Episode 717 | Bootstrapping to $1.3M ARR and 300,000 Free Users

In episode 717, Rob Walling interviews Marie Martin, co-founder of Tally. They discuss the company’s journey to $1.3M ARR and the unusual pricing strategy that got them there. Marie details how they keep their support volume low, how they differentiate Tally from other form builders, and how they grew to over 300,000 free users.
Episode Sponsor:
We have been partnering with [Lemon.io](www.lemon.io/s...) for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project.
Here are five reasons why you should consider working with [Lemon.io](www.lemon.io/s....
- The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours.
- Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.
- They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience.
- Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages & frameworks.
- Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee.
Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results.
Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with [Lemon.io](www.lemon.io/s....
As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s [lemon.io/startups](www.lemon.io/s...)
Topics we cover:
- 2:22 - Where Tally is today
- 3:53 - Keeping customer support volume low
- 7:12 - Differentiating Tally from other form builders
- 10:55 - The ingredients needed to make “free” work
- 18:31 - ”Shrinking a Market”
- 24:27 - Growing to 300,000+ free users
- 26:47 - Dealing with bad actors
- 29:37 - Applying the learnings from Tally’s success
Links from the Show:
- [Tickets for MicroConf Europe | Oct 6 - 8, 2024, Dubrovnik, Croatia](microconf.com/...)
- [Apply for MicroConf Masterminds before June 12th 2024](microconf.com/...)
- [Marie Martens (@MarieMartens) | X](x.com/MarieMar...)
- [Tally](tally.so/)
- [No-Code France](nocode-france.fr/)
- [TinySeed](tinyseed.com/)
If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please [submit your question](www.startupsfo...) for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!
Subscribe & Review: [iTunes](podcasts.apple...) | [Spotify](open.spotify.c...) | [Google](podcasts.googl...)