What's the Startup?!

Building More Than a Product: Stevens Bonhomme on Scaling FeedCoyote Through Community

• Sprocket • Season 2 • Episode 21

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In this episode, we sit down with Stevens Bonhomme, founder and CEO of FeedCoyote, a fast-growing freelance collaboration platform that’s redefining how freelancers connect and grow their businesses.

Stevens shares how FeedCoyote scaled from 10,000 to nearly 80,000 users in just one year—without relying on traditional marketing tactics. Instead, the platform’s growth was fueled by a community-first approach, product-led strategies, and deep attention to user feedback.

We dive into the early challenges of building the platform, the mindset shifts that helped Stevens evolve as a founder, and the lessons he wishes he’d learned sooner. If you’re building a startup, freelancing, or thinking about launching something new—this conversation is packed with insights and practical takeaways.

Whether you’re starting your first business or looking to grow something that already exists, Sprocketwky.com connects you with what—and who—you need.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Sprocket Podcast! If you’re ready to dive into the world of startups and innovation, visit us online at Sprocket WKY to learn more about our mission and how we support entrepreneurs like you.

Ready to check out the space? Book a tour with Tiffany, our Community Coordinator!

Got a business idea? Apply for a mentorship session with one of our experienced mentors!

Stay connected and join our growing community on Instagram for the latest updates, inspiration, and behind-the-scenes looks at what’s happening at Sprocket.

Let’s turn your ideas into reality—together!

Sprocket is proud to be supported by Team Kentucky, the Commonwealth's Cabinet for Economic Development. Learn more about their initiatives and resources at ced.ky.gov.

Kaylan:

Stevens, thank you so much for joining us today. Introduce us to yourself and your company.

Stevens:

Thank you very much, Kaylan, for inviting me. My name is Stevens. I'm the founder and CEO of Feed Coyote. And Feed Coyote is a networking and collaboration app that connects freelancers around the world so that they can collaborate on third party projects together and make money. Very cool.

Kaylan:

So you mentioned in our community channel that you've seen a lot of growth this past year. You have some marketing tips to share with us today, but over 500 percent growth in one year is massive. And I'm sure you and your team are celebrating like crazy. What are some of the biggest factors that drove that level of user acquisition?

Stevens:

Yeah, last year for us has been a pretty good year. We spent a lot of time talking to our customers, understanding where they were coming from so that we can implement strategies to double down on those areas. So what we're able to do, as I mentioned, we grew over 500 percent in the last 12 months, from around 10, 000 users to now almost 80, 000. So we're very excited about that growth. That shows a lot of demand for the platform that we're building. And. Really, what we were able to achieve is basically empowering the users of the platform to become, basically our first marketing department. What that means is we give the users opportunities to really enjoy the platform, to earn on the platform, also to manage their freelance business. And as a result, they felt really happy to just share about that platform to their own audiences. And that's how we're able to grow so fast because users were bringing on more users for us.

Kaylan:

How do you equip them? Do you give them anything or equip them in any way for that sharing and to facilitate that word of mouth or incentivize?

Stevens:

Yes, definitely, we use something called PLG strategy, which is product legro strategy, where basically, uh, you give the users of the platform opportunities to upgrade the premium features if they invite other people. And those premium features are things that will make their business more successful or will make their productivity much better. So we allow them to Have access to those tools on our platform. And in return, they just have to share our platform with other freelancers and allow them to also take advantage of those opportunities on our platform.

Kaylan:

And I'm sure it's super easy to share when a platform solves so many of your problems and makes your life so much better.

Stevens:

Yes. Yes. This is exactly what we wanted to do when we started building Feed Coyote is bringing a community of freelancers that is scattered. into one place so that they can help each other collaborate and network and grow together as a community within one platform.

Kaylan:

So I can imagine that if you're, if one of the biggest selling points of the platform is in part community, then naturally people will want to bring in more of their community here to see them here in this community with them.

