Back

This guy built a startup from $0 to $3M ARR in just 18 months, and his journey was all about experimenting, adapting, and doubling down on what worked. Here’s how he did it: 1. Cold Calling Like a Student ($0 - $5K ARR) He started with cold calling, but instead of pitching like a salesperson, he framed himself as a student just trying to learn. That little shift kept people on the phone longer, giving him a chance to understand his market and land his first paying customers. 2. Tapping Into Facebook Groups ($5K - $30K ARR) Next, he embedded himself in Facebook groups where his audience was already active. He didn’t sell—he engaged, built relationships, and used those insights to create an MVP. When the time was right, early users shared it with others, giving his product organic momentum. 3. The Viral Breakthrough ($30K - $120K ARR) At this stage, he tested different growth channels—ads, influencer marketing, university partnerships. But his real breakthrough came from luck: a viral tweet with 348K likes that skyrocketed his revenue 4x in a month. The lesson? You can’t force virality, but you can increase your chances by being visible in the right places. 4. Social Media Powerhouse ($120K - $600K ARR) Seeing how effective that viral moment was, he leaned hard into social media. Short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram drove nearly half a billion views, and suddenly, his product was everywhere. 5. Diversifying Before It’s Too Late ($600K - $1.74M ARR) Then reality hit. His entire growth depended on viral TikTok videos, and when engagement dropped during school breaks, so did revenue. To fix this, he built other acquisition channels—SEO, referrals, paid ads, influencer marketing—so the business wouldn’t collapse if TikTok stopped working. 6. Optimizing Everything ($1.74M - $3M ARR) Once traffic was consistent, he focused on conversion and retention. By tweaking how he onboarded and engaged users, he nearly doubled revenue efficiency—growing faster with fewer users. What’s Next? ($3M - ??? ARR) Now, he’s focused on solving churn and exploring new product directions. The goal? Keep growing to $4M-$5M ARR, then figure out what it’ll take to hit $10M-$20M. His biggest takeaway? Growth isn’t a straight line. Some weeks are easy, some are brutal, and sometimes, it feels like he’s hit a ceiling. But every stage of growth requires a different mindset, and the only way forward is to keep experimenting.