πͺ How a newsletter was built, promoted and acquired.
The No-Code Exit Story of JR and Insanely Useful Websites
Hello,
Welcome to 57 new subscribers this week. π―ββοΈ Thanks for joining!
This week, I'm resisting the Shiny Object Syndrome with all the power I have. Enough interesting, fun things going on:
I'm helping out at a No-Code MVP Bootcamp, which started on Monday
Iβm finishing my info product to release next week.
I'm writing my 2 newsletters (this one and a Dutch one)
I'm building a job board and will be teaching this to No-Code beginners next week
How is your week? Cool projects coming up? Difficulties with getting started?
(Let me know, I reply to every email)
This week's interview is co-created with my 1,5-year-old daughter (who is home today and think it's hilarious to terrorize my keyboard).
On to the interview, it's with someone I have been following with great admiration the last 6 months. JR has a superpower in creating new projects, grow them to impressive numbers and selling them (this is his 6th exit).
The last project he sold was a newsletter. Did you know newsletters could be sold? I didn't. So now I know that:
NO-CODE EXITS FOR SALE
β¦ Just kidding π I'm enjoying this too much.
But it makes sense that newsletters can be sold.
He grew it to an interesting amount of subscribers with impressive CTR
It generated revenue
And it still has a lot of growth opportunities
Let's learn more about his journey.
Hello JR, tell us a little bit about yourself.
I started my first "project" when I was 16, which was 12 years ago. I remember hiring a dev team in India to build out the MVP. It didn't do well but it got me on the road to entrepreneurship. I've also helped other startups on the side with their growth & sales.
I've always had more ideas than I know what to do with, and struggled to find the time to work on them all. The launch of no-code tools really changed the game for me and allowed me to implement ideas faster and without the need for large teams. I've now had 5 micro-exits in the last 1.5 years, all products built with no-code.
I'm now working on a free weekly newsletter where we feature the most useful websites, products and apps for startup founders and aspiring entrepreneurs. I'm also continuing to work on my micro-startup studio and productized services.
What No-Code product did you build?
The most recent one was a newsletter called Insanely Useful Websites. It's a free weekly newsletter that features the most useful and interesting websites from around the web.
We grew rapidly to just under 5k subscribers and sold 8 months after launching.
Which No-Code tools did you use?
I used Webflow for the website and Revue for the newsletter.
How did you launch and grow your product?
I launched on a number of startup communities and sites like Product Hunt, Beta List, Hacker News and Indie Hackers. This helped me get my first 100 subscribers. Twitter also helped a ton when starting out. There are too many things that worked and I'm actually compiling a list of newsletter growth resources for anyone who might be interested!
Why and how did you sell it?
I listed on a few websites like MicroAcquire and Microns, just out of curiosity. It didn't take long to find a buyer, and we had a contract signed within 24 hours of listing on MicroAcquire. It took around a week after that for the transaction to close.
Can you share some stats from the time you listed it for sale?
The newsletter had just under 5k subscriber, was profitable from day one through sponsorships and had a very strong CTR.
Why did the buyer want to acquire your project?
The newsletter still has a huge growth potential and a very loyal subscriber base.
What kind of advice would you like to share with someone who wants to get started with No-Code?
Just start! Youtube is your best friend. Learn while you do and don't be afraid to make mistakes.
What kind of advice would you like to share with someone who wants to sell their No-Code project?
Get some traction/revenue to get a better price for your project. Pre-revenue projects typically see a much lower multiple.
Where can we go to learn more about you and your projects?
Follow me on Twitter
Check out my latest project www.startups.fyi
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions - I love helping other founders!
β€οΈ If you like No-Code Exits and want to support my work
Share No-Code Exits with a friend and invite them to subscribe here.
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See you next week! If you have any questions reply to this email or connect with me on Twitter. π