Stevens:

Exactly, because, you have that support system, and if you can manage all your resources in one place, it makes your productivity even better. So instead of being on multiple platforms, platforms for freelance, networking, platforms, productivity tools, the platform for management of projects. We centralize all that for you on Feed Coyote. So now you have one platform that takes care of everything for you, and you are more productive. You have more opportunities to earn, hence also build a community around you to support you on your journey.

Kaylan:

So looking back, what is a marketing strategy that you use in the past year that maybe you underestimated at the outset, but turned out to be a game changer?

Stevens:

Yeah, I mean, I always tell the story about Feed Coyote and the way that we're able to grow our user base, because in the early days, we're still figuring out what's working, what's not working and understand our customers in our market. And at that time, it was not growing as fast as it's going right now, because we're not, we're not at a point where we could really understand the strategies to implement. But as time went by, we understood that and would become better at what we do. So. One of the things that we really worked on last year was our branding, to make Feed Coyote the platform that users will think about anytime they think about freelance collaboration, because in the market right now, you'll find a lot of freelance platforms, but they are not really addressing that community approach that we took at Feed Coyote. It's usually. Uh, client provider dynamic marketplace dynamic. Um, and it's a lot of competition, which is also good because that's also improving with the talents that you're getting and everybody's on their a game giving their very best, but also I think it would believe that collaboration is the way to go because that will unlock collective earnings for users. So that's what we are basically creating a new segment within the freelance ecosystem so that we can foster freelance collaboration.

Kaylan:

You've grown across 130 plus countries. How do you approach global expansion differently from just local or regional growth?

Stevens:

It's basically understand where your audience is coming from, which countries are responding to the product the most understand why, and also understand how you can improve in those countries, hence increase their user base there. When we first launched, we were primarily in the U S but at that time we saw there were, there was a lot of demand for signups from other countries. So we decided to understand where those countries., where freelancers are in those countries, if the market was big there and all that. So eventually we've decided to open up the app to everybody. So, as. We did that. We realized that's what we needed to do to grow. And from there, we grew really, really fast. Um, now to almost 80, 000 users. So when we understand which country is really promoting freelancing, so we can position ourselves there as a market leader and in those areas and also give the opportunity for people that are not only exploring freelancing, but also that are fully professional and freelancing to help each other. So that they can all earn together on one platform. So we've had a lot of success, um, in Africa, a lot of success in India. We are growing also in Latin America and Europe. So I'm very glad to see how the platform was received around the world. And when you check social media, you see. Testimonies about user from users about the platform and how they are using it and how that's improving their freelancing gigs and and and their project management tools and everything. So it's very great to see that something that would build is bringing so much value to folks around the world.

Kaylan:

That's amazing. And I'm sure your community as it expands in this diversity and global diversity is just exploding with new ideas and perspectives. I'm sure it's really beautiful to be a part of that growing community to

Stevens:

Yes, it's very exciting to see that from where we started to now to see the engagement on the app and how users are connecting with each other, how they are sharing resources in the platform and using our productivity tools. It's very beautiful to see.

Kaylan:

So I know that a lot of startups struggle with user retention as they scale. What is working for you to keep users engaged and coming back?

Stevens:

Yeah, it's the community approach that we took at Feed Coyote. That's what really, Accelerated our growth over the last few months is initially we were primarily, um, productivity to kind of platform for freelancers. But what we realized was a lot of freelancers already had access to such tools, but they did not have access to. Dedicated communities of freelancers and a lot of the feedback that we received from our early users was they would love to be connected to other freelancers to understand their fields and learn from them. So what we did was would build a network. Type of layer on top of our productivity tools that now allow every user on the platform to be connected to each other. And now they're not working in silos anymore, so now it's much easier for them to find any help or get any support on their freelancing journey. And from there, it just went crazy. Not only we're getting more users, but also the engagement is a lot there as well because of the community approach that we took by building this platform.

