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Jordan Welch already ran profitable dropshipping stores when he spotted a gap: beginners struggled with product research and store setup. In 2018 he built a crude MVP in ClickFunnels, tested demand and raised $30K in pre-launch revenue—only to have his partner vanish with the funds. Undeterred, Jordan invested his own e-commerce profits and hired a Russian dev team to build version one of Viral Vault in mid-2019. After a disappointing launch with just 30 subscribers, he pivoted repeatedly, burned through $300K in development and ads, then reignited growth by publishing weekly YouTube tutorials. Within 18 months he pushed recurring revenue to $50K/month, total monthly sales to $90K and hit a valuation near $3M.
Jordan tapped his 20K-strong YouTube audience and e-commerce forums to ask “What’s your biggest Shopify struggle?” Product selection topped the list. He mapped out an all-in-one toolkit that combined winning-product ideas, ad creatives, step-by-step training and peer support.
Using ClickFunnels he launched a bare-bones engine that scraped product data daily. It looked messy but cost next to nothing. A first promo drove 100 signups in days, validating demand. Over six months, iterative funnels generated $30K, but his partner absconded—forcing Jordan to reboot funding from his Shopify profits.
Jordan hired a remote development team and spent $10K–$30K monthly over six months building a polished SaaS app. He paused all other ventures to stay focused, reaching a hard-coded launch in July 2019. Expectations were high—only 30 customers joined, leaving him $100K down and battling stress.
After wasted ad budgets and a failed high-ticket pivot, Jordan doubled down on organic reach. He documented his renewed e-commerce journey on YouTube—posting weekly, sharing case studies and subtle product demos. Subscribers exploded from 29K to 200K in ten months. Viral Vault subscriptions surged, pushing MRR to $50K and total revenue to $90K per month, with $10K in ongoing costs.
Today Viral Vault is valued at $2.5–3M and has helped thousands of store owners launch. Jordan’s key takeaway: build your audience first, offer free tactics, then let your platform solve a specific pain point. He recommends using YouTube as a free, transparent pipeline to your ideal customers.
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