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Nov 6, 2020 · 20m · top-founders

Limble is Maintenance Automation Software, hits $2m Revenue, Bootstrapped Using 5% Debt

Brian Christensen · 13m spoken Nathan Latka · 4m spoken Frank Bien · 4s spoken Eric Yuan · 4s spoken Vivek Bhaskaran · 2s spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Limble CMMS founder Brian Christensen discusses bootstrapping his maintenance management SaaS business to over $1.8 million in ARR through organic SEO, restructured seat-based pricing, and low-interest SBA debt financing.

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 25.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 3.8 Guest disagreement 1.4 Nathan pushing back 3.0
05100:0010:0020:003:35–6:45 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Bootstrapping the MVP and Winning the First Customer Nathan inquires about the MVP timeline and SEO acquisition channels. Brian explains his sweat-equity bootstrapping approach and how targeting educational topics rather than high-competition money keywords drove inbound leads.6:45–9:52 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Historical Revenue Milestones and 2020 Sales Stack Overhaul Nathan validates the revenue figures by multiplying customer count by average monthly pricing on the fly. Brian shares their revenue trajectory from early MRR to scaling up to over 2 million in ARR through sales stack improvements.9:52–13:16 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Team Breakdown and Account Executive Quotas Nathan drills into the unit economics of Limble's sales reps, asking about quota-to-OTE ratios and commission tiers. Brian explains why customer success reps are kept off hard quotas to preserve customer relationships.13:17–16:40 · Nathan as informed peer 7/10 Bootstrapping Origins, Churn, Retention, and CAC Metrics Nathan presses on the bootstrapping claim by noting that receiving $150k from Brian's father functioned as a seed angel check. Nathan also quickly deconstructs the net revenue retention components based on Brian's churn and expansion figures.16:40–18:36 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Leveraging Low-Interest SBA Debt for Growth Nathan asks about the specific terms of the SBA loan, noting the personal guarantee requirement and estimating the effective interest rate. Brian explains the strategic use of low-cost debt ahead of potential equity financing.3:35–6:45 · Guest teaching 5/10 Bootstrapping the MVP and Winning the First Customer Nathan inquires about the MVP timeline and SEO acquisition channels. Brian explains his sweat-equity bootstrapping approach and how targeting educational topics rather than high-competition money keywords drove inbound leads.6:45–9:52 · Guest teaching 3/10 Historical Revenue Milestones and 2020 Sales Stack Overhaul Nathan validates the revenue figures by multiplying customer count by average monthly pricing on the fly. Brian shares their revenue trajectory from early MRR to scaling up to over 2 million in ARR through sales stack improvements.9:52–13:16 · Guest teaching 4/10 Team Breakdown and Account Executive Quotas Nathan drills into the unit economics of Limble's sales reps, asking about quota-to-OTE ratios and commission tiers. Brian explains why customer success reps are kept off hard quotas to preserve customer relationships.13:17–16:40 · Guest teaching 4/10 Bootstrapping Origins, Churn, Retention, and CAC Metrics Nathan presses on the bootstrapping claim by noting that receiving $150k from Brian's father functioned as a seed angel check. Nathan also quickly deconstructs the net revenue retention components based on Brian's churn and expansion figures.16:40–18:36 · Guest teaching 3/10 Leveraging Low-Interest SBA Debt for Growth Nathan asks about the specific terms of the SBA loan, noting the personal guarantee requirement and estimating the effective interest rate. Brian explains the strategic use of low-cost debt ahead of potential equity financing.3:35–6:45 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping the MVP and Winning the First Customer Nathan inquires about the MVP timeline and SEO acquisition channels. Brian explains his sweat-equity bootstrapping approach and how targeting educational topics rather than high-competition money keywords drove inbound leads.6:45–9:52 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Historical Revenue Milestones and 2020 Sales Stack Overhaul Nathan validates the revenue figures by multiplying customer count by average monthly pricing on the fly. Brian shares their revenue trajectory from early MRR to scaling up to over 2 million in ARR through sales stack improvements.9:52–13:16 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Team Breakdown and Account Executive Quotas Nathan drills into the unit economics of Limble's sales reps, asking about quota-to-OTE ratios and commission tiers. Brian explains why customer success reps are kept off hard quotas to preserve customer relationships.13:17–16:40 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Bootstrapping Origins, Churn, Retention, and CAC Metrics Nathan presses on the bootstrapping claim by noting that receiving $150k from Brian's father functioned as a seed angel check. Nathan also quickly deconstructs the net revenue retention components based on Brian's churn and expansion figures.16:40–18:36 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Leveraging Low-Interest SBA Debt for Growth Nathan asks about the specific terms of the SBA loan, noting the personal guarantee requirement and estimating the effective interest rate. Brian explains the strategic use of low-cost debt ahead of potential equity financing.3:35–6:45 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Bootstrapping the MVP and Winning the First Customer Nathan inquires about the MVP timeline and SEO acquisition channels. Brian explains his sweat-equity bootstrapping approach and how targeting educational topics rather than high-competition money keywords drove inbound leads.6:45–9:52 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Historical Revenue Milestones and 2020 Sales Stack Overhaul Nathan validates the revenue figures by multiplying customer count by average monthly pricing on the fly. Brian shares their revenue trajectory from early MRR to scaling up to over 2 million in ARR through sales stack improvements.9:52–13:16 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Team Breakdown and Account Executive Quotas Nathan drills into the unit economics of Limble's sales reps, asking about quota-to-OTE ratios and commission tiers. Brian explains why customer success reps are kept off hard quotas to preserve customer relationships.13:17–16:40 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Bootstrapping Origins, Churn, Retention, and CAC Metrics Nathan presses on the bootstrapping claim by noting that receiving $150k from Brian's father functioned as a seed angel check. Nathan also quickly deconstructs the net revenue retention components based on Brian's churn and expansion figures.16:40–18:36 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Leveraging Low-Interest SBA Debt for Growth Nathan asks about the specific terms of the SBA loan, noting the personal guarantee requirement and estimating the effective interest rate. Brian explains the strategic use of low-cost debt ahead of potential equity financing.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 59.6% · guest 40.4%0:00 · Nathan 59.6% · guest 40.4%3:00 · Nathan 17.7% · guest 82.3%3:00 · Nathan 17.7% · guest 82.3%6:00 · Nathan 17.4% · guest 82.6%6:00 · Nathan 17.4% · guest 82.6%9:00 · Nathan 16.6% · guest 83.4%9:00 · Nathan 16.6% · guest 83.4%12:00 · Nathan 20.9% · guest 79.1%12:00 · Nathan 20.9% · guest 79.1%15:00 · Nathan 10.7% · guest 89.3%15:00 · Nathan 10.7% · guest 89.3%18:00 · Nathan 39.7% · guest 60.3%18:00 · Nathan 39.7% · guest 60.3%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:18 Brian reframes family financial support

