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How to Build a $1B Software Business Start to Finish
He made $100k at 13, then built a billon dollar startup
Brett Malinowski
October 27, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
🧠 How to Build a $1B Software Business — Step by Step (He Actually Did It)
How old were you when you made your first $100K?
“Probably like 13 or 14.”
By 16, he’d dropped out of high school.
By 25, his company was worth over $800 million.
Here’s the exact playbook he says he’d follow to build another billion-dollar software business if he had to start over from scratch - https://youtu.be/jHQDCple6DI
Watch the full podcast with Cameron Zoub on youtube - https://youtu.be/jHQDCple6DI
1️⃣ Find What Annoys You
Don’t start with an idea.
Start with annoyance.
“I’d carry a notebook for a month and write down every single thing that annoys me.”
If something’s 10/10 annoying and you’re 10/10 excited to solve it — that’s your signal.
Every great company starts this way.
Uber came from waiting for cabs.
Whop came from manually managing license keys.
Solve the problem you personally hate dealing with.
2️⃣ Find a Co-Founder
“I’d never start a company alone.”
He’s not technical — so he posted in a Facebook group looking for an iOS developer.
That post led to his lifelong co-founder.
Find someone with complementary skills.
If you can’t build it yourself, find someone who can — and go to war together.
3️⃣ Build It Fast
Forget perfection.
Launch something people can actually use today.
“Cut your scope until you’ve deleted 20% too much. Then add back only what breaks the product.”
Build the minimum viable version and get it in people’s hands immediately.
4️⃣ Get Feedback by Watching Real Users
Once you have something live:
Get on Zoom calls.
Watch people use it.
Don’t talk.
Note where they get confused.
“You’ll see them pause for 30 seconds. Ask them why. That’s how you find what’s broken.”
He calls 10–20 people, one by one, watching them try the product and taking notes.
5️⃣ Acquire Users by Any Means Necessary
He’s famous for guerrilla tactics:
Sent Uber drivers to people’s houses to get a call.
Texted founders through their iCloud emails.
Bought people’s products just to get their attention.
“You have to surprise people. Nobody remembers boring outreach.”
Every user he got at first came from direct hustle — DMs, calls, relationships.
No ads. No “growth hacks.” Just effort.
6️⃣ Make It Free (At First)
“I would never give someone a reason not to use my product.”
For the first 18 months, Whop didn’t charge sellers a cent.
The goal was momentum — not revenue.
Free users = feedback = community = dominance.
When everyone’s using you, then you can monetize.
7️⃣ Scale What Works
Once a market’s working — copy-paste the playbook.
They dominated sneaker bot rentals.
Then Discord communities.
Then trading, sports betting, coaching, software.
Each market, same formula:
Find the biggest players.
Give them the best product for free.
Get the rest of the market by word of mouth.
8️⃣ Hire World-Class Talent
“The only thing that matters at scale is the people.”
Now Whop has 70+ employees. Each owns a market or metric.
Every task has one clear owner, and every week ends with one question:
“Who will do what, by when?”
He holds everyone accountable — with intensity and care.
9️⃣ Keep Planting Seeds
“At all times, you’re either planting trees or eating the fruit off your trees.”
Most people eat too early.
He keeps planting — new products, new markets, new people — knowing the harvest will come later.
That’s how you build something generational.
🔟 Optimize for Longevity
He treats himself like an athlete:
8 hours of sleep every night
No sugar, no caffeine, no distractions
Cold plunges, meditation, journaling daily
“If I feel good, I create good work.”
He’s building to perform at a high level for the next 50 years.
The Mental Model
If he could summarize the billion-dollar playbook:
(Annoyance × Excitement) → Fast Build → Relentless Feedback → Unforgettable Outreach → Free → Scale → Hire → Never Stop Planting.
Simple, brutal, repeatable.
And it all starts with one question:
What annoys you enough to change the world?
Brett
P.S. You can watch the full podcast here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHQDCple6DI