Elevate Golf. November 2013 to September 2016. Partner and CTO.
Two websites for a stake. Three years later, a 300-client company.
Elevate Golf was a small golf marketing shop in Greenville, South Carolina. I came in to build its first two websites for a 5% stake. Two years later it merged with Golf Web Design and AO Studios, and I was CTO and a 25.5% partner in a company serving more than 300 golf courses, PGA pros, and golf businesses.
The work.
Each slot is labeled with the asset that goes in it.
The results
- Went from building two golf websites for a 5% stake in Elevate Golf (November 2013) to CTO by January 2014.
- Merged Elevate Golf with Golf Web Design and AO Studios in January 2016, and came out of it as CTO with a 25.5% stake in the combined company.
- Brought about 50 clients into the merger: about 20 from Elevate Golf, 16 of them through Brown Golf Management's courses, and about 30 from my own agency, Any Color You Like.
- Golf Web Design had more than 200 clients going into the merger. By September 2016 the combined company had passed 300, onboarding about 10 new website clients a month.
- Sold every site on a flat monthly plan with unlimited support: $99 a month for golf pros and from $300 a month for golf courses.
The starting point
In late 2013 Elevate Golf was a small idea with a few relationships in the golf industry. It pitched golf courses on marketing built for younger, mobile-first golfers, but it had no websites and nobody to run the technology. I offered to build its first two golf sites for 5% of the business plus pay. Those two sites earned me the CTO title by January 2014.
What I built
Elevate Golf, 2014 to 2015.
I built and ran the websites and technology for every Elevate Golf client. Our anchor account was Brown Golf Management, a golf course management company that brought about 16 of its courses to us. We also built the brand and website for Bryan Bros Golf, the trick-shot golfers, and served as their marketing team.
The merged company, 2016.
Golf Web Design already had more than 200 golf clients. Elevate Golf brought about 20 and my agency brought about 30. After the merger I owned every website, new and existing, all customer support, and the social media and campaign strategy for every client. We ran an aggressive outreach push through cold calls, email, and a referral campaign, and onboarded about 10 new website clients a month.
Flat pricing with unlimited support
This is the part that stuck with me. Golf pros paid $99 a month for a website and support. Golf courses started at $300 a month with unlimited support. No big build fee, and no hourly bill for every small change.
Most marketing agencies charge a high price up front, then lock clients into an expensive retainer or bill hourly for every little thing. Flat pricing made a professional website affordable for a club pro. Unlimited support gave clients peace of mind that they could always make a change or get help when they needed it.
Flat rate, unlimited support, simple, easy, and affordable. That's the lesson I took from Elevate Golf, and it's how I price websites today.
How it ended
I left in September 2016. I handed my equity in the merged company back and took the clients my agency had brought in with me, under a written agreement the company confirmed that month. Golf Web Design is still running today and still builds sites for golf courses and PGA pros.
My role.
Partner and CTO. At Elevate Golf I built the websites and ran the technology from November 2013. After the January 2016 merger I held a 25.5% stake and owned every website, all customer support, and social media and campaign strategy for every client in the combined company.
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