Tom Jacquesson. Selling Taplio & Tweet Hunter to lemlist

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love brought to you by https://saas.group/.

I’m your host Anna Nadeina, Head of Growth for saas.group. In this episode #4, we are talking with Tom Jacquesson the co-founder of both Taplio (https://taplio.com/) and Tweet Hunter (https://tweethunter.io/), tools that help founders build their personal brand on LinkedIn and Twitter, respectfully. Tom talks about the recent acquisition of both businesses by @lemlist (https://www.lemlist.com/), selling a product before there’s a working solution, working with a fully remote team, and finding the perfect acquirer to scale further.

(0:00:02) – Building a Startup and Personal Brand

We chat with Tom, who founded both Taplio and Tweet Hunter. His success has been fast, and we discuss his background and why he was drawn back to the startup world after his first failure. We also explore how he and his co-founder decided to come together again and why they chose to work on personal brand building. Tom reveals that they launched multiple products to find the one that fit their target audience, which turned out to be Tweet Hunter.

(0:12:28) – Bootstrapping a Startup to Success 

Tom and his team launched their product on Product Hunt and Reddit, grew their followers on Twitter, and partnered with an influencer to reach their goal of 10K MRR. They experimented with small projects to build their presence online and their mindset changed as their business grew from 5K to 25K MRR in a short period of time. They prepared for potential buyers and the importance of having a business background when running a startup was highlighted.

(0:23:51) – SaaS Business Metrics and Acquisition Process 

We explore the differences between bootstrapped and VC-funded businesses and the importance of MRR for bootstrapped businesses. We also discuss the biggest wins and failures up until acquisition, and why it’s important for founders to take risks. Finally, we touch on why Tom and his team decided to exit and how they found their acquirer.

(0:33:06) – SaaS Branding and Acquisitions 

We explore the details of Tom’s acquisition of Taplio and Tweet Hunter and the incentivization of the earn-out structure. We discuss the potential for bridges between the two solutions, the exit structure of the acquisition, and how it may change Tom’s personal journey as a founder. We also examine the importance of relationships in personal branding and marketing as well as the need for early shipping and engagement.