Reviews.io founder Callum McKeefery explains how his son's rare genetic illness motivated his decision to sell the bootstrapped business.
0:00 / 0:07exact quote · 7.8s
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“Any other time, probably in my career, I probably wouldn't have taken that offer because I really, truly loved what I was doing at reviews.”
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More from Callum McKeefery
AssertionSupported
McKeefery and his wife retained 100% equity in Reviews.io until sale
“100%, yeah. I had this, you know, I, there was a few people in the company who would help me along the way, and they got really big earn outs, but it was only really from me saying, hey, I want to make sure you get a big earn out out of this rather than it bei…”
Callum McKeeferyNov 26, 2025▶ 2:40Bootstrapped to $82M: How Callum Mckeefery Built Reviews.io from His Kitchen Table
Opinion
Reviews.io beat heavily funded VC-backed rivals by staying closer to their customers
“I had some big competitors in reviews like wealth financed, VC backed companies that were backed to like hundreds of millions. And, but they weren't close to their customers. They weren't there listening to them. And I truly believe that we did well against th…”
Callum McKeeferyNov 26, 2025▶ 15:39Bootstrapped to $82M: How Callum Mckeefery Built Reviews.io from His Kitchen Table
Opinion
McKeefery claims acquirer App Hub did not understand Reviews.io's unique business model
“The company that purchased reviews was a, basically a roll up of Shopify apps. But reviews really wasn't the Shopify app. It wasn't that play. We had a much different playbook. And the company, the people who were heading up that company at the time really did…”
Callum McKeeferyNov 26, 2025▶ 18:55Bootstrapped to $82M: How Callum Mckeefery Built Reviews.io from His Kitchen Table
AssertionNot checkable as stated
McKeefery gave multiple employees over $1M discretionary payouts after selling Reviews.io
“I mean, I, some of my team members got over a million dollars earn out of this. You know, some people got way more than that and some people got a little bit less, but I did try and make sure that everyone was brought along from the journey.”
Callum McKeeferyNov 26, 2025▶ 3:33Bootstrapped to $82M: How Callum Mckeefery Built Reviews.io from His Kitchen Table
AssertionPartly supported
Callum McKeefery sold Reviews.io for $82 million in an all-cash deal
“Eight to two million, all cash.”
Callum McKeeferyNov 26, 2025▶ 1:03Bootstrapped to $82M: How Callum Mckeefery Built Reviews.io from His Kitchen Table
AssertionNot publicly verifiable
Reviews.io generated $11M to $12M in ARR at the time of acquisition
“ARR was about 11 to 12 mil at the time. Pure, nice. ARR, really clean stuff. All through strike. Yeah, about 12, I'd say about 12 and a bit change.”
Callum McKeeferyNov 26, 2025▶ 2:03Bootstrapped to $82M: How Callum Mckeefery Built Reviews.io from His Kitchen Table
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