James Brewer hacked his way into the founding team | Ep 69
James Brewer went from being Import Yeti’s 3rd user to its co-founder—and helped scale it to 150K+ paying users and 2M monthly visitors. In this episode of Funds and Founders, he breaks down how import/export data can power sales, how to turn sweat equity into real ownership, and the systems that helped build a multi-million dollar bootstrapped SaaS.
💡 Whether you're in logistics, SaaS, or trying to break into tech—this episode is packed with actionable frameworks on:
- Sales with data
- Startup equity
- Scaling without VC
- Automation stacks that save 10+ hours/week
- And the power of never taking “no” as the final answer
📬 Want to try Import Yeti’s premium tools? Watch the full episode @FundsAndFounders
Timestamps:
00:00 – James Brewer on retention and the surprising start of Import Yeti
01:20 – From user #3 to co-founder: the cold email that changed everything
03:10 – The pitch mistake that taught James how to actually sell
05:00 – Using import/export data to close million-dollar clients
07:00 – What makes global logistics shockingly inefficient
09:00 – The sweat equity deal: how James negotiated his way in
11:15 – Building trust without funding: early growth, first users, and retention
13:30 – The automation stack that saves him 10+ hours/week
15:45 – Why James still handles support tickets personally
17:20 – Growth without VC: systems, obsession, and ownership
19:50 – Customer feedback vs. product focus: what they say “no” to
22:00 – How Import Yeti avoids getting outpaced by copycats
23:30 – The three biggest use cases driving 2M monthly visits
26:00 – Sales vs. product: how to balance short-term wins and long-term moat
28:10 – Lessons from scaling a “boring” SaaS in a niche market
30:00 – Founder conflicts, and why their partnership actually works
33:00 – Most SaaS founders get sales wrong — here’s what to fix
35:15 – How to earn founder-level equity even if you weren’t there day one
37:30 – Final advice: Build something useful. Stay in the game. Get obsessed.
39:30 – Where to find James + how to access Import Yeti’s premium features
