Dennis Kelly started Postalytics, a direct marketing platform that integrates with HubSpot back in 2018.
12 months later they hit $135k MRR from 400 customers. Bootstrapped.
How?
This posts explains…
HubSpot is a monster:
They have 60,500 customers.
These customers trust HubSpot and have more cash to spend on other technology that could help build their business.
HubSpot will obviously want a cut of any revenue their customers to invest in other products, so are just kicking off a Partner Program, of which Postalytics is one of the first.
How?
They built the integration with HubSpot and then developed the relationship in person, in Boston, where HubSpot is located.
They then worked closely with HubSpot to get listed in their integrations marketplace:
HubSpot facilitates the introduction and Postalytics do the rest…
Paying a % of the revenue out to HubSpot.
This is not a new strategy… people have built large SaaS businesses by piggybacking off Shopify/Salesforce/Apple/Google/Facebook’s growth through their integrations.
Postalytics rapid growth is a result of their timing… HubSpot’s partner program is in its early stages, so competition and presumably commissions are the lowest they will ever be.
Social proof in the form of reviews and case studies is built up in these early stages, acting as a competitive advantage when more players come into space.
What did we learn?
1. Consider a tight integration with a business that has many customers and is launching a partner program
2. Get friendly with them
3. See if they will refer you into customers in exchange for a cut of the revenue