How GoHighLevel Became a $1B Empire: Robin Alex

Mar 17, 2025

If you’re in the agency world, you’ve definitely heard of HighLevel. Maybe you use it, maybe you’ve seen the affiliate hype—but what most people don’t realize is just how quickly this company has exploded… and how much of that success is tied to one core principle: solve real problems really well.

On my latest podcast episode, I sat down with Robin Alex, one of the three co-founders of HighLevel (aka GoHighLevel), to talk about how they built a $1.3 billion company in under seven years—with no outside funding, no sales team, and no fluff. Just product, people, and purpose.

Let’s dive into what makes HighLevel such a powerhouse—and what every agency or aspiring SaaS founder can learn from their journey.

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Built by Agency Owners, for Agency Owners

Before HighLevel ever existed, Robin was running a local marketing agency with 200 clients across industries like med spas, car customization, and dental. He ran a remote team of 25 people and, like many of us, struggled with stitching together 10-15 different tools just to deliver basic campaigns.

Lead gen was never the issue. The problem? Clients didn’t know how to close the leads they were getting.

“We realized we either had to become consultants or create something that helped them get results without needing us hand-holding every step.”

That’s where the idea for HighLevel came from—a single platform that could combine all the core tools (CRM, calendar, two-way texting, email, automations, invoicing, etc.) into one system that agencies could deploy fast… and white-label as their own.

A Software That Solves Real Problems

What I love about HighLevel’s origin story is that it wasn’t built in a vacuum. Robin and his co-founders (Sean and Varun) were solving a pain they lived through themselves.

The early version started with basics: CRM, calendar, two-way texting, campaign automation. They called their plug-and-play setups “snapshots,” which let you launch a full campaign and configuration in just one click.

From there, Robin started offering the tool to other agency friends—and it took off like wildfire. No ads, no sales team. Just a killer product and word of mouth.

Scaling Through Product-Led Growth

So how do you scale to $1.3 billion in under 7 years?

Simple: build a product so good that your users feel obligated to tell their friends about it.

That’s exactly what HighLevel did. Robin, Sean, and Varun personally onboarded early users, constantly followed up, and made sure they saw wins. That built loyalty and momentum. Then users started asking, “Hey, do you have an affiliate program?”

And that’s when things really started compounding.

“We didn’t launch with the idea of building a viral affiliate engine—it just happened naturally because the product worked so well.”

Their affiliate program now has partners who’ve made six and even seven figures promoting HighLevel—because it’s a product that delivers 10x the value it charges.

Built for Agencies—But Used by Everyone

HighLevel started as an agency-first platform. But over time, more and more local businesses have discovered it—and now use it in-house to manage their own growth.

“It’s like giving them their own internal marketing agency,” Robin said.

Whether you're running ads, building funnels, managing leads, automating follow-ups, or handling online reputation—HighLevel consolidates everything in one place. Even better, you can duplicate your systems and workflows with snapshots, saving hours of setup for each new client or location.

New Frontier: AI and the Future of Local Business

One of the most exciting parts of our convo? The AI features.

Robin broke down how HighLevel’s built-in AI can now handle phone calls, qualify leads, and even close appointments. That’s right—AI employees that work 24/7.

If you’ve ever struggled with missed calls or after-hours leads going cold, this is a game-changer.

“The ones who are transparent about it being a bot actually get the best results.”

And yes, it’s here now. Not some beta. It’s already being used in places like pizza shops and service businesses to take orders and book jobs without any human intervention.

Lessons on Co-Founding and Culture

Robin also shared some gold around partnerships. Despite official titles (CEO, COO, CTO), the HighLevel founders operate with a simple mindset: no egos, no turf wars, just solve problems.

“There’s no ‘that’s not my job’—if you see a landmine, jump on it.”

This culture of action, humility, and ownership runs deep in their team. With over 1,600 employees across 21 countries, that mindset has allowed them to stay scrappy and connected even at scale.

How to Build Something Big (Even If You're Starting Small)

If you’re reading this thinking, “That’s great, but I’m not ready to build a $1B SaaS company,” don’t worry—Robin’s advice is simple:

Talk to customers. Find the real problems.
Validate the pain. Ask what they’d pay if you solved it.
Build simple. You don’t need all the features, just the right ones.
Focus on results. Get them wins and the word will spread.
Don’t get caught up in structure. Solve problems first. Titles and ownership can come later.

Final Thoughts: The Problems Stay the Same

Robin ended with something that really stuck with me:

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a three-person team or a billion-dollar company—you're still solving the same problems.”

As entrepreneurs, we often overcomplicate things. But success is really about consistency, solving problems better than anyone else, and building a team that shares the same mission.

HighLevel’s story proves that when you start with value, scale is just a byproduct.