Table of Contents
- Tell us about your product and what inspired you to start it?
- How long did it take you to acquire your first 50 customers, and what was your growth strategy?
- Which technology stack are you using and what challenges and limitations does it pose?
- What are some of the most essential tools that you use for your business?
- What have been some of the biggest insights you've gained since starting your entrepreneurial journey?
- Your recommended books/podcasts/newsletters etc.:
Guillaume Souillard is the founder of Affilisting - find 10K affiliate programs across 500+ niches
Tell us about your product and what inspired you to start it?
Affilisting is a service that lets website publishers find the best affiliate programs for 500+ niches, with a total of 10K+ programs. You only have to pay $99 once, and you'll have lifetime access to the service and any future updates.
I got the idea for Affilisting when I wanted to get into affiliate marketing, but I couldn't find any good affiliate programs.
How long did it take you to acquire your first 50 customers, and what was your growth strategy?
I got my first 50 customers very quickly, in just one week. And this is explained by the fact that I based all my strategy around my affiliate program which allows people to earn 50% on each sale.
Then it snowballs effect and more and more people join the program and make sales.
Which technology stack are you using and what challenges and limitations does it pose?
Laravel & Gumroad and I will explain why:
Why Laravel?
There are several reasons why I decided to develop my own application, Affilisting, instead of just monetizing my existing Airtable list. First, because Affilisting is not just a list. It's an app that allows you to do several things. For example, you can add to favorites several programs so that you are alerted if their commissions change in the future. Affilisting also allows you to enter your preferences so that an algorithm can suggest the best programs and many other features. That's why I needed to develop my own application.
Secondly, because I have been developing with Laravel for over 4 years. So it's an ecosystem I know very well. On top of that, the Laravel ecosystem is in my opinion the best to easily build an application as an Indiehacker. Especially with the Laravel Jetstream technical stack that allows you to easily set up the base of your Laravel application in one command line.
Finally, developing your own application makes it easy to keep control over the data. It is also the best way to be able to evolve your product in the future.
Why Gumroad?
I needed a payment solution that is very simple to use and that makes my life easier, especially when it comes to managing taxes. My company being based in France, the management of taxes like VAT is very complicated if you sell internationally and if you are all alone to manage this part.
That's why I chose to use a reseller like Gumroad instead of Stripe. This way, I only have to issue one invoice every 7 days (the payday is every 7 days) and the management of invoices and the VAT managment is handled by Gumroad.
On top of that, Gumroad allows me to set up my own affiliate program easily and that this is a very important part for Affilisting and for the growth strategy!
What are some of the most essential tools that you use for your business?
Gumroad, Laravel, Twitter.
What have been some of the biggest insights you've gained since starting your entrepreneurial journey?
That we can always get out of it and you need to start.Before creating Affilisting, I created dozens of projects that did not bring in a penny. On the other hand, these experiences taught me to always do better.
Your recommended books/podcasts/newsletters etc.:
MyFirstMillion on YouTube, Tech Out (French Podcast).
