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— Case Study · LegitLead

Predictive lead scoring, 5× more efficient than the market leader.

In for-profit education, buyers couldn't tell good leads from bad. We built a machine-learning platform that predicts which inquiries convert into enrolled, paying students — and beat a $4 billion incumbent 5-to-1.

Type Startup we built
Company LegitLead
Industry Lead-scoring SaaS
Timeframe Founded to acquisition
Situation

Nobody could tell good leads from bad.

In for-profit education, marketers bought inquiries by the hundreds of thousands — but couldn't reliably tell which would convert into enrolled, paying students. Lead scoring was demographic and static: run in spreadsheets, remodeled every year or two, one price for every lead. The result was an efficiency death spiral — lower-quality leads, lower campaign performance, lower margins, and ever-lower prices.

Task

Predict conversion, in real time.

Build a SaaS platform that predicts inquiry conversion — from form to paying student — so buyers can score, filter, and price every lead in real time.

Action

Big data + machine learning.

We built LegitLead: a predictive-analytics platform trained on consumer big data from first- and third-party sources, with breakthrough data-science technology and proprietary algorithms.

What we built
  • 30+ quality metrics scored at the sub-source level, refreshed daily.
  • Real-time source and sub-source analysis — channel to network to publisher.
  • Rule-based and model-based filters that scrub low-quality leads automatically.
  • Tiered, real-time pricing that pays more for good leads and less for bad.
  • A confidential data exchange so buyers and suppliers could optimize together.
Inside the product

Actionable insight, in real time.

LegitLead lead-quality dashboard: an overall quality score, a quality-and-volume time series, and a core-metrics bar chart.
Lead-quality dashboard — an overall score, quality vs. volume over time, and 30+ core metrics at a glance.
LegitLead real-time source analysis: lead-quality scores by traffic source.
Real-time source analysis — drill from channel down to sub-source to see exactly where quality comes from.
LegitLead conversion impact analysis: top-scored leads convert far better than control.
Conversion impact — the top-scored 20% of leads enrolled 88% better than the control group.
LegitLead model-based filters with auto-generated tiered pricing by score.
Model-based filtering — machine-learning models auto-generate tiered, real-time pricing by score.
Result

5× the leader; a profitable exit.

LegitLead delivered a 5× improvement in lead-conversion efficiency versus Targus — the leading provider and a $4 billion public company — and commanded a 14× price premium over standard lead-validation tools. A pilot with DeVry University cut customer-acquisition cost 40–60%; Carrington College became the second customer within the first year. The company reached profitability at $500K in first-year revenue at 85% gross margin, then exited to a strategic buyer in the for-profit education industry.

The outcome
  • lead-conversion efficiency vs. the market leader — a $4 billion public company.
  • 40–60% reduction in customer-acquisition cost (DeVry pilot).
  • 14× price premium vs. standard lead-validation solutions.
  • Profitable at $500K first-year revenue, 85% gross margin — then acquired.
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