How This Team Bootstrapped Boast to $10M Revenue Before a Major Exit
Who is Lloyed Lobo?
Lloyed Lobo, co-founder of Boast.AI, has an engineering background and studied in Canada. Originally from Kuwait, he experienced the Gulf War as a refugee, which influenced his approach to building communities. Before starting Boast.AI, Lobo held various roles in startups, honing his skills in sales and entrepreneurship.
What problem does Boast solve?
Boast simplifies the cumbersome process of obtaining R&D tax credits, saving businesses time and effort by automating applications and audits, ensuring faster financial support. This is crucial for companies needing to access funds quickly to fuel innovation, making Boast an indispensable tool for tech-focused entrepreneurs looking to accelerate growth without getting bogged down in complex tax documentation.
How did Lloyed come up with the idea for Boast?
Lloyd Lobo's journey in creating Boast began with a distinct observation of a problem: the cumbersome and inefficient way businesses applied for R&D tax credits. As a professional in this field, Lobo noted that the existing process was lengthy and prone to costly audits, which often deterred many businesses from claiming these credits. The realization of this persistent issue prompted him to consider a solution that would streamline the process, making it easier and faster for companies to access much-needed funding.
Through extensive conversations with his co-founder Alex and leveraging their combined backgrounds in engineering and finance, Lloyd recognized this as an opportunity to simplify and automate a traditionally manual service. They began by offering a basic service to collect and manage data, which allowed them to test the demand and feasibility of their idea with real customers. The feedback from this initial phase was crucial, helping them understand the market needs more clearly and refine their approach.
As they gathered insights, Lloyd and his team continuously adapted their offering, incorporating automation to increase efficiency and accuracy, which further validated their concept. This iterative process helped them overcome early challenges, such as gaining trust against established big four firms, and ultimately provided invaluable lessons in product-market fit. In this way, Lloyd's journey with Boast exemplifies how a keen eye for persistent industry inefficiencies, combined with community engagement for feedback and iterating for improvement, can lead to a successful and impactful business model.
How did Lloyed build the initial version of Boast?
Boast was built with a focus on automating the cumbersome process of applying for R&D tax credits. The founders, Lloyed Lobo and his partner, began by manually providing services to understand their customers' needs and constructed a service-based model before developing any software. They bootstrapped to $10 million in revenue, initially using tools like Zapier and Zoho Creator to create an MVP. The development phase involved a step-by-step automation of data collection, normalization, analysis, and workflow processes. This early hands-on approach allowed them to refine their understanding of client needs and optimize the eventual software. Challenges included initial difficulties in acquiring customers and the enormous effort required to build trust, but they leveraged their strong tech community connections to overcome these obstacles.
What were the initial startup costs for Boast?
- Funding: Boast raised a $23 million Series A round from Radian Capital and a $100 million debt warehouse, allowing the company to bootstrap up to $10 million in annual revenue before securing these investments.
How did Lloyed launch Boast and get initial traction?
Community Building
Boast started by focusing on building a community around their core audience of tech company CEOs, who were their ideal customers. They began hosting small meetups and events centered on providing growth knowledge from successful entrepreneurs, which eventually grew into larger gatherings and the creation of the Traction community. These events provided valuable content and allowed Boast to position themselves as thought leaders, ultimately leading to word-of-mouth growth and establishing trust among potential customers.
Why it worked: The community provided a platform for networking, trust-building, and establishing authority without overt selling, resulting in newfound credibility and brand recognition for Boast among its target audience.
Tactical Events and Networking
Boast initiated its promotional efforts by organizing small-scaled pizza night events at co-working spaces, targeting fellow innovators and startup founders. As word of mouth spread, the events grew larger, with nearly 200 attendees at one point. Each event featured expert speakers sharing tactical, hands-on advice, thereby attracting a niche audience keen on practical, actionable insights.
Why it worked: The tactical approach of these events allowed Boast to directly engage with its target market, generate conversations, and strategically introduce their value proposition, leading to client acquisition and significant growth.
