Callum Mckeefery built Reviews.io from scratch with his wife—no funding, no equity dilution, and no fluff. In this episode, he shares how they scaled to $12M ARR, outpaced VC-backed competitors, and exited for $82M in an all-cash deal.
He breaks down the exact viral loop that created SEO-fueled growth, how they hit $240K revenue per employee, and why he chose not to give employees equity—but still made many millionaires. Callum also opens up about the emotional driver behind the exit: his son's rare genetic condition, and the cutting-edge research he's now funding.
Finally, Callum talks about his new SaaS startup, Partner.io, where he's rebuilding from zero with the same gritty playbook.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How to engineer viral loops in B2B SaaS
Why small ACV doesn't mean slow growth
How to win against VC-backed competition without fundraising
The emotional side of selling a company
Tactical breakdown: SEO, paid ads, and partnerships as growth levers
Post-exit reflections and the pitfalls of private equity buyers
What he's building next at Partner.io
Perfect for: SaaS founders, B2B operators, bootstrappers, PE firms, and investors looking for real, gritty founder stories with no BS.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com