Would you lock yourself in your office
and refuse to leave until your company
hit 1,000 new customers?
How many nights you think you'd last?
>> There we go. That looks nice.
>> And if every night was worth $40,000 in
revenue, when would you finally go home?
That's exactly what Arjun Maha did. He's
the CEO of Doula, a company that helps
anyone start an LLC and handle all the
other messy stuff that comes with
running a business. how many days will
it take to form 1,000 LLC's?
>> And for 23 days straight, he worked,
ate, and slept inside his New York City
office. While his mission was simple,
form 10,000 LLC's before he could go
home, the results were staggering.
>> 64. We're cooking
>> $1 million in revenue in just 3 weeks.
So, this doesn't look very long, but I
guess it is. Yeah. And in this video,
we're breaking down exactly how he
pulled it off. From the founder mindset
that keeps him motivated to the business
model that turns Doula's website traffic
into real paying customers. Now,
originally, I was supposed to join him,
move into his office for 24 hours, and
see if I could survive this challenge,
but then I got this message. So, for
Arjun, that means he finally gets to go
home tonight. And for me, I guess I
won't be needing this. But I made the
best of it anyway. I sat down with Arjun
for a full day to learn what makes Doula
successful and yes, grill him on how
many times he fell off the futon.
>> Twice in 23 days.
>> Wow. All right. Now that you have all
that information, let's dive into it.
>> There's some restriction against
actually living in the office.
>> Really?
>> There might be. Turns out it's a bit of
a gray area.
>> So, tell us what Doula is.
>> We're a business in a box for LLC's,
LLC, bookkeeping, taxes, e-commerce
analytics, all in one place. The idea
for Doula came from a failure. Arjun's
first startup died under the weight of
administrative work and he ended up
losing $30,000 in legal and accounting
fees. That's when he realized the killer
wasn't his idea or his effort. It was
wasting time on all the extra steps.
>> But the thing that ate me the most was
what if I didn't waste time on all that
other stuff? Maybe the company could
have worked. And then what I wanted was,
you know, the Staples easy button.
>> That was easy.
>> Like that was easy. I wanted that for a
company. Start it. your bank accounts
connected, your payments, your
bookkeeping, your taxes, all in one
place.
>> So, how many companies have you helped
form LLC's for today?
>> We've done over 10,000 from over 175
countries.
>> Okay, so Duel launched in 2020, which
means if we do the math, we can average
that to about 2,000 LLC's a year. So,
getting 1,000 new customers in just 23
days meant Arjun pulled off about 6
months worth of growth in just over 3
weeks, unlocking a whole new level of
momentum for his business. That line I
say every single week is talent is
everywhere but opportunity isn't.
>> So from a failed startup to helping over
10,000 entrepreneurs launch their
companies, Arjun's goal is to one day
reach a billion founders.
>> Do you have an LLC?
>> No.
>> Not yet.
>> Not yet. Maybe after today.
>> Do you have an
>> If you were to start a business, what's
like that crazy idea you've never told
anyone and now you can say it?
>> My god. Um
I don't even know. I'll think about it.
>> Okay.
Um, can we get a tour?
>> Yes. The typical actual day is I'll come
in. I have a work phone and I have a
personal phone. I keep them over here.
Even just having my phones here versus
over on my desk. I don't touch them
during the day cuz it's just enough
friction. I took everyone's phones at
10:30. We put them in a bag. No phones
during lunch, too. I taught everyone
about attention residue, which is if you
look at your phone or look at something
else, it lingers in your mind. So, we
went no phones. But, uh, that's like the
first hack is I'll literally just leave
my phones in here so that I don't touch
them during the day. This is the futon
bed which is now assembled.
>> And after 3 weeks, he got his futon
making skills down to a science.
>> Time to make bed. Ready, set, go. 26
seconds. 12 seconds. 23 seconds. 21
seconds. This is the orange room, we
call it, cuz of orange chairs. We will
use this for team lunches and if there's
meetings, too.
>> Oh, and if at any point during the video
you're wondering, "Hey, Payton, why are
there no other employees at the office?
Where is everybody? It's a holiday
today. We are hybrid. So folks in New
York come in Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
>> And how many people work out of this
office?