Kaylan:

So it's really cool to see that a lot of your recent growth is in part, yes, to implementing new marketing strategies, but also just opening up pathways for new users to come who are already knocking at your door or like implementing new features that people are asking for. I think that That speaks to the success of what you've built so far that people are asking for more and you just open the doors and then you have new clients.

Stevens:

Yes, definitely. We make, we make it very easy for freelancers to onboard. This is something in our platform when we're designing it. Is was to how easy it is for users to on board to understand the platform and also to start getting value right away. So it's something that every day we're refining every day. We're trying to find new ways to make it even simpler and simpler and simpler because we tried a lot of platforms and one of the struggles is extremely hard to understand them. Yes, the platforms sometimes bring value, but the customers don't. Either get enough time to get to that value because the onboarding was too complicated or it took too long. So this is something that we really sat down as a team to understand how do we make it easy for freelancers to onboard to understand the platform and to start to start getting any value from it right away.

Kaylan:

Let's say that you were starting over today. If you had to scale a new product to 10, 000 users, what's the first couple of moves you'd make?

Stevens:

That's a really good question. Now that I've done that for a few years now, um, I would definitely start with the PLG strategy that we've implemented. I wish I had started earlier with that because that's where we started seeing that exponential growth is allowing users to invite other users. And by doing so, they can unlock more value on the platform. This is something that I think that if, if we had implemented that much earlier in the process, we would have probably gotten more users by now. So if I were to start a new company now, if it depends on the, uh, kind of product that you're building, whether it's B2C or B2B and in some aspect, the, uh, PLG would work much better in certain, um, categories. So that's something that I would definitely explore as a first step for growth.

Kaylan:

What would you avoid?

Stevens:

Uh, what would I wait? Uh, I mean, I guess it depends on what we're talking about exactly. Because, you know, as you build a startup, there are different things that you need to take care of, like marketing, product management, product development, investment and all that. So I think I would probably spend even more time talking to our customers to really understand their pain points, because there are some features that, um, we build along the way that we realize. We're not needed. So, um, we had to get more feedback and understand why they were not needed and understand how we can change them and which one should we replace and all that. So definitely doing an even more through, um, investigation on our user base would probably be, uh, another thing that I would look into. Yeah.

Kaylan:

Is there anything, so we talked before about something that you didn't expect to be super beneficial that was, on the flip side, was there anything that you did that you thought, oh, this is for sure going to be a home run, but maybe actually flopped?

Stevens:

Yes, a lot of things. I had a very different perspective about building a startup when I first started, because as a founder, you have a great idea. You want to get it out there. You watch a lot of movies and shows about startups. It's usually the glamorous part of it that they show you on TV. They don't really show you the struggles and it's hard. It's extremely hard. So when I started this I went at it from a Silicon Valley perspective. I thought the moment that we launched, we're going to have 10 million users sign up like right away. It was not like that. It was brutal to get to this amount It was crazy, but it was an exciting, uh, learning opportunity as well because I've learned so much doing this. Yeah, this is something that I would say going at it from a Silicon Valley perspective is probably one of the things that I would have probably avoid now if I were to start a new company, because it's extremely hard. It's not going to happen the way you think it would happen. In most cases, most or all of your assumptions would fail and you would have to adapt to it. The market would up to how users are using the platform, because in our case, our current version of the app right now is based on feedback that we've received along the way. It's not what we really set out to build as a product. The vision was still there in terms of fostering freelance collaboration, but the way we went at it was redefined by the way that their early users were using the platform. And now I've As we've changed things along the way, now we have the current version now that's really ready to capture the growth that we're currently seeing. So, I'd say, probably as a founder, what you think would work would probably not work until you hit market, and then you understand now what to change and what to do differently.

Kaylan:

What about yourself? How are you different than you were when you first started out?

