Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

How He Makes $40M/yr Renting Laptops for $50/Mo

Sevan Marian, co-founder/CEO of Paris-based Fleet (fleet.co, device-as-a-service for SMBs), bootstrapped from 2019 to ~40M annualized revenue and ~10M EBITDA. Customers rent laptops (~EUR 50/mo) on 24-36 month contracts that Fleet sells to banks for upfront cash (minus ~10%), so growth needs no working capital. Revenue fell to ~8M in 2023, then international expansion drove +60%/+90%. Feb 2026 LBO at ~100M valuation (~25% sold, ~40M incl. debt, all secondary); all employees could cash out 100%.

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8 tactics

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

Sell each 36-month laptop rental contract to a bank for cash on day one

Funded ~50,000 devices with no VC; bank keeps ~10%, carries customer credit risk

“the fact that it's a 36 months contract allow us to resell the contract to a bank, you know? And the bank will pay us up front for the total value of the contract.”

Workedfinancingpricing

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

Have suppliers ship laptops straight to customers; keep only a few spares for swaps

Almost no inventory risk; broken devices replaced instead of repaired

“We work and in like directly with suppliers. So, our suppliers uh delivers the client directly, you know? So, we don't have stock, inventory um risk also.”

Workedcustomer-supportfinancing

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

Buy laptops back cheaply when contracts end, refurbish them and resell

“we we we we buy back to the bank ourselves, Fleet, buy back the computer for like a very small amount of money. So, then we get back the computer at the end of the contract. We refurbish the computer, and we resell it to the to the secondary market.”

Unknownrevenue-capture

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

Rent laptops to startups for ~EUR 50 a month with warranty and software included

Product-market fit at launch; EUR 1.5M revenue in year one

“So, instead of uh you know instead of buying uh computer for €2,000, you will rent computer for €50 per month. This is what we do. And you have a whole service included, no?”

Workedpricingpositioning-niche

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

Sell a paid add-on to secure and remotely manage rented laptops

~EUR 1M ARR, a small slice of total revenue

“on top of of that, we sell uh we sell sub- cybersecurity uh solutions that allow you to to secure your device, to uh to remo- manage remotely your device, your softwares, and everything. It's called MDM, and this is a little part of our revenue. It's around 1 million ARR today.”

Workedupsell-expansion

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

After a bad year at home, put the effort into opening new countries

Grew 60% in 2024 and 90% in 2025; now in 20 countries

“at this time, we launched our first first outside uh country uh in 2022 was Spain. And we realized in 2023 that uh that our, you know, Spain was working well.”

Workedmarket-selection

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

Replace about half the leadership team when revenue drops

Growth returned the next year (+60%); many changes at once

“so, we had to, you know, we had to change uh I think almost half of the of the leadership team at this time, you know? And to rebuild a new uh you know, a new leadership team, a new strategy.”

Workedteam-process

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Fleet · B2B · laptop rental for companies

Let every employee sell all their shares in the buyout, then grant new ones

Employees cashed out several million euros; now a key recruiting story

“what makes sense, I think it's to allow everyone to cash out 100%, to make everyone happy, and then the one that stays, you you do a new equity plan for the next cycle. So, this is exactly what we did. It was very, very appreciated by the team.”

