This founder got to $43K MRR in 11 months with $0 in Ad Spend.

While building his own personal brand, Collin Rutherford realized just how much time it took. So he built a system to streamline the process. It worked so well that he turned that process into a business.

Founder Brands was born. And in just 12 months, his team has helped clients generate over 45 million impressions and grow their followings by more than 12,400. They’ve scaled to $43K in monthly recurring revenue with a goal of hitting $100K, and they’ve done it all without spending a cent on ads.

I caught up with Collin to hear how he did it.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Collin Rutherford, owner of Founder Brands. We help entrepreneurs grow their businesses through their personal brands, specifically by creating high-performing content on X and LinkedIn.

2. What’s your backstory?

I went to Dartmouth College, played Division 1 hockey, and launched my first business called Greenbox Storage while still in school. We now operate at 18 colleges nationwide.

After building my own personal brand for a while, I realized how time-consuming it was, so I built a system to streamline it for myself. I realized how valuable it was, and then started offering it to other founders. That system became Founder Brands.

3. How did you get your first customer?

I already had a solid following on social media, so when I posted that I was launching this new service, the response was immediate. Five clients signed up within a few days.

The key was distribution. I didn’t have to cold pitch anyone because I’d been building trust and showing up consistently for a year.

4. What’s worked best for growth and retention?

We’ve never paid for a single customer. Every client has come from X, referrals, or LinkedIn (most coming from X).

For retention, it’s about setting expectations and showing ROI. Personal brands don’t grow overnight, so we have a 3-month minimum. But our north star is results. More leads, more deals, more growth.

5. How’s the business doing today?

We’ve grown from 0 to $43K MRR in 11 months. Our next goal is $100K.

In that time, we’ve driven 45 million impressions and helped clients gain over 12,400 followers. We’ve also scaled up to 25 clients and built out strong systems to support the volume.

6. Was there a moment it almost didn’t work?

Absolutely. In April, we dropped from eight clients to five. We were barely breaking even. I thought we might not make payroll.

But we stuck with it. We built stronger systems, doubled down on client results, and started sharing those wins online. That social proof turned into a flood of new leads.

Then July hit, and things turned around. We started signing clients like crazy and eventually 5x’ed our previous client count.

7. What do people misunderstand about your industry?

Some people think it’s inauthentic to outsource your personal brand. That’s wrong.

We do a one-hour monthly recording with each client and create content based on their actual words. It’s all them, we just format it for performance.

8. Favorite tools?

Slack, Google Workspace, Asana, QuickBooks, Riverside (for recording), and Anchor for payments. We also use Canva for visuals and a few internal tools to track analytics.

9. Most influential content?

Books:

• How to Win Friends and Influence People — timeless lessons on connection

• The E-Myth by Michael Gerber — huge for understanding systems and scale

Most of my ongoing learning happens on X, by following founders who build in public.

10. If you had to start a new business today?

Probably pest control. It’s recurring revenue, trades at high multiples, and there’s tons of demand. I think I could scale one really effectively.

11. Best advice for entrepreneurs?

Build a personal brand. It gives you distribution, helps with recruiting, and unlocks relationships. Everything else is copyable. Your personal brand isn’t.

If you want it simple, remember the 3 R’s: Revenue, Recruiting, and Relationships.

Final Takeaways

1. Personal brand is a growth lever hiding in plain sight. Use it.

2. Content leads to clients, and showing results is the best way to get attention.

3. Scary dips are normal. Systems and consistency are how you survive them.

4. You shouldn’t be afraid of outsourcing your content, as long as it’s based on your own lessons and views.