cycles? It's longer than your Netflix watchlist. Yet, LinkedIn Outreach is where B2Bs *should* thrive. With over *1 billion members*, LinkedIn Outreach should feel like shooting ducks 🦆... but for many, it's more like herding cats. Where’s this disconnect? Most reps are stuck with outdated strategies, blind outreach, and zero benchmarks. Without clear data, improving feels like guessing. But guesswork ends here. At Expandi, we analyzed *70,130 LinkedIn Outreach campaigns* in Q1 2025 only (yes, you read that right). Real data. Real results. Real benchmarks. Our findings? ✅ Connection request success rates ✅ Messaging response trends ✅ Best practices for automations without losing that human touch And on April *4th*, I’ll take center stage at ARRtist Circus Berlin 🇩🇪, sharing these insights with some amazing folks like Julius Göllner Dominic Klingberg Manuel Hartmann Lara Acosta Eva Johanna Egg Alex Vacca 🧠🛠️ Gerald Zankl Ben Bauer Helena Klaus Janis Zech and Jannis Oetjen! For me, this keynote is personal. My wife is German, my name is *Stefan* (very German, I know!), and every visit feels like coming home. I’ll unpack our Q1 report: *“State-of-the-Art LinkedIn Outreach”* and show sales leaders, SDRs, and agencies how they can: → Sell better, not harder → Automates smarter, not louder → And finally turn LinkedIn Outreach from *meh* 🥱...to *magic* ✨ Because here’s my belief: You can’t beat someone who’s mastered what others won’t even try. See you there, Berlin. Let’s rewrite prospect strategies together. What’s your biggest challenge with LinkedIn Outreach? Curious if our benchmarks align.

The biggest sacrifice founders make👇 Video calling my son as I again travel for work... I love building my company. I give my all to do this. But these are the hardest times. Right now, I’m on the road to Spain for an amazing SaaStock Founder Membership (SFM) Annual Retreat. I’m excited to meet, learn, share, and network with the best people in the industry thanks to Alexander Theuma Radka Jančíková and Hannah Godfrey On one side, I'm energized. On the other side, I’m missing my boy, Steef. Just had a nice chat with him from the airport. -Missing the small fun moments. -Missing the weekend movie nights. -Missing him sharing his football goals at the academy. But this is the reality of a founder. This is the price you have to pay for your company's growth. It’s a trade-off. And yes, I know it's not easy. That's why if you're founder facing these hard moments, remind yourself: - why you do what you do. - that you're building something that gives your family a better future. Also, I make sure that I am always 100% present everywhere. So when I’m home, I’m fully home. No half-present "checking emails" time. Because one day, my son won’t be waiting for me to come home. And I don’t want to look back and realize I missed the moments that truly mattered. There will be some deals, partnerships, learnings, and phases where you'd have to deprioritize your emotions. But, the only way to deal with this? Prioritise what's important on daily basis. So, how do you prioritize family time as a founder? Share in the comments and let’s help each other out 👇 ------------- That's a wrap. Hope you found it valuable 🙌 ♻️Repost it to your network and follow me for more content on SaaS & entrepreneurship.

My team spent 100+ hours perfecting our most powerful ABM playbook that generated $2M+ in agency deals👇 What's inside this proven system? 🤔 • Complete ABM framework tested with 500+ prospects • Podcast-to-client conversion strategy • High-ticket closing templates ($50K+ deals) • Relationship-building sequences • Content repurposing blueprint • Proven outreach templates (30-45% acceptance rate) • Guest-to-client nurturing system • Non-pushy offer frameworks This isn't another generic sales guide. It's the exact process that has been tested with real agencies using Expandi. Real results from agencies using this playbook: ↳ 35%+ guest acceptance rate ↳ 30+ content pieces per interview ↳ $50K+ yearly contracts ↳ Consistent high-ticket closes Want this complete ABM playbook? 👉 Like this post 👉 Comment "ABM" 👉 Send me a connection request so I can DM. I'll DM you the playbook. No email is required.

