Apr 20, 2021 · 29m · top-founders
Linkedin Automation Tool Breaks $5m, Grows 5x yoy, Bootstrapped with $1m in Profits
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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 with Nathan Latka, Expandi founder Stefan Smulders explains how he bootstrapped his LinkedIn automation SaaS to a $5M ARR run rate with 70% profit margins in just 15 months. He breaks down the company's dual direct and white-label revenue model, inbound acquisition funnel, capital-efficient unit economics, and long-term strategy for mitigating platform risk.
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 35.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Nathan as informed peer 5.8 Guest teaching 2.6 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 3.4
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:37 Smulders clarifies MRR numbers
When Latka mistakenly repeats that Expandi is doing $45,000 per month, Smulders firmly corrects him with $445,000, standing his ground on the $5M run rate.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 16:08 Latka pushes back on severe customer churnLatka refuses to let Smulders gloss over $35k-$40k in monthly churn, directly pointing out that this represents a dangerous 7-8% monthly churn rate that would burn through their customer base in a year.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:00 Smulders breaks down the LinkedIn automation landscapeSmulders educates Latka on why competitors hide their identities to avoid LinkedIn detection, explaining how Expandi gained trust by showing real team identities and building agency-specific safe tooling.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 19:02 Latka models fully weighted CACLatka dismantles Smulders's informal $20-$30 CAC estimate by aggregating marketing team salaries, SEO retainers, and content contractor expenses divided by converted customers to calculate a realistic $100 CAC.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introducing Stefan Smulders and the Genesis of Expandi | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Latka introduces Smulders and asks why Expandi specifically brands itself as the safest LinkedIn automation tool. Smulders explains his background running a website IP-tracking SaaS and transitioning to manual agency outreach on LinkedIn. | |
| Transitioning from Manual Agency Operations to SaaS Product | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Latka interrupts Smulders's long narrative to enforce time constraints and extract hard financial milestones from the early agency days. Smulders clarifies the timeline from manual spreadsheet agency work to building the beta product in 2019. | |
| Expandi's Rapid Revenue Trajectory and Bootstrapped Scale | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | A brief miscommunication occurs over current MRR when Latka hears $45k instead of $445k. Latka rapidly recalculates the run rate and annual growth rate, highlighting a 5x leap from $1M to $5M bootstrapped. | |
| Early Agency Demos and Developing Dual Revenue Models | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Smulders describes running over 700 customer demos to identify customer pain points around account safety and support transparency. He explains establishing both direct signups and white-label agency partnerships. | |
| Product Pricing, Account Scale, and Revenue Breakdown | 8 | 3 | 2 | 6 | Latka drills down on customer counts versus managed LinkedIn profiles, direct vs. agency revenue splits, and churn. When Smulders cites $35k-$40k in monthly churn, Latka immediately calculates that this represents a severe 7-8% monthly revenue churn and critiques mixing new adds into churn calculations. | |
| Funnel Conversion Rates, Acquisition Costs, and SEO Strategy | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | Latka investigates Smulders's claim of a $20 to $30 CAC given their high conversion rate. Latka breaks down the math by factoring in marketing salaries, agency fees, and SEO contractors to establish a true fully loaded CAC of roughly $100. | |
| Bottom-Line Profitability, Product Diversification, and LinkedIn Risk | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Smulders details his growth strategy focused on reducing churn and onboarding drop-offs, while revealing heavy profit margins of ~70% ($275k-$300k net monthly). Smulders acknowledges platform platform risk from LinkedIn and explains reinvesting profits into new software products. | |
| Co-Founder Equity, Compensation Bonuses, and Team Culture | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | The conversation covers the equal 3-way equity split between co-founders and employee profit sharing. Latka tests the structure of the quarterly bonuses and salary increases against their monthly net expansion targets. | |
| Year-End Financial Performance and SaaS Valuation Perspectives | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Smulders shares 2020 totals ($3.1M rev, $1M profit) and demurs on putting a private valuation on Expandi due to platform risks. Latka concludes with the Famous Five quick-fire questions and summarizes key metrics. |
Statements from this episode (19)
Smulders's prior LinkedIn agency peaked at around $100K monthly revenue
“It's best month, but that was later on, I think maybe 101 hundred K a month.”
Expandi pivoted to target only LinkedIn agencies before its 2019 launch
“So after, and I think it was September, we decided before we launched it globally, mid November, 2019. To focus on the global market and only on LinkedIn agencies”
Expandi reached $445,000 in monthly recurring revenue by April 2021
“Last month we closed on 445 K dollar a monthly recurring revenue.”
Expandi hit a $1 million annual revenue run rate in June 2020
“In June, 2020, we did one million annual.”
Smulders built Expandi entirely bootstrapped without raising outside venture capital
“No, it's all bootstrapped.”
Smulders personally ran over 700 product demos for agencies in five months
“So in the beginning, I ran more than 700 demos in five months with only agencies myself to understand Why are they making a decision to pick Expondi and not one of our competitors to have a better understanding about how we can position Expondi.”
Expandi drives approximately 300 trial signups per week through its website
“We have somewhere around 300 signups per week on our website. They are not, they start trialing with the seven days trial, and then we hope to convert as many as we can, and the other revenue stream is that we provide white labels, and they are exclusively for…”
Smulders: Expandi manages over 10,000 active LinkedIn accounts
“We managing more than 10,000 active accounts in the expand the software along all the user ways, so including the white list.”
Expandi has 155 white-label partner agencies and roughly 2,000 direct subscribers
“We have 155 white labels running, so that are actually the customers, and we have somewhere around 2000, I think 1970 or so people who are paying a subscription on the site, but they can also manage more LinkedIn account, of course.”
Expandi generates $300K monthly from direct subscriptions and $150K from white-labels
“We have 300 K revenue at the moment per month from people who are paying straight with their card on the website. And somewhere around 150 K. Coming from agencies and white labels.”
Expandi sees $35,000 to $40,000 in monthly churn and account downgrades
“So the, I think it's somewhere around the turns and downgrades, 35 K a month, 40 K a month.”
Expandi added $68,000 in net new monthly recurring revenue last month
“Yeah, for example, last month, in total, we wrote with 68,000 dollars monthly recurring, and so maybe we go with 110, and then 40 was downgrazed in terms, and then 70 was the goal.”
Expandi attracts 14,000 to 15,000 weekly unique visitors to its website
“We have more than five, 14, 15,000 unique visitors per week on our website.”
Expandi spends between $40,000 and $45,000 per month on total marketing costs
“So if I count all these costs together that's somewhere around For 40, 40 K, 45 K a month.”
Expandi operates at roughly a 70% profit margin across its total revenue
“No, we are very profitable.
We have an
I think from all the revenue of 70, 70% is profit.”
Expandi is investing profits into new products to reduce its LinkedIn dependency
“Apart in the company bank account, we invested a lot of things in the beginning with our own money, so we took that back as well, and we investing at the moment a lot in in new products, so we hired some additional developers who are focusing on developing new…”
Expandi gives all employees quarterly bonuses and 10% raises for hitting goals
“What we do is that we have a quarter bonus. It's along all the company. So we will give everybody 500 net per quarter. If we reach reach the goals and we have a salary increasement of 10% for the well-performing people.”