Meet Donato Callahan, a 24-year-old first-time founder who has turned his passion for real estate into a thriving business. His startup, BrightInvestor, is a real estate investment SaaS that now generates between $7 000 and $20 000 a month.
The secret to his success? Partnering with influencers on webinars and having the audacity to ask for what he needs. Here's Donato’s inspiring journey in his own words.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background?
Absolutely! I’m Donato Callahan, a founder of BrightInvestor, a real estate investment SaaS. Before diving into the startup world, I worked as a geospatial analyst for the Department of Defense. My transition from a government job to running a tech company has been quite the adventure, filled with many lessons and unexpected turns.
What inspired you to create BrightInvestor?
I’ve always had a passion for real estate investing, but I struggled to find good investment opportunities. The tools available weren't helping me minimize risks and maximize profits. When you’re starting out with limited funds, one mistake can be catastrophic. I realized there had to be a better way, so I decided to build my own solution. That’s how BrightInvestor was born.
How did you manage to build BrightInvestor while working a full-time job?
It was a hectic period. I worked from 6 AM to 4 PM at my day job, then spent my evenings and weekends on BrightInvestor. Balancing both was tough — I’d come home to dozens of missed calls, texts, and emails. Managing real estate investments, developing the SaaS, and raising capital was a lot to handle. But persistence paid off, and here we are today.
Can you share some insights on your journey to growing BrightInvestor’s revenue?
Sure! Our Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) ranges from $7K to $9K, with some months hitting over $20K. The fluctuation is mainly due to annual payments causing revenue spikes. One of our biggest months was driven by a co-hosted affiliate webinar with an industry influencer, which brought in over 50 paid sign-ups in a single night.
What are your thoughts on the “build fast, grow fast” mentality in the SaaS world?
I truly don’t understand the concept of “MVP in 4 weeks and grow!” I’m not a fan of the rush. We took our time building BrightInvestor’s MVP. Quality takes time. We used technologies like React.js and Vue.js and leveraged tools like ConvertKit, MeisterTask, Slack, and AWS to run our operations. Continuous iteration based on customer feedback has been crucial for us.
You mentioned the importance of having a great team. How did you build yours?
I haven’t written a single line of code for BrightInvestor. I came up with the idea and initial designs, then I shifted to project management and sales. Finding the right people was like dating. My co-founder and I spent months getting to know each other before starting the company. We still have monthly “co-founder dates” where we get in a car, drive around, share our dreams and goals and personal problems. Through that, we've become dedicated to each other's success.
The most important thing is to treat your team members as real people. Get to know their families, their challenges, and what matters to them. When you show that you care, they'll feel a stronger connection and commitment to their work. Our team includes developers, a sales manager, a marketer, and more, all working as contractors due to the nature of our work.
You’ve talked about the power of audacity. Can you give an example?
Definitely. When we needed data licensing, the fees were too high. So, I negotiated a custom deal. I contacted the company and said something like, "We plan to work with you for a long time, and you'll earn a lot from us in the future. But right now, the data licensing fees are too high for us as a new company. Could you give us the first three months for free to get started, then three months at $500 per month, followed by three months at $1 000 per month, and then $2 000 per month for the rest of a two-year contract? If we can't do this, it won't work for us." It worked! I’ve done this multiple times. The key is to ask for what you need confidently.
What growth strategies have been most effective for BrightInvestor?
Expert partnerships and webinars have been our primary growth channels.
Co-hosted affiliate webinars have been incredibly successful for us. We usually convert 25-40% of our webinar attendees into paying customers. Our best webinar so far had 500 registrants, 150 attendees, and about 50 conversions to paid users. The key to this success was partnering with a well-known influencer in our industry, which shows how crucial it is to choose the right partners.
To make this work, you need to understand your partner’s goals and their audience. Ensure your partner will actively promote the event through their channels, and you should promote it yourself at least two weeks in advance. There have been times when someone with a large following forgot to promote the event, and only a few people showed up.
For the webinars, we provide a free presentation on real estate market research and tips for finding good deals. We then demonstrate how our product simplifies the process. We offer a special discount to our partner’s audience for signing up that day and send follow-up emails with a recording of the webinar. Our partners receive a 10% commission on any sales generated.
We also use Google Ads, and while they’re still new for us, our click-through rate is promising (15-25%). Finding a good agency to manage your ads and being patient with the process is vital.
How have you managed to reduce churn and improve user retention?
Reducing churn has been about improving usability and listening to our customers. We fixed bugs, redesigned the UI, and added a “speed mode” feature that simplifies the user process. By making the product easier to use and continuously adding features our users want, we’ve reduced churn from 22% to 6.5% in about 5 months.
Donato, you've built a strong reputation with BrightInvestor. How do you keep your customers so satisfied and engaged?
It's all about genuinely caring for our customers. If our product doesn’t solve their problem, we refund them. We create valuable content for our partners, invite users to give us brutally honest feedback, and truly listen to their experiences. This has earned us a stellar reputation and incredible feedback. Customers often volunteer their time to help us improve because they feel like a part of the company.
We've spent over 100 hours on the phone with power users, which has completely shifted our company’s direction. One key lesson was realizing that what people say they want and what they actually need can be very different. So, I focus on understanding their processes. By learning how they work, I can see what they truly need and tailor our product to fit seamlessly into their workflow.
Can you talk about raising capital for your SaaS?
We’ve raised over $350K from friends, family, colleagues, and even some customers. Building trust was essential. My initial investors were my family members who believed in me, followed by my friends who had seen my reliability in other projects. As our product grew, people started approaching us to invest.
Raising money becomes much easier when you’ve built a foundation of trust. It’s all about constantly networking and providing value to people beyond just your business. By building genuine relationships, I was able to invite others to join our journey, share our plans, and discuss how they could benefit. Without that trust, every time I asked someone I didn’t know well, the answer was always “no.”
What advice would you give to aspiring SaaS founders?
Building a SaaS is a season of sacrifice. You need to be dedicated and surround yourself with people who share your vision or support you in other ways. Always aim to build your business to sell — it keeps you organized and focused. And don’t be afraid to ask for what you need, no matter how audacious it might seem.
What’s next for BrightInvestor?
We aim to reach an ARR of $10M to $25M and eventually sell the company at a valuation of $100M to $300M. It’s an ambitious goal, but with the right team and strategies, I believe we can achieve it.
Conclusion
Donato Callahan's journey from a geospatial analyst to the founder of a thriving SaaS company is truly inspiring. By forming strategic partnerships, continuously improving based on user feedback, and always focusing on quality, Donato has created a powerful SaaS platform that supports real estate investors. BrightInvestor's impressive monthly revenue and low churn rate show just how effective a well-crafted SaaS model can be. As BrightInvestor continues to scale, Donato’s story serves as an inspiration for SaaS founders aiming to turn their vision into a profitable reality. Curious to know more about Donato? Head over to his website!
