Target: the MRR ladder. $5k MRR by month 24 at ~15 hrs/week, $10k full-time, $20k as the stretch. Profitable, ≥80% gross margin, ≤4% monthly revenue churn after month 6.
Rule: nothing in a later phase starts until the current phase's gate is hit. Gates and pivot rules are in WHAT-TO-DO-AND-AVOID.md. The detail for days 1–90 is in 08-90-day-plan.md.
Phase 1: Prove the saving (Months 0–3) → Gates day 30 and day 90
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Customers | 10 agency and 15 brand conversations. 3–5 paid audits ($99) with dry run and holdout. |
| Product | Klaviyo OAuth app: audit screen, 3 default rules with purchase-aware safeguards, dry run, weekly scheduled runs, suppression log and restore, 5% holdout, monthly report. In-house syntax, disposable and typo checks, plus a wholesale verifier. |
| Distribution | Public bill audit, Klaviyo price calculator, 10 search pages. |
| Pricing | Starter $39, Growth $79, Scale $199. Pilots keep founding pricing for 12 months. |
| Exit | Full-time: 15 subscribers, $1k MRR. ~15 hrs/week: 8 subscribers, $450 MRR. Holdout proves no lost revenue. |
Phase 2: Make it stick (Months 4–6) → Gate month 6
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | Signup-form verification (typos, disposable domains, bot bursts) for Klaviyo and Shopify forms. Cumulative-savings view. Sunset-flow template installed via the API. |
| Distribution | 3 agency pilots. Klaviyo community answers with real (anonymised) numbers. Annual-plan offer at the first saving. |
| Ops | Job health monitoring, token-expiry alerts, status page, help docs. |
| Exit | Full-time: $2k MRR, 3 agencies. ~15 hrs/week: $1k MRR. Revenue churn ≤5%. |
Phase 3: Agencies and listings (Months 7–12) → Gate month 12
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | Agency plan ($299, 10 accounts): multi-account dashboard, white-label report, client approvals, one invoice. Scale-plan segment holdouts. |
| Distribution | Klaviyo integrations-directory listing and Shopify App Store listing (confirm requirements and fees first). Agency referral share. |
| Data | Anonymised benchmark: "typical dead weight by list age and size", published twice a year (press and backlinks). |
| Exit | Full-time: $4.5k MRR, churn ≤4%, 10 agencies. ~15 hrs/week: $2.2k MRR. |
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | Mailchimp auto-archive of unsubscribed and dormant contacts (only after $5k MRR full-time, or $3k at ~15 hrs/week). Deliverability trend in the report. |
| Distribution | Double down on the best channel from months 1–12 (usually agencies). Mailchimp marketplace and search pages ("lower Mailchimp bill"). |
| Team | A part-time support contractor only if support passes 5 hrs/week. |
| Checkpoint | Month 18: $7.5k MRR full-time, $3.5k at ~15 hrs/week. Missing it means concentrating on the single best channel. |
| Decision at month 24 | At target and churn ≤4%: run it profitably, or consider a sale (median 3.9x profit, catalog Part A). Below $1k: stop, or sell the app. |
| Exit | Full-time: $10k+ MRR. ~15 hrs/week: $5k+ MRR. |
Standing kill trigger: if Klaviyo ships native scheduled suppression with a savings view, move within 60 days to agencies plus Mailchimp, or stop.
Revenue path (illustrative, not a forecast)
| Month | Full-time: accounts | Full-time: MRR | ~15 hrs/week: accounts | ~15 hrs/week: MRR |
|---|
| 3 | 15 | ~$1k | 8 | ~$450 |
| 6 | 28 | ~$2k | 14 | ~$1k |
| 12 | 60 | ~$4.5k | 30 | ~$2.2k |
| 18 | 100 | ~$7.5k | 47 | ~$3.5k |
| 24 | 131 | ~$10k | 67 | ~$5k |
This assumes a blended ~$75 per account, monthly revenue churn of 3–4% after month 6, ≥30% of MRR from agencies by month 12 (full-time), and no paid acquisition. If churn runs above 6%, this path doesn't work: the business caps near $5–6k full-time. Fix retention before spending on growth.
Budget guardrails (bootstrapped)
- Hosting plus verification API plus tools below 10% of revenue. Verify uncertain addresses only. Never re-verify the whole list each run.
- Zero paid acquisition before month 6. After it, only channels with payback under 3 months.
- Keep 12 months of personal runway if full-time. If runway falls below 6 months, cut to the core app and the best channel.
- Support under 2 hrs/week per 50 accounts. If it rises above that, fix the product, not the staffing.