Blue Mongoose: $500,000 annual revenue & profitable.

Toby is a great example of how, here at DQ, we can sometimes be opportunistic about the companies we build. With a growing portfolio of companies, there are certain requirements that come up repeatedly. For our non-technical founders, Blue Mongoose is the perfect day-one tech partner.

What was the challenge?

When we first met Toby, he was transitioning out of a startup he was running in Vietnam. After several years working as a VC, then having launched and run two SaaS businesses, he realised this wasn’t the life he wanted. Instead, he sought a business that could tick the following requirements:

• Launch without depending on external capital.
• Be at the forefront of emerging technologies.
• Survive and grow on its own cash flow.
• Deliver value to a niche customer.
• Generate repeat business.

Toby had identified no-code development as an exciting, growing sector. He believed the cost and flexibility advantages over “pro-code” would lead to it becoming a more mainstream approach for tech founders going from zero to one. Toby saw that a partnership with DQ would be beneficial in a number of areas:

• Help with business set-up and incorporation outside of Vietnam (he has since relocated to Europe)
• Instant access to customers
• A ready-made business partner to help with strategy and difficult decisions
• Expertise in starting, scaling and exiting businesses; and
• A valuable source of future leads and referrals.

What did we do?

While Toby pulled together his technical team (initially consisting completely of freelancers), we immediately brought him two no-code products: our own internal portal (for which he used Bubble), and an MVP build for one of our portfolio companies, which was delivered as a combination of a Google Sheets back end and Glide UI.

Our role was as a customer, partner, an extension of his team, and to help with access to capital, providing Blue Mongoose with cash flow, operational support, and feedback throughout the early, somewhat experimental phase of the business.

We continue to support Toby as a business partner, recently helping him structure the hiring of a COO, who is taking equity in the business as a component of their remuneration.

What were the results?

Blue Mongoose is growing consistently, smashing its own records month after month, despite having operated profitably for over a year. Although no-code remains at the core of the company’s offering, the team’s capability has expanded well beyond. Recent no- and low-code projects have been interspersed with the delivery of various pro-code and web3 applications, and Toby’s attention to exceptional customer service has led to an impressive level of repeat business and numerous referrals. As Toby starts to work increasingly on the business (as opposed to “in” it), we are excited to bring him more DQ-related projects, help him increase efficiency, account profitability, and customer conversion rates, and support him in expanding Blue Mongoose to become a leader in its field.

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