Lloyed Lobo is the co-founder and former president of Boast.ai, a leading platform to help software companies in the US and Canada redeem available government tax credits. Technology-powered Boast.ai was launched in 2017 after starting a services business in 2012 that helped larger company administer their R&D tax credits.
Boast.ai bootstrapped their growth to $10 million ARR before taking an investment from Radian Capital that also allowed Lloyed and his cofounder to cash out some of their equity for life-changing cash payouts. Their growth was fueled by the active startup community they built called Traction.
Lloyed faced many challenges as an immigrant, startup adventurer, frugal entrepreneur, and hyperactive community builder. He also struggled after the investment when he finally had monetary wealth and experienced depression. With the support of his family and therapy, he moved forward to prioritize his health and family and limit his startup addiction.
After leaving Boast, Lloyed has been writing a book titled, “From Grassroots to Greatness – 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with Community-Led Growth,” releasing on September 12, 2023. SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin wrote the foreword for the book. Learn more about community-led growth and this book at LloyedLobo.com or FromGrassrootsToGreatness.com.
Best quote from Lloyed:
“I became depressed after I got the money and eventually left the company. I was too emotionally attached to it, which is a learning I had to go through. And it was also haunting me that being in the Bay Area, all my neighbors are founders, VCs, or big tech executives.
“They all asked me. ” When are you going to do the next big one? An exit is never enough. I call it “unicorn porn.” The media has perpetuated this addiction to unicorn porn. We all hear about the rare unicorns, but in reality, the world is run by camels, horses, and donkeys.
“So I was going crazy. And my wife who is a doctor told me to see a therapist. I did see a therapist and now I’m in a great spot. Demons were just my demons. Whatever. And that helped me get to my current happy phase and prioritize my family and my health for the first time.”
In this episode, Lloyed explains:
- How Boast was created starting as a services solution that transitioned to an automated product over years
- Why they stayed away from raising funding at first, then sold a piece of the company to a growth equity partner after they had grown to $10M ARR
- How their active Traction community was a key part of their efficient growth formula
- How Lloyed’s’ immigrant parents and professional wife perceived his startup experiments and then his windfall partial exit
- Why he and his cofounder took growth equity capital to take money off the table and find a new CEO
- How growth equity investors are different than private equity and venture capital investors
- How his life-threatening COVID experience finally changed his addition to work to focus on his family and his health with the help of a therapist
