How I Bootstrapped A $20K/Month Tool For Affiliate Marketers
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
My name is John Wright and I’m the CEO and co-founder of StatsDrone, a B2B affiliate SaaS company. Currently, our flagship product is an affiliate stats aggregator and our customers are iGaming affiliates. Our intention is to support the entire affiliate marketing industry.
We have bootstrapped our company to date making close to $20k MRR and we are in the middle of an investment round to accelerate our company.
The first version of the app was a desktop one and I picked that over the cloud as I thought and assumed that customers wouldn’t trust a cloud app.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I had a long journey to get where I am today so I’ll start at the beginning. I graduated from university with a degree in mechanical engineering focusing on robotics and AI.
One friend was trying to recruit me for his card-counting team to make money playing blackjack. I thought he was crazy and didn’t listen to him for 2 years until he told me he just bought a new BMW M3 roadster. By this point, he transitioned to playing online casinos and I thought I’d give it a shot. If this gig didn’t work out then I’d go back towards getting a job as I had a degree to fall back on.
Ever since then I’ve been involved in iGaming and affiliate marketing. I’ve worn almost every hat along the way running affiliate programs and creating affiliate websites. I also did some SEO consulting and am self-taught in website design. I learned about conversion rate optimization and UX design. At some point, I realized that software is where I belong rather than running affiliate sites and this journey lead me towards creating StatsDrone with my business partner.
Some of the ‘aha’ moments came instantly while others fermented for years so I could articulate and think about what solution I was going to create to solve some problems. These problems I knew existed in the marketplace but nobody seemed to articulate the problem to the point where the solution was obvious.
At some point, I realized this is where I belong rather than simply making affiliate websites or doing any type of consulting. I’m going full circle back to my engineering roots and am excited to work on some challenging projects.
Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.
I knew the start of my project was first an affiliate stats aggregator. The first version of the app was a desktop one and I picked that over the cloud as I thought and assumed that customers wouldn’t trust a cloud app.
In the first 2 years of building the app, I think I made every mistake that you could make. I won’t share those findings here as I know others are also trying to build a similar app. The only comfort I get in failing is that I’ve heard of other companies trying to build these products or even do it in-house and haven’t been fully successful.
The version we have today was a revamped one where the first version had to be scrapped as it was taking too long of a time to process data. I knew our customers wouldn’t settle for it and it was a painful realization.
The app currently is still in MVP mode and the next phases of the app are happening now. We are about to start the full redesign of the app and have a stronger emphasis on user experience.
App design is hard, some companies make it look easy but I now know they also spent a lot of time to make it look effortless.
A lot of money and hours went into making the app and I won’t disclose what those hours and costs were but they were immense. The SaaS business is becoming a very interesting part of the B2B space but by no means is any of this easy.
When looking for investors, I decided to make video pitches instead of sending an email with a pitch deck. The feedback was so positive that I figured why not include this in the marketing as well.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Maybe I will look back in time on this journey with a more appreciative lens but the first launch I tried to do was in 2019. We were a smaller team back then and I thought the whole thing was going to be a walk in the park.
Customers didn’t think the app was ready at all and they were right. After trying to make improvements to the app to salvage the work, it was a tough decision to decide to fully scrap the desktop app in favor of a cloud app.
The business was financed all through affiliate marketing. We bootstrapped the entire company to date by generating revenues from affiliate sites including B2B affiliate sites.
I think the thing that did benefit us and can be recommended to others is to try to find a way to bootstrap anyway if you can. This won’t apply to all businesses but this does give you an excuse of networking within your industry.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
I feel like I’ve tried every sales and marketing tactic that I could but I’ll stick to one that seems to be running away with the show. I’m talking about video!
When looking for investors, I decided to make video pitches instead of sending an email with a pitch deck. The feedback was so positive that I figured why not include this in the marketing as well.
I’m a big believer in content marketing, SEO, and also using video.
YouTube is a massive search engine not to be overlooked.