Bootstrap Approach with Community-Led Insights
The Boast team initially offered manual services without writing any code. Through these interactions with early customers, they gained insights into client needs and the precise workflow required to deliver successful outcomes. This bootstrap method allowed them to validate their service, refine their process, and eventually automate their offerings based on real-world data, contributing to a reliable and scalable solution.
Why it worked: By bootstrapping and offering personalized services, Boast was able to intimately understand the needs of their customers, optimize processes iteratively, and establish a strong foundation without the necessity of initial funding.
What was the growth strategy for Boast and how did they scale?
Community Building
Boast AI utilized community building as a core strategy to grow their business. The founders organized events and meetups to gather business leaders and like-minded individuals, creating a network they named "Traction." This community grew organically from small pizza nights in co-working spaces to large conferences with thousands of attendees. They leveraged these events not only to build brand awareness but also to create a word-of-mouth network that drove demand for their services.
Why it worked: Community building allowed Boast AI to foster direct engagement with their target customers—CEOs and R&D leaders—by providing value through learning and connection. This approach enhanced trust and credibility, positioning Boast AI as a thought leader in their field.
Events and Conferences
Boast's Traction events and conferences became pivotal in driving growth. These events featured talks from successful entrepreneurs, offering tactical advice on growth and innovation. Over time, Traction evolved into a major conference series that attracted significant participation from the startup and tech community.
Why it worked: The events facilitated networking and shared learning among industry peers, which not only positioned Boast AI as an authority but also strengthened relationships with their ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), effectively turning attendees into leads and referrals.
Partner and Investor Engagement
Through their community efforts, Boast AI attracted potential investors and partners, demonstrating the value of their business in a tangible way through their thriving community events. This engagement was crucial during their fundraising phases, leading to strategic investments that fueled their growth.
Why it worked: Hosting events allowed Boast AI to showcase their network and influence within the industry to potential investors, proving their market value beyond financial metrics.
Organic Word-of-Mouth
The community-driven approach naturally led to organic word-of-mouth as satisfied participants and community members shared their positive experiences with others, thus strengthening Boast's reputation and reach.
Why it worked: People trust recommendations from peers within their community. By delivering consistent value through events and fostering genuine relationships, Boast AI encouraged organic growth via community advocates.
What's the pricing strategy for Boast?
Boast offers a SaaS platform with pricing based on the value of securing R&D tax credits, charging fees that become a percentage of the tax credits received, effectively monetizing successful claims without upfront costs to clients.
What were the biggest lessons learned from building Boast?
- Community as a Business Strategy: Boast emphasized the power of building a community, not just as a marketing tactic but as a core business strategy. This approach engaged their audience meaningfully, creating mutual trust and long-term relationships that fueled business growth.
- Bootstrap to Success: Boast started by focusing on customer needs with a service-first approach, allowing them to bootstrap effectively. This method enabled them to understand client pain points deeply and iteratively build a product that genuinely addressed those issues, creating a stable revenue stream before seeking external funding.
- Leveraging Relationships for Growth: The founders used their network strategically, inviting successful entrepreneurs to share insights, which not only helped them learn but also attracted potential customers and partners, filling their pipeline organically.
- Adapting Based on Market Conditions: Faced with new challenges during the pandemic, Boast pivoted their strategy by enhancing their online presence and continuing to host virtual community events, which sustained their lead generation and engagement efforts.
- Maintaining Healthy Work-Life Balance: Founders should prioritize personal well-being alongside business growth. Neglecting personal health and family for work can lead to burnout, affecting both personal and professional life.
Boast Acquisition: How much did Boast sell for and what was the acquisition price?
Boast was acquired by Radian Capital in 2020 for $23 million after bootstrapping to eight figures in revenue.
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More about Boast:
Who is the owner of Boast?
Lloyed Lobo is the founder of Boast.
When did Lloyed Lobo start Boast?
2012
What is Lloyed Lobo's net worth?
Lloyed Lobo's business makes an average of $833K/month.
How much money has Lloyed Lobo made from Boast?
Lloyed Lobo started the business in 2012, and currently makes an average of $10M/year.
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