Email Service Provider

6 Email Service Provider Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 8th, 2024

Drowning in spam and struggling to manage your inbox? Enter the world of email service providing. In simple terms, this business involves creating and offering email accounts and management tools tailored to various user needs.

Imagine catering to businesses that crave a more secure, professional email solution or individuals who want clutter-free, organized inboxes. An email service provider can offer features like advanced filtering, encryption, and integration with other productivity tools. Users are always on the lookout for reliable, user-friendly email services that improve their efficiency, making this market ripe with potential.

Setting up an email service provider does require technical knowledge and a commitment to maintaining secure, efficient service. Yet, it’s a compelling venture if you have the right skills and ambition. Providing a trusted email service could place you at the heart of communication for countless users.

In this list, you'll find real-world email service provider success stories and very profitable examples of starting a email service provider that makes money.

1. ConvertKit ($25M/year)

In 2013, Nathan set a challenge for himself: build a $5K/mo SaaS in 6 months with just $5,000. He got the idea after reading people's complaints about Mailchimp online, and decided to build a product that addressed those.

How much money it makes: $25M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 82

Profile: Nathan Barry Built A $25M/Year Newsletter Platform (Started As Solopreneur)

Discover how Nathan Barry bootstrapped ConvertKit from a $5,000 investment to a $25 million/year email marketing powerhouse by addressing the main objections of online creators and scaling through a lucrative affiliate program with an impressive $2.08 million/month average revenue.

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2. Superhuman ($20M/year)

Rahul Vohra, the founder of Superhuman, identified the problem of email inefficiency through personal experience and professional observations while managing his previous company, Reportive. He noticed that productivity tools like Gmail were becoming increasingly sluggish and cluttered over the years, and that plugins to enhance functionality often exacerbated these issues. This frustration was shared by many high-volume email users, including venture capitalists and founders, whom Rahul interacted with regularly.

Realizing the opportunity for a better email solution, Rahul conducted extensive informal research, asking potential users about their email pain points and needs. He also capitalized on his firsthand knowledge and experience to envision a more efficient email client. To validate his idea, he continuously gathered feedback from initial users, iterating the product based on their insights.

Essentially, the process was driven by a mix of personal annoyance with existing tools, market validation through direct user engagement, and a continuous refinement loop. Early challenges included the technical complexity of integrating advanced features into a seamless user experience, which Rahul overcame by assembling a talented team and paying meticulous attention to design and performance. This iterative approach ultimately helped shape Superhuman into a tool that significantly enhances email productivity.

How much money it makes: $20M/year
How many people on the team: 130

How Rahul Vohra's Superhuman Scaled to $20M ARR

Discover how Rahul Vora took Superhuman from idea to $20M/year by solving email inefficiency with a high-speed, user-focused interface, securing $800K in seed funding, conducting 700+ user interviews, and leveraging viral growth strategies.

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Read by 79 founders

3. GreenRope ($1.92M/year)

metrics for our business are our customer satisfaction and retention rates, which remain consistently high. We currently have over 1,000 customers in over 20 countries, ranging from startups to universities and municipalities. Moving forward, we plan to continue evolving and improving our platform to meet the changing needs of businesses and provide even greater value to our customers.

How much money it makes: $1.92M/year
How many people on the team: 15

On Starting A $160K/Month CRM & Automations Company After A US Air Force Career

GreenRope, a self-funded CRM and marketing automation platform with over 1,000 customers in 20 countries, was built organically and focused on creating a positive, customer-centric culture without outside investment, with an all-in-one interface solving challenges in managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations.

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4. Thexyz ($1.8M/year)

Perry, the founder of Thexyz, initially started as a traditional French polishing shop but quickly realized the slow business during Toronto's summer months. To boost his business, he decided to design his own website and found that people were more interested in having him build their online presence. Reluctantly closing his shop, Thexyz was born on October 7th, 2007, and has since become a successful email hosting service.

How much money it makes: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 30

I Built A $1.8M/Year Email Hosting Service [100% Self-Funded]

Thexyz is a self-funded email hosting service generating over $100k of recurring revenue each month, offering uncomplicated privacy and fantastic customer service, and expanding through international sales.

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Read by 4,135 founders

5. Bluetick.io ($42K/year)

Mike Taber came up with the idea for Bluetick.io after experiencing the frustration of sending follow-up emails and tracking responses manually. He validated the idea by conducting customer interviews and collecting prepayments, and then hired a team of developers to build the product. After improving the website and launching, he focused on email marketing to attract and retain customers.

How much money it makes: $42K/year
How many people on the team: 0

How I Achieved $1K MRR Without Writing A Single Line of Code

Bluetick.io is a self-funded SaaS app that helps salespeople, customer success reps and busy founders close the loop with their customers using sequences of automated email follow ups, achieving $1,000 MRR without writing a single line of code through customer validation and prepayments.

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Read by 6,909 founders

6. antoniarasheva3614 ($1.2K/year)

Antonia Rasheva, an artist and designer by heart but tourist by profession, tapped into her love for abstract art to start a custom fashion and home products business in 2015. Despite initial financial roadblocks, she constantly advertises on social media, aiming to turn a $100/month profit into a sustainable full-time venture.

How much money it makes: $1.2K/year
How many people on the team: 0

On Selling Custom-Designed Fashion And Home Products Online

This case study follows a Bulgarian artist and designer who sells custom products featuring her hand-painted designs, with an average monthly profit of $100, relying heavily on advertising via social media and offline to grow her business.

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Read by 5,291 founders