🌟 Big ideas need big talent! Know someone ready for out-of-the-box marketing? Let’s connect. At Expandi, I am cooking up something BIG. (𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 😅) We’re diving headfirst with fresh, never-before-seen marketing ideas for lead gen, and I need 2 creative minds who love breaking boundaries. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁: 🎉 Slide decks and talking heads? Not my vibe. I’m all about SHOW over tell. Now enter YOU: 🌟 Someone who treats ‘community building ’ like its own art form, making people ask: “How’d they even pull THAT off?” AND: 💥 And naturally, someone who can take one content idea and whip viral magic outta thin air. Let’s talk results, folks! Please forget about resumes packed with theories. I am all about real-world wins. 𝗢𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀-𝘂𝗽: work with me, and we might accidentally turn 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆. 𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗸-𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, we’re on!” Bonus points if: ⚽ You love football (we’re based inside PSV Stadium—yes, an actual football stadium). 🌍 You’re from countries close enough to Netherlands for some face-to-face fun. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀: For anyone who connects me with our future community rockstar or content wizard, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝘀! Choose either tickets for an epic football match or my secret playbook on how I keep those abs summer-ready year-round. Your call! Tag someone who fits this vibe or DM me if YOU are that person.

LinkedIn Video Outreach will get you ahead of 99%. FREE webinar to help you boost reply rates by 30%+. Virtual Event Details👇 🗓️ ➡️ Mar 18, 2025 ➡️ 4:00 PM CET Jessica Pretti (Expandi) and Bethany Stachenfeld (Sendspark) will break down the exact strategies to boost your outreach results. What will the session cover? ✅ Personalize outreach at scale (no manual DMs) ✅ Use video to grab attention & build instant trust ✅ Automate outreach while keeping it authentic Automated personalized video outreach is the future. Here’s the truth: ❌ Cold messages get ignored ❌ Prospects skim, skip, and move on 👉 Video cuts through the noise & builds trust instantly. Book your slot asap as we have limited seats (link in the comments) 💫

Every bootstrapped founder I know has made these 4 big mistakes (even me). Avoid these and save 5 years of pain👇 Building Expandi to $10M ARR hasn't been easy. It has been messy, tough, and full of hard lessons. And every bootstrapped founder I talk to has a similar story. Here are the 4 biggest mistakes I made and what I learned so you don’t have to: 1️⃣ Aiming for perfection I wasted precious time early on, perfecting features nobody needed and agonizing over details that didn't bring in clients. I was building a Ferrari when a bike would have been faster. Bootstrapping demands speed and adaptability. -Ship your MVP. -Get feedback. -Iterate. ↳ Your early clients are your most valuable asset. They'll tell you what needs fixing and what features they are willing to pay for. 2️⃣ Trying to help everyone At first, I tried to help every other type of company. My message was confusing, and I wasn't converting anyone. Focusing on one type of ICP – for me, it was helping other agencies – helped me talk directly to the right people and build depth for one ideal user. a ↳ Trying to appeal to every business means appealing to no one. Define your niche, own it, and dominate it. 3️⃣ Overcomplicating product-market fit I wasted too much time on market research, buyer personas, and overanalyzing my "ideal customer." PMF isn’t found on a spreadsheet—it’s validated by real interactions. Instead of theorizing, I should have focused on getting a basic product in front of potential customers and iterating early based on their feedback. Real-world interaction >>> theoretical models. ↳ Don't overthink product-market fit. Get your product out there, talk to your customers, and adapt based on their needs. 4️⃣ Starting community building late. Initially, I focused solely on client acquisition. I thought community-building was a "nice-to-have," not a necessity. I was dead wrong. My team and I realised it and fixed it. Doubled down on sharing resources and value content for our audience. My profile on LinkedIn (23K+ followers) has become my most powerful marketing engine, my source of constant referrals. ↳ Content and community are your unfair advantage, especially when you’re bootstrapped, as you don't have to rely on "paid acquisition" of users. What mistakes did you make in your early bootstrapping days? Share in the comments! Ps. This was a nice moment captured while chatting with Tim Rath at ARRtist (Berlin) last October. ----- That's a wrap. Hope you found it valuable 🙌 Liked this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow me for more content on SaaS & entrepreneurship.

