43
72 Comments

How our b2b startup got 240 paying customers in 3 weeks. Our experience of selling Lifetime Deal

The times when it was possible to create a useful service, wait for people to find it themselves and start using it, are long gone. Now companies spend a lot of effort, time, and money on finding new customers, engaging them, and collecting feedback.

I want to share the story of how we came up with a way to get more than 240 users interested in our product — those who invested in checking it out, figuring out how it works, and giving recommendations on how to improve the service.

Please read the full article on medium.

If you want to follow our journey and check the progress of the company in real-time, consider following me on twitter.

  1. 5

    it's very helpful. Thank you for sharing. i'm just launched edocAPI platform, i will try to follow your approach and get you a feedback.

  2. 3

    Congrats Andrey!

    I've seen founders launch a SaaS product first on Producthunt, get initial feedback and only once they've tweaked the final offering do they start offering LTDs on platforms like AppSumo.

    What made you go for the opposite? Is it a mega launch thing that you're planning on PH?

    1. 2

      We are working in a competitive market and currently have almost no audience (I appreciate 400 followers on my twitter, but that's not a lot 😀). With this data, we have no chance to be successful on ProductHunt in my opinion.

      That is why we decided to start with AppSumo and then launch on PH. Will be interesting to see if this bet works out😊

      1. 1

        @AndreyNovikov Would like to get in touch, understand your business a bit more, also understand niche sector that you're in.

        We are currently sending invites to saas startups that have active users & & Mrr.

      2. 1

        Great insights. We are also planning to launch on PH, but also worry that without an existing audience, PH launch will fail miserably.

  3. 2

    Once you pivot away from lifetime deals, how do you plan on maintaining your MMR? I know @OmarGlorify has mixed emotions with his experience with his start-up Glorify

  4. 2

    that's helpful. Thanks for sharing your journey!

  5. 2

    This is extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing your journey

  6. 2

    Really impressive congratulations 🎉

  7. 2

    Thanks for sharing! I've had a similar experience -- AppSumo has been great for attracting early users/enthusiasts that give invaluable feedback.

  8. 2

    Hey, congrats! I wonder how many users you had totally after launching this campaign (I mean newly registered users coming from AppSumo)? Thanks!

    1. 1

      Almost all people who bought a deal on AppSumo signed up on the platform (they needed to activate their ltd).

      90% of them tested our platform and created at least one campaign for collecting video testimonials (that what our service does)

      1. 1

        what tools did you use to track and analyze initial user behavior once they are signed in to your product?

  9. 2

    Really interesting to see that

  10. 2

    Why haven't you consider PorductHunt for the launch?

    1. 1

      Yes, we are planning to launch on PorductHunt in a few weeks!

      1. 1

        Do you thinks it’s best advice to launch in multiple LTD channels at once ?

  11. 1

    In a cyber world that we live in these days , you will agree with me that it's good to be informed, and have access to desired information when you need it. i needed some information from my HR at work which could've helped me prove my district manager was stealing , instead they connived and tried to throw me under the bus for it and try to frame me up for things i didn't do and blackmail me to get me fired , This made me restless for nights, i needed the help of a good hacker , in the course of me research i stumbled on PROXY HACKING Digital Tech Inc, this hacker saved my life, he helped me hack and retrieve necessary documents i needed to prove my innocence , this saved my job and saved my family big time, This same hacker also helped a friend of mine recover her losses to binary options investment scams on my referral i was so glad and amazed by his effectiveness ,this is why i'm willing to share my experience with others, if you are seeking any form of hacking exploits ranging from phone and email hacking to confirm if your spouse is cheating or when you want to be sure of your partners intentions , Cryptocurrency and binary options investment and other financial recovery and other relative white -hat ethical hacking exploits ,write directly to PROXYHACKER55 @ GMAIL . COM , or text / call +1 423 3732437 and get relative hacking service help you desire.

  12. 1

    Did you ever calculated the TCO of video for Life time deals?

  13. 1

    Thanks for sharing this. Going to look into it. And congrats! :)

  14. 1

    Great article and thanks for sharing. Does your platform also offer any kind of incentives like free upgrades or credits for referring friends or promoting your service? I am wondering if I should have a referral system in place before going down the LTD road, so those low profit users can still drive potential growth through word of mouth or sharing.

  15. 1

    We are also building a b2b saas product targeting the Ed-tech sector.
    There is a lot to be learnt from your story. Thanks for sharing!

