From roasting landing pages to scaling a SaaS business to $850K ARR, Ollie Meekings shares his incredible journey of entrepreneurship, marketing experiments, and product-led growth. In this article, we dive deep into how Ollie transformed a simple productized service into a thriving testimonial platform called Senja, and the lessons learned along the way.
Table of Contents
- 🔥 From Roasting Landing Pages to $300K Revenue
- 🚀 Building Senja: From Collaboration to $850K ARR
- 📈 The Long Road to $1K MRR and Beyond
- 🎯 Mastering Product-Led Growth
- 💼 Remote Work, Unique Team Dynamics, and Parting Ways
- 💡 Doubling Down on What Works: Marketing Experiments and Hiring Experts
- 🤖 Using AI to Accelerate Experimentation
- 🎥 How to Collect Authentic Testimonials
- 📚 Tools, Communities, and Resources That Support Growth
- 🎯 Final Wisdom: Know Yourself to Grow Your Business
- 📌 FAQ
- Connect with Ollie and Explore Senja
🔥 From Roasting Landing Pages to $300K Revenue
Ollie’s entrepreneurial story began with a unique service called Roast My Landing Page. For two years, he charged $350 to analyze and critique websites through personalized Loom videos, helping businesses turn more visitors into customers. This straightforward service generated around $300,000 in revenue by delivering 15-minute actionable videos that customers could implement quickly.
What made this productized service successful was Ollie’s dedication to being the best at what he did. Most of his customers came through word-of-mouth, creating a cycle of advocacy fueled by testimonials he actively requested after delivering each roast.
“If you’re not willing to be the best at something, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time building a productized service around it.”
He experimented with pricing, starting from free sessions to collect feedback, then gradually increasing to $50, $200, and even $600 before settling back at $350. The key takeaway? Even a small uplift in conversion rates justified the cost many times over for his clients.
🚀 Building Senja: From Collaboration to $850K ARR
After two years of roasting landing pages, Ollie wanted to build a scalable product that improved daily — something more permanent and beautiful. He found Wilson, a developer building a testimonial tool called Wilson, on Twitter. They connected over a shared vision and decided to collaborate.
Without a formal founder agreement, they agreed via email to split ownership 50/50 and began shipping the product that would become Senja. Over three years, they grew Senja to an impressive $850,000 annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Senja is a platform that helps businesses collect and share customer testimonials, providing various customizable widgets for sharing proof across funnels — as images, videos, or remixed content. This focus on sharing differentiated Senja from competitors like Testimonial.to, which offered limited sharing options.
“The way to use social proof is to make more money by sharing it, to answer objections and increase conversion.”
📈 The Long Road to $1K MRR and Beyond
Ollie recounts that it took nearly eleven months to reach the first $1,000 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR). The early days involved hustling across every possible channel — Reddit, Indie Hackers, emailing friends and ex-colleagues, and building in public.
His advice for early-stage founders is to narrow down their ideal customer profile (ICP) as specifically as possible. Instead of broad categories like “SaaS founders,” Ollie recommends drilling down to a niche audience with clear needs and no objections, even if that means initially targeting just a handful of people.
For Senja, the ICP evolved to focus on professional creators — course creators and entrepreneurs with funnels who require lots of proof points to convert customers. This shift, inspired by conversations with experts like Wes Bush, helped unlock a faster growth trajectory.
🎯 Mastering Product-Led Growth
Senja’s growth relied heavily on product-led growth principles. Ollie explains that product-led growth is more than just removing sales calls — it’s a holistic culture where the product itself drives customers through the lifecycle:
- Landing pages that convert visitors
- Onboarding processes that activate users
- Retention emails that bring users back
- Customer support that continually improves user experience and reduces friction
This approach allows Senja to scale without heavy sales teams, relying instead on seamless product experiences and customer success.
💼 Remote Work, Unique Team Dynamics, and Parting Ways
Ollie and Wilson built Senja entirely remotely, never meeting in person due to logistical challenges — Wilson is based in Nigeria, while Ollie lives a nomadic lifestyle. Their collaboration thrived on asynchronous communication tools like Linear (for task management) and avoided Slack and recurring meetings.
