How Wavve Turned a $1K Side Tool into a $1.5M SaaS Exit

Introduction

Wavve’s journey started not with high-flying VC funding but as a quick fix for uTalk’s marketing team. After two years building an audio call-in social app, founders Baird Hall and Nick Fogle realized their simple audio-to-video converter—built in under 50 hours—garnered more buzz than the main platform. That moment sparked a pivot that fueled explosive growth.

From uTalk to Wavve

In 2015, uTalk aimed to become a Reddit-style sports radio network. Despite mobile apps, embeddable players, and partnerships, traction stalled. In 2017, the founders tried boosting social interest by sharing audio clips—only to discover social platforms refused audio. Their makeshift solution converted audio into MP4 videos, and podcasters instantly snapped it up.

Manual MVP and User Feedback

The first nine months, Hall and Fogle processed each customer order manually. Customers paid via Stripe and uploaded assets to an AWS S3 bucket. Using a shared IP address, the founders delivered videos by hand. That hands-on approach taught them exactly what podcasters wanted, guiding the design of a full web-based editor and customization features.

Scaling with Serverless

Once the MVP proved demand, Wavve moved off dedicated servers to a serverless architecture on AWS Lambda. Video render times plummeted from 3–5 minutes to under 30 seconds, driving user satisfaction and freeing the team to focus on new features.

Growth Strategies

Wavve combined three core tactics: targeted cold emails, social media engagement, and product-led growth. By mining Twitter for new podcast launches, extracting emails from RSS feeds, and sending 30–50 personalized emails every couple of days, they locked in early adopters. Feedback loops on Twitter and Instagram fueled feature prioritization. Meanwhile, a watermark on free videos turned every clip into a referral engine.

Expanding the Ecosystem

As churn crept to 9–11%, Wavve added two sister products: Zubtitle for automated captions and Churnkey to let users pause subscriptions during off-seasons. Those additions reduced cancellations and boosted average revenue per user.

Results and Acquisition

Six months after launch, Wavve hit $1K MRR and reached $10K MRR in a year. With consistent 15–20% month-over-month growth, they climbed to $125K MRR and 200,000 users. By 2022, Wavve generated $1.5M ARR and drew a mid-seven-figure acquisition offer from Calm Capital, sealing the exit.

Conclusion

Wavve’s pivot shows the power of listening to users, iterating quickly, and optimizing infrastructure. From manual onboarding to a scalable serverless pipeline, every choice accelerated growth. For aspiring founders, it’s proof that smart pivots and targeted outreach can turn a side tool into a million-dollar SaaS exit.