Stefan Smulders Profile picture
SaaS Bootstrapper of the year 2024 🥇| Winner Tekpon Awards🏆 Scaling @expandi_io to $10M ARR. Tweets on LinkedIn growth, lead gen and startups.
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Nov 21 13 tweets 4 min read
This is Dr. David Sinclair.

The professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.

He spent decades researching the science behind anti-aging protocols & longevity.

Here's a breakdown of his top 5 findings that will help you live longer (🧵) Image 1. Intermittent fasting:

Limiting your eating to an 8-hour window activates autophagy.

It's your body’s natural process of cleaning out damaged cells.

Stick with it and it works like magic against:

- Diabetes
- Dementia
- Multiple heart diseases

This is what he has to say:
Nov 7 14 tweets 5 min read
Japan has the world's highest life expectancy & lowest obesity rate.

People live till 84 years and are way fitter than in other countries.

I spent 36+ hours researching the Japanese diet.

A breakdown of why thier diet is healthy:

[ A THREAD 🧵 ] Image 1./ Balanced, Nutrient-Rich Meals:

The Japanese diet prioritizes balance over quantity.

Meals are structured around nutrient-rich, fresh ingredients, mainly vegetables, rice, fish, and tofu.

Fats = Minimal

Protein → Mostly from fish—a lean, heart-healthy source. Image
Oct 23 15 tweets 5 min read
This is Dr. Peter Attia.

A genius who cracked the science behind longevity.

He's dedicated his life to uncovering how humans can live over 100+ years.

Here are his top 5 habits from Attia that will keep you young and disease-free forever🧵 Image Attia's journey isn't about death—it's about decline.

As per him, we can prevent decline through:

- Aggressive combination of exercise
- Lifestyle (nutrition/sleep)
- Elements from personalized health care — he calls this Medicine 3.0

Let's get down to it 👇 Image
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Oct 17 12 tweets 4 min read
Pavel Durov is the billionaire founder of Telegram.

He was in the news because he was arrested last month in Paris.

But at 40 years old, he seems to have cracked the code to bio-hacking.

Let's breakdown his Top 6 fitness principles.

[ A THREAD🧵] Image Durov is a discipline addict.

For 15 years, he's stuck to a strict health routine. At that time, he founded:

—Telegram, now worth $15 billion+
—Vkontakte is a leading Russian social network.

And there are a lot of things going on currently with him, but I want to talk about the 7 insane health principles 👇Image
Sep 24 14 tweets 5 min read
My SaaS makes $9M ARR.

We have come a long way in 4 years.

> no VC funding
> no crazy marketing

I am giving away my SaaS learnings today.

Here are 5 mistakes SaaS startups make (and how successful companies avoid them) 🧵 Image 1./ Launching too Late

“If you're not embarrassed by your first product version, you've launched too late.” — Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder

DON'T TRY TO BUILD A PERFECT PRODUCT.

Get your MVP out there.

Ship Fast → Get Feedback → Iterate Faster
Jul 30 15 tweets 6 min read
Meet Dylan Field.

He built a $12.5B design startup that shook the design world.

A college dropout who seized the Thiel Fellowship to build his startup idea from 0 to 1.

Here's the story of Figma (🧵) Image Figma rose to the top with its launch in 2016 becoming the go-to platform for product designers.

- 4M+ users
- 1K+ employees
- $600M ARR

Yet, the journey of building the billion-dollar startup was MESSY.

Let's dive👇 Image
Jul 18 14 tweets 4 min read
My startup didn't earn a single dollar for 14 months.

Now we do $9M ARR.

I'll be honest, entrepreneurship is all about mindset.

Here are 7 mental barriers that stop you from building a startup—and how to crush them (🧵) Image 1./ Fear of Uncertainty

Uncertainty → Resistance → Inaction → STAGNATION

We avoid what feels unfamiliar.
This stifles GROWTH.

Uncertainty comes from fear of the unknown—be it fear of failure or success.

Moving out of comfort zone = Growth Image
Jul 9 13 tweets 4 min read
This is celebrity podcaster Dr. Rhonda Patrick.

She's dedicated 10+ years to longevity & nutritional science.

Steal these 5 hacks that can extend your lifespan by 20+ years.

(🧵👇) Image Dr. Rhonda Patrick is an A-list global speaker and consultant.

On her podcast - FoundMyFitness - she brings TOP doctors & health experts to share science-backed tips for a longer life. Image
Jun 2 16 tweets 6 min read
I built a $7M ARR company without sacrificing health.

Don't overlook fitness.

You can reduce your biological age without blowing $1M/year like Bryan Johnson.

Here's how I transformed at the age of 39👇 Image In the last 3-4 years, I have been working on scaling my company to $10M ARR.

To be honest, it's hectic as hell. But I know the value of fitness — didn't sideline it.

Your health affects your happiness.
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May 20 19 tweets 5 min read
2022: I was terrified to speak on stage.

