I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Find people who push you to set bigger goals
Hi Reader,
Today, ConvertKit has an annual run rate of $35 million, but back in 2014, the company was actually losing money.
I often tell the story of a brief conversation I had with Hiten Shah while walking back from dinner at a conference.
“I think you should shut down ConvertKit,” Hiten said. "You'll be successful at whatever you do, but you're well over a year into ConvertKit, it's not growing, and it's time to shut it down." Then he kept walking, leaving me to reflect.
When I caught up with him, he added, "Or, you can take ConvertKit seriously and give it the time, money, and attention it deserves. But whatever you're doing, it's not working."
It's not often a friend will give you such direct and pointed advice, but I appreciated it. He was basically saying double down or shut it down.
I stopped outsourcing and hired a full-time developer. I invested my last $50,000 and shut down my other business to focus on ConvertKit full-time.
You can see exactly where I doubled down when you look at the revenue all those years ago:
Hiten told me exactly what I needed to hear and pushed me when I needed it.
I’ve learned the right conversation with the right person at the right time can be game changing.
That’s why last month, I made a last-minute decision to go to Los Angeles for Ramit Sethi’s Netflix show launch party.
Why fly down at the last-minute just for a launch party?
Well, I’ll always take the opportunity to hang out with Ramit if I get it. If you aren't already listening to Ramit's podcast, you should be. I love how he blends psychology and money.
Ramit is another one of those people who pushed me to set bigger goals at just the right time.
In 2015, I met Ramit for tea in New York City. ConvertKit was picking up and had just hit $6k MRR. He asked what my goal was for the end of the year. It was early May at the time, so I answered with what I felt like was a good goal for the end of the year: $20k. That would be over 3x growth in 7 months!
Ramit stared at me, expressionless.
After a long silence, he calmly said, "That's the most fucking boring thing I've ever heard. You can do better."
That motivation and his advice that followed helped us hit $98k in MRR by the end of the year. That’s almost 50x growth ($2k to $98k MRR).
That's just Ramit's style. Direct advice, always pushing you to be better.
I feel really fortunate to have people in my life who will give it to me straight, push me to be my best, and encourage me to set bigger goals.
When you find people like that, hold onto them. And maybe make the last-minute trip to support them.
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PODCAST
Video Monetization & Handling Competition as a Bootstrapped SaaS Company
The second episode of The Nathan Barry Show I have for you is with Founder and CEO of Uscreen, PJ Taei.
The creator economy has changed a lot since PJ first founded Uscreen in 2015, but in that time, PJ managed to bootstrapped the company to $20 million a year in revenue.
We talk about how to handle competitors, private video memberships, what’s working to drive growth, and a lot more.
Watch or listen to episode »
PODCAST
Practical Tips and Real Stories on Giving and Receiving Feedback
I was on the Real as Feedback Podcast earlier this month, where we had a unique discussion on the importance of understanding how feedback is being received.
We talked all about practical tips for handling feedback in the workplace, understanding emotional awareness, and my experience in building a diverse team.
CONFERENCE
I'm hosting a conference!
ConvertKit's annual conference, Craft + Commerce, is happening next month!
Join us in downtown Boise June 8th–10th for an incredible three-day conference full of keynote talks, intimate workshops, ConvertKit experts, parties, and meetups.
Hope to see you at the conference!
—Nathan
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.