Starter Success
Starter Success (Lodestar Technology Labs LLC) offers StarterCRM, a cloud-based contact management and email marketing SaaS for U.S. small businesses, plus InsurProCRM, an insurance-focused add-on. Self-serve subscriptions start at $14.95 monthly; the Atlanta company is owned by Fran Tarkenton.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Starter Success does
Starter Success is the operating brand of Lodestar Technology Labs LLC, a privately held Atlanta-based software company owned by NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton, that markets a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) and email marketing suite targeted at U.S. small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The portfolio centers on StarterCRM — a web-based contact management, sales pipeline, task tracking, and calendar platform — and extends with InsurProCRM, a vertical-specific add-on for insurance agents that adds carrier, product, and policy tracking on top of the StarterCRM base. Both products are delivered as subscriptions through a unified 'MasterKey' browser-accessible dashboard, with self-service purchase and a free trial offered directly via startercrm.com.
The product technology stack is a cloud-hosted SaaS CRM accessed entirely through a web browser with no installed client; the platform provides contact storage and import/export, lead and pipeline tracking, task assignment and team issue tracking, calendar and meeting scheduling, and native synchronization with Microsoft Outlook and Google for contacts and calendars. Email marketing is delivered via a native MailChimp integration, bundling MailChimp's free tier (up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month) and supporting event-based automations such as birthday and anniversary sends. No public API, SDK, or developer portal is documented.
The business model is a pure-play SaaS subscription. StarterCRM is priced at $14.95 per month and InsurProCRM at $99 per month, each including two user accounts with additional seats sold separately. Go-to-market is product-led growth: customers self-onboard, start a free trial, and purchase online through the website, supplemented by phone-based sales and support (1-877-872-6869). Distribution is direct-to-consumer, single-country (United States), with no reseller, marketplace, or institutional channel infrastructure, supported by content marketing, a self-service knowledge base, and email newsletters.
Starter Success firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Starter Success
- Legal name
- Lodestar Technology Labs, LLC
- Website
- https://startercrm.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Starter Success (Lodestar Technology Labs LLC) offers StarterCRM, a cloud-based contact management and email marketing SaaS for U.S. small businesses, plus InsurProCRM, an insurance-focused add-on. Self-serve subscriptions start at $14.95 monthly; the Atlanta company is owned by Fran Tarkenton.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Starter Success industry classification
Industry- Product category
- CRM Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Marketing Automation & Campaign Management CRM (HDAEAFAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Lead Nurturing & Marketing Operations (List Management, Scoring) (MPAAAIAJ)
Keywords
Where Starter Success is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Atlanta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Starter Success business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription - StarterCRM: Monthly or annual subscription for StarterCRM contact management and email marketing software. Includes access to all core CRM features and MailChimp integration. Subscription includes technical support and product upgrades.
- SaaS Subscription - InsurProCRM: Monthly or annual subscription for InsurProCRM insurance-specific CRM solution. Priced at $99/month, includes all StarterCRM features plus insurance-specific features like carrier information, policy tracking, and birthday/anniversary reminders.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | StarterCRM - Core contact management and email marketing CRM |
| Subscription | Monthly | InsurProCRM - Insurance-specific CRM with all StarterCRM features |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Starter Success product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Starter Success operates StarterCRM, a cloud-based CRM and email marketing SaaS platform designed specifically for U.S. small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The core product centralizes contact storage, lead and sales pipeline tracking, calendar and task management, and bundled email marketing via native MailChimp integration, with native sync to Microsoft Outlook and Google. An industry-specific add-on, InsurProCRM, layers insurance carrier, policy, and renewal tracking on top of the StarterCRM foundation for insurance professionals.
Product overview
StarterSuccess is a platform-plus-modules SaaS offering owned by Lodestar Technology Labs LLC. The portfolio consists of two distinct products: StarterCRM as the core contact management and email marketing platform, and InsurProCRM as a specialized add-on module for insurance professionals. Both products are delivered via a cloud-based subscription model (MasterKey platform) and are designed specifically for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. StarterCRM handles general CRM functions including contact management, lead tracking, calendar/scheduling, task assignment, and MailChimp integration. InsurProCRM extends StarterCRM with insurance-specific capabilities such as carrier management, policy tracking, and product management for insurance agents.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- StarterCRM: Customer Relationship Management & Email Marketing Campaign Software for small businesses.
- InsurProCRM
Products and services
- StarterCRM StarterCRM is a cloud-based CRM and email marketing SaaS platform designed for small business owners and startup entrepreneurs. It provides contact data storage, lead and sales pipeline tracking, calendar and meeting management, task assignment and tracking, and email marketing campaigns through a native MailChimp integration (up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month). It includes native synchronization with Microsoft Outlook and Google, contact import/export, and is priced at $14.95/month with 2 included user accounts and a free trial.
