Master Enterprise-Level SaaS Growth with Justin Shimoon @ AffinityClick - Escape Velocity Show #48

About this video

Dan Martell interviews Justin of AffinityClick, maker of Hushed, a mobile over-the-top (OTT) telephony app for disposable and private numbers used, Justin says, for cases like online dating and classifieds. Justin says AffinityClick first built an ad-tech blogging platform after investing about $800,000 or $900,000 from private investors, friends and family and himself, then pivoted when it nearly ran out of money. Using Twilio, they launched an Android version and, about three months later, an iPhone version, offering a free number in the US or Canada for three days and a seven-day option he prices at $2. Justin says the app became number one in utilities in the US, Canada and other markets and now averages top 10 as the app store grew, and he claims close to 400,000 monthly active users, of which 65% are paying customers. He explains building a Least Cost Routing table about four years ago to choose the cheapest termination wholesaler, giving a hard-number saving of between 25% and 30% on VoIP costs he says are in the millions. On marketing, he says they judge spend by ROAS — 30% back in the first week, meaning $0.30 per dollar, signals break-even within five months — use Adjust for attribution, and sell lifetime numbers through partners such as Groupon and publishers such as ZDNet. He also previews a small-business, mobile-first product with team/IVR-style features that he says could lower traditional VoIP costs by probably 50%, and reflects that empathy and monthly transparent meetings replaced a close-to-the-chest style from his earlier company Sitebrand.

Key takeaways

• Justin says AffinityClick pivoted from ad tech to Hushed after investing about $800,000 or $900,000, launching on Twilio with Android first and iPhone about three months later.
• The Hushed freemium model Justin describes is a free US or Canada number for three days with full voice and SMS capability, and a seven-day number for $2.
• Justin claims close to 400,000 monthly active users, of which 65% are paying customers, and says the app held number-one utility rankings in the US and Canada before averaging top 10.
• He says building their own Least Cost Routing table saved between 25% and 30% on VoIP termination costs, which he says are in the millions.
• On acquisition, Justin says they target 30% ROAS in the first week — $0.30 back per dollar spent — which he says means break-even on that cohort within five months, alongside partner sales of lifetime numbers through Groupon.

Episode details: published February 25, 2021 · 47:24 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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