Brian gently pushes back against Nathan categorizing the funds from his father as a formal angel round, clarifying that it was informal, incremental support as opportunities arose.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 14:09 Nathan challenges the pure bootstrapped narrative

Nathan directly challenges Brian's claim of being completely bootstrapped after Brian admits his father injected $150k into the business.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:13 Brian breaks down niche content SEO vs money keywords

Brian educates the host on how Limble bypassed hyper-competitive core keywords by dominating specific educational topics like preventative maintenance checklists.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 15:21 Nathan rapidly synthesizes net revenue retention math

Nathan immediately translates Brian's raw churn numbers into an exact net revenue retention breakdown of 8% dollar churn and 19% expansion to equal 111% NRR.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Bootstrapping the MVP and Winning the First Customer 5512 Nathan inquires about the MVP timeline and SEO acquisition channels. Brian explains his sweat-equity bootstrapping approach and how targeting educational topics rather than high-competition money keywords drove inbound leads.
Historical Revenue Milestones and 2020 Sales Stack Overhaul 6312 Nathan validates the revenue figures by multiplying customer count by average monthly pricing on the fly. Brian shares their revenue trajectory from early MRR to scaling up to over 2 million in ARR through sales stack improvements.
Team Breakdown and Account Executive Quotas 6423 Nathan drills into the unit economics of Limble's sales reps, asking about quota-to-OTE ratios and commission tiers. Brian explains why customer success reps are kept off hard quotas to preserve customer relationships.
Bootstrapping Origins, Churn, Retention, and CAC Metrics 7425 Nathan presses on the bootstrapping claim by noting that receiving $150k from Brian's father functioned as a seed angel check. Nathan also quickly deconstructs the net revenue retention components based on Brian's churn and expansion figures.
Leveraging Low-Interest SBA Debt for Growth 6313 Nathan asks about the specific terms of the SBA loan, noting the personal guarantee requirement and estimating the effective interest rate. Brian explains the strategic use of low-cost debt ahead of potential equity financing.

