Bootstrapping to $3M a month: Prequel CEO Timur Khabirov (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Explain, step by step, how you brought this product to market?

Timur Khabirov: You need to understand what the market needs. We have social media platforms. What do they need? First and foremost, it has to be a time saver. Then, it has to be easy.

Sramana Mitra: Are we talking about a B2C product?

Timur Khabirov: We are B2C now but are switching to B2B. Our goal is to cover B2B2C.

Sramana Mitra: Are you a B2C business now?

Timur Khabirov: We have B2B and a lot of celebrities. Gucci is one of our clients. The main goal is B2B2C.

Sramana Mitra: When did you start this company?

Timur Khabirov: Six years ago but four and a half years ago for Prequel.

Sramana Mitra: This product came out in 2018?

Timur Khabirov: Yes.

Sramana Mitra: What happened when you first started Prequel?

Timur Khabirov: Bringing Prequel to market required some small traffic.

Sramana Mitra: In the App Store?

Timur Khabirov: Yes, now we are also on Google. That’s how it works. You need to test your MVP.

Sramana Mitra: How were consumers finding out about Prequel? Were they just searching on the App Store?

Timur Khabirov: In order to search the App Store, you need to work with keywords to understand which one comes up and down. Number two, you need to work with Facebook. Number three is the viral effect.

Sramana Mitra: What do you need to do on Facebook? Are you talking about Facebook advertising?

Timur Khabirov: Yes.

Sramana Mitra: Facebook advertising was your main way of getting awareness?

Timur Khabirov: About 60%.

Sramana Mitra: What audience did you target through Facebook advertising?

Timur Khabirov: You need to understand your audience. You need to collect analytics.

Sramana Mitra: What was your target audience?

Timur Khabirov: When you start new, you don’t have any idea who is the target audience. You can understand who are the active users on the platform – fashion bloggers for example.

Sramana Mitra: Was fashion bloggers one of your top audiences?

Timur Khabirov: Yes.

Sramana Mitra: So you got your first traction from fashion bloggers?

Timur Khabirov: Not just fashion bloggers only. They’re probably 30%. We also had traction from health and fitness, food, travel bloggers.

Sramana Mitra: It’s the lifestyle segment where you got your traction?

Timur Khabirov: It was easy to start with them because they can pay. They need tools and are ready to pay.

Sramana Mitra: How much were you charging?

Timur Khabirov: $20 a month and $40 a year. We have one week subscription, one month subscription, and annual subscription.

Sramana Mitra: Wow! $20 a month and $40 a year. How far did that get you? How many of those did you get and how much revenue were you getting?

Timur Khabirov: Now we are doing $3 million a month.

Sramana Mitra: I’m talking about in 2018.

Timur Khabirov: $5,000 a day.

Sramana Mitra: How long did that take you to get to $5,000 a day?

Timur Khabirov: Maybe six months.

Sramana Mitra: Were there any other strategic nuances? Did you go after other target segments or advertising channels?

Timur Khabirov: Yes, for the future. You need to work with the community and bloggers. It’s influencer marketing as well.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Bootstrapping to $3M a month: Prequel CEO Timur Khabirov
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