Revenue updates, founders #1 secrets, & trending case studies.

Hey!

Here we are, already at the end of June.

Wow, halfway through the year!!

Like all businesses, we at Starter Story are learning how to navigate a post-pandemic world. 

As you might have seen, we’ve been adding lots of new features to the platform, like our 1000+ business ideas, our roundup posts, and our comprehensive guides on starting a business.

This is all thanks to our amazing team of 5 people now (wow)…

But don’t fret, our main focus is still on sharing the real stories of real founders and how they’re growing their business - we have now shared the stories of over 1,300 entrepreneurs on our platform.

Here's a few updates you can't miss:

#1: Jay’s online air filter business is now doing $2.4M/year

Last week, we caught up with Jay from PureFilters. Jay has grown his business selling air filters (boring stuff, right?) to $200k/month. Two years ago, he was doing $60k/month. 

His secret? Google search ads - which he also wrote about.

#2: Bron’s $6M/year email client

We just published our interview with Bron from Fastmail - a wildly popular email app.

This app is now doing $500k/month. Their secret? Customer loyalty - they started their first paid plan in 2004, and half of those initial customers are still customers today!

#3: New business models? How to make money for your content

I’ve been doing a lot of research on the new innovative ways that content creators are earning money.

The verdict? There are 4 main strategies.

#4: Dylan’s $36M/year boozy drinkware business

Do you remember our feature on Dylan Jacob from Brumate, the boozy drinkware brand from a couple of years ago? Dylan was doing $1.1M/month at 23 years old and with only 2 employees.

Update time! I just came across this Forbes article which pegged his business at $36M/year.

Dylan’s story is incredible. I urge you to read it.

#5: Share your brand's story for a shot at $25,000

Signups are closing at the end of the month for Klaviyo’s Owned Growth Stories contest.

The first-place winner gets $25k, and five finalists will win a professionally produced brand video and a free year of Klaviyo (up to $10,000).

Can’t hurt to sign up - here’s the link.

1,000+ business ideas

Last week, we released an early version of our business ideas database. Sort and filter thousands of data points to find the best idea for you.

Still want more content?

Here are some of our most popular stories from last week:

• 52 business ideas you can start with no capital
• Lisa runs a $2M/year children’s clothing brand
• Juan is bootstrapping a $100k/month social media tool
• Paul is starting an Amazon's Choice premium brand
• $4k/month handmade Etsy jewelry business (all from home)
• Vicki launched a $300k/month wearable
• David built A 7-Figure vaping company
• This couple started a $325k/month practical baby products brand
• + dozens more new case studies

Are you ready to boost your revenue?

I want to give a shoutout to our long-time sponsor Klaviyo.

Using Klaviyo will open up a massive, untapped sales channel and bring you closer to your customers!

I'm a huge fan of the product (I use it for Starter Story and love the segmentation/drip features). I've also been able to collect so many emails using their website form integration - my list growing over 1k/month now 😲

Here are just some of the impressive businesses we've interviewed that use Klaviyo for email marketing and are raving about the product - all great interviews you should check out as well!

• Brumate ($1.1M/mo at 23 years old)
• Sheets & Giggles ($76k/mo in just 6 months)
• Beardbrand ($100k+/mo - 1.5M YouTube subscribers)
• Abs Protein Pancakes ($25k/mo passive income business)
• Xero Shoes ($460k/mo - featured on Shark Tank)
• The Longhairs ($30k/mo)
• Framed Tweets ($25k/mo)

Level up your email marketing with 👉 Klaviyo!

(And thank you for your support 🙏)

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Thanks for reading! See you next week.

- Pat Walls, Founder @ Starter Story

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