Case Study: Nathan Barry builds ConvertKit into a $10M ARR business with Mailshake

Nathan Barry - Customer Case Study

The customer, Nathan Barry, aimed to build a web application that would generate $5,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) within six months. He ultimately developed ConvertKit, an email marketing platform for professional bloggers, but initially fell short of his revenue goal, stalling at $2,480 MRR. With his enthusiasm waning, he was on the verge of shutting down the service from vendor Mailshake.

Mailshake's solution involved a highly personalized, outbound sales strategy. Nathan and his team focused on building real relationships with target bloggers through social media engagement and in-person meetings. A key differentiator was their free concierge migration service, which removed the friction of switching email providers for large subscribers. This approach, championed by Mailshake, led to phenomenal growth; ConvertKit achieved an $836,000 MRR and a $10 million annual run rate, with concierge migration customers exhibiting an exceptionally low churn rate of just 0.25%.

Nathan Barry

Nathan Barry

Author, Software Designer, and Entrepreneur