Workedteam-processfinancing

Top Founders with Nathan Latka · 2026-09-24

Numbers mentioned

Subject	Metric	Value	Quote
Fleet	revenue First-year revenue; Currency unstated in body; Paris company, guest quotes prices in EUR; title uses USD	EUR 1.5M/year approximate	“First year, we did uh 1.5 revenue.”
Fleet	revenue Second-year revenue	EUR 3M/year approximate	“Second year, um we do we did three.”
Fleet	revenue Post-COVID boom year; startup clients hiring heavily	EUR 8M/year approximate	“So, we went from three to eight in uh 2021.”
Fleet	revenue 'Stabilized' year	EUR 10M/year approximate	“I think it was 10 in 2022.”
Fleet	growth rate Guest's stated decline; his absolute figures (10M -> 8M) imply ~-20%	+-15%/year approximate	“And in 2023, uh we we decreased the revenue from 15%.”
Fleet	growth rate Host misheard the decline; guest corrected to 15%	+-50%/year estimate	“and then in 2023, you declined by 50%”
Fleet	revenue Host guess; guest corrected to ~8M	EUR 4M/year estimate	“Does that mean you went down to about 4 million of revenue in 2023?”
Fleet	revenue Downturn year; stayed profitable	EUR 8M/year approximate	“And then we went down to eight again in 2023.”
marketHiring across the startup/scale-up ecosystem (Fleet's customer base), 2023	growth rate	+-70% estimate	“I think the hiring uh in the ecosystem uh decreased by 70%, which is huge, no?”
Fleet	growth rate	+60%/year approximate	“we scaled a lot, no? So, we grew 60% year on year in 2024”
Fleet	growth rate	+90%/year approximate	“and then 90% near year on year in 2025, we see which is huge”
Fleet	growth rate	+40%/year estimate	“And this year, we I think we are around 40% growth year on year.”
Fleet	revenue Currency unstated in body; Paris company, guest quotes prices in EUR; title uses USD	EUR 40M/year approximate	“Our revenue is uh almost 40 million revenue annualized today.”
Fleet	revenue Revenue at time of the LBO	EUR 30M/year approximate	“And when we did uh the LBO, it was around 30 million.”
Fleet	profit EBITDA; profitable since the beginning	EUR 10M/year approximate	“we do almost uh like not far from 10 million EBITDA uh per year”
Fleet	margin EBITDA margin; host had offered 20% or 30-40%	25–30% approximate	“Between 25 to 30, it depends.”
Fleet	margin EBITDA margin today, lowered by hiring for next growth phase	25% estimate	“I think we are more around 25 today”
Fleet	margin Target EBITDA margin	30% goal	“the idea is to go to 30% uh as soon as possible”
Fleet	funding raised Host's figure for the LBO; guest later gives ~40M total (<30M equity + ~15M debt), all secondary	EUR 30M/one-time approximate	“When you did the 30 million raise earlier this year”
Fleet	funding raised Total LBO: secondary equity + bank debt, 100% paid out to founders/employees, none to balance sheet	EUR 40M/one-time approximate	“I think the total amount we cash out is uh almost 40 million.”
Fleet	funding raised Equity portion (upper bound; 'a little bit less than')	EUR 30M/one-time approximate	“Like a little bit less than 30 million in equity, almost 15 million in debt.”
Fleet	debt Bank debt portion of the LBO	EUR 15M/one-time approximate	“Like a little bit less than 30 million in equity, almost 15 million in debt.”
Fleet	share Equity share of the LBO (rest debt)	66.7% estimate	“Uh I think it was like 2/3 of equity and 1/3 of debt.”
Fleet	valuation LBO/secondary valuation	EUR 100M approximate	“Uh 100 million valuation.”
Fleet	ownership Minority stake taken by the LBO investor	25% approximate	“the investors they get uh, you know, uh 1/4 of the company, something like that, 25% of equity”
Fleet	share Share of their equity employees could sell in the LBO	100%	“when we did the LBO, uh we allow all our employees to cash out 100% of their equity”
Fleet	compensation Total employee cash-out in the LBO	several million euros approximate	“Um so, our employees cash out uh several million euros.”
Fleet	share New ESOP pool created after the LBO for the next cycle	5%	“The new pool is uh is a 5%, 5% pool.”
Fleet	valuation Target valuation within 5 years	EUR 300M–500M goal	“The idea is to go to almost I mean at least 300 million and maybe 500 million in the next 5 years.”
Fleet	team size	50–60 people approximate	“We are around uh 50, 50 to 60 people.”
Fleet	count Countries served, from France-only at launch	20 countries approximate	“Went from zero to 40 million revenue, from one country, France, to 20 countries today in Europe, but also in the US.”
Fleet	price Typical laptop rental incl. guarantee and SaaS; compare to ~EUR 2,000 purchase	EUR 50per device /month illustrative	“instead of buying uh computer for €2,000, you will rent computer for €50 per month”
Fleet	price Host's example for a MacBook Air 13 M3 rental	USD 59per device /month illustrative	“you're charging them $59 a month”
Fleet	acv Host's example: $59/mo x 36 months; guest confirmed bank pays this minus ~10%	USD 2,124per contract illustrative	“that's $2,124”
Fleet	count Contract length (24 or 36 months, paid monthly, no early exit)	24–36 months	“Our contract are uh are are 24 or 36 months contract.”
Fleet	cost Discount the bank takes when buying a rental contract upfront	10%per contract approximate	“So, they you know they take a 10% rate, you know?”
Fleet	count Devices financed via contracts sold to banks over ~7 years; host offered 30K or 100K	50K devices approximate	“Yeah, around 50 50,000, something like that. Yeah.”
Fleet	arr MDM / cybersecurity add-on	EUR 1M approximate	“It's called MDM, and this is a little part of our revenue. It's around 1 million ARR today.”
Fleet	share Share of leadership team replaced during the 2023 downturn	50% estimate	“I think almost half of the of the leadership team at this time”
Fleet	paying users Host outro; not stated by guest	thousands approximate	“They've done this over with over 50,000 devices and thousands of paying customers.”