Starter Story · 2026-03-04
Zero to $40K/Month With One Marketing Channel (No Social Media)
Miquel Palet built Late, a social media API for developers priced per connected account, and grew it to just over $40K MRR in about 7 months using only Google. Content targets bottom-of-funnel keywords (300-800 searches/month, low competition); pages that rank bring ~$8K MRR organically, and the same keywords run as Google search ads with a landing page per ad group, a $120 target CPA and continuous A/B tests: ~$8K/month spend, 2.5x ROAS, ~$15K MRR. He lays out a five-step Google playbook and CAC benchmarks.
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Numbers mentioned
| Who | Metric | Value | Context | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Late | mrr | USD 40K/month approximate | Just crossed | 2:04 |
| Late | mrr | USD 30K/month approximate | Figure given in his intro; superseded by 40K moments later | 1:12 |
| Late | time to milestone | 7 months approximate | Start to $40K MRR | 2:04 |
| Late | users | 50K signups approximate | Total sign-ups since launch | 2:31 |
| Late | paying users | 700 customers approximate | More than 700 paying users | 2:31 |
| Late | churn | less than 10% approximate | Period not stated | 2:31 |
| Late | mrr | USD 8,000/month approximate | MRR attributed to organic Google (SEO) | 7:39 |
| Late | mrr | USD 15K/month approximate | MRR attributed to Google search ads | 9:03 |
| Late | ad spend | USD 8,000/month approximate | Google search ads | 9:03 |
| Late | roas | 2.5 x approximate | Revenue per dollar of Google search ad spend | 9:03 |
| Late | cpa | USD 120per customer | Target CPA set in Google Ads automated bidding; their average CAC threshold | 8:39 |
| benchmarkHealthy CAC as a share of customer lifetime value (B2B SaaS, per Miquel) | cac | 20–40 % of LTV approximate | 12:50 | |
| benchmarkCAC ceiling as a share of a customer's first-year revenue (per Miquel) | cac | under 30% of first-year revenue approximate | 12:50 | |
| Ucpm | team size | 100 employees approximate | More than 100 employees today | 2:56 |