Before any public launch, the team built a waitlist through "edu-selling" content on LinkedIn — posts that educated their target audience (founders, entrepreneurs, creators) on LinkedIn content problems without any explicit CTA or product plug. One example post was from a shared account called "The LinkedIn Creator," titled something like "Here is how to write the best LinkedIn tips I found," which walked through common pain points and ended with a soft pointer to the tool. Jake posted similar problem-framing content. None of these posts named Cleo or linked directly to a purchase page — the product remained a "secret" that only waitlist members knew about. The waitlist was nurtured over roughly 4 weeks pre-launch with a 10+ email sequence. The very first email was titled around "The problem with AI content and why we're different," directly tackling the #1 objection (why not just use free ChatGPT/Claude?). Subsequent emails continued educating on the problem space with no CTAs, purely building trust. The final email said "Cleo 2.0 is live — try it now," and because trust had been pre-built, it converted immediately. The combination of scarcity messaging (only 500 spots), a lifetime 50% discount offer, and a LinkedIn Live demo/pitch webinar converted the waitlist into paying customers within the first day of launch, hitting $30K MRR in 4 days.
Kleo
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7 moves, in order
- Pre launch (months before launch)Linkedin organic content
Posted educational 'edu-selling' content on LinkedIn via personal accounts (Lara, Jake) and a shared account 'The LinkedIn Creator.' Posts addressed founder pain points around LinkedIn content with no CTAs or product mentions — purely building mindshare and driving waitlist sign-ups.
Built a waitlist of thousands of people over several monthsMRR $0 - 4 weeks pre launchEmail waitlist nurture
Sent 10+ emails to the waitlist over 4 weeks, starting with problem-education (e.g., 'The problem with AI content and why we're different'). No CTAs in early emails — purely building trust and pre-selling the vision. Tested different subject lines to optimize open rates.
Warmed up list; primed audience to buy on launch day - Beta Launch 1 (October 2025)Linkedin live webinar
Hosted a LinkedIn Live webinar: 20 min education on the topic, 20 min product demo/walkthrough, then a direct pitch with purchase link. Promoted via a simple LinkedIn post in advance; followers got a native LinkedIn notification when the live started.
$30,000 MRR within 4 days of launchMRR $30k - Beta Launch 1Email launch blast
Sent the launch email to the warmed waitlist: 'Cleo 2.0 is live — try it now.' CTA was in the first line to maximize immediate click-through. Leveraged all pre-built trust from the nurture sequence to drive instant conversions.
Major conversion spike; attributed as primary driver of $30K MRRMRR $30k - Beta Launch 1Scarcity and discount offer
Offered only 500 spots to create scarcity, plus a lifetime 50% discount ('you will never pay the newer price again') to incentivize immediate purchase. Used FOMO and exclusivity psychology throughout launch emails and the webinar pitch.
Accelerated conversion speed; customers acted quickly rather than delaying - Post launch (ongoing)Vip onboarding calls
Co-founder Rob gave his personal number to every new user. Team ran VIP white-glove onboarding calls to walk customers through the product, recorded calls to identify bugs and usage patterns, and iterated on the product rapidly. This reduced churn by ensuring customers actually used the tool correctly.
Generated strong testimonials and created 'Cleo evangelists' who spread word-of-mouth - Beta Launch 2 (within 2 months of launch)Email waitlist nurture
Ran a second beta launch using the same waitlist + nurture playbook for a new cohort of waitlist members, creating another visible MRR spike.
Grew from $30K to $62K MRR within ~2 months; 932+ active subscriptionsMRR $62k Users 932 users
Lara and Jake were established LinkedIn creators with existing audiences built over ~3 years. Lara had previously run agency and info-product businesses, giving her deep knowledge of FOMO, email nurturing, waitlist mechanics, and webinar conversion — frameworks she transplanted directly into SaaS. The team also ran a shared LinkedIn account ("The LinkedIn Creator") as an additional distribution channel. Without these pre-existing audiences and marketing expertise, the speed of this launch would not be replicable.
email_waitlist_nurture_sequence
Lara explicitly said relying on viral content alone to convert customers does not work — "everybody's expecting viral content to work and convert, but it's actually emails where the customers are." No other explicitly failed channels were mentioned.
How My App Hit $60K/Month in 2 Months
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