I met my co-founder 16 years back. Having him as a partner has been the best decision I made. But let me be clear: it hasn’t always been easy. We've had our ups and downs like all friends and co-founders. Yet today, after everything we’ve built together, I can say with zero doubt that picking Glenn Miseroy was the right move. Here’s why: 1️⃣ Trust over everything. Glenn and I first met during university internships at the same company—he was studying software development, and I was focused on marketing. Back then, we never imagined building a $10M ARR company together. But our friendship gave us trust and that trust became our foundation. Sure, there were clashes. Like when he’d go into “Tasmanian Devil mode” over tech issues, or when I tried selling features he hadn’t finished yet (futures, as he pronounces them 😂). Yet, through it all, trust kept solved for the hard parts of journey. 2️⃣ Complementary Skills. Glenn and I couldn’t be more different, and that’s why we work. • When I dream up ideas, Glenn turns them into products. • I focus on distribution; he thinks 5 steps ahead of the tech. • He’s calm and structured; I’m chaotic and impulsive. Together, we balance each other out. Where I push for speed, he ensures quality. Where he dives deep into tech, I keep an eye on growth. 3️⃣ Long term thinking. In 2019, Expandi was on the edge. Cash was tight, so tight that we couldn’t even pay ourselves. But instead of cutting costs, we did something bold: we gave bonuses to the team. ↳ Was it logical? No. ↳ Did it work? Absolutely. Glenn’s belief in people and his refusal to cut corners when it came to supporting them was key. 2020 became our breakout year. Revenue 4X’d, proving once again how Glenn was right. 4️⃣ A guy with big heart. What makes Glenn truly special isn’t his coding skills or product genius - it’s his heart. He is the kind of guy who: • Helped team members financially during critical times. Glenn doesn’t do these things for recognition. He does them because that’s who he is: someone who genuinely cares about people. Having him as my co-founder reminds me every day that success isn’t just about numbers—it’s about impact. Glenn impacts everyone around him in the best way possible. ------ Business partnerships will test every aspect of your relationship. Find a co-founder who ↳ balances your weaknesses ↳ stands by you in failure ↳ shares your core 16 years later, I wouldn't change a thing—except maybe going back to invest in crypto when he first told me to. 😅 What's the most important quality you look for in a business partner?

The wrong mindset is killing your startup. Use these 4 principles I learned (the hard way) in the last 5 years👇 1️⃣ Do what others are not doing. All competitors were running tools that weren't safe. We made "safety" our no#1 priority. Also, all competitors were hiding as they were afraid of Microsoft. I went all in on building my brand. I was everywhere (pods & interviews), talking about the problems & the product. We started the walking the talk. We relied on sharing resources and being completely organic till $6M ARR. -The templates. -The resources. -The webinars. -The proofs. We distributed value like no one else in the industry. 2️⃣ Never play the victim. ↳Market shifts. ↳Competitors. ↳Plateaus. Every founder faces them. We hit a plateau of $6M ARR, Expandi had problems. Instead of running, we focused on fixing the bottlenecks. Talked to 25+ experienced founders in one month. Got clarity from people who've been there and done that. When we needed initial sales, I did the first 400 demos myself. 3️⃣ Think long-term. I had raised VC before. With Expandi, I didn’t. That meant no safety net. No endless runway. But it also meant full control. It meant full ownership of failure & success. We bootstrapped by not falling for the "valuation" trap. We focused on profitability, not just top-line growth. We knew that if we wanted to play the long-term and didn't want to cash out quickly, we had to have control of our company. 4️⃣ Level up or die. Before Expandi, I wasn’t a SaaS expert. I wasn’t a LinkedIn expert. I wasn’t a personal brand expert. I wasn’t the best at marketing. We weren’t the best SaaS team. We didn’t have the best processes. We didn’t know the best management strategies. But we were RELENTLESS. We learned everything we needed to—because we had to. We weren’t first-time founders. We had failed before. Giving up wasn’t an option this time. At Expandi, learning wasn’t just a mindset. It was a non-negotiable. -------------- That's a wrap. Hope you found it valuable 🙌 Liked this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow me for more content on SaaS & entrepreneurship.