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Alex Turnbull

Mass Market Software vs "Micro AI Holdco"

Published about 2 months ago • 1 min read

The Zero to $10M ARR Newsletter

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In 2015, a $1M software company needed 200 people. In 2025, it needs 5.

The math behind software teams is rapidly changing.

The key differences are team size and portfolio impact.

Here’s what the Mass Market Era (2015) looks like:

  • 200+ engineers
  • 5:1 eng/product ratio so 40 PMs
  • Each PM ships 2 major features/quarter
  • Team needs 20+ managers (VPs, Directors, Team Leads)
  • $500K CAC and 12% conversion
  • $150K base / $300K OTE per role with 60% quota attainment

Here’s what the AI Holdco Era (2025) looks like:

  • 5 engineers per product
  • 2:1 eng/product ratio so 2 PMs
  • Each PM ships 2 major features/week with AI
  • Team of 7 total (1 leader running portfolio)
  • $50K CAC and 25% conversion because deep vertical focus
  • $200K base / $400K OTE per role with 90% attainment (better productivity with AI)

The new model isn’t built on headcount.

So team size isn’t driving output.

It’s AI enablement and then applying vertical focus and portfolio thinking.

Here’s the outputs:

Mass Market Era:

  • $50M in new bookings
  • $25M in total costs
  • At 70% margins and 85% retention, it’s a 24 month payback and 2:1 LTV:CAC Verdict = Unsustainable without constant funding

AI Holdco Era:

  • $30M in portfolio bookings
  • $2M in total costs
  • At 85% margins and 95% retention, it’s 3 month payback and 8:1 LTV:CAC Verdict = Self-sustaining cash flow machines

The basic premise is straightforward:

Do your best products perform better with small focused teams using AI?

If you believe that, you’re probably coming around to my way of thinking.

Until next week,

Alex Turnbull

Founder and CEO

Groove and Helply

P.S. Like today's email? Follow me on LinkedIn where I post 5 days a week.

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2 Dearborn, Newport, RI 02840
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Alex Turnbull

Zero to $10M ARR in 3 Years

$0 to $5M ARR bootstrapped, solo founder. My new challenge: bootstrapping a new SaaS in public from $0 to $10M ARR in 3 years w/ 50%+ profit margins. Founder & CEO @ GrooveHQ.com & Helply.com 👋 I'm Alex, and here's my story in a nutshell: - Founded 3 businesses: one sold for 8-figures, the other valued at $40M+, and my latest is just starting up - Early #buildinpublic founder with Groove’s Journey to 100K blog - Featured in 100+ media outlets 📈 $0-$5M ARR without funding with Groove 🎯My new challenge: Bootstrapping a new SaaS in public from Zero to $10M ARR in 3 years w/ 50%+ EBITDA 💸 Sharing my learnings on building highly profitable, capital efficient, lean, bootstrapped SaaS business What you'll get by subscribing to my newsletter: 🚀 Actionable tips to grow a profitable SaaS business 📚 Education around the future of AI in customer service 🔥 Transparent & actionable advice, no fluff 💼 Exclusive updates on growth Ready to build the highly profitable, capital-efficient, bootstrapped SaaS of your dreams? I’ll be sending a weekly newsletter documenting my journey from Zero to $10M ARR with Helply and business growth tips + tricks - so hit that “Subscribe” button!

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