Hey quick update -
I’m exiting my PM Job Board - BestPMJobs…
If you’re looking to scale a job board which already has some initial traction, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.
You can’t find a better undervalued asset right now…
More details in this tweet and this TrustMRR listing.
Now, onto today’s topic - Golf Genius
Golf Genius runs the tournaments at 11,000 golf clubs in 62 countries — the software golf pros use for registration, live scoring, and leaderboards.
It does $53M a year, has been profitable since 2017, and employees own almost 80% of it.
Quick word from WeAreDevelopers before we dive deep -
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The Backstory - Golf Genius
Mike Zisman started his first software company in 1979, after a stint on the MIT faculty.
Lotus acquired it in 1994. IBM acquired Lotus 11 months later. He stayed, worked alongside Lou Gerstner, and left in 2007.
Most people would retire. Instead, in 2009, he built an app for a problem he had every year: organizing the 12-man buddy golf trip.
Then he wandered the desert for 8 years (metaphorically)
Buddy trips became leagues. Leagues became clubs in 2014.
Eight years to reach $1M in revenue — funded with $10M of his own money, mostly as debt.
The Big Break
Then 2016: the USGA replaced its own tournament system with Golf Genius.
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
Three years later, the USGA came back and asked them to build and run the handicap system for all of American golf. The club tool became infrastructure.
Profitable every year since 2017. Zisman's rule: earn 20%, invest the rest.
Those profits funded 10 acquisitions. Total outside capital ever raised: $11M. Cash in the bank today: $14M.
2025: $53M in revenue. 300 people, fully remote, no offices. Employees own almost 80% of the company — 60% even excluding the senior execs.
From a buddy-trip organizer to the infrastructure of golf. It only took 16 years… only!
The Patient Vertical Playbook:
Pick a niche you personally live in — his first customers were his golf buddies
Survive the desert cheaply — eight years to $1M is normal in vertical SaaS
Win the institution, not just customers — one USGA deal made them the system of record
Price low, sell wide — $4,200/year × 11,000 clubs, the cheapest software in the building
Earn 20% and invest the rest — profits funded 10 acquisitions with zero dilution
Spread equity wide — 80% employee ownership buys 6-7% attrition
Read the full Golf Genius case study →
The 2016 USGA deal — and the 2019 follow-up that made Golf Genius impossible to rip out
The "earn 20%, invest the rest" math behind 10 acquisitions and $14M in cash
Low P × high Q: why being the cheapest software in the clubhouse is the whole strategy
The three-wave acquisition strategy: buy customers → buy talent → buy your way into consumer
And more...
That’s it for today
See you next week
Ayush 🙏(building Voibe)
PS: Super happy coz OutlierKit crossed $3K MRR 😄