When MustWin, LLC first launched, it was very much a laboratory for start-up veterans and first time founders, Mike Ihbe and Wil Everts. Today, the four year old web and mobile consultancy has changed its name to “Lovable Technology” in a quest to become “The Tech World’s Favorite Boutique Software Agency.”
“Must Win was literally just Mike and I for most of the first year, and one of us was on every project for at least two years. While the founders are important — if not the public faces — at any company, there was a feeling that Must Win had become limited as a brand because of this outsized early focus on us.”
— Wil Everts, Founder and Partner
Must Win launched with no funding in December of 2012, became profitable within 45 days, and never looked back. Within 4 years the company completed more than 80 projects (86% of which were on or under budget,) worked with more than half a dozen Fortune 500 companies, dozens of startups, and brought in more than $6 million in gross revenue. Today, the company employs up to 20 full-time and contract employees on as many as 8 projects at a time.
“Wil and I felt like we had spent the last four years earning real world MBAs. We had grown a lot as individuals and as a company, but our message hadn’t evolved. So, we asked ourselves, ‘If we were starting today, knowing what we know now, what would we do differently?’ Lovable Technology is just one aspect of that process, the veneer, but we went much deeper than that. It’s a journey.”
- Mike Ihbe, Founder and Partner
What’s Next for Lovable Technology?
The founding team, which owns 100% of the company, has high hopes for their “boutique” shop. After increasing revenue 300% and launching their first sales team over the last two years, they hope to reach the 8-figure annual revenue mark before the decade is out.
In the meantime they plan to spend more time engaging with and sharing this interesting stage of their company’s life with the community by documenting it more, creating videos, speaking at conferences and meetups, and sharing guides and resources they make along the way.
“We’re at this really cool stage for a company. We know our product and service are great. When we get in front of potential customers they buy. Once they’ve worked with us they come back. And, we know we can scale our team rapidly due to existing partnerships and past experience expanding the team on demand. At this point, it’s just a matter of throwing fuel on the fire. I’m excited to share more of that journey. It’s not all going to be sunny times, but when has it ever been?” -Wil
