He started Groupon for SMBs, grew to $36M ARR—then exited for $170M. | Saurav Chopra, Founder of Perkbox

A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

Saurav started a Groupon-like offering for SMBs in 2011. He quickly learned it wasn't going to work. He and his team pivoted and started driving leads to suppliers using Facebook ads. It worked and they generated revenue—but they were becoming a digital advertising agency. It wasn't at all what they wanted to build.

So they pivoted again. They used the cash from that business and built Perkbox. The idea was a subscription-based offering that that gave perks to SMB customers. Telcos started buying it and attaching it to their products to drive sales. Then, they pivoted again, this time moving away from customer perks and to employee perks.

This time, it worked. They grew from $2M in ARR to $14M in just 2 years. They kept growing and hit $36M in ARR. Then he sold the business to PE for $170M.

It took longer than expected. There were more pivots than expected. But it was a huge success.

Here's how it happened.

Why you should listen:

• How to use new social media channels to drive growth.
• How to leverage partnerships to get end user adoption.
• Why having a profitable agency can be a great way to get started.
• Why capital efficiency can be a huge edge.
• Rebranding can help clarify market positioning.
• What it feels like to make $10s of millions in one day.

Keywords
PerkBox, Groupon, startup journey, business model, SMB market, marketing strategies, recurring revenue, partnerships, entrepreneurship, exit strategy, venture capital, entrepreneurship, startups, employee benefits, social media marketing, capital efficiency, business growth, acquisition, rebranding, emotional marketing, lessons learned

Timestamps
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:48) The origin of Perkbox
(00:04:52) Going after SMBs
(00:12:16) The Pivot
(00:26:35) Creating Viral Ads
(00:32:28) Demo to Close Rate
(00:40:12) Selling to PE Firms
(00:49:38) A Piece of Advice
Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Chapters

1. He started Groupon for SMBs, grew to $36M ARR—then exited for $170M. | Saurav Chopra, Founder of Perkbox (00:00:00)

2. The origin of Perkbox (00:01:48)

3. Going after SMBs (00:04:52)

4. The Pivot (00:12:16)

5. Creating Viral Ads (00:26:35)

6. Demo to Close Rate (00:32:28)

7. Selling to PE Firms (00:40:12)

8. A Piece of Advice (00:49:38)