Jul 10, 2026 · 21m · top-founders
Handwrytten Sends 6 Million Fake Handwritten Notes a Year and Makes $10M
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this interview, Handwrytten founder and CEO David Wachs explains how he bootstrapped an automated handwritten correspondence platform to nearly $10 million in revenue using proprietary robotics, organic SEO marketing, and enterprise software integrations.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 38.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Nathan as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 2.5
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 18:04 David calls out incorrect data on GetLatka
David openly mentions that inaccurate figures published on Nathan's database were the primary reason he agreed to do the interview.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 1:44 Nathan challenges the 'largest player' assertionNathan interrupts David's claim of market dominance to demand verifiable metrics on note volume versus revenue.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 16:15 David explains technical envelope manufacturing complexityDavid breaks down the complex physical mechanics of writing on stuffed envelopes versus flat cards, showing the mechanical moats of his business.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:31 Nathan analyzes domain rating and organic search metricsNathan demonstrates deep technical growth knowledge by pulling up live keyword traffic and domain authority metrics to evaluate David's inbound funnel.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Post-Exit Journey, Note Volume Scale, and Customer Acquisition | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Nathan challenges David's assertion of being the largest player in the automated handwriting market, asking for hard metrics. David clarifies their volume and the power-law dynamics in their customer base, which Nathan validates. | |
| Proprietary Robot Manufacturing and Computer Vision QA | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | David shares his proprietary robot setup and automated software integrations, while Nathan explores how to use the product for his own fund portfolio gifting. | |
| Sponsor Segment: Founderpath Non-Dilutive Capital | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | After Nathan's mid-roll ad read for Founderpath, David outlines Handwrytten's revenue trajectory and modest profit margins. David gently corrects Nathan when he mispronounces the company name. | |
| Search Engine Optimization and Content Marketing Strategy | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | Nathan digs directly into Handwrytten's SEO performance and competitor landscape using live data. David admits gaps in converting blog traffic while providing competitive revenue estimates. | |
| Physical Hardware Moats and Envelope Automation Challenges | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | David explains the physical hardware moats of building custom paper feeders for thick envelopes. Nathan shares his own personal failure attempting to set up a Unitech handwriting robot. | |
| Media-Driven Deal Sourcing and Financial Verification | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | David explains that inaccurate profile numbers on GetLatka drove him to come onto the show to set the record straight, prompting Nathan to explain his inbound media sourcing flywheel. |
Statements from this episode (18)
Wachs: Handwrytten sent about 6 million notes last year
“And we push about last year, I want to say we pushed about six million notes.”
Wachs: Handwrytten Operates Around 200 In-House Built Robots in Arizona
“We build them ourself in Tempe, Arizona and we've got about 200 of them”
Wachs: Handwrytten Uses Computer Vision for Note Quality Assurance
“So we use QA or computer vision to QA the notes.”
Wachs: In-House Robot Manufacturing Costs Handwrytten a Fraction of Competitors
“What I can tell you is because we build them internally, it's a fraction of the cost of anybody else out there.”
Wachs: Handwrytten's Mobile Apps Process Only 30 to 40 Notes Daily
“Honestly, the iPhone app and Android app are very, very small portion of our business. I'd say maybe 30 to 40 notes a day go through that.”
Wachs: Handwrytten will offer cookie fulfillment alongside handwritten notes
“We are gonna start doing cookies as our first fulfillment item. It'll be a box of two big cookies with a note.”
Wachs: Handwrytten did $9.4M in 2024 and $9M in 2025
“2024. We did 9.4 million. 2025, full transparency, we actually went down a little. We were only at nine million.”
Wachs: Handwrytten on track to reach $10M–$11M revenue
“This year, we are fully on track to break 10 to 11.”
Wachs: Handwrytten made $350,000 in profit in 2025
“It was relatively breakeven. We had a whopping 350,000 dollars in profit.”
Wachs: Handwrytten Is Avoiding European Expansion to Prevent Distractions
“You know, there's been talks about expanding into Europe, but the problem is there's so much opportunity here. I just don't need the distraction of dealing with Europe, you know.”
Wachs: Search engine marketing does not work for Handwrytten
“Because SEM doesn't work, we've done, we've gone the SEO route.”
Wachs: Handwrytten struggles to convert its content marketing traffic
“We do a lot on content marketing. We haven't done a great job converting it.”
Wachs: Simply Noted and Letter Labs are Handwrytten's only main competitors
“The competitors we run into are Simply Noted, and I'm going to stay above board in what I say about them, and then a company called Letter Labs. Those are the two.”
Wachs: Handwrytten will launch non-handwritten businesses to leverage hardware CapEx
“We we're actually rolling out some alternative businesses that will leverage our CapEx, but won't be handwritten note related”
Wachs: Hardware moat protects Handwrytten from being vibe coded by AI
“That whole moat is I think it's what's going to save us because if we were just a software company, I mean, we could be vibe coded in a weekend.”
Wachs: Handwrytten Leases About 30 Robots for $1,000–$1,250 Monthly
“We've only got about 30 out in the field. Each one you can assume is about a thousand to 1250 dollars per month per robot. They cost us much less than that to, you know, on an annualized basis to build, so there is good margin there, and those accounts tend to…”