Wrapping up 2024

I wanna take the opportunity in this last post of the year to wrap it up, thank a bunch of people, and give some insights into what’s gonna happen next year.

Some milestones first

• On Jan 1st 2024, after being live for less than 4 months, Herodesk had an MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) of €327. The budget was to 16.5x that and reach €5.400 by the end of 2024. With 11 days left of the year, we’re at €5.212 !! So regardless of whether we get the last <200, I’m super satisfied, grateful and just so happy about this result.
• More than 100 features and improvements have been released, including our live chat, AI-powered translation features, the rules engine, a brand new app design, our smartphone app, 15 e-commerce integrations, and much, much more.
• We built warehouse management integrations that the world has never seen before. When a customer writes to support and asks to change/cancel an order, the order is automatically stopped from being sent to the customer. This saves e-commercers huge amounts of money by avoiding returns and complaints.
• I held more than 200 presentations with leads throughout the year. Obviously, not all of them became customers, but it’s an incredible learning experience to talk to so many different people and hear them tell about what they need and why.
• We got our first full-time employee in November when Sara joined us.
• We implemented a reverse free trial on Herodesk, so new signups get the Plus package on a 14-day free trial before deciding whether to pay up and continue on that plan or downgrade to the Free plan. I have huge expectations for this and its impact on our free-to-paid conversion rate.
• I have assembled an advisory board with four of the smartest people I know. We’ll have our first meeting at the beginning of January - more on this later.
• I’ve posted 25 editions of the Square One newsletter on LinkedIn, one every 2nd Friday throughout the year, and I have grown my LinkedIn network by more than 3.000 new connections. (that’s a personal accomplishment, but still important to me)
• We’ve set a foundation for 2025. We have designed and implemented a “how we work” that includes everything from core values to monthly/weekly ceremonies and daily processes. A super strong internal project management tool to keep track of everything, automated systems and processes, and everything in between. This foundation ensures we’ll be capable of reaching our 2025 goals.

2025 insights

• We aim to 5x the business and end 2025 with €25.000 MRR. As one of my friends said: It’s ambitious (read: really, really ambitious) but realistic.
• We will become cashflow positive.
• We will double down on “the good customer experience”. This applies to both our customers and their customers. Herodesk should be a tool that helps facilitate great customer service.
• AI-powered suggested replies, chatbot, help centre/faq, enhanced e-commerce integrations, end-user self-service, proactive support, and best-in-class user experience. These are some of the keywords that will be used to describe the direction in which our product will go next year.
• Push even harder on outreach. We can see that our customers love our product, so we’ll double down on “getting out there” and tell as many people as possible about us.
• Fully utilise the skills and capabilities of our new advisory board to set and steer the direction of the business. I’m particularly excited about this one.
• Staying lean, bootstrapped and true to ourselves. Although we have big ambitions, it’s absolutely key to me that we stay true to our values and beliefs about how we will build and run Herodesk. It’s pointless if we end up in a setup we don’t like, so even though it requires us to say no to many things and opportunities, we must and will.

A special thanks to

• Jimmy Vejlemark for indispensable help and support throughout the year.
• Sara Hvidhjelm for believing in me, my vision and joining the team.
• My former colleagues at Dandomain for helping me find the first customers.
• The 110 paying customers at Herodesk.io for choosing us and supporting the business.
• The great SaaS network groups, driven by Malte Fanefjord , who are always available and ready to help.
• You and everyone else in my LinkedIn network for reading, sharing and interacting with this and my other posts.
• All the other people who, in one way or another, have taken some of their time to support, guide and help me. You’re too many to mention, but you know who you are!
• My friends and family, for your continuous help and unwavering support.
• And perhaps (no, definitely!) most important, my amazing wife, who once again has a rock-solid belief in me and supports me on this (what some have called “utterly crazy”) journey of, once again, starting from scratch and building a new company in the super competitive customer service platform industry -- all while preparing to give birth to our baby girl this January 💕

Thank you! ❤️

2024 was amazing. 2025 will be amazing. LET'S GO!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🥳