From 0 To Acquired In 3yrs @ $38.5-Million, Here Are 7 Key Marketing Lessons

I took a client from nearly 0 users to acquired in 3-years for $38.5-million. Acquisition announced this week. Here are 7 key takeaways I’d like to share with you that you can apply to your business. There's a short version and long version:

The TLDR:

• Niche down to grow up
• Turn weakness into strengths
• Find affiliates, channel partners, people to help promote your business - pay them well
• PR works when done right
• Keep doing content - it takes a while, but it’s powerful
• Approach ads with an experimental mindset
• Hugely important: CCC - Cashflow Conversion Cycle. Growth sucks cash. It’s not all about ROI, it’s about velocity of cash. Miss this, and you’ll fail.

OK, here's the long version.

In 2018 the crypto space was still relatively small but buzzing with potential. I had connected with a small group of 6 people who were running a crypto trading platform. They had less than 1900 users signed up and had already been operational for 2 years. But they wanted to grow larger. A LOT larger.

They didn’t have a CMO, and they didn’t have much money to spend. I liked the team, and had always wanted to own a crypto exchange, so we negotiated an offer that worked out for everyone.

I’d help them as an advisor, then fractional CMO, and my agency would take care of the marketing. My advisory would be partially compensated for in shares.

Over the course of 3-short years, I put them on a growth plan that resulted in over 110x growth (over 220,000 users) and helped them carve out a spot in the competitive crypto exchange landscape. They were just acquired for $38.5-million this week week by Kevin O’Leary’s (Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank) team.

Here are some key lessons I'd like to share with anyone looking for that hyper-growth.

NICHE DOWN TO GROW UP

“The riches are in the niches” is a popular saying that rings true. When everyone was competing on selection of coins, speed, and ease of access, I suggested we niche down on something different. Safety would be our focus, not selection or speed. Heck, they didn't have the coins OR the speed. It worked. It attracted a different type of audience, and growth shot through the roof. When you own a unique piece of the consumer's mind “Ah, this is the safe platform…” it does wonders. How can you carve out a unique niche in your own industry?

TURN WEAKNESS INTO STRENGTH

Yes, the platform was slower than every other platform out there. Moving money in and out of the platform was painful. This was actually a sticking point for many who were interested in quick trades, and fast access to crypto. So I pushed the co-founders to embrace the idea of turning their weaknesses into strengths. I knew the slow speed was because they implemented more security features, and because they were far more conservative and safe about trades and who could access the platform. So I created a new brand position “Canada’s most trusted, safe, and secure platform to buy Bitcoin”. A weakness was turned into a strength. Three years later, they’ve been used by municipal governments, and they’re still known as the “safe and secure” platform in the space. Customers who are worried about the crytpo space, look at them as the leaders. Customers looking for speed go elsewhere. Turn your weaknesses into strengths.

FIND AFFILIATES, CHANNEL PARTNERS, AND PEOPLE TO PROMOTE FOR YOU. PAY THEM WELL.

Part of my strategy was to help drive growth for the platform in a pay-for-performance manner. With years of experience in a “Wolf Of Wall St.” type of sales environment, I understood that marketing and sales are the lifeblood of a business, and that sales people will go to the ends of the Earth for you... if they’re paid well. I put an affiliate program in place, and made it the highest paying in the industry…by a lot. Blogs, influencers, and people signed up and promoted the platform above others. Don’t cheap out on payment. Pay your sales team (whoever they may be) well - and it’ll return in spades. The affiliate program has fluctuated between the #2 and #4 highest growth channel for them over the years.

PR WORKS… WHEN DONE RIGHT.

PR takes time. PR takes effort. But PR works… when done right. Our agency pitched the media with various stories about safety and security that ended up putting the company in a great position in the media spotlight. Punching far above their weight, that positioning established credibility, trust, and helped support other marketing efforts with our niche messaging. PR works… when done right.

