Skip to main content

How Castanet Bootstrapped to $60K MRR in Three Stages

6/10/2024
Castanet
Mac Martine
Castanet
castanet.io
New York, United StatesFounded 2021
💰
Monthly Revenue
$60,000
👨‍💼
Founders
Mac Martine
👥
Employees
1
🏢

Business Description

Castanet is a lean, bootstrapped SaaS product that automates LinkedIn outreach and personalized messaging for B2B teams. Built and sold within two years, it achieved $60K MRR on only $3K in expenses.
📝

Executive Summary

When Mac Martine left his job and built Castanet from scratch, he had no outside funding or team. By breaking his journey into three clear phases—landing his first five clients through warm intros, scaling to 50 users via targeted outreach and product refinement, then leveraging affiliates to skyrocket to $60K MRR—he generated life-changing returns on just $3K in expenses. This study unpacks each step so any founder can follow the same roadmap.
📄

Case Study Content

Introduction

Starting a software business with no funding and no team sounds impossible. Yet, in under two years, Mac Martine built and soldCastanet, a LinkedIn outreach automation tool, for seven figures. He did it by focusing only on what mattered—talking to people, rapid iteration, and then getting others to sell the software for him. In this case study, we break down how he moved through three distinct phases to hit $60K in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) with just $3K in expenses.

Stage 1: Landing the First Five Clients

Mac didn’t start with a big advertising budget or fancy cold emails. He tapped into his existing network—friends, ex-colleagues, acquaintances—and set up casual coffee chats. His goal wasn’t to pitch; it was to understand real-world pain points around LinkedIn outreach. Taking detailed notes, he asked each contact who else he should speak to next. Warm introductions rolled in, and in a few weeks he spoke with over 50 people without any cold blasting.

Armed with real feedback, Mac built a minimum viable product (MVP) in four weeks, focused only on the core feature set prospects had asked for. Re-engaging his highest-potential warm leads, he gave personalized demos tailored to each use case. By delivering real, immediate value, he was able to convert those five initial customers and validate his idea.

Stage 2: Scaling to 50 Users

With five customers paying, Mac shifted to optimize product-market fit. He started cold messaging potential users on LinkedIn, but framed his outreach as a request for feedback rather than a sales pitch. He offered free demos in exchange for honest input. Each demo call became an opportunity to refine messaging, pricing, and onboarding workflows.

He personally onboarded every new client, observing actual usage versus stated needs. This hands-on approach helped him focus only on features customers would pay for, ignoring vanity metrics. By the time he hit 50 customers, Castanet was pulling in about $10K MRR and had a documented, repeatable sales process ready for take-off.

Stage 3: Leveraging Affiliates for Exponential Growth

Moving from $10K to $60K MRR required leverage—Mac couldn’t pitch every prospect himself. He built an affiliate and reseller program, creating marketing kits, demo accounts, and discounted tiers for partners. This gave individuals and agencies a financial incentive to promote Castanet to their own networks.

Soon, dozens of partners were closing deals on his behalf. Castanet’s growth became a matter of supporting and managing that partner base instead of doing all the outreach solo. By the time Mac sold the business, affiliate-driven revenue made up 76% of total MRR.

Conclusion

Castanet’s journey from zero to $60K per month shows that you don’t need big funding or a big team to build a profitable SaaS. You need direct customer conversations, laser focus on what users will pay for, and creative distribution through affiliates. By following the three-stage framework—first customers, optimizing fit, and then building leverage—you can replicate this success in your own venture.

💡

Key Takeaways

  • 1Start with warm introductions in your personal network to uncover real customer pain points before building anything.
  • 2Rapidly build an MVP that addresses only the highest-priority features identified in early customer calls.
  • 3Frame cold outreach as a request for feedback rather than a sales pitch to warm up prospects effectively.
  • 4Onboard each new customer personally to observe their behavior and refine the product and pricing.
  • 5Set up an affiliate or reseller program to multiply your sales capacity without hiring full-time sales staff.
  • 6Track only what customers pay for—ignore vanity metrics until you have solid product-market fit.
📊

Key Facts

Incremental MRR Growth
6X
Affiliate Sales Contribution
76%
Startup Costs
$3K
🛠️

Tools & Technologies Used

🔒

Premium Content Locked

Subscribe to access the tools and technologies used in this case study.

Subscribe Now
🚀

How to Replicate This Success

🔒

Premium Content Locked

Subscribe to access the step-by-step replication guide for this case study.

Subscribe Now
Share:
✍️

About the Author

Founders Hut Logo

Founders Hut

Founders Hut is a leading online platform dedicated to sharing thousands of in-depth business case studies from successful companies around the globe. Since its launch, Founders Hut has empowered entrepreneurs, marketers, and corporate innovators with actionable insights drawn from real-world successes and failures.

Interested in Being Featured?

Share your success story with our community of entrepreneurs.

Get Featured
Disclaimer: Some data in these case studies may be inaccurate or out of date. In certain cases, AI-generated content is used.