StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Melissa Kwan

Co-founder & CEO, eWebinar · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

founderexecutivehostauthor@themelissakwan ↗LinkedIn ↗melissakwan.com ↗

Melissa Kwan is the co-founder and CEO of eWebinar, an automated webinar and asynchronous demo software platform built for scaling sales, onboarding, and training. She is a three-time bootstrapped founder whose previous real estate tech startup, Spacio, was acquired by HomeSpotter in 2019.

12statements → 3claims → 0claims resolved → 3.75/5average certainty → 1.42/5average debate potential → 2said about them ↓

3 not checkable as stated how the 3 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 2 assertions · 2 insights · 7 disclosures · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 3 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 0 are resolved, and 3 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Melissa argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Melissa Kwan on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Melissa Kwan said on Top Founders that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight
Kwan argues CTOs are product partners but CEOs build the business
“While I have no doubt that there are some CTOs out there that can also build a business, but I am a firm believer that a CTO is a great product technology partner, but the business is built by the CEO.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 12:17 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Disclosure
A $250k angel check taught Kwan that only customers should fund her
“I once took money from an investor and it's private investor. He invested about two 50 K and that made me realize the only person who needs to give you money is your customers.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 1:35 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Disclosure
Kwan outsourced eWebinar's entire team because she dislikes managing employees
“So one thing I learned coming into this business is I do not like managing people. So our entire team is outsourced.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 6:43 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Insight
Kwan warns against offshore dev shops without in-house technical leadership
“I do not recommend it. If you do not have a senior dev, senior engineer or a CTO that actually manages the team.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 17:24 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Disclosure
Kwan netted low seven figures from the exit of her previous startup
“My personal exit was like in the low seven figures.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 13:42 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Disclosure
eWebinar operates with a monthly burn rate of approximately $60,000
“It, it's about 60,000 is our burn.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 14:25 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Disclosure
eWebinar recently crossed $500,000 in annual recurring revenue
“So we just crossed five or a K AR.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 14:50 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Kwan predicts eWebinar will reach profitability by the end of 2022
“We're about 20 K right now from that. I think we'll see it this year.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 15:02 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Assertion Not checkable as stated
eWebinar converts 25 percent demo-to-trial and nearly 70 percent trial-to-paid
“Our conversion rate from demo to trial is 25%, and all that converts on its own. And our trial to pay conversion rate is actually close to 70% every single month.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 16:11 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Assertion Not checkable as stated
eWebinar has surpassed 550 paying customers
“I think we just crossed five 50.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 16:29 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Disclosure
Kwan has never raised venture capital across any of her companies
“Well, we have never raised venture capital. I mean, we had some like family and friends.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 1:13 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it
Disclosure
Kwan holds 65 percent equity as CEO, leaving 35 for her CTO
“So the split between us is 35, 65.”
Melissa Kwan Jul 19, 2022 ▶ 13:03 She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it

The other half of the tape: Melissa Kwan's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 2 times in 1 episode on Top Founders. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Tara Teppo 2

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
0011212024episodesmentions
0112024episodes it came up in
0010.5212024episodesmentions per episode
2024 2 mentions in 1 episode

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
She's a 1 person bootstrapped founder with $500k in ARR, here's how she did it Jul 19, 2022 11m
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more