Stevens:

I think, um, I've learned a lot. I really, really love startups. I love building products. Um, it's exciting to see that you build something and people are actually using it and you're bringing value to them. It's, it's an incredible feeling, you know? It's like, wow, did I really do this? You know? So that's so cool to see. So, uh, this is something that I'm very privileged and I feel honored that I was given the opportunity to do that. Uh, to build a company, to build a product that people are using and we're still growing and all that. So, I think I've changed a lot in terms of the things that I've learned. In a way of how to build businesses and in an efficient way, how to build products, it's something that I've realized that I really, really love is building products is designing user flows and all that, because I build product from a user perspective is how would I use it if I were to use this platform? Would I understand from the moment that I sign up? I'm very, very obsessed with With the customer journey, because that can make or break your product is something that I spent a lot of time on. So I think now I'm a full product manager, product developer, marketing expert. So as a, as a founder, you do a little bit of everything. So that. Helps you, improve your, your market value, you know, in terms of a professional and in terms of a founder as well. So I'd also say I'm a much better, CEO today than I was when I first started that because I've had the opportunity to work with folks from around the world. Our team is global. So I work with people from different backgrounds, different countries, different time zones. So knowing how to adapt to their countries, um, helps you. style of working to get the best out of them as your teammate, as your co workers is something that I've had to learn along the way. So I'm definitely much better, in that as I was when I first started this journey.

Kaylan:

What were some of the biggest mindset shifts that were necessary for you to go from grinding mode to, to scaling?

Stevens:

Oh, the grind never stops. You're always in the details You know You're always building always thinking about what to improve and how to scale faster and all that But I think what's changed for me is how to be more efficient about it. You know, how to structure my day, how to structure the things that I think about. I try to make one or two good decisions every day. That's gonna advance our progress and the company. So that's something I, really try really hard to do because I truly believe that,, progress. Is everything because as a founder, we don't usually see the progress that we make along the way because we want to hit the top of the mark of the mountain. We don't really see how we climbing. Right. So I tried to do something that's going to keep us progressing in the right direction. So that as long as you keep moving, you're progressing if you're moving forward. So there's something. That I try to do every day, be more efficient about how I make decisions about the decisions that I make for the company and how that's going to overall impact our mission and what we're trying to build for freelancers.

Kaylan:

I love that and I want to dig a little bit more into it. What does a good decision look or feel like?

Stevens:

It's a really good question because, um, the way I look at it is, the decision that I make, would that lead to the next step in our progress? That's how I look at it. Whether it's from a marketing perspective, product development, strategic partnerships, whatever it is, if I make this decision, would that lead to something else that's going to help the company? So, in terms of For example, marketing, if we were to launch a new growth hacks within the app, so it's like, okay, if we were to do that, how many users can we expect from that in terms of growth? Would that even work? So trying to calculate the best probability of success on all those decisions is something that I do. Um, I have an economics background, so it's, so I do that a lot. So I try to find The decisions with the best probable probability of success and hoping that they would work and then make those decisions. And sometimes it doesn't work because things change, you know, the market changes and the way the customers react to the decisions that you make and the product will change. But it's a learning, path as well. So I trying to get better at it every day. But in my mind, I tried to make at least one good decision a day. That's going to help our mission and it's going to help our product in some way.

Kaylan:

You're doing a million different things as CEO how do you find, I guess, work life balance as a CEO? Um, how do you maintain your own mental health as you're spreading yourself thin in all these other areas?

Stevens:

Or

Kaylan:

have you mastered that yet? I don't think

Stevens:

that's a thing.

Kaylan:

I don't think

Stevens:

that's a thing in the early days. I feel like I work 24 seven personally because I'm always thinking about something for the company. I'm always thinking about a feature to implement, something to remove somebody to reach out to, to ask for advice or, you know, something. So technically I'm, Never off, even if I'm not in front of a computer. So for, early stage startups, I think it's extremely hard for founders to achieve work life balance because you're working on so many things all at once, you know, and at any given time, something's going wrong and you got to fix build and improve all at the same time. So it's extremely, extremely hard to do. And that's why you'll find a lot of founders that. Will be extremely sometimes tired and mentally exhausted or they will deal with some, you know, mental health issues at some point because it's so hard, you know, it's so much that you have to deal with every day. So it's something that I'm learning on how to deal with and how to manage that. But it's an everyday learning, basically. So it's, uh, it's tough.

