Spreadsheets and projections no longer delight investors, making digital companies that dominate performance marketing and data gain another level of appreciation. It was exactly this path that Matheus Beirão It followed when founding the daily burning, a digital health and well-being platform that has already earned more than R$500 million without resorting to foreign capital.
Beirão led the company’s growth with a rare approach in Brazil: a Bootstrap model, where each real invested was supported by real results. “While many talked about valuation and rounds, we focused on CAC, LTV and Churn. We always knew how much a customer cost, how much he left it and how to maintain this healthy equation for years”, he says.
Predictable growth is the new ROI
According to a survey by the Brazilian Association of Startups (AbStartups), about 64% of angel investors and Early Stage funds consider the marketing model more relevant than the current billing when analyzing a business. Although Beirão never sought external funding, he notes that the interest of large groups in digital companies is increasingly linked to the solidity of acquisition strategies.
“Investors or strategic buyers want to see traction, not promises. Having a performance marketing strategy, based on real conversion and retention data, is worth more than any growth projection”, he points out.
Cases that sell more than projections
Presenting successful cases — such as campaigns that generate conversion spikes, partnerships with influencers that have resulted in new audiences, or the creation of a digital ecosystem of its own — has been decisive when it comes to arousing the interest of potential buyers.
In the case of daily burning, the company also internally developed its technological structure, with applications for smart TVs, payment systems and a data center and analytics. It was this set of elements that aroused the interest of SmartFit in 2020 in acquiring a relevant stake in the company. “What happened was an operation where they bought part of the company directly from me, an individual. It was not a contribution to the company, but a strategic acquisition based on the potential and differential of our marketing engine”, explains Beirão.
A new manual for those who build from scratch
The negotiation with SmartFit marked a turning point in the infoproducts sector. “He showed that it is possible to build a profitable and attractive business for large players without depending on external capital, as long as there is a self-sustainable, data-based growth system”, highlights Beirão, who currently works as an advisor and investor in companies interested in efficiently scaling.
For entrepreneurs who build business on the Bootstrap model, the message is clear: well-executed performance marketing, combined with data and consistency, can be better for the business than any investment round.
