My first 3 years as a solopreneur

This week marked 3 years as a solopreneur at Genesys

It's been a rollercoaster, but I'm loving it ↓↓↓

THE BACKSTORY

May 2022

- Got fired from OnDeck (ODF) after only 4 months (layoffs season)

- Lost 80% of my net worth in the crypto bubble burst (lol)

- Almost break up with my now fiancé

Everything happened in one, intense week BUT:

- I knew I didn't want to get another FTE

- Had done 1-2 consulting gigs before

- Had enough experience to try my luck

So I refreshed my LinkedIn, and put myself out there.

(While started doing couple therapy lol)

Things took a rapid twist:

- Found my first client from the ODF portal (ironic)

- Then another one came from a uni friend

- All of a sudden, I was floating

And so it began.

Y1 strategy

• Positioning: generalist marketer

• Target: any tech startup

• Channels: personal network

• Model: retainer by hours

• Goal: keep floating

EOY '22 (7 mos in):

- Clients: ~3/mo (started writing HyperGrowth Partners NL)

- Days worked: ~14/mo

- Revenue: 110% of my prev. job salary

Things to work on:

→ Get to "at capacity"

→ Get better, more known clients (++ social proof)

→ Work with clients who value quality work

Y2 strategy

• Positioning: generalist, B2B SaaS only

• Target: seed to Series As

• Channels: personal network

• Model: retainer by deliverables

• Goal: go upmarket (Series A)

EOY '23 (per quarter):

- Clients: ~5/m (landed first Series A SpotDraft!)

- Days worked: ~17/mo

- Revenue: 178% YoY

Things to work on:

→ Niche down positioning/target

→ Keep at it with content, start posting on LinkedIn

→ Let go of non-fit clients

Y3 strategy

• Positioning: B2B SaaS product/content marketer

• Target: Series A-B (some seed)

• Channels: personal network, LinkedIn

• Model: retainer by deliverables

• Goal: go upmarket, grow brand/content

EOY '24 (per quarter):

- Clients: ~6/mo (Owner.com, Ahrefs, Toast, AirOps, Ethena, Common Room)

- Days worked: ~18/mo

- Revenue: 134% YoY

Things to work on:

→ Automate, streamline, and productize

→ Consistency with content/social proof

→ Say 'no' more (hardest part)

→ More strategic collabs, content, partnerships (eg. GTM Engineer School)

WHAT KEEPS ME GOING?

I don't need/want to:

- "dominate the market"

- get to $$XXM ARR

- be the best at X

What I care about is:

→ Financial freedom: maintain or improve my lifestyle

→ Location freedom: work from where I want

→ Time freedom: retain leverage on my calendar, choose who to work with

→ Fulfilment: do something I enjoy, keep learning, and feel alive

→ Optionality: own my choices, and be able to change them

→ Equity: build my own, not someone else's

Without this set up, it'd have been much harder to:

- Take ~40 days off p/y

- Work from Tokyo or Rome 1-2 months p/y

- Quality time with my 101 yo grandpa

- Spend her bdays with my Mom

- Celebrate my old man's retirement in Patagonia

This post is to say: I'm damn grateful!

⤷ And if I made it this far, you can do it too!