- 1M ARR in 2020
- 10M ARR in 2021
- 20M ARR in 2023
- 27M ARR in 2024
- 50 Full-Time Employees
- 80k+ Paying Customers
FloDesk Revenue is $27 Million as of 2024
Flodesk’s growth trajectory is nothing short of remarkable. Fully launching in 2019, the company quickly gained momentum. By 2020, just six months after their official launch, Flodesk had already surpassed $1 million in revenue. This rapid growth continued, and as of 2024, Flodesk’s Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) stands impressively at $27 million.
This achievement is particularly notable given that Flodesk has been entirely bootstrapped, relying on the founders’ initial investment and organic growth strategies rather than external funding. Their ability to scale so rapidly and effectively is a testament to the strength of their product and the founders’ strategic vision.
Early Beginnings and Founders’ Journey
Co-founder of FloDesk, Rebecca Shostak, initially designed for other brands and started a recurring revenue company selling Photoshop templates for photographers. Her journey took a pivotal turn when she began receiving requests for Mailchimp templates. She created and sold them in packages, only to face dissatisfaction due to implementation issues. This experience highlighted a significant gap in the market: the need for beautiful, brand-representative email marketing.
By 2014, Canva’s emergence began to encroach on Rebecca’s business. Around 2017, she met her co-founder, Martha Bitar, who worked at Honeybook, a CRM for small businesses. Martha recognized the same problem: influencers had stunning Instagram profiles and websites, but their emails were unattractive. Combining their insights and access to two different audiences, they identified a niche ready to be served.
The technical expertise came from their third co-founder, Trong Dong, a talented tech professional from Vietnam. With a shared vision and complementary skills, Rebecca, Martha, and Trong invested $90,000 each to bring Flodesk to life. They leveraged Rebecca’s connections with solopreneurs from her previous work, conducting customer interviews and mockups to refine their offering.
Launch and Early Success
Flodesk’s early success was driven by their pre-launch strategies. By August 12, 2019, they had already generated significant interest, thanks in part to a campaign with the Rising Tides Society and word-of-mouth from influencer friends. This organic buzz led to 50 trial sign-ups per hour, and the platform quickly gained traction on social media.
Rebecca and Martha’s deep understanding of their target audience played a crucial role. Offering unlimited subscribers and emails at an attractive price of $19 per month, Flodesk addressed the pain points of small businesses and solopreneurs who needed affordable, beautiful email marketing solutions.
By the time Flodesk officially launched in 2019, they had 50 people signed up even before the website was fully operational. The initial service was manually intensive, with Rebecca designing in Photoshop and plugging it into a system to send emails. However, this hands-on approach helped them validate the market need and refine their product.
Growth and Revenue Milestones
From early customer validation to explosive pre-launch interest, FloDesk quickly scaled their user base. By 2020, just six months after launch, Flodesk had surpassed $1 million in revenue. The momentum continued, reaching $10 million in revenue by 2021. As of 2024, Flodesk’s ARR stands between $20 million and $27 million, showcasing their steady upward trajectory.
Their growth strategy heavily relies on a robust affiliate program, accounting for their primary source of income. The program’s simple yet effective messaging—“give $19, get $19”—resonates well with users. Organic search also plays a role, with Flodesk dominating long-tail keywords that drive traffic to their site.
Paid advertising complements these efforts, with Flodesk investing around $700k per quarter in ads. They work with a PPC agency specializing in their market, ensuring their campaigns reach the right audience. Despite these expenditures, Flodesk maintains profitability by reinvesting wisely and keeping a cash cushion.
Customer-Centric Approach
At the core of Flodesk’s success is their commitment to listening to customers. They engage with their vocal community on Facebook, gathering feedback and continuously improving the platform. This approach has resulted in a low churn rate of just 2% per month. When customers leave, Flodesk conducts exit studies to understand why and addresses those issues promptly.
Rebecca and Martha’s philosophy centers on building an amazing product that genuinely solves customer problems. For them, SaaS is just a monetization strategy; the real success lies in delivering value. This mindset has fostered strong customer loyalty and high retention rates.
One of the standout aspects of Flodesk’s journey is their ability to scale without external funding. The founders’ initial investment, coupled with their strategic focus on organic growth and affiliate marketing, has enabled them to maintain full control over their business. This independence has allowed them to prioritize their customers’ needs without external pressures, further enhancing their reputation and customer satisfaction.
Current Status and Future Outlook
Today, Flodesk boasts 80,000 paying customers, each contributing $19 per month. They operate without a sales team, relying instead on the strength of their product and organic growth strategies. With 20 engineers driving continuous innovation, Flodesk remains at the forefront of the email marketing SaaS space.
Rebecca and Martha are committed to independence, focusing on serving their customers without pursuing acquisitions. Their future plans include further refining their product based on customer feedback and exploring new ways to enhance user experience.
“Being one of our own customers was a big advantage.”
Flodesk’s success is also reflected in its strong operational metrics. Having a low churn rate, high customer satisfaction, and steady revenue growth, the company has established a solid foundation for future expansion. Their focus on user-friendly design, affordable pricing, and continuous innovation positions them well to capture a larger share of the email marketing market.