>> In this office, there are usually on a
given week 5 to seven people. There are
over 70 total. Then this room where we
>> This is where the YouTube magic happens,
>> right? This is where we can record
educational content, which goes on the
Doula channel. And then
um there's this coffee machine, then the
espresso machine here. And then in the
morning, what I'll do is I'll literally
just make that shake there. I just keep
a stack of paper here. LinkedIn, you can
see people's birthdays. We actually do
this. We'll wish people happy birthday,
but then I'll actually ask people like,
"Hey, like I'll I want to send you
something." And not everyone responds,
but I'll just write like a little
handwritten note and we'll send it to
them. And um I'll give them an LLC for
their birthday.
>> Who is this going to? Employees or just
like anybody?
>> Could be anyone. Anyone. It's like
anyone I'm connected with. So,
>> and guess what? He means anyone. A few
weeks after I visited, I actually got a
LinkedIn DM and a birthday card from
Arjun with a free LLC inside, which
means I have no excuse to not start my
own business. I guess I should whip up
an LLC and see how Doula actually works.
All right, so I'm about to log into
doula.com to create my free LLC that
Arjun gifted me. So I'm going to log in
here and click create free account. Just
start typing in my information. Which
country do you reside in? United States.
What kind of business are you building?
What is your desired company name? I
don't know. I didn't think this one
through.
Pack Productions.
Which state do you want to form your
business in? New Jersey. For today, I'm
going to go with the starter plan
because that's where I want to start and
that's also what Arjun gifted me an LLC
for. All right. Here, I'm going to add
in my code. Usually, you would just go
and pay and there you go. I have a free
LLC. The only thing you would have to do
is pay for the state that you reside in.
And every state is a little bit
different. But for the sake of this, I
live in New Jersey. And now we just keep
moving forward. All right, we're done.
It was as simple as that. Thanks,
Arjent.
>> And then after that, the thing which I
do at the pre the end of the previous
day is I go through my task list and I
already know what I want to work on. I
usually do this is I'll go to sleep in
my workout clothes. So like when I wake
up, I just don't have to think about
anything. Um, same way here for work. I
know exactly what tasks, like at least
the first couple of tasks I want to
start working on and then I can hit the
desk right away there. Or I've looked at
my calendar the night before. So today I
knew I had two interviews and can jump
right into that. All right. Do you want
to make a shake or we can use the Ninja
Creamy for protein ice cream?
>> Let's do a shake.
>> Shake. Okay.
>> Within the first 10 minutes of meeting
Arjun, it was obvious that his
discipline and routine aren't just
personal quirks. They're part of what
makes Doula successful.
>> Press it once. and he shares that
mindset with his team, shaping a culture
that's built around focus and
consistency.
>> Does it actually taste good? What do you
think?
>> Yeah. No, I think it tastes good. I
taste the peanut butter. I
>> I think it's really good. Now, I I have
an interview in 3 minutes. So, what I'll
I'll do is when no one's in the office,
sometimes I'll just do the interviews
from here. I'll probably just do that
here. The way we run the interview
process, it's actually fully based off
of this is the best book on hiring I've
read. We took the entire book. That's
what we just based our entire hiring
process off of. So, the interview I do
is the fin it's a focus interview, but
it's the final round sort of culture
fit. My plan is to do a final round for
every single person.
>> I have a 5:30 a.m. interview tomorrow.
Is there's a candidate in Europe who
we're interviewing. So, I offered slots
as early as I'd be up. So, 5:30 to 10:30
a.m.
>> I did an interview on Tuesday. At the
end, I asked, "Do you have any
questions?" And the candidate said,
"How's your futon?" So, they they've
been they've been watching the
challenge, too.
>> That's when I started to realize this
wasn't just a personal experiment. It
was a tactical business strategy. By
vlogging the challenge every day, Arjun
was creating a story that no one else
can replicate. And it was doing more
than just bringing in customers. It was
attracting investors and new hires who
wanted to be a part of the company.
>> They've just learned so much about your
personality, what the company's doing.
They see the challenge and they're like,
"Wow, this seems like a cool place where
I'd like to work." So, 50 on day one,
950 remaining, and then we'll we'll add
the count here as we go. Hey, how's it
going? Fantastic. Great to meet you.
Very first question, you could work
anywhere in the world. Uh, any type of
company, tech, could be outside of tech.
Why would you want to work at Doula
versus anything you could be doing?
