Encharge pre-sold lifetime access to its 500-person email list before building

What they ran

Kalo Yankulov wrote an article about his earlier work on HeadReach, which drew almost 3,000 page views and 500 to 600 email leads. The team then tested one idea: marketing automation software for SaaS companies. They built a mock prototype and a landing page with a few screens, offering lifetime access as an $89 pre-order. According to the founder's Failory interview, the founder said they had not done much marketing for the pre-order deal apart from sending to that list of about 500 people.

What happened

They got 50 pre-orders in two weeks. Encharge's own validation write-up counts $3,950 in revenue, against an initial goal of 5 pre-orders. The interview rounds this to $4,000. Building took six months to reach the most vital features, and a closed beta had just launched when the interview ran.

What the account does not show

Both accounts come from the founders, so the figures are self-reported. The sources give no refund rate, no later revenue and no count of buyers who became paying users. At the time of the interview, the founder was consulting two days a week and spending the rest of his time on Encharge. The list came from readers of one article about a prior product, so a colder list may convert at a lower rate.