Chrome Ext To 7-figure ARR Bootstrapped SaaS Company

Zach Murray is the founder of Foreplay, a B2B SaaS product that helps creative teams save ads, build briefs and produce high-converting Facebook & TikTok ads at scale.

I recently had a chat with him about all things SaaS and growth. You can watch the full video on YouTube below. I’ve included some of the things we discussed below the video.

What is the background story of Foreplay?

Foreplay began as a simple Chrome extension to save ads. Over time, it evolved into a go-to platform for performance and creative teams running digital ad campaigns. Today, Foreplay includes features like ad creative inspiration, swipe files, mood boards, a community feed, briefs, and a powerful spy tool for Facebook ads. We aim to centralize the efforts of performance and creative teams, helping them produce more effective ad campaigns.

What were you doing before founding Foreplay?

Before Foreplay, I was all over the place with creative and business pursuits. I started in design and even thought I wanted to be a documentary filmmaker. But I also loved business, so I dropped out of university and started working on creative projects like websites and video production. Eventually, I built a motion design agency focused on software companies. Later, I got into dropshipping and performance marketing, which directly influenced the creation of Foreplay. This mix of creativity and business really set the stage for building a software product aimed at boosting ad performance.

As a creative person, how did you build a software product?

I've always loved software and how it can transform productivity and creativity. I started by designing the whole app in Figma, going through several versions before the initial version was ready. The first version was developed by a freelancer I found on Upwork. After some initial hiccups, I connected with our lead developer who helped bring the vision to life. My passion for software and its ability to help users create and earn significantly pushed me to dive into software development.

How did you acquire your first customers for Foreplay?

Our first customer was a friend who needed a basic app for saving ads. To reach more people, I used direct outreach on Twitter, even though I had a small following. I also wrote an SEO-friendly blog post about saving ads from the Facebook ad library, which started ranking well and driving traffic to our site. Over time, these efforts, combined with organic search results and visibility on the Chrome Web Store, helped us get more customers without relying heavily on paid ads.

What was the timeline from launching Foreplay to gaining traction?

It took about eight to nine months before we started seeing a steady flow of new customers daily. The first year was crucial for building our presence and credibility. The turning point came when customers started referring others, creating a flywheel effect. This organic growth showed that we were moving from a startup to a real business, able to attract and keep customers without direct outreach.

Why did you choose to bootstrap instead of raising venture capital?

At first, I wanted to build a sustainable business that could support me without needing external money. As we became profitable and grew, I saw the benefits of staying bootstrapped. It allowed us to make better decisions without the pressure from investors. While raising venture capital is always an option, I like the freedom and control that bootstrapping gives us. It lets us focus on long-term health and growth over short-term gains.

How has Foreplay mostly grown, and what are the main channels for acquiring customers?

Word of mouth has been our main growth driver, supported by strong SEO efforts and a little paid advertising. Partnerships, especially with agencies and publishers, have also helped. We're now exploring direct sales and other creative marketing strategies to keep scaling. Our growth strategy is all about having a great product that people naturally talk about and share.

What is your team structure, and how do you manage growth?

Our team has 11 people, with the core product team in Toronto. I handle most of the public-facing marketing and product tasks, but we're building a go-to-market team to help us grow more effectively. Balancing product development and marketing is challenging, but we're committed to investing in the right areas to keep our momentum going.

Why do you prefer having an in-office product team?

Having the product team in the office boosts collaboration and productivity. There are challenges, like occasional distractions and hiring limitations, but the benefits of face-to-face interactions and a cohesive work environment are worth it. This setup matches my vision for a startup and is backed by favorable conditions for hiring local talent in Canada. Plus, Canadian research and development tax grants make it smart to hire local developers.

What is your current focus and priority?

Right now, I'm focused on launching a big marketing campaign and developing a new version of our spider tool. This tool will help us expand into new markets and potentially become a major data company in the advertising analytics space. The new product will offer more valuable insights and keep us competitive. We're also working on creative marketing strategies to boost our visibility and user acquisition.

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