  16. 1

    In a cyber world that we live in these days , you will agree with me that it's good to be informed, and have access to desired information when you need it. i needed some information from my HR at work which could've helped me prove my district manager was stealing , instead they connived and tried to throw me under the bus for it and try to frame me up for  things i didn't do and blackmail me to get me fired , This made me restless for nights, i needed the help of a good hacker , in the course of me research i stumbled on QUADHACKED Digital Tech Inc, this hacker saved my life, he helped me hack and retrieve necessary documents i needed to prove my innocence , this saved my job and saved my family big time, This same hacker also helped a friend of mine recover her losses to binary options investment scams on my referral  i was so glad and amazed by his effectiveness ,this is why i'm willing to share my experience with others,  if you are seeking any form of hacking exploits ranging from phone and email hacking to confirm if your spouse is cheating or when you want to be sure of your partners intentions , Cryptocurrency and binary options investment and other financial  recovery and other relative  white -hat ethical hacking exploits ,write directly to QUADHACKED @ GMAIL . COM , and get relative hacking service help you desire

  17. 1

    Hello,
    My friend and I just launched fdbck.io on Product Hunt.
    We simplified the management of user feedback by placing one line of code to your website.
    We recommend you to give it a shot for free and if you like it you can use the HACKERS50 coupon code for 50% discount.

  18. 1

    I've previously been against lifetime deals, but this gives another interesting spin on things. Of course there's some risk involved here, but I have previously not truly considered the potential to sort of "get things going" and to have that early feedback to further improve and polish the product.

  19. 1

    THank you for sharing your journey. I am also building a SaaS and it is in innitial stage. I have learnt a lot from your story.

  20. 1

    You did a great job on this article! If you don't mind, I'd want to add a few lines.
    Keep offering such pertinent Marketing services that would assist other users who are searching for such an online platform to attain profound knowledge as provided by you. I am really impressed with the information you provided on the above blog and how they help to manage a business as well as how difficult it is to manage own by own.
    For more related blogs visit- Ossisto (https://ossisto.com)

  21. 1

    Hey Andrey!

    Thanks for sharing your experience here.

    Quick Question: Did you define the T&C for LTD with app sumo?
    Im sure LTD's must have certain terms that the company can offer to initial users, but what happens when you launch new features or introduce enterprise plans.

    LTD plan users must be given access up to a certain limit right?

  22. 1

    hi ,could u give us some recommendation for our B2B product? www.aurpay.net

  23. 1

    Out of curiosity: how long did it take you to go from idea to product to sales? How many people do you have working on VideoTouch?

  24. 1

    This is so insightful, so good to see your growth!

  25. 1

    Thanks for the article. And congrats!

  26. 1

    Thank you for sharing this experience.
    Was the primary objective to get some first feedback?
    Or was the aspect of making money on the lifetime deals an important motivation?

  27. 1

    It's a good article.

  28. 1

    I'm curious on your take on how to approach LTDs if your operating costs are expensive per user usage?

    As an example, I've a product that costs $0.50 per API call as an example. So I charge monthly with credits to ensure that the unit economics are feasible.

    An LTD of even, say, $10K would not be enough if a user make 100K API calls over the course of their lifetime.

    I am wondering if there's a way for LTDs to be a great deal (i.e. much less expensive than buying from website) but with limited usage? Perhaps, by limiting credits, and then if the user likes the service, they can pay for the real thing on the website.

    1. 1

      How LTD's most often work (eg. on AppSumo) is that you make a loss on the LTD, but make a profit through what follows: word of mouth, affiliates, ...all sorts of virality. It's risky, but can work well if the product and audience match nicely.

  29. 1

    Great Article... well explained and directed

  30. 1

    It was useful article for me. Thank you for sharing your experience!

  31. 1

    nice can you give me tips of how to grow app agency

  32. 1

    Well done, @AndreyNovikov! I really appreciate you taking the time to share all of this.

  33. 1

    Our approach is FREE plan for individuals and Paid plans for Businesses.

  34. 1

    That's just amazing! We launched clickable.so this week and have around 300 signups that are qualified. Hoping the product is good enough for them to stay ;)

  35. 1

    Just want to ask how you approached first 100 customers to try your product ? Does having revenue is your 1st priority ?

  36. 1

    Thank you Andrey for a super article.
    So nice of you to take the time to share your 'thinking behind' and not just a glam version of events. Much appreciated AND bookmarked for future reference ;-)

  37. 1

    @AndreyNovikov
    getting leads for the SAAS business is difficult you have done the right way and get the good leads in short time.

