Michael Cooney

Co-Founder and CMO, WhatConverts · 2 appearances on the record.

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

founderexecutivewhatconverts.com ↗

An electrical engineer by training with a background running digital marketing agencies, Michael Cooney co-founded WhatConverts in 2015. He bootstrapped the lead-tracking and marketing attribution platform to millions in ARR without taking outside venture capital.

32statements → 18claims → 0claims resolved → 3.91/5average certainty → 1.5/5average debate potential →

18 not checkable as stated how the 18 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

2 predictions · 16 assertions · 2 opinions · 6 insights · 5 disclosures · 1 what if · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 18 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 0 are resolved, and 18 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 Michael 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 Michael Cooney on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

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

Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts Converts 70% of Free Trial Users Into Paying Customers
“And in one area that has really helped is of companies that start with us, 70% that start with a free trial, they become customers.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 11:46 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Opinion
Call Tracking Software Is Already Becoming a Commodity
“And I think call tracking is already becoming a commodity.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 9:10 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Opinion
Cooney: Cash profit-sharing is better than stock options that often yield nothing
“I mean, we look at, you know what's the stock shop, stock options or share options and all that, but We just found that as the income comes in and as we're profitable, we wanted to go direct to them. I'm tired of the stories of people that get stock options an…”
Michael Cooney Dec 19, 2020 ▶ 10:14 WhatConverts Hits $2.1m Revenue, $300k Profits in Call Tracking Space
Assertion Not checkable as stated
VC-Backed Call Tracking Competitors Have Raised $1 Billion in Funding
“Call tracking was one of the areas where there's a lot of well-funded companies, and it turns out to be the feature that converts really well for us. So on all these companies, there's a billion dollars in funding.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 3:47 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Disclosure
Cooney: WhatConverts Bootstrapped to Avoid VC Downside Without Traction
“We chose to stay bootstrapped, and the reason for that is, number one, over the years I've heard stories of founders starting companies, getting investments, and if they don't get traction, they're just in for a whole lot of hurt. And we weren't sure if we wou…”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 4:08 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
What-if
Extra VC Funding Cannot Replace 20 Years of Industry Experience
“So as the agency, I'd lived that problem for 20 years, and more funding wasn't going to help me You know, define the problem any better.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 6:32 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Insight
The 'Hundred Year Test' Filters Core Product Value From Feature Noise
“We call it a hundred year test, and it's just a simple framework where it's like, your core value of your product, if you look a hundred years ago, was it true, or was it valuable? If you look a hundred years in the future, do you still see it being valuable?”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 8:43 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Insight
Great Customer Support Operates Like a Standout Product Feature
“So that support has really been a great lever. It's almost as good as having a super product feature.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 11:31 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Insight
Call Tracking Is the Only Lead Type Requiring Third-Party Software
“The reason we use call tracking as a mousetrap is it converts really well. It's the only lead type that requires a third party software to work.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 12:39 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Assertion Not checkable as stated
VC Competitors Drove Call Tracking CPCs From $8 to $120 Within a Year
“The impression share drops to 28%, and this is where we felt the pressure of funding. The competitors decided they want to buy market share, and they just jacked up the cost per click for things like call tracking. So before, it was eight dollars for the top s…”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 20:06 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Insight
Paid Advertising Campaigns Directly Increase 'Direct' Website Traffic
“When you advertise, your direct traffic increases. So we actually attribute a portion of our direct traffic to our marketing channels.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 21:09 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Insight
A Tiny Fraction of Content Drives the Vast Majority of SEO Value
“What ends up happening is a very small percentage of those pages actually generates the most of the value. So if you can find out what pages generate the most value, you can be very effective.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 24:09 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts Took Four Years to Reach First $1 Million in Revenue
“So the first million, it took us four years to get to the first million, because we're still working in the agency, ah, while we were building the product.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 3:19 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts has achieved 60% YoY growth since launch
“So that's allowed us to grow 60% year on year since we started.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 8:01 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts Customers Expand Average Spend 4x to 5x After Signup
“So what we found is people start at 30 dollars a month, but on average they end up spending four to five times a month, with some other customers spending, ah, in many thousands per month.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 15:17 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Disclosure
WhatConverts Turned Down a $15M to $20M Competitor Acquisition Offer
“A competitor came along and made us an offer of seven X. So we were doing 2.1 million ARR at that stage, and they offered us 15 to twenty million.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 16:52 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cooney: WhatConverts Has Reached $3.6 Million in ARR
“We are now, we're actually at 3.6 million now.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 17:33 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Disclosure
WhatConverts Reaches 40,000 Installs Through Agency and Franchise Channels
“We have a fairly small amount of customers, but we're serving 40,000 paid companies, and that's purely from the multiplication effects of going through agencies and franchise companies. So our software is currently installed on 40,000 company websites.”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 18:09 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Insight
16 Distinct Value Props From the Team Revealed Internal Messaging Misalignment
“I did a homework assignment for our team. I said, give me the five top benefits agencies have using what converts. Our team went away. They did it. I collected all the benefits together, and we came out to 16 different benefits. So you'd think that's a good th…”
Michael Cooney Apr 30, 2022 ▶ 25:48 Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+
Disclosure
Cooney: WhatConverts burned zero cash building its MVP
“We, I mean, Jeremy kept consulting so we didn't burn any cash. I kept on running my agency. I had a team. So I've been, I love having a team because it allows you to do more things. So I was able to continue getting an income from the agency while we built Wha…”
Michael Cooney Dec 19, 2020 ▶ 3:24 WhatConverts Hits $2.1m Revenue, $300k Profits in Call Tracking Space
Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts ARPU is $180 to $200 per month
“So we have customers from 30 dollars a month all the way up to several thousand dollars a month. But if you take the average across everyone, it's around one 80 to 200 dollars a month.”
Michael Cooney Dec 19, 2020 ▶ 4:10 WhatConverts Hits $2.1m Revenue, $300k Profits in Call Tracking Space
Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts largest customer contract exceeds $100K ACV
“Yeah north of a hundred grand.”
Michael Cooney Dec 19, 2020 ▶ 5:01 WhatConverts Hits $2.1m Revenue, $300k Profits in Call Tracking Space
Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts has over 1,000 direct paying customers
“So direct customers, you're looking at a little over a thousand.”
Michael Cooney Dec 19, 2020 ▶ 6:04 WhatConverts Hits $2.1m Revenue, $300k Profits in Call Tracking Space
Assertion Not checkable as stated
WhatConverts serves 15,000 end companies across 1,000 direct accounts
“Even though we have a thousand direct paying customers, you know, we serve 15,000 companies.”
Michael Cooney Dec 19, 2020 ▶ 6:38 WhatConverts Hits $2.1m Revenue, $300k Profits in Call Tracking Space

Show 8statements(8 left)

Appearances (2)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
Bootstrapper killing his VC backed rivals who raised $500m+ Apr 30, 2022 19m
WhatConverts Hits $2.1m Revenue, $300k Profits in Call Tracking Space Dec 19, 2020 8m
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.