Zero to $10M · free, every Thursday
One useful lesson a week for founder-led operators.
What I learned the expensive way bootstrapping Groove to $5M, and what’s working now as we build Helply with a small team and AI. Written by me, for founders who want to do more with less.
Alex TurnbullFounder of Helply (previously Groove)
You’re in. Your first lesson lands Thursday. While you wait, reply to the welcome email and tell me what you’re building. I read every one.
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What’s in each issue
Every issue is one lesson, the proof from our own company, and what to do about it in yours.
One idea you can use this week.
What happened when we tried it at Helply, with the real numbers.
The template, prompt or check to run in your own company.
The parts that didn’t work, because those teach the most.
Start with issue 1
The first issue goes out Thursday, November 12. Every issue stays up here after it sends.
Why I Stopped Selling a Profitable $5M SaaS
For about a year I knew it was stuck, and I kept pretending it wasn’t.
Read the issueComing next
I Spent $150K Pitching a Product That Didn’t Exist
And I’m still not sure it was worth it.
Why I Killed a Product at $1M ARR
Helply v1 got there in seven months. Here’s why I shut it down anyway.
Why I Changed a 14-Year-Old Brand
Going from GrooveHQ to Helply without losing the customers who got us here.
How LinkedIn Got Us 75 Customers
The exact system behind them, and the plan to book 5 demos a week with it now.
Who’s writing
I’m Alex Turnbull. I sold my first company for $15M, then started Groove in my parents’ basement and bootstrapped it to $5M ARR with no funding and no paid acquisition. In 2013 I started the Journey to $100K blog, sharing every number as we grew. That’s where this list started.
Now I’m building Helply (previously Groove) with a small team and AI, and writing about it the same way.
Alex
- First exit
- $15M
- Groove, bootstrapped
- $5M ARR
- Writing in public since
- 2013
Every Thursday, one thing you can use.
You’re in. Your first lesson lands Thursday. While you wait, reply to the welcome email and tell me what you’re building. I read every one.
Want the full plays, the agents behind them and a monthly call with me? That’s the Zero to $10M community. Apply for the founding group →