Scaling Without Paid Acquisition

Ankur Nagpal shares his experience growing Teachable primarily through organic channels, reaching $1.5M monthly revenue with 80% from recurring revenue, despite struggling with paid acquisition. He emphasizes that sustainable growth can come from repeatedly doing "unsustainable" things that work.

Key Points:

• Growth Without Paid Acquisition:

  • Paid ads consistently resulted in high CAC (~$5,000 per customer)
  • Company views inability to use paid acquisition effectively as a weakness
  • Current LTV is ~$900-1000, making paid acquisition unprofitable

• Successful Growth Strategies:

  • Free Plan Conversion:
    • Currently converts 5% of free users to paid
    • Continuously improving conversion rates year over year
  • Partner Promotions:
    • Effective initially but effectiveness decreased over time
    • Required constant monitoring and adjustment
  • Organic Loop:
    • "Powered by Teachable" branding on customer websites
    • Natural referral system through existing customers

• Growth Philosophy:

  • "Sustainably doing unsustainable things" can create sustainable growth
  • Local optimization month-by-month builds long-term success
  • Growth momentum creates positive side effects:
    • Improved company morale
    • Easier fundraising
    • Brand growth
    • Operational issues overlooked during rapid growth (30-40% monthly)

• Strategic Planning:

  • Work backwards from revenue targets
  • Monthly monitoring of assumptions vs. reality
  • Willing to kill unsuccessful initiatives (e.g., enterprise plan)
  • Now planning full year in advance due to company size

• Future Focus:

  • Need to learn paid acquisition for continued doubling year over year
  • Organic growth becoming more critical at larger scale
  • Emphasis on reverse engineering growth rather than leaving it to chance