Laura Roeder

Paperbell launched in 2020.

Paperbell launched in 2020. So five years ago at the time of this recording, we’re fully bootstrapped.

It’s hard to answer because we have one full-time person, everyone’s freelance. So as small as possible, basically as how big’s the team.

Paperbell was fully bootstrapped.

Paperbell launched in 2020. So five years ago at the time of this recording, we’re fully bootstrapped.

It’s hard to answer because we have one full-time person, everyone’s freelance. So as small as possible, basically as how big’s the team.

Paperbell was run by effectively one full-time person plus freelancers.

Paperbell launched in 2020. So five years ago at the time of this recording, we’re fully bootstrapped.

It’s hard to answer because we have one full-time person, everyone’s freelance. So as small as possible, basically as how big’s the team.

Laura Roeder is operating.

we did not end up acquiring practice and it didn’t really end up being a serious conversation and they ended up just shutting down. And I did find out that they weren’t that large, that we were definitely far ahead of them as far as revenue and customers. So yeah, we do seem to be the market leader, which is cool.

Laura Roeder is now the category leader.

we did not end up acquiring practice and it didn’t really end up being a serious conversation and they ended up just shutting down. And I did find out that they weren’t that large, that we were definitely far ahead of them as far as revenue and customers. So yeah, we do seem to be the market leader, which is cool.

Paperbell was far ahead of Practice on revenue and customers.

we did not end up acquiring practice and it didn’t really end up being a serious conversation and they ended up just shutting down. And I did find out that they weren’t that large, that we were definitely far ahead of them as far as revenue and customers. So yeah, we do seem to be the market leader, which is cool.

Laura Roeder's business model is a single-price self-serve subscription.

So that’s just flowing through us. We don’t take any kind of cut on that, which is a benefit to our customers. So yeah, we’re just a true self-serve SaaS business, $57 a month.

$57 / month

$684 $570 / year (2 Mo Free!)

All features included – no upsells or hidden add-ons

Laura Roeder's subscription costs $57 per month.

So that’s just flowing through us. We don’t take any kind of cut on that, which is a benefit to our customers. So yeah, we’re just a true self-serve SaaS business, $57 a month.

$57 / month

$684 $570 / year (2 Mo Free!)

All features included – no upsells or hidden add-ons

Laura Roeder's subscription costs $570 per year, with a list price of $684 (two months free).

So that’s just flowing through us. We don’t take any kind of cut on that, which is a benefit to our customers. So yeah, we’re just a true self-serve SaaS business, $57 a month.

$57 / month

$684 $570 / year (2 Mo Free!)

All features included – no upsells or hidden add-ons

Laura Roeder's subscription includes every feature.

So that’s just flowing through us. We don’t take any kind of cut on that, which is a benefit to our customers. So yeah, we’re just a true self-serve SaaS business, $57 a month.

$57 / month

$684 $570 / year (2 Mo Free!)

All features included – no upsells or hidden add-ons

Laura Roeder's subscription has no tiers, upsells, or transaction cut on the coach's own payments.

So that’s just flowing through us. We don’t take any kind of cut on that, which is a benefit to our customers. So yeah, we’re just a true self-serve SaaS business, $57 a month.

$57 / month

$684 $570 / year (2 Mo Free!)

All features included – no upsells or hidden add-ons

Low millions ARR at Paperbell

We’re now in the low millions ARR.

Laura Roeder will not disclose the sale price or multiple.

At the end of 2021, I sold my bootstrapped SaaS business MeetEdgar.

In my case, I had several parties interested right from day one but one stood out as the most serious: Sureswift.

if they wanted a profitable, bootstrapped (the bootstrapping is attractive because there’s only ONE owner to negotiate with) SaaS company of a certain size ready to sell now, I was hands-down their best bet!

All of our code was in Github, all of our transactions were in Stripe. We have no custom features for certain customers, no one with their own special price who mails us a check every quarter, no shenanigans of any kind! Self-serve SaaS is truly a beautiful model.

I agreed to a six-month transition period where Sureswift can ask me any questions needed to transition the business to their ownership.

As for the price, I’m not able to disclose the price or multiple.

Laura Roeder intends to sell Paperbell.

I absolutely plan to sell Paperbell, and I can now see clearly how much I love the launch and initial traction phase. I don’t have a desire to get to $100m ARR or build a massive team.

Laura Roeder prefers the launch-to-product-market-fit phase over scale.

I absolutely plan to sell Paperbell, and I can now see clearly how much I love the launch and initial traction phase. I don’t have a desire to get to $100m ARR or build a massive team.

In SaaS, an acquired customer base does not transfer automatically.

But you don’t just magically collect their money. They have to actively resign up.

Because if their business closes down, their customers are going to have to go somewhere. Aren’t we kind of going to get … We’re so similar to them, we’re going to get a lot of them anyway for free if they shut down.

Customers must actively re-sign up.

But you don’t just magically collect their money. They have to actively resign up.

Because if their business closes down, their customers are going to have to go somewhere. Aren’t we kind of going to get … We’re so similar to them, we’re going to get a lot of them anyway for free if they shut down.

A shutdown of Practice would send many of its customers to Paperbell for free.

But you don’t just magically collect their money. They have to actively resign up.

Because if their business closes down, their customers are going to have to go somewhere. Aren’t we kind of going to get … We’re so similar to them, we’re going to get a lot of them anyway for free if they shut down.