Kaylan:

So you kind of just learn to expand your capacity.

Stevens:

Yeah, it's understand, um, what can you do now and how what you can do now can impact the company and also help you become a better CEO and keep you sane at the same time. So it's extremely hard to achieve that.

Kaylan:

Maybe startup founders are all a little insane and that's what makes them so successful.

Stevens:

Yeah, I think so too, because you have to be insane to decide, yeah, I'm going to build a company and I'm going to dedicate 10 years of my life to do so. And if it doesn't work out, I'm going to do something else and over and over again until I find something that works. So it's a. Yeah, I'll say that too. Founders are insane. That's the only way I think I can describe that.

Kaylan:

So where is Feed Coyote headed next? What's your, some of your next big goals?

Stevens:

Oh yes, we have a lot of things that we're currently working on now that we're excited about. Uh, we are currently building version 6 of the app right now. we've built 5 versions so far that helped us understand the early users, our growth phase, and now that's where we're currently at. So now that we understand that the features that are being used the most, the ones that users are requesting the most and things like that. So now we're currently building that iterate iteration so that we can provide an even better experience to our users. So I'm very excited about the new launch that's coming up pretty soon. We're also in our growth phase right now as well. So we're growing rapidly. So I'm excited to cross 100, 000 users in the app very soon as well. And our goal is really to reach millions of freelancers around the world because the market itself is extremely big. You have 1. 5 billion freelancers globally right now and it's growing rapidly at double digits year over year. So more people are getting into the freelance economy are becoming more independent and launching their own freelance business. And we want to position ourselves as a company that can support them on that journey. So we have a lot of things that we're building. And at the same time, we're growing our user base massively. So pretty soon. I think I do have millions of users using it around the world. I'd say, um, if you want to start your own business, you need to understand that you need to do it for the right reason because it's extremely hard and it's not gonna be overnight success I think that's one thing that we see when we go online on LinkedIn, everywhere, Twitter, Instagram, movies, it's When you're successful, that's the part that they show in the movie. They don't show the grind and the journey that takes years and years and years. So I'd advise to anybody that want to start a business. This is awesome because if you want to do it, you're already a winner because it's so hard that not everybody's doing it, but make sure that you're doing it for the right reason and that. You also want to solve a problem that other people have that you think that you can contribute to being a solution of that. So that's one thing that I would say for folks that would like to start a new business, startups or companies, or for the founders that are actually in the grind already. It's like, Keep at it. Keep at it. Find ways to see it through. I usually say, there's no way out but through. You have to see it through. It's going to take years. It's going to take a lot of learnings. It's going to take a lot of iterations. Keep at it. Eventually you'll succeed. If you keep making progress every day, eventually you'll get to the top of the mountain.

Kaylan:

This has been such a pleasure. What a treat to talk with you. We've met briefly every now and then, but this was a real joy to get to know you a little bit better and hear your story

Stevens:

yes. Thank you for having me. It's, uh, I'm always excited to talk about Feed Coyote and what we're building. And also it's nice to have a conversation about the founder also, because I don't usually have that kind of conversation. So it's really about the business as going the metrics and everything. So it's always nice to take a minute to be like, how are you doing as a founder? You know, that kind of pause. I remember being a sprocket in the early days and, um, wondering if this is going to work and how can we make it better? And, uh, it's been a grind since then. We've learned a lot and we've changed a lot and now it's growing. So I'm excited to see where we're going to go next.

Kaylan:

Do you ever wish that you could go back to those early days Oh, they

Stevens:

were brutal. They

Kaylan:

were

Stevens:

brutal. But they were also the foundations of what we needed to be where we are today. So I think it was also part of the journey.

Kaylan:

Well, we here at Sprocket and in Western Kentucky are cheering you on.

Stevens:

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Kaylan:

Thank you so much, Stevens. It was a joy to chat with you today.

Stevens:

Nice chatting with you as well.