Statements from this episode (18)

Disclosure
Limble averages $335 monthly per customer, trending toward $500
“So right now it's about 335 per month, although we're recently trending like the last three months, it's closer to 500.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 2:33
Disclosure
Limble abandoned per-asset pricing due to misaligned incentives
“Yeah, we did actually try that with a per asset model way early on, and that, like, worked to get some early adopters, but we found that it just wasn't, it wasn't as good when it came to trying to like, compare against our other competitors, and also raise the…”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 3:07
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble took 2.5 years to land its first $12/month customer
“And so it took about two and a half years to get that first paying customer. They were on the per asset plan. They were a whopping 12 dollars a month.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 4:21
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble serves approximately 470 active customers
“We're up to about 470 right now.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 5:20
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cold outbound outreach generates 30% of Limble's deals
“So through SEO and today we're still getting the majority through that way. About a year and a half ago we started an outbound arm. And so since then we've made it so that about 30% of our deals come from just like cold outreach.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 5:31
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble ended 2017 with roughly $2,800 in MRR
“I think we ended the year at about 2800 MRR in 2017.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 6:55
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble reached $14,225 in MRR at the end of 2018
“2018, we finished at 14,225.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 7:11
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble reached roughly $61,000 in MRR by late 2019
“End of 2019, we were at 61 basically 61,000.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 7:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble generates approximately $160,000 in monthly recurring revenue
“We're doing about 160 grand a month in revenue right now.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 7:39
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble added $210,000 in new ARR in a single month
“Like, last month, we added on about 210 K ARR, and so it's ramping up well.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 7:54
Insight
Christensen: Customer success quotas turn reps into aggressive sales arms
“We're really careful in giving quota to the customer success because we don't want them to just be like an extension of the sales arm. Like our first core value is, you know, we really care about our customers. We call our customers obsessed. And I know a lot …”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 10:45
Disclosure
Limble pays AEs 2x MRR pre-quota and 3x MRR post-quota
“So basically the before quota, you get two X MRR. So if you close, you know, 3000, let's say you're fully ramped, you close 3000, that's a 6000 dollar commission check to you. If you get over quota, it's three X MRR.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 12:01
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Christensen's father invested $150,000 in Limble over 18 months
“Once it started getting some traction and we were starting getting some paying customers, then he did put some cash in and it was about a 150 over probably a year and a half.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 14:04
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble runs at 7.8% annual dollar churn and 111% net retention
“Our dollar churn is 7.8% annual. And then our net negative churn is a 111.28.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 14:53
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble's CAC payback is 9.45 months at a $3,000 CAC
“So our CAC based in months is 9.45 and our fully weighted CAC let's use about four K where we're at right now. So we probably spend about 3000, maybe a little bit over 3000 to get a customer.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 15:35
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Limble spends $15,000 to $20,000 per month on content marketing
“We probably spend close to 15 to 20 K a month now on content.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 15:56
Disclosure
Limble secured a $350,000 SBA loan without equity dilution
“We just got our approval to get about 350 K from a local bank through the SBA. And so that's going to help growth. And then we have another, you know, X number of dollars lined up just on debt. So no equity.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 16:51
Disclosure
Christensen personally guaranteed Limble's SBA loan at prime plus 1.5%
“We did have to personally guarantee, which kind of stinks, but it's, you know, it's really cheap. It's the interest rate is like one and a half plus prime or two and a half plus prime or something like that.”
Brian Christensen Nov 6, 2020 ▶ 18:13
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