Speaking of YouTube, we do some keyword research to get an idea of what affiliates or potential affiliates are looking for. Overall our competition isn’t doing much with YouTube so we get the best inspiration from SEOs that use YouTube for acquiring people to sell to.
In terms of SEO, I think this is something we can and should be using for our marketing. We think we do an ok job of that now but it will be a bigger part of our making for next year.
I wouldn’t say we have a secret sauce in this other than B2B content targeting affiliates doesn’t have as much competition. The same applies to creating that content on YouTube. In terms of comparing the same content as a blog post vs a YouTube video, I believe YouTube can deliver a higher conversion rate.
How do we help and retain customers? Also video. Sometimes a video can explain something quickly and that goes beyond just typing. If I have a customer that needs help with something, I’ll make a video showcasing those changes.
Network with other entrepreneurs and appreciate the ones that are willing to give you real feedback and criticism. I don’t believe you can’t grow if you are not willing to listen to some painful truths.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
I could list paragraphs of answers but I’m going to zero in on what had the most impact on me this year. As a company, we decided to look for investors to accelerate our product roadmap. When I got started I was a bit nervous and intimidated that I had to level up my sales and speaking skills to make this happen. I did believe I could do this as I had success in university in founding a robotics club and also raising all the money we needed to pay for our equipment.
The end result of this effort was that I learned a whole new world of business that I wasn’t fully aware of before. If you want an MBA in business and entrepreneurship, don’t just start a company, go look for investors. It is hard work and it will test your commitment and dedication to your company. It is extra work but it has a lot of upsides in it and I highly recommend everyone consider it if you think it can help your business get to the next level.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
My tool sets for business tend to be less CEO-related and more product related. I’m a self-taught designer and I’ve got a lot of experience with handling data.
I am in the process of switching from Sketch app to Figma. I enjoy doing some design work and often I can use these tools to create very fast wireframes when handing off some work to another designer. I’m not looking forward to having to spend a few weekends mastering Figma but the writing is on the wall for Sketch.
I just hope Adobe doesn’t fuck up Figma. I think Figma is just too powerful to consider using anything else especially when it comes to collaboration not just with other designers but with people on your team.
The next tool I’ve been working with this year has been Tableau. I had an easy time getting started with it and I learned this over the summer while taking a data visualization course by Kevin Hartman. That course leveled up my skills as a data scientist.
As an engineer, this is where I feel comfortable working with these tools and combined with my experience in conversion rate optimization, I think this is what will help our company excel.
For the plot below I analyzed an old dataset for an affiliate program and looked at a KPI comparing clicks vs revenue. It was quite clear there was one data point that was off by a significant factor. This is why data visualization tools are so important and I don’t think they are used enough in the world of affiliate marketing.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
This year I’ve invested more time into learning how to get the most out of LinkedIn. For me, it has been the single most important social media resource to take advantage of. I’ve taken it to another level by following influencers that share their LinkedIn wisdom and have applied it to my profile.
For a book, I’m enjoying Passion to Lead by Julio Bruno. What I like about the book is you experience the story through the storytelling of Julio. He shares his wisdom and learnings through his own life story and I find it a refreshing take for a business-focused book.
For podcasts, the one that I look forward to the most is Confessions of a B2B Marketer by Tom Hunt. Tom simplifies things and makes you look at things from a simple single lens. It isn’t easy operating like that but when you take the time to digest his learnings, they are easy to apply linearly rather than trying to be a master at everything.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Network with other entrepreneurs and appreciate the ones that are willing to give you real feedback and criticism. I don’t believe you can’t grow if you are not willing to listen to some painful truths.
Just go for it and don’t spend your life dreading how things would be if you didn’t go for it. Learn from others but make it your path. Cliche as it is, just asks yourself: am I passionate about what I’m doing? If the answer is no then you need to keep going until you find it.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
After hiring someone to help with sales, we are going to focus more on enhancing our product to take it to another level rather than hiring to add more revenue. Next year should be a different situation for us as we hire more developers and a full-time designer.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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