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cover of episode How I Built my AI Tool SubMagic to $667k/Month With a Tiny Team and No Funding

How I Built my AI Tool SubMagic to $667k/Month With a Tiny Team and No Funding

2025/6/10
logo of podcast SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders
AI Chapters Transcript
Chapters
David Zitoun, founder of SubMagic, shares his journey of bootstrapping his AI video editing tool to $8 million ARR in just two years with a small team. He highlights the crucial role of a generous affiliate program and strategic marketing in achieving this rapid growth. The company's success is also attributed to a strong focus on customer experience and rapid iteration.
  • $8 million ARR in two years
  • 13 employees
  • 5-10,000 signups per day
  • 2,500 new paid customers per month
  • 30% lifetime affiliate commissions
  • 20% of revenue from affiliates
  • minimal paid advertising

Shownotes Transcript

28-year-old French founder David Zitoun bootstrapped Submagic to $8 million ARR in just 3 years with only 13 employees, generating $615,000 revenue per employee without raising a single dollar of VC funding.

He reveals how he hit $1 million ARR in exactly 90 days using the most generous affiliate program in SaaS - paying 30% lifetime commissions to 10,000+ affiliates who now drive $1.6 million of his annual revenue while processing 5-10,000 new signups daily.

David breaks down his contrarian playbook including why 70% of his team has no college degrees, how he converts 2,500 new customers monthly despite 15% churn, and the exact growth tactics that crushed the US market from France.