This is my honest Starter Story review. If you’re an existing or aspiring entrepreneur, you might have heard of Pat Walls’ website, Starter Story. This collection of founders’ stories is the perfect online obsession to feed into your indulgence of bingeing on startup income reports and case studies.
That’s just what it is, plus some added features and services I’ll cover in this post.
In this Starter Story review, I’m covering the ins and outs of Starter Story.
Read about:
- What Starter Story is and how it works
- Who is the founder behind Starter Story
- Starter Story features and pricing, plus
- My unusual experience on Starter Story.
Let’s go!
What Is Starter Story?
Starter Story is a collection of case studies, business stories, advice, and insights. It’s a subscription-based site. As a member, you get unlimited access to thousands of business case studies and information about the founder’s entrepreneurial journey:
- Ideation
- The product build process
- Revenue
- Tools used
- Advice for founders
- Hiring opportunities
You can also find a founder’s directory, courses, deep dives, reports, and other info.
Who Is The Founder Of Starter Story
Pat Walls is the founder behind Starter Story. He launched Starter Story in 2017. He’s been documenting his journey with Starter Story online since he launched the site.
In the 6 years Starter Story has been in existence, he grew Starter Story to:
- A staff of six people
- 4,400+ case studies
- 33+ million website visitors
- 240K+ social media followers and,
- $90K+ monthly income.
The first time I learned about Pat, it was from Reddit. He’d post Starter Story founders’ stories with a link to the full case study on the site.
That’s how I was introduced to Starter Story, and after a few months of trial access, I bought a subscription!
I’ve been on the site nearly every month, checking out the newly released case studies and information ever since!
I can’t get enough.
Who Is Starter Story For?
Starter Story subscribers are aspiring or existing small business owners with a thirst for learning. They enjoy reading the valuable insight successful founders share. They also enjoy reading interviews and case studies sharing first-person accounts of how real businesses operate.
I like how authentic Starter Story is. It’s not all about reading success stories from 7-figure businesses.
You’ll get a mashup of different businesses and solopreneur success stories at different stages of their business journey. Some are startups that are pre-revenue and have only been in existence for less than a year. Others are more seasoned with a full staff and 6-figure or 7-figure revenue coming in!
It’s refreshing to compare and contrast each entrepreneurial journey shared on Starter Story.
So, if you’re looking for how to succeed with low cost business ideas with high profit, you’re in the right place!
Starter Story Review: Features
If you’re as addicted to reading about success stories as me, you’ll really love Starter Story.
There are businesses interviewed in a variety of niches, from publishing, software, e-commerce, and more.
The site is broken up into a few different sections.
Here’s a closer look at Starter Story’s website features:
- Case studies/business stories: This is where you read the founder’s stories, learning about their start, funding, business name or generating startup slogan ideas, and other juicy details
- Courses & deep dives: This is content created by Starter Story that truly gives back to his subscription community. You’ll find his SEO course, Lean SEO plus the Lean Email course, and other courses, along with exclusive deep dives.
- Ideas: Tons of business ideas that share potential revenue, initial investment requirements, pros, cons, and more.
- Founders: A directory of founders that you can filter and browse by business type, category, revenue, etc.
Case Studies/Business Stories
When you land on Starter Story, you’ll probably start with Case Studies. These business stories are incredibly valuable, with some unusual business ideas as well as more mainstream ones. They give a firsthand, behind-the-scenes look at startup businesses. Learn about how successful businesses took their company from a business idea to a business success story!
It’s interesting to learn about how a business started, its successes and pitfalls, fundraising, financials, resources used, favorite books and podcasts, and hiring opportunities.
Some might compare Starter Story to the Indie Hacker website. If you like Indie Hackers or sites like Product Hunt, then you’ll enjoy Starter Story.
Courses & Deep Dives
This section contains digital courses and reports on various business topics like social media, newsletters, solopreneurship, and more.
It’s one of the most valuable parts of Starter Story and continuously evolving.
Ideas
These are Business Ideas.
In this section, you can browse dozens of business ideas to help get your creative juices flowing. If you’re stuck on what kind of business to start or curious about different business types, this section will answer your questions.
- Business summary
- Startup costs and income potential
- Success stories.
Founders
The founder’s directory section is an opportunity to learn about startup founders and the businesses they run.
Learn about successful entrepreneurs, including reading about their websites, social media handles, and how to contact them!
Tools
Get access to hundreds of deeply discounted tools with over 1 million dollars in software savings! That’s another cool perk of being a Starter Story subscriber!
Let’s look at how much Starter Story costs next, where I break down how the pricing works.
Starter Story Review: Pricing
You get a lifetime subscription when you join Starter Story. Pay once and be a member forever with lifetime access!
There are two tiers available: Founder for $695, and Access for $1,095.
Founder membership gets you access to all 4,800+ case studies along with the deep dives and reports.
Access membership gets you everything in the founder membership, plus:
- Full access to the community
- All access to past and future courses
- Entry to #BHAG, their private accountability service, and
- Exclusive software savings (over 1 million dollars in savings on 240+ tools).
My Unusual Starter Story Experience
After joining Starter Story, I consumed hundreds of startup stories from business founders. I learned a lot about each business, and it was inspiring to read about how a company launched from the roundup.
What’s unusual is that I actually made money thanks to Starter Story.
Since I joined, I’ve made over $30K because of opportunities I found on Starter Story!
In many of the case studies, the founder is asked about hiring opportunities. This is where business owners talk about their staffing needs, including positions they’re hiring for!
I’d hone in on this section of the case study, and if I found a freelance role that could be a fit for me, I’d contact the founder and pitch my services.
It worked!
I’ve worked with one of my longest-standing clients for nearly 2 years now!
Is Starter Story Worth It?
If you love consuming content and learning online, Starter Story is worth the investment.
It’s a great place to learn about how founders are starting and growing their businesses.
One of my favorite features is the Community! It’s a cool opportunity to connect and network with other entrepreneurs.
I really love how the case studies are structured, too.
There’s tons of helpful information in each interview, and the part of the interview that asks about hiring opportunities has helped me make over $30,000 from freelance gigs I secured as a result!
The lifetime pricing structure means you pay once, and you’re a member for life. For the best value, the Access membership is the way to go.
The software savings are really valuable, and having access to the courses, past and future, is worth the price alone!
Starter Story Review: Final Word
Starter Story highlights successful businesses and shares the business journey the startup founder has experienced.
Get specific advice and business owner tips from successful founders and thriving entrepreneurs:
- Real revenue numbers
- Market size info
- Marketing examples
- Automation ideas.
Still on the fence?
Join Starter Story’s weekly newsletter. The breakfast-themed newsletter is a fun read and shares highlight case studies for the week.
Joining the site gives you instant access to the Starter Story platform with no payment obligation, so you can browse the site with limited free access to get a sneak peek at the case studies and other sections of the site.
