LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/onurgenes/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/onurgenes
Website: https://nureply.com/
His Blog: https://onurgenes.com/
Although, we have been living in the same country and focusing on similar things; I met Onur through Twitter a couple of weeks ago. He is a really energetic guy and likes to explore new things.
With his new product, he joined a new adventure and I am excited to follow his VC-backed company journey.
Question: Can you give us some details about your background and your bootstrapping journey?
Epistio is the name of the agency I launched 4 years ago and it is more complex than a simple software service agency. It involved bootstrapping several products on my own, complemented by running an agency to maintain financial stability. Initially, my career was centered around iOS and mobile development.
This journey involved many experiments with apps. While some achieved success, most did not, a common narrative in this field. Eventually, I shifted focus to web apps, recognizing the limitations of putting all efforts into a single app. I began offering services to larger companies, including major Swiss banks and top companies in Turkey specializing in Learning Management Systems.
For example, we helped a Swiss bank reduce their support workload by creating a custom website builder. For an LMS company, we maintained their Android and iOS apps, ensuring stability for about 18 months until they transitioned to a different platform.
One of my initial ventures was ThreadMaker. It was designed to break down long texts or blog posts into tweet-friendly segments. It gained traction with various users, including entities from the UK government. Despite modest profits, an attractive acquisition offer came in at 150 times its earnings.
Question: When did this happen?
This was around 2019 or 2020, just before the pandemic hit. I found that developing for the web was quicker and more straightforward than app development, with fewer regulatory hurdles. After selling ThreadMaker, I explored various micro SaaS products before creating Nureply, influenced by my efforts to grow my agency through cold emails.
At that time, the problem was I couldn’t automate anything because you have to check their profile, you have to check the person’s like website, what are they’re doing, what they’re interested in, and writing a good intro line for them. It was the biggest challenge, because it was taking a lot of time, basically you’re stalking people just get information about them and make the email relevant about it.
As I said, the main challenge with Nureply was automating personalized email creation. We initially joined the GPT-3 closed beta with OpenAI but had to fine-tune the system ourselves. We established a small Facebook group for beta testers, and on the first day, we secured 20 paying customers.
Attracting the initial 30 users involved hands-on outreach across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms. I focused on showcasing Nureply’s capabilities through manual demonstrations and interactions.
Initially, I used a friend’s Stripe account for handling payments, but as Nureply grew, I established a U.S. company and shifted to our Stripe account. This transition led to some customer loss due to the change in payment processing. Eventually, a venture capitalist from Turkey expressed interest in investing in Nureply.
Question: Before focusing on VC funding, tell us about your experience as a solopreneur.
My role in development was just one face of my responsibilities. Being a multidisciplinary individual, especially when running an agency, requires a wide range of skills. It’s not just about creating software; it’s about ensuring the quality of the work, understanding the market, and effectively communicating with clients. This diverse experience was invaluable.
When you’re selling a service, the most crucial element is the trust between you and the client. If they trust you, they’re more likely to assign you projects. You either manage them successfully or learn from failures, which is an inevitable part of the process.
However, selling a product is a different ball game. It’s challenging to retain customers and ensure continuous engagement with the product. My typical day wasn’t structured around a strict to-do list or calendar. I prefer a more fluid approach, focusing on what needs to be done at any given moment. This flexibility allows me to shift my focus based on immediate requirements, whether it’s development, marketing, or customer engagement.
For instance, I might plan to engage with communities on Reddit, providing help and promoting my product. However, if I find that dedicating time to development would be more beneficial at that moment, I switch my focus. It’s all about adapting to the needs of the day.
Customer service is another critical aspect.
At Nureply, we maintain a policy of responding to customer inquiries within an hour.
This quick response time is vital for customer satisfaction, but it’s challenging as a solo entrepreneur, especially when dealing with clients across different time zones. But I’ve found that if you build a product that’s intuitive and requires less support, it significantly reduces the strain on customer service, making the solo journey more manageable.
What makes your solution unique in the outbound software market?
I understand the perspective that there are numerous products in the sales and marketing space. For someone with a sales background, this might seem like a saturated market. However, for small companies or individuals without sales experience, the landscape is entirely different. They often lack the basic knowledge of how to approach sales and outreach, which is where Nureply comes in.
Many existing solutions assume a certain level of expertise or try to educate the user to use their product more effectively. But what if you’re completely new to this field? For instance, one of our clients sells roofing materials in Europe. They had no experience with digital marketing or outreach strategies and were tired of traditional methods like attending international conferences to find customers.
When they first approached us, they were unsure about how to craft an effective email for outreach. We provided them with a simple solution: fill in your company details, and we’ll generate a basic email template as a starting point. This approach helped them understand how to customize their communications, making their outreach more effective.
It’s important to understand that outbound sales isn’t about making a sale in the first email or call. It’s about building a relationship. For that, your email needs to be read, which requires a level of personalization that many small businesses struggle with. They often don’t have the time or resources to research each potential client thoroughly.
Nureply simplifies this process by automating the personalization of emails. Users input their details, and Nureply handles the rest, crafting emails that are more likely to be read and initiate a dialogue. This approach is particularly beneficial for small businesses, as it saves time and resources while increasing the effectiveness of their outreach efforts.
After VC funding, what changes did you implement?
So it’s a complicated thing to manage that kind of a money coming in at once.
Because when you’re bootstrapping money, it’s easy. You know, it’s just like, you know what you’re doing and you know, the bottlenecks of the business and you’re just like trying to automate it. If it doesn’t work, you’re just like putting a person on top. Just do this part, take this part from me, but we see funding as soon as it lands.
You need a huge team because you are looking for scaling. You are not looking for automating stuff anymore. So for scaling, you need a lot of people. And the first thing I did was, everything I automated, but I know it wasn’t working like exactly as I wanted. I just found a person who can. Automate this part better than me and keep an eye out and eventually this is the thing that you should do.
Because this is what I believe, this is the approach we have taken with the funding. The next step is different from the typical bootstrap marketing strategy, where founders often try various tactics, seeing what resonates. This method can be effective up to a certain point, but it’s important to eventually concentrate on one or two channels that are consistently bringing in customers. Focusing and even doubling down on these channels is crucial. However, with VC funding, we have the luxury of not just relying on these proven channels. While they continue to attract customers who love our product, we also have the opportunity to explore new areas, like different niches, groups, or individuals who might be interested. This allows us to test and expand into new markets.
So this gives you that flexibility. Actually, it helps you to save time a bit and try many things compared to bootstrapping. Like you’re buying time with VC money instead of just putting the effort by yourself. You’re having a team that everybody works for the same thing from a different angle.
How many employees do you have now?
I just wanted to keep the team small.
At the beginning, we had a lot of people working for us, but eventually, most of the part was automated and most of them were contractors.
Right now we are five. Really small team, but like the real superstars that make dreams come true.
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