>> I was taking notes on Arjun's interview
process and there was one specific
question that blew my mind.
>> Let's say we do the debrief and we come
back and we say, "Hey, Criselle, we
thought there was a good fit, but not a
great fit. Why do you think that might
be the case?"
>> Once the interview is over, I
immediately needed to know why he asked
that. The goal of that question is
actually to one see if people can be
critical about themselves because no
one's a perfect fit. So it's actually a
check on if someone's like there's
nothing wrong like there's zero that's a
bit of a red flag.
>> Yeah.
>> Um it also gives them a chance to
directly address what might not be a
good fit.
>> Uh so we can address it up front. So
>> yeah, that was a good question.
>> Okay. What a morning we're cooking. One
of my morning commentaries to myself was
I think that just because it's a holiday
doesn't mean you don't have to work or
you can work. But then also the opposite
goes just because it's a work day
doesn't mean you can't rest and recover
too.
>> On the weekends I I like to do the same
thing.
>> It became clear to me that weekends and
holidays don't change much for Arjun.
While I'll use Saturday and Sundays to
ride on my couch and binge Netflix,
Arjun is still working. His mindset is
simple. If you love the work you do, you
don't need to live for Friday. And that
shaped how he approached every single
day of this challenge.
>> I never want to. One of my life goals is
I never want to live for the weekend.
That sounds It sounds kind of miserable
if I have to just wait till Saturday to
enjoy. Like no, I'll do that on a
Tuesday. So someone started on Fridays
in our random channel. And it is cess 2
Brazilian slang. Sex t o for it's
Friday. Let's go. Although again, every
day of the week should be on Friday.
They started posting on Friday and I was
like that's awesome, but we shouldn't
have to wait till Friday. So, I found
the equivalent for Tuesday and then I
started posting it on Tuesday.
>> As I was coming back, I was thinking one
thing. I know there's going to be
questions of, "Oh, if you weren't
filming this, would you actually on a
Friday be sleeping?" You can ask my
friends. The answer is most likely yes.
>> Tell us a little bit about why you
decided to do the 1,00 LLC challenge.
>> I think one day I was just on the
stairstepper in the morning and I tend
to just get good ideas then because I
guess I'm moving. The idea was what is
something we could put out that's so
unique to Doula no one else can do
>> and now we'll finish off with the 5-year
journal
>> I thought could be content which has
viral top ofunnel potential I thought it
was something which I could do now like
it'll just get harder to do this in the
future like I don't know if I had a pet
or kids like if you it's maybe not
impossible to like very much harder to
do that then showed some of the team
some footage and they were like oh damn
this is we can actually turn this into
something
>> was it harder or easier easier than you
expected.
>> It was easier than I expected. Most of
my days before this were very similar.
The only difference is at the end of the
day, I would do the same, I don't know,
brush my teeth, wash my face that I do
at home, and go to sleep. And then when
I wake up, I would do the same things
I'm doing here, just at home in a
smaller place.
>> There's a very good chance, folks, given
the rate that we've seen, we're going
home in less than 4 weeks.
I have tried to structure as much of my
life around the the business working and
like the business success, but the
business to me is again the vehicle.
It's a growth vehicle for us having an
impact, but a growth vehicle for me too.
Well, well, well. The count is 84. So,
that takes us up to -17. It took 23 days
to hit 1,000. The universe saw and said,
"I'm going to help you out and help send
you home." 1,000. Let's go.
>> Okay. So, we did it. 1,000 new LLC's in
just 23 days. Now, the question is, how
does Doula even get customers, let alone
1,000 new ones in just over 3 weeks?
Well, I had Arjun show me. For over an
hour, we sat down as he drew out Doula's
sales funnel and walked me through the
journey of a customer. But this is a lot
and pretty confusing, so I'll make it a
lot more simple.
At the bottom of the funnel, there are
three plans. The starter plan at $297 a
year, which covers just the LLC. Next,
the mid-tier plan at $2,000 a year,
which adds taxes, and the top plan at
$3,000 a year, which also includes
bookkeeping. About 80% of people start
at the $297 plan. But as their
businesses grow, they realize it's
easier to let Doula handle taxes and
bookkeeping, too. So, they upgrade their
plan later on. Now, let's move up the
funnel. At the very top, the TAM is
huge. Anyone with an internet
connection. That's 4 billion people. But
in reality, only about 5 million people
a year are actively starting or planning
to start a business. And those people
are entering the funnel in three ways.
