Coconote · B2C · AI note-taker for students
Hire an investment bank to run the sale so you keep building
Sold to Quizlet ~18 months after launch; bank ran it end to end
Workedexit-ma
What they did
Strategic acquirers emailed from when Coconote was a couple of months old; they took calls with companies they respected and pushed for a ballpark price range after a couple of conversations rather than investing heavily. Once they committed to selling, they hired a bank (Chris Park at Accretive Partners) that handled outreach and conversations through closing, so the lean team kept talking to customers, building and marketing.
What happened
Acquired by Quizlet about 18 months after launch; both founders stayed
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Brett Bauman & Zack Hargett - COPY this ai app's $6.7m/yr marketing strategy“if you are a founder on a really lean team, consider going through an investment bank, if you if you commit to selling and and finding a home for your company”
“we worked with uh someone named Chris Park at Accretive Partners and he was really awesome. Um, and he uh handled things like that end to end, having early conversations all the way through to the end of closing the deal with with Quizlet.”
“after a couple conversations, I would recommend like trying to get them to give you like a ballpark range of numbers to make sure you're that you're even in the right place”
Related topics
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More from Coconote
All 31 Coconote tactics- When people cancel, offer 7 more free days instead of a discountSaved 25% of cancellers; beat a 30% discount and a 3-month pause
- Double onboarding to ~15 screens with more questions and social proof+16% trial starts
- Ask people to log in after the paywall, not on the first screenBiggest onboarding win; removed ~10% drop-off
- Charge students $99/year and push the annual plan~80% chose annual
- Launch a viral 'PDF to brain rot video' side site to funnel users~41M views on one video, but no paying users; shut down
- Raise the annual price from $99 to $129More users and more revenue at the same time
More from this episode
- Coconote: Build a novelty free tool (text to brainrot video) and push it on TikTok100-200M views and 3,000 trials in days, but only ~$25K revenue
- Coconote: Post short videos that show the app solving a real student problemSeveral ~20M-view videos, ~99% organic, converting far better than viral novelty content
- Coconote: Mix a known game (2048) with studying and promote a catchy URL in videosOne video reached ~2M views; no conversion numbers
- Coconote: Build hidden app screens only creators use, made to look good on cameraUsed in the 18M-view video; no separate numbers
- Coconote: Keep a small team of 10-12 part-time creators, led by a proven oneLead creator drove hundreds of millions of views; founders say it worked
- Coconote: Recruit creators who aren't influencers via Handshake, DMs, email and referralsA Spanish tutor with no content experience became a top creator in 9 months
- Coconote: Double onboarding from 5 to about 13 screens in one big changeTrial conversion up 16%; one-or-two-screen tests had only given small wins
- Coconote: Let people pay before creating an account; move login after the paywallFounder calls it significant; no separate number
- Coconote: Let users record a whole lecture before asking them to payCalled a big win; no number given
- Coconote: Put a little ad money behind organic videos that already went viralNot much success; ~99% of views stayed organic
- Coconote: Pitch the app as great for ADHD in videos and the first App Store screenshotUsers say it helps their ADHD; no numbers
- Coconote: When trial users cancel, offer them 7 more free daysKeeps 27% of cancellers in their trial; a smaller share later pay
- Coconote: Hire engineers who can also do backend or a second platformSmall engineering team ships a lot; with 50%+ EBITDA margins
- Crew: Post creator-style TikToks and Reels to drive app signupsHundreds of thousands of signups for an earlier app
- Coconote: Track each creator's results with a dedicated tool (viral.app)Only one of 5-6 tools tried that worked for them