  38. 1

    Hi Andrey, such a great job!

    I wish one day i'll wake in the world where it'll be possible to get 240 paying users for our project, but in case of SaaS for mobile apps instead of websites situation for now is a bit more tricky.

    Does anybody heared about successful launches with such mechanics when your customers is mobile apps?

  39. 1

    That's awesome! but do you know how to get 100 custmers if you are crypto payment provider?thanks

  40. 1

    wow that is cool! Congrats!

  41. 1

    That's awesome! Congratulations!
    LTDs seem very powerful.
    Just to add a later perspective to it: Are they only useful for upcomming/growing startups or are they for every stage of your project? I'd guess that it's mostly for growing projects, but change my mind.

  42. 1

    Lifetime Deal for the initial acquisition and loyalty benefits, what an incredible strategy. And the way AppSumo helped you scale, is worth considering. Thank you for this.

  43. 1

    Can I know what is the metrics or any guidelines to be referred to when setting the price of the LTD? Like do we need to refer to the current MRR and set a reasonable price based on the next 3 years of revenue prediction?

  44. 1

    Excellent article. Here's a question, how do you factor in the cloud hosting costs when you give away a lifetime deal?

    1. 1

      IMHO - I think the smart way to look at using LTD's on sites like Appsumo. Is to see them as tools for feedback, idea validation and testimonials. NOT as revenue opportunities as such. So the long term cost of the offer, you should absorb as part of your development/marketing cost. That's how I plan to use it anyway.

  45. 1

    This is so incredibly dope. I read this on Medium and was super impressed. I've only ever utilized two business models myself, but i'm intruiged by the idea of a lifetime deal up front. Seems like the best possible way to simultaneously get new user interest, get product feedback from the start, and get some cash in the bank to keep hope alive .lol. Nicely done @AndreyNovikov

  46. 1

    Hey Andrey,

    You said:

    “ At the same time, we work with heavy video files that need to be stored, converted, and distributed around the world, and because of it, we can’t afford to sell an LTD for a product with all the features that come with a regular subscription. As a compromise, we created a version that will satisfy most users but has little advertising for our service. ”

    What was the solution?

    We also working on a service that has to store video files. I’m afraid in the long run LTD may become not that profitable.

    What is the average life cycle of LTD per user?

  47. 1

    How can I create a post here? This popup appears every time I try
    ( you can't create posts yet.) what can I do?

  48. 1

    That's really smart! Thanks for sharing!

  49. 1

    do you offer LTD on your website as well (I couldn't find it there) or that option was for appsumo only? and how did you calculate with LTD amount?

  50. 1

    Thanks for your advice! Im curious now that you are at 240 active users, what you would have done differently from 0-100 user stage?

  51. 1

    Did you get a lot of people who tried out the service first (if you have a trial or freemium tier) before they bought the ltd?
    I always do that with AppSumo deals, and it's saved me from some bad purchases.
    It'd lead to a pretty interesting dynamic where together with a lot of sales, you also see a lot of new bottom tier signups that are then abandoned.

  52. 1

    @AndreyNovikov, congrats on your first paying users

    from my notes, another video testimonials platform, VideoPeel, launched their LTD back in 2020 and got over $100K in total revenue and 39 reviews - revenue is not confirmed, it's my forecast

    Screenshot from VideoPell - The Appsumo breakdown

    questions:

    1. have you promoted your LTD anywhere else than on Appsumo?
    2. have you tried upselling them?
    3. have you tried getting some reviews from these users to post them on G2, Trustpilot, etc.?
  53. 1

    Love it, congrats!
    LTDs are a great way to get some runway. Now use that $$$ to grow your MRR :)

  54. 1

    Awesome result for a marketplace listing, congratulations. We still did not try out AppSumo, and are now finishing up our deal with PitchGround. Can't say we were super satisfied with the result though :(

    The ones who did buy it turned out to be enthusiast for the long run and are committed to even paying for bigger plans, so in that regard, it actually went pretty well.

    1. 2

      Thanks for sharing! There is not a lot of information about an experience with PitchGround from founders’ perspective.

  55. -2

    This comment has been voted down. Click to show.

  56. 1

    This comment was deleted a month ago.

  57. 1

    This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 47 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 27 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments How I Launched FrontendEase 13 comments