Podcast Summary

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

Episode: Bootstrapped to $15M ARR: How Flipsnack Scaled Digital Publishing with SEO & $200K ACVs
Host: Nathan Latka
Guest: Gabriel Sjordas, CEO & Founder of Flipsnack
Date: January 14, 2026

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Nathan Latka interviews Gabriel Sjordas, the serial entrepreneur and CEO behind Flipsnack—a bootstrapped digital publishing SaaS growing to $15 million in ARR. Gabriel shares how Flipsnack scaled from garage startup to a global SaaS platform with 28,000 paying customers, leveraging SEO-driven growth, product-led motion, and recent enterprise pivots, all while remaining 100% founder-owned and operated.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Flipsnack in Numbers & Business Model

• Paying Customers: Over 28,000 globally ([00:01], [08:13])
• ARR: $15 million for 2025 ([00:10], [08:42], [09:45])
• Team Size: 94 full-time employees, most with 10+ years at the company ([00:14], [09:49])
• Ownership: 100% owned by Gabriel ([00:16], [17:53])
• Largest Customer ACV: Near $200,000 annually ([00:22], [05:34])
• Range of Customers: Mix of self-serve ($16/month) and large enterprise ($200K/year) ([04:52], [10:40])

Quote:

“Right now we have over 28,000 paying customers today. I'm quite proud to say that… we'll be ending at 15 million.”
—Gabriel ([00:01])

Product & Differentiation

• Digital Publishing Tool: For catalogs, brochures, presentations, training materials ([01:13])
• Key Features:
  • Metrics: Detailed analytics on reader engagement ([02:52])
  • Searchable Content: Users can search within materials ([02:03])
  • Brand control and real-time updates ([02:52])
  • Security & Privacy: Email-gated sharing, password protection ([02:52])

Quote:

“Flipsnack is a tool that brings sexiness to your presentation materials… and gives you a lot of metrics about who saw what and when… security and privacy… super secure.”
—Gabriel ([01:13], [02:52])

Sales Motion & Revenue Growth

• Split Model: Small business/self-serve with Product-Led Growth (PLG), and custom-tailored enterprise solutions ([04:52])
• Self-serve: Priced at ~$16/month–$85/month ([21:59])
• Enterprise: Fully customized, supports multi-department, high-volume usage ([05:44])

Quote:

“Our sales efforts are towards enterprise companies… special services come with a higher price tag.”
—Gabriel ([11:04])

• Recent Growth: $12M revenue in 2024 to $15M in 2025 ([08:49], [08:42])
• Enterprise Land-and-Expand: Learning curve as they move upmarket with longer sales cycles ([06:31])
• Freemium Model: Was removed, but being reintroduced after recognizing its value ([08:13])
• Low Touch Sales: Only 6 dedicated sales reps ([10:32]), mainly focused on high-value enterprise deals

Scalable Customer Acquisition: SEO, Templates & More

• SEO Backbone: Long-term investment since 2011, domain rating at 91, >168,000 monthly organic hits ([11:49], [12:08])
• Templates as Traffic Magnet:
  • Template library drives 60,000+ clicks/mo; critical SEO and acquisition lever ([13:01])
  • Competitors would need to spend $3M/yr to match via paid ([13:01])

Quote:

“Consistency… we have invested a lot in SEO. …the fact that your consistency is there, your honesty is there, you're a legit business…”
—Gabriel ([12:08])

• SEO Team Size: Only ~3 people, not full-time SEO ([14:16])
• Template Creation: 100% human-designed for quality; AI is used for accessibility and feature navigation, not template generation ([14:44])
• Affiliate & Influencer Initiatives: Recently started to tap new verticals (hotels, real estate, training) ([16:21])

Paid Marketing & Experiments

• Ad Spend: $120K–140K/month, mainly on Google Ads, run in-house ([17:00], [17:12])
• Channel Experimentation: Evaluating influencer marketing and other vertical partnerships ([17:00])

Quote:

“We're trying to see if balancing those budgets towards influencers might make a difference…”
—Gabriel ([17:22])

Funding, Ownership & Partnership

• Bootstrapped from Day 1: No outside VC; using debt financing via Founder Path for recent growth ([17:47], [18:12])
• Reason for Funding: Speed up enterprise expansion and learning curve ([18:12])

Quote:

“We want to move a bit faster. There's a lot of learning that we need to do. And in this world, to learn costs a lot.”
—Gabriel ([18:12])

Future Vision & Exit Philosophy

• Current Focus: Driving growth, increasing market awareness ([20:20])
• Enterprise Expansion: Opening sales offices in Japan, Korea, Portugal, Switzerland ([10:05])
• Exit Possibility: Open to a compelling acquisition but prioritizing growth ([20:20])

Quote:

“If somebody would say, okay, I'll give you today 10x, I would say, perfect, let's talk back in August, September… But right now my focus is exclusively on to the growth of the product…”
—Gabriel ([20:20])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Customer-Driven Product:
  “We're very close to meeting most of our customers needs and… solving most of our customers problems.”
  —Gabriel ([07:23])
• On Team Tenure:
  “Most of [our team] are people that are with the company for 10 years plus.”
  —Gabriel ([09:49])
• On AI in the Product:
  “Our accessibility tool… is powered by AI, will be able to help… vision-impaired. …It's our responsibility to make sure that everybody has access…”
  —Gabriel ([14:44])
• On Bootstrapping:
  “It's rare you get someone 100% bootstrapped… at $15 million of revenue, 28,000 paying customers…”
  —Nathan ([17:56])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Overview & Metrics:
  [00:01] – Paying customers, ARR, team size, ownership
• Flipsnack’s Product Differentiation:
  [01:13] – Product features
  [02:52] – Metrics, real-time updates, security
• Customer Mix, Pricing, and Sales Strategy:
  [04:52] – Self-serve vs. enterprise
  [10:32] – Sales team structure
• SEO & Organic Growth Engine:
  [11:49] – Early SEO focus
  [13:01] – Templates as traffic drivers
  [14:16] – SEO team details
• Paid Marketing & New Channels:
  [16:21] – Affiliates, influencers, paid ad spend
• Funding & Ownership:
  [17:47] – Founder Path partnership
  [18:12] – Funding rationale
• Looking Ahead & Exit Options:
  [20:20] – Enterprise growth, possible acquisition

Conclusion

Gabriel Sjordas and his team have achieved remarkable, capital-efficient growth at Flipsnack with a product loved by both SMBs and global enterprises. The combination of SEO dominance, a robust template strategy, focused enterprise sales, and founder grit—coupled with fresh capital for expansion—sets up Flipsnack for its “best year ever” in 2026. Gabriel remains committed to growth and perfecting the product, with strategic patience around potential exits.

Check Flipsnack out: flipsnack.com
Special offer: Listen for a potential "LATKA PODCAST" discount code for new sign-ups ([21:52])