Disclosure certainty 3/5 debate potential 1/5

Missive generated only about $3,000 in revenue during its first year

Phil Liu · How To Bootstrap to $1m with VC Funded Competitors With Just 4 People · May 4, 2021 · at 8:45

Phil Liu is the co-founder of Missive, an email collaboration app. He is discussing the early financial metrics of the bootstrapped company with host Nathan Latka.

0:00 / 0:07exact quote · 7.8s
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“First year of missive was like, ah, I don't know, not a lot of money. Like, I think like three K for the whole year.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

More from Phil Liu

Disclosure
Phil Liu: Missive ignores data and builds based on customer feeling
“We don't look at data. Actually, that's the simple strangest answer. I can like honest answer. It's like, we don't really look at data. It's just the feeling of our customer.”
Phil Liu May 4, 2021 ▶ 15:26 How To Bootstrap to $1m with VC Funded Competitors With Just 4 People
Insight
Universal product churn is healthy if non-target users are the ones leaving
“When you're a company like us, the product is email. Everyone can use email. So there's a lot of people trying the product. And some of those will churn, and that's a good thing, right? Because we cannot be a solution for everyone. So if I only look at churn, …”
Phil Liu May 4, 2021 ▶ 15:36 How To Bootstrap to $1m with VC Funded Competitors With Just 4 People
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Missive rejected three acquisition approaches by tech unicorns
“We had we were approached three times. And buy big let's say unicorns and more.”
Phil Liu May 4, 2021 ▶ 18:46 How To Bootstrap to $1m with VC Funded Competitors With Just 4 People
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Missive rejected an all-equity acquisition offer from a $30M company
“It was equity and an equity. I don't know if it means much, but it was thirty millions in, in valuation from that business, but you had to believe that the equity.”
Phil Liu May 4, 2021 ▶ 19:27 How To Bootstrap to $1m with VC Funded Competitors With Just 4 People
Disclosure
Word of mouth sustains Missive's growth with just a four-person team
“The rest is just like it's such a big space that even if it's just word of mouth and we're just a small team that it's really working out actually, because with the word of mouth, it's sustained our growth and we're just four guys and it makes good sense.”
Phil Liu May 4, 2021 ▶ 14:16 How To Bootstrap to $1m with VC Funded Competitors With Just 4 People
Disclosure
Phil Liu doubts Missive would accept a $10M all-cash acquisition offer
“I don't think so.”
Phil Liu May 4, 2021 ▶ 19:47 How To Bootstrap to $1m with VC Funded Competitors With Just 4 People
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