How $5K and a little grit led to an MVP that did $150K in transactions in three months

“Nick helped me realize it didn’t need to be perfect. It just needed to be done on some level in order to test. To put a ton of money into a more robust platform early on would have been a waste, because I don't think we would have been building the same product a year from now. Nick pushed for a manual, down and dirty, functional MVP, and that’s what we ended up doing.”

• $150K of transactions in the first three months

• 3,000 people’s basic needs met (4,000 people funded)

• A functional MVP on track to help 10,000 people within one year

The founder

Michael Arriola-Jacobson is the co-founder of Stimulus, a social fundraising platform that connects people in need with people who can help. Stimulus is a platform focused on micro campaigns for needs costing no more than $750 — needs like safe cab rides for elderly Asian Americans; relief for people devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic in Truckee, California; and support for families who were displaced by severe weather in Texas. Stimulus doesn’t charge a platform fee. They want to make sure the money goes where it’s most needed.

The challenge

How to build an app with $5K, no time, and no team?

Michael wanted to help people meet their basic needs. He set out to create a social fundraising platform focused on micro campaigns: for people who needed no more than $750 to get back up on their feet after a crisis, take care of their families, or get home safe. His platform would collect no fees — he wanted the money to go to the people who needed it. But he knew it would take time, support, and an investment to execute his vision.

“I think ideas can be a dime a dozen,” says Michael. “Executing is where the challenges start to come in.”

He didn’t have $20K to invest, or the expertise to code a web app on his own. He also didn’t have a co-founder to bounce ideas off of, and wasn’t sure how to prioritize his long list of next steps.

“I was questioning the concept, I didn’t have the time, and I didn’t have a team,” Michael remembers. “I was battling with the decision to put other priorities aside to focus 100% on this project.”

He wanted to partner with someone who understood his vision and had the technical knowledge and startup experience to bring it to life. Oh, and he had a max budget of $5K.

“I think a lot of people, including myself, want to just see the shiny product out of the box that you could pay $10K or $20k to get done,” recalls Michael. But his product was still in the concept phase. “To spend all that money to not know if it was going to work would have been very risky.”

“I was questioning the concept, I didn’t have the time, and I didn’t have a team.”

The solution

Creating a manual, down and dirty, functional MVP

Michael connected with Tortoise Labs to get support on his project. Nick Rimsa, Tortoise Labs owner and product designer, quickly became a partner, a mentor, and a sounding board to work through functional challenges, goals, and priorities.

“Getting in touch with Nick allowed me to translate the concept into execution,” says Michael. “I think for me, I need an outside perspective. Everyone can have good ideas but they need to be challenged.”

Michael and Nick had daily meetings to talk about simple, small steps to take next. When Michael brought up the cost of building a web app, Nick pushed back and encouraged Michael to test the platform at a lower investment level first. Nick knew there was a way for Michael to build a test product manually before investing too much. They began a rapid prototyping process, and the product evolved quickly.

“Nick helped me realize it didn’t need to be perfect. It just needed to be done on some level in order to test,” says Michael. “To put a ton of money into a more robust platform early on would have been a waste. Nick pushed for a manual, down and dirty, functional MVP, and that’s what we ended up doing.”

As Nick built a website, Michael contributed website copy. Michael researched payment processing systems, and leaned on Nick’s experience to confidently make a decision. They worked together to align their priorities, complete tasks, and check in on their progress toward building the MVP.

“Anybody will build your product for you,” says Michael. “But Nick is somebody who's going to live your business with you, while giving you true feedback on what's working and what's not — the hard truths. And he does it all at a reasonable cost.”

Once they built the MVP, Michael recruited test users who gave feedback. A week later, they were ready to launch. Having a flexible launch date allowed them to test their product on a shorter timeline, without putting in extra work to design a robust launch plan.

“I wanted to get something done quickly. And something Nick helped me realize was that it didn’t need to be perfect. It just needed to be done on some level in order to test.”

The result

3,000 people’s basic needs met and $150K in transactions in the first three months

Once they launched, Stimulus started driving revenue within two days.

“We did almost $2,000 in transactions in the first month,” says Michael. “We had to close down one of our forms for recipients in the first week, because we were having too many people fill it out.”

Their platform did $150K in transactions in the first three months. More importantly, it funded 3,000 people’s basic needs: cab rides for Asian Americans as hate crimes were on the rise, support for people who were devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and relief for families who were displaced by severe storms in Texas.

“I would not have been able to turn this concept into an MVP at any budget above $5K,” says Michael. “Being able to build such an amazing MVP with that amount of money was huge to me.”

Michael’s product is still evolving, but it’s functional, and things are only looking up for Stimulus.

“The MVP allowed us to prove the concept,” says Michael. “And not only that, but to start to have serious conversations on a lot of different levels.”

Since launching, Michael has brought on a co-founder and team members. He is talking to strategic partners, investors, and accelerators. Most importantly, he’s on track to help more people. Stimulus is positioned to fund 10,000 people’s needs by the end of the year.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to help people,” says Michael. “The number one KPI that we're always looking at is how many people we have funded, and I think we're on the track to continue to do that.”

“In the first three months since we launched, we did $150,000 in transactions. At the end of the day, we’ve proved the concept and we’re helping people. The future of Stimulus is wide open.”

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