KEEP UP WITH THE CONTENT. IT TAKES A WHILE, BUT IT’S EXTREMELY POWERFUL.

Yes, content takes effort. Yes, it costs money. And no, you will not see the results of this in a month or two. Good content takes a while, but is an extremely powerful marketing tool. Our content team published educational and insightful content on a regular basis, which didn’t result in much over the first few months. Yikes! Fast-forward a year later, and it was the top 3 marketing channel that brought in thousands of users per month. Keep up with the content. It takes a while, but is extremely powerful.

APPROACH ADS WITH AN EXPERIMENTAL MINDSET.

Finding your groove with paid media requires an experimentation mindset. Many executives either have the mindset of “just turn it on and find ROAS (return on ad spend)” or they feel like they’ve been burnt by platforms, agencies, and paid media before “ah we tried ads and it just doesn’t work for our business”. You need to have an experimental mindset. When I suggested running paid media campaigns I was met with “nah, we were paying $15k/mo in fees and it just didn’t work for us…” type of resistance. I suggested we start small, scale up, and approach it with an experimental mindset. It took a few months to find their groove, but when we did, it was the #1 traction channel for many sprints of growth.

CCC - CASHFLOW CONVERSION CYCLE. GROWTH SUCKS CASH. IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT ROI. IT’S ABOUT VELOCITY OF CASH. MISS THIS AND YOU’LL FAIL.

Bold statement I know. In a growth phase you’ve got to remember that growth sucks cash. Experiments require money. Ads require money. New hires will be hit and miss. Things take time to get up to speed. You’ll need to focus on CCC (Cashflow Conversion Cycle), not just profit.

In other words: when you spend $1 to acquire a customer (by whatever means), how long does it take for you to get that $1 back? This is your CCC.

This time-frame will affect your burn rate. This will affect how fast you can grow. This will affect what experiments you can run, and how hard you can push forward.

But what about ROI (Return on Investment)? ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)? And other profitability metrics?

Yes, they’re important, but cash is king. I’m assuming you’re not losing money to acquire a customer here (that is a topic for another post). But think of it this way: you can have a 100x ROI… but if it takes you 10-years to hit breakeven (the amount you spent to acquire that customer coming back to you), and that profitability is over the course of 20-years then your business is likely dead in the water (or you’ll need to have a TON of funding). Or, now that I think about it, you’re likely in the mortgage business... again, a different topic altogether.

Instead, think about your CCC, and try to reduce it to a point where you can experiment better, faster, and harder. Can you get your CCC to <90-days?

This will drive your growth.

When I did this with the co-founders, the business changed. The experiments changed. And we found a way to increase the velocity of cash (CCC) to speed up growth. Profitability came later.

TO SUM IT UP

Growing a business is hard. You’ve got a lot to focus on. Getting there faster often requires cutting things out and focusing in on a few key things that work really really well.

Here are the 7 that could help you 100x your growth, and get acquired (if that’s what you’re after).

• Niche down to grow up
• Turn Weakness Into Strength
• Find affiliates, channel partners, people to help promote your business - pay them well
• PR works when done right
• Keep doing content - it takes a while, but it’s powerful
• Approach ads with an experimental mindset
• Hugely important: CCC - Cashflow Conversion Cycle. Growth sucks cash. It’s not all about ROI, it’s about velocity of cash. Miss this, and you’ll fail.

Good luck!

A bit about me: I help blockchain and web 3.0 companies with marketing and growth. My agency focuses on content marketing, PR, and paid media for Web 3.0 companies (blockchain, NFT, crypto). I personally advise and do fractional CMO work on strategy & growth. I’ve been in the crypto space for 5 years, and have written an international bestselling book on the subject. You can join my investor newsletter if you're interested. www.decodingdigital.io

Hope that helps give some clarity and/or inspiration? Let me know your thoughts?

Oh, and here's the link to the sale:

https://betakit.com/wonderfi-to-acquire-coinberry-for-38.../