2024: I give interviews, podcasts & speeches monthly.

Public speaking is a $1M skill.

Here’s how I mastered this skill in 6 months (🧵) Image This was my first keynote in 2022.

It wasn't good. Couldn't make eye contact with such a big audience, forget retaining their attention.

This was despite doing $6.5M in ARR and having 10k customers in my company.

I could feel I needed a LOT of work. Image
Oct 2, 2023 10 tweets 3 min read
The easiest way to get new clients?

Sending a simple email.

But most do it the wrong way.

Here's how to land your first clients with email:

🔖 Templates inside - Bookmark this thread Here's everything you need before sending cold emails:

↳ Warmed-up email address
↳ List of your ideal customer persona emails
↳ An offer

Then, your email should follow this structure:
Sep 21, 2023 8 tweets 2 min read
I've been posting on LinkedIn daily for 9 months.

But before that I've used the platform for over 5 years.

I've learned a thing or two about what you should and shouldn't do.

Here's a list of "Dos" and "Don'ts": 1. (Don't) write meaningless content

Posting for the sake of posting is never a good idea.

My average post gets 30-50 likes
My good posts gets 100 likes
My viral posts gets 2,000 likes

My empty posts can't even cross 10 likes.

Lesson in there.
Aug 18, 2023 10 tweets 2 min read
I've created 100s of campaigns for my business.

Booked 1000s of calls.

Now I'm leveraging AI to do it even after.

Here are 7 ChatGPT prompt for lead generation: 1. Identifying buyer personas for cold outreach

✍️ Prompt to identify ICP:

I'm selling a {solution} that helps people achieve {benefifits/outcome}. Give me 5 buyer personas I should target in my cold
outreach.
Jul 10, 2023 12 tweets 4 min read
LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Twitter.

But most people don't know how to use the platform.

I've used it to:

• Grow a 12,000 audience
• Get invited to 10+ podcasts
• Generate 1,000 demo calls for my startup

Here's everything you need to know 🧵 1. Profile

Your profile page acts as your landing page.

It tells people:

- Who you are
- What you do
- What you can do for them

I use it as a way to get more leads (notice that link to my free eBook)

Make sure your profile has a:

- high-quality picture
- Nice banner Image
Jun 29, 2023 12 tweets 4 min read
LinkedIn has 310 million active users.

But 99% of people never post any content.

If you want to stand out...

Steal these 10 frameworks from LinkedIn top creators 🧵 1) Storytelling

Storytelling is huge on Twitter.

It's no different on LinkedIn.

People love stories.

Combine it with a strong hook and an image that stands out and you'll get anyone's attention.
Jun 25, 2023 10 tweets 2 min read
In 2019 I had an idea 💡

4 years later, that idea transformed into a SaaS startup doing $600,000 a month.

The crazy part?

I have never written a line of code.

Here's the wild story behind it:

>> A THREAD <<

(free bonus at the end) The day is the 14th of January 2019.

My co-founder made the first commit in our git repository.

We felt scared.

But hopeful.

At the time it was just me, him and a handful of developers.
May 5, 2023 9 tweets 3 min read
Expandi grew to $7M ARR without paid ads.

That means we were FORCED to get GREAT at organic marketing.

These 7 things were crucial for our growth: 1. Create content

Creating content isn't easy.

But it pays off over time.

I've built an audience on the platforms where my audience hangs out.

That makes it easier for them to find out about our solutions.
Feb 21, 2023 9 tweets 3 min read
LinkedIn recently launched "Focused Inbox".

While this help users find important messages.

It will blow out of the water any spam-looking outreach.

Use these 7 techniques if you want your cold DMs to land in your prospect's Focused Inbox: 1. Show your relevance

✅ Authentic messages
✅ Be in the same group as your prospects
✅ Reach out to people who attended a given event
✅ Reach out over relevant content they've engaged with.
Dec 9, 2022 12 tweets 5 min read
LinkedIn has 134M daily users.

I bet less than 1% know about all these 10 powerful features... 1. Providing Services

You can add the services you're offering to your profile.

Do this to enable it:

1) Visit your profile
2) Click on "Open to" and then "Providing Services"
3) Now just fill in the form Image
Nov 17, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
My SaaS company grew from 0 to $7M/year in under 3 years.

One crucial aspect?

Our website visits to free trial conversions.

Steal our 5 strategies for your business: 1. 7-day free trial

This one is a no-brainer.

If you run a SaaS, there's little to no reason to not do something like this.

If you have great software, people will want to pay for it after trying it.
Oct 31, 2022 13 tweets 4 min read
LinkedIn is the most underrated platform for content creators.

That might also make it the easiest to stand out.

Use these 10 proven content frameworks from the top LinkedIn creators: 1) Storytelling

Storytelling is huge on Twitter.

It's no different on LinkedIn.

People love stories.

Combine it with a strong hook and an image that stands out and you'll get anyone's attention. Image