Searching online, stopping their scroll
on content, and hearing about Doula from
someone in their network. And Doula
turns those moments into customers
through three main channels. One, paid
search on Google. If you type start an
LLC, Doula is bidding for a top ad spot
that leads to their site. Two, referrals
and partnerships. For example, an Amazon
FBA YouTuber might send their viewers
directly to Doula. In exchange, partners
earn 50% commission on any plan sold.
All right, let's pause. Doula turned
partnerships from a nice to have into a
core growth driver for their business.
If you want to learn how they built over
2,000 partnerships that generate six
figures for top performers, we have a
bonus video linked in the description
where Arjun breaks down the entire
funnel. He explains why it works, the
commission structure, and the
relationship strategies he uses every
day. Grab it down below. Let's get back
to the video. And finally, word of
mouth. Duela's strongest channel. It
costs nothing. Anyone can create a free
account, get a referral link, and earn
the same 50% commission. Once someone
lands on doula.com, they can either
create a free account instantly or book
a demo with a team member. But only a
small fraction converts. Roughly two out
of every 100 visitors. That meant to
reach 1,000 new LLC's in 23 days, Doula
needed about 50 new daily signups, which
requires about 2,500 people to have
visited the site every single day during
the challenge. According to Arjun, it
was the most LLC's the company has ever
averaged in a month. And when I asked
why it happened, here's what he said.
>> I'd like to think people see the
challenge, they're like, "Oh, that's
cool. I now want to go start my company
with Doula." I think it's it's been too
soon for that feedback loop to really
kick in, but I think the universe saw
we're doing the challenge and said,
"Hey, let's help out here."
>> Now, let's talk about money. Normally,
when customers first sign up, about 80%
choose the starter plan, and the other
20% pick a higher priced plan. If those
numbers had held, Doula would have
generated around $750,000
in revenue. But it just so happened this
time more than 20% of customers went
straight for the premium priced plans.
And that pushed total revenue for the
challenge to just over $1 million.
>> Are you feeling sad that you have to
leave?
>> It's a little bittersweet.
>> Yeah. Well, if you ever do do the
challenge again, make sure to invite me
back.
>> Well, no. We'll manifest this. I think
at some point we will have to do 10,000.
>> It's time to go home.
>> Journal here. Pillow and blanket stay in
there. And I got all my supplements
here. Have you ever used one of these
masks before?
>> Never.
>> We got some good content doing the mask.
Okay, that is
everything.
>> After 3 weeks of sleeping on a futon and
eating protein shakes for breakfast and
dinner, Arjun finally got to go home.
>> We're packing up. So, I decided to tag
along.
>> Moment of truth.
>> Let's see what's inside. Do I leave it a
mess? Did I leave it
>> 23 days later and you're home?
>> And his apartment was nothing like I
expected. It was small. Really small.
>> This is way smaller than what I thought
it was.
I really don't spend much time here, so
I didn't want to spend more than I
really needed to for a bigger apartment.
Could have spent a bit more and get
meaningfully more space, but at the time
I was just like, "This is fine. The
location's really good." And because it
is so small, like when I wake up here, I
just don't really want to lie in bed
>> cuz I I can look up and everything's
just here. It's like, "No, I kind of
want to get out." But then when I come
home, it's nice cuz I'm just like,
"Yeah, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."
It really is just a place to sleep and
like wake up and then have the
essentials. Standing there in his
apartment, it clicked. Arjun is
intentional with every decision he
makes. I mean, from planning his
mornings the night before to not
touching his phone in the office to not
overspending on an apartment he barely
spends time in. I learned that success
for Arjun isn't about having the
fanciest things. It's about building
systems that make progress inevitable.
And this is just the beginning. I'm
Arjun Mahadavan and this is my
apartment. I have my bed. I have my
kitchen. I have my bathroom right here.
Beautiful little tiny thing. And I have
my scale. There is a nice little balcony
that I have. Small, but it's mighty.
Well, that's all we got time for today.
Thanks for watching this episode of
Stories of Scale. I'm Payton, and I'll
be back soon with more founders, more
stories, and more chaos. All right,
thanks for watching, and uh don't forget
to hit that little button in the corner.
You know what I'm talking about. See
you.