- InsurProCRM InsurProCRM is an insurance-focused CRM add-on built on top of StarterCRM. It enables insurance agents to store carrier information, product details, policy numbers, submission dates, policy status, death benefit, and issue age, with policy review date tracking, birthday and anniversary reminders, and multi-carrier and multi-product management. It includes all StarterCRM features and is priced at $99/month.
Companies that use Starter Success
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Starter Success technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature9 records
Starter Success partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- MailChimpcoreMailChimp is fully integrated with StarterCRM, enabling users to plan, schedule, and personalize email marketing campaigns directly through the CRM platform. The integration includes access to MailChimp's free tier (up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails/month) and supports event-based automations, birthday/anniversary emails, and campaign analytics.
- Microsoft OutlookcoreStarterCRM synchronizes contacts with Microsoft Outlook, allowing users to manage their Outlook contacts within the CRM and maintain calendar synchronization.
- GooglecoreStarterCRM integrates with Google services for calendar and contact synchronization, enabling seamless data flow between Google Workspace and the CRM platform.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Starter Success competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- HubSpot: HubSpot offers a free and low-cost CRM plus marketing automation targeting SMBs. It directly competes with StarterCRM in contact management, lead tracking, and email marketing — but at much greater scale and with embedded AI features.
- Pipedrive: Pipedrive is a sales-pipeline CRM aimed at small businesses and sales teams. It competes head-on with StarterCRM's lead tracking and pipeline management value proposition with a similarly intuitive UX.
- Nimble: Nimble is a relationship-focused CRM for small businesses that combines contact management with social profiles and email integrations (Outlook, Gmail). It targets the same SMB persona that values simplicity over enterprise feature depth.
- Keap (Infusionsoft): Keap combines CRM, email marketing, and sales automation for small businesses and solopreneurs. Its all-in-one SMB positioning and Mailchimp-style automations closely parallel StarterCRM and InsurProCRM.
- Insightly: Insightly is an SMB-focused CRM with contact management, pipeline tracking, and integrations with Mailchimp and Google. It directly mirrors StarterCRM's positioning for small businesses that want simple, affordable contact and project management.
- Agile CRM: Agile CRM offers a free/affordable all-in-one sales, marketing, and service CRM for SMBs. Its feature breadth and price tier place it in direct competition with StarterCRM's contact management, email campaigns, and pipeline tracking.
- Freshsales (Freshworks): Freshsales is an SMB CRM with built-in email, contact management, lead scoring, and pipeline tracking. It targets the same small business buyer as StarterCRM with a similarly affordable entry price and email-marketing-adjacent features.
- Zoho CRM: Zoho CRM targets SMBs with an affordable, broad-feature CRM including contact management, pipeline tracking, and integrations. It overlaps almost directly with StarterCRM's feature set at a similar price tier and serves the same SMB persona.
Others
- Mailchimp (Intuit): Mailchimp is both a core integration partner and an adjacent competitor: it has expanded from email marketing into basic CRM functionality and customer journey tools for SMBs, overlapping with StarterCRM's marketing automation value proposition.
Broad incumbents
- Salesforce Sales Cloud Essentials: Salesforce's Essentials edition targets very small businesses with a stripped-down CRM including contact and lead management. As a broad incumbent moving downmarket, it competes indirectly with StarterCRM on the same SMB buyer.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Starter Success social profiles
Digital presenceStarter Success financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Starter Success leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Starter Success funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Starter Success M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Starter Success
What does Starter Success do?
Starter Success operates StarterCRM, a cloud-based CRM and email marketing SaaS platform designed specifically for U.S. small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The core product centralizes contact storage, lead and sales pipeline tracking, calendar and task management, and bundled email marketing via native MailChimp integration, with native sync to Microsoft Outlook and Google. An industry-specific add-on, InsurProCRM, layers insurance carrier, policy, and renewal tracking on top of the StarterCRM foundation for insurance professionals.
Is Starter Success a public or private company?
Starter Success is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Starter Success founded?
Starter Success was founded in 2009. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Starter Success based?
Starter Success is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.
How does Starter Success make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. SaaS Subscription - StarterCRM is the primary driver. The others are saaS Subscription - InsurProCRM.
Who are Starter Success's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are HubSpot, Pipedrive, Nimble, Keap (Infusionsoft), Insightly, Agile CRM, Freshsales (Freshworks) and Zoho CRM. Mailchimp (Intuit) is listed as an others. Salesforce Sales Cloud Essentials is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Starter Success have an API?
No public API is recorded for Starter Success.
What industry is Starter Success in?
Starter Success's product category is CRM Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAFAB, Marketing Automation & Campaign Management CRM, with a secondary code of MPAAAIAJ, Lead Nurturing & Marketing Operations (List Management, Scoring). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.