15 year of AppSumo

This email is an excerpt from my podcast. Listen to it here (Spotify & iTunes):

Fifteen years ago, I started AppSumo with $50 and a dream to never get a real job.

I just wanted to make $3,000/month and work from anywhere.

Since then, we’ve promoted thousands of tools, built a profitable company, helped creators get rich, and made every mistake in the book (and still making a few).

Here are the 9 biggest lessons I’ve learned in 15 years of building AppSumo.

1. You will lose your way. Have a compass.

We’ve tried a lot of things over the years: A Shopify app, physical goods marketplace, even Tinder-for-email (yep, really).

Most didn’t work. What did work?

Our original premise: Great product. Great Price. Great Promotion.

We turned that into a doc called the MoM (Master Operating Manual). These are Operating Principles that should never change and make it black & white to all teammates the guardrails for our business.

The best companies do the same.

• Amazon: customer obsession
• Berkshire: buy and hold great businesses
• Meta: connect everyone

Most of the time, you don’t need a new idea – just a reminder to stick with the one that works.

A few examples of our Master Operating Manual (aka MoM)

2. Your market matters

Your market’s future size is the most important thing in business success.

When I started AppSumo, there were maybe 10 decent software tools on the market.

Now? There are millions.

Sure, we worked hard and have a great business model, but the market was the most important. Pick a market that’s growing (ideally smaller since it’s more likely to be ignored by most).

Growth of the U.S. Software Tools Market (2005–2015)

3. Scorecards and accountability

Many businesses fail because they don’t have clear outcomes or clear owners.

At AppSumo, every team has a scorecard:

1. What’s the target?
2. Are we on track?
3. What’s being done to hit it?

Example of recent scorecard for the amazing David Kelly who runs our AppSumo Originals Group. 

One of the tools we’re building is CustomerFinder.ai – the best tool to help businesses find customers. So far it’s been a rough roll out but still very optimistic, check it out.

4. The leader keeps the highest standard

We once hired a Vice President with an impressive resume. But he kept showing up late to meetings. Then he started gossiping behind people’s backs instead of giving feedback directly. We fired him the same day.

At AppSumo, we show up on time. We give feedback directly. We don’t play politics.

Keep the bar high and help people rise to your level. Be the example.

A core value in our internal culture handbook

5. Get an assistant

Hiring a U.S.-based assistant (shoutout Trusty Oak) is one of the highest-leverage moves.

A great assistant saves you the most valuable resource: your time.

Last year I went assistant-free. It was fine. I survived. BUT recently I hired Jacy from the above firm (no affiliation or sponsorship) and she reminded me of how much a game changer it is.

Helping find lost gifts for my wife (yay husband of the year), scheduling complex activities, getting money back from people, reservations and more… It’s truly priceless.

6. The bigger you grow the bigger the stress

When AppSumo started growing fast, I’d come down from my office, tired, stressed and just overall irritated. My wife (who was pregnant at the time) told me to save some energy left for the family. She was right.

More growth means more people, more responsibility, and more pressure on you.

The billionaire founder of Kinko’s told me he was stressed for 34 years until the day they sold.

So if it feels heavy, it doesn’t mean you’re failing, it means you’re growing. And if you want less stress, you can always keep a smaller, simpler (and happier) biz if that’s what you want.

7. Taste the dish

I told David, who runs our Originals team, to use CustomerFinder.ai to get one new customer for BreezeDoc.com.

At AppSumo, I still buy our deals and use the software we promote.

Too many businesses get disconnected from the customer experience because leadership stops using the product.

You’d be shocked how many founders never actually use what they sell.

Most businesses drift because the people running them never experience them.

Use your own product. Eat at your own restaurant. Go through your own checkout.

8. Starting is easy. Sticking with it is the hard part.

It’s never been easier to start a business (Especially with AI). But that’s not the hard part.

The hard part is showing up when it’s NOT exciting. When growth slows. When it’s boring.

We’ve been doing AppSumo for 15 years. Some years were rocket ships. Others felt like pushing a boulder uphill.

Not everything needs to 10x. Sometimes 2% growth and staying in the game is the real win.

Here’s our revenue growth over the last 2 decades

9. Build your life, not just your business

Too many people build a business they hate… just to impress people they don’t even like.

If your business already gives you the freedom to live your dream life, don’t miss it while chasing more.

Lately, my days are more focused on being a present father, attentive husband (I try!) and then supporting the hungry next-generation leadership of AppSumo. 

Whatever your version of success is, build toward that.

——

AppSumo changed my life – and I’m damn proud of what we’ve built.

Here’s to the next 15 years of making, learning, and staying weird. Read More