Recently, Ollie shared that he will be buying out Wilson’s share as Wilson, just 21 years old, wants to explore new projects. Ollie plans to continue scaling Senja, aiming to grow it significantly in the coming year.
💡 Doubling Down on What Works: Marketing Experiments and Hiring Experts
Between years one and two, Senja grew from $1,000 to $20,000 MRR by focusing on their niche audience and doubling down on marketing channels that showed promise:
- Google Ads
- Sponsorships
- Affiliate partnerships with newsletter owners targeting course creators
- SEO and content marketing tailored to professional creators
- Strategic integrations with platforms like Podia and Kit
Ollie emphasizes the importance of experimentation and being willing to cut what doesn’t work while pushing successful tactics harder. When hiring fractional experts, Senja now applies strict criteria, requiring adherence to their processes (no Slack, must use Linear, etc.) and proven case studies to avoid costly mistakes.
🤖 Using AI to Accelerate Experimentation
While Senja doesn’t use AI to write code or deploy features, Ollie leverages AI to speed up idea validation and communication with customers. For example, he can create clickable wireframes in 20 minutes to confirm customer requests — a fast iteration method that keeps development aligned with user needs.
🎥 How to Collect Authentic Testimonials
Collecting testimonials can be daunting, but Ollie shares practical tips based on Senja’s experience:
- Ask at the right time: Usually after a positive signal, like a successful support interaction or a customer upgrading to a paid plan.
- Make the ask personal: Send the request as the founder or creator, not an anonymous company email.
- Be transparent: Clearly explain where and how the testimonial will be used and give customers control over usage.
- Offer an incentive: For example, a free month in exchange for a video testimonial, regardless of positive or negative feedback.
- Always thank customers: A genuine thank-you goes a long way to building advocacy.
Ollie highlights that testimonials are powerful across all marketing channels — landing pages, email lists, social media, and funnels — and can massively boost revenue and trust.
📚 Tools, Communities, and Resources That Support Growth
Ollie keeps his tech stack lean but effective. Senja uses:
- Linear: The single source of truth for all tasks and project management.
- Notion: For knowledge management and documentation.
Beyond tools, Ollie credits communities like Dynamite Circle and MicroConf as essential for emotional support, resilience, and connection. These conferences and groups energize him and provide ongoing motivation.
He also mentions Rob Walling and his SaaS Playbook as a foundational resource that made him feel seen and supported during his entrepreneurial journey.
🎯 Final Wisdom: Know Yourself to Grow Your Business
Ollie’s parting advice is to spend intentional time reflecting on your values, identity, and what matters most to you. This clarity will simplify business decisions and align your efforts with your authentic self.
“Every single business decision from that point on will become easier.”
Though it may feel “wishy-washy” at first, this exercise grounds your entrepreneurial journey in meaningful purpose, making the hard days more manageable.
📌 FAQ
What is a productized service, and how did Ollie use it to make $300K?
A productized service offers a standardized, repeatable service at a fixed price. Ollie’s “Roast My Landing Page” was a productized service where he charged $350 for a personalized website critique video, generating around $300K over two years.
How did Ollie and Wilson build Senja without meeting in person?
They met on Twitter and collaborated entirely remotely, using tools like Linear for task management and avoiding Slack and regular meetings. Despite never meeting in person, they built a successful SaaS business together.
What is product-led growth, according to Ollie?
It’s a culture where the product itself drives customer acquisition, activation, retention, and advocacy across the entire customer lifecycle without relying on heavy sales teams.
How can new founders find their first 100 customers?
Ollie advises going super niche with your buyer persona, even if it means targeting just a handful of people initially. Experiment with different marketing channels and be patient — there is no single playbook.
What are the best ways to collect testimonials?
Ask at the right time, make the request personal and transparent, offer incentives without biasing feedback, and always thank your customers sincerely.
What tools and communities does Ollie recommend?
Use robust tools like Linear and Notion. Join supportive communities such as Dynamite Circle and MicroConf for emotional and tactical support.
Connect with Ollie and Explore Senja
If you want to follow Ollie’s journey or learn more about Senja, check out:
