How GoHighLevel REALLY Started | Co-Founder Robin Alex on the HighLevel Origin Story & What’s Next

How did GoHighLevel actually get started and how did a marketing agency’s problems help shape one of the biggest platforms built for agencies? 📌 Recommended Resources • 30 day trial of GoHighLevel: https://gohighlevel.com/jenna-leadingham • GoHighLevel Upgrade: https://levelupyoursaas.com/upgrade • HL Pro Tools: https://levelupyoursaas.com/hlprotools In this interview, I sit down with Robin Alex, co-founder of GoHighLevel (HighLevel), to hear his side of the GoHighLevel origin story from running an agency and piecing together multiple software tools to meeting Shaun Clark and helping turn an early product into the platform agencies use today. Robin shares what the VERY early days of HighLevel looked like, including finding the first users, building features from real agency feedback, selling HighLevel before they even had a proper provisioning system, and why the founders went nearly two years without taking money out of the business. We also talk about where GoHighLevel is heading, AI's impact on marketing agencies, opportunities Robin sees for agency owners, getting your first customers, hiring your first employee, building SOPs, the evolution of HighLevel, and the LevelUp Summit. If you're building a marketing agency, starting a SaaS business, using GoHighLevel, or considering HighLevel for your business, this conversation gives you a look at how the platform started and the principles that helped it grow. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 How GoHighLevel Really Started 00:45 HL Pro Tools for GoHighLevel Agencies 01:37 Meet Robin Alex, Co-Founder of GoHighLevel 01:53 Robin Alex’s Story Before HighLevel 03:15 From IT Consultant to Marketing Agency Owner 04:42 Solving the Feast-or-Famine Agency Problem 05:05 Learning Facebook Ads, Google Ads & Lead Generation 06:03 The Agency Tech Stack That Led to HighLevel 06:42 Robin’s Agency: 200 Clients & 20+ Employees 06:51 How Robin Alex Met Shaun Clark 07:35 The Agency Problems HighLevel Needed to Solve 08:08 The Phone Call That Changed Everything 09:36 Robin Sees the Early Version of HighLevel 10:02 Testing HighLevel With Real Agency Clients 10:28 Turning 6–8 Weeks of Work Into 24 Hours 10:52 Finding GoHighLevel’s First Agency Users 11:34 The First 13 HighLevel Customers 11:50 Building GoHighLevel From Customer Feedback 12:26 How Rob Bailey Helped HighLevel Get Its Early Break 13:19 Robin & Shaun Meet in Person for the First Time 13:35 Building the First HighLevel Website on the Flight 14:21 HighLevel’s First Live Sales Event 15:11 People Start Buying HighLevel LIVE 15:42 The Crazy Story Behind HighLevel’s First Signups 16:23 Why HighLevel Focused So Heavily on Customer Onboarding 17:02 The Founders Went 18+ Months Without Taking Money Out 17:38 How Robin Officially Became a HighLevel Co-Founder 18:05 Robin’s Journey From IT to Entrepreneurship 19:38 Advice for New Marketing Agency Owners 19:54 How to Get Your First Agency Client 20:55 Why You Should Get Customers BEFORE Everything Is Perfect 21:26 Why Human Relationships Still Matter in Business 21:42 Will GoHighLevel Ever Go Public? 21:58 Robin on the Future of GoHighLevel 22:58 How to Hire Your First Employee 23:19 Using SOPs to Scale Your Agency 24:13 What the FIRST Version of GoHighLevel Actually Did 24:58 How GoHighLevel’s Features Evolved 25:28 GoHighLevel’s New Events Feature 27:07 What Robin Is Most Excited About Right Now 27:22 AI + The Future of Marketing Agencies 28:35 Why Businesses Are Finally Embracing AI & Technology 29:21 The Opportunity for SaaS & Agency Owners 30:35 Robin’s Advice for the HighLevel Community 30:52 Inside the GoHighLevel LevelUp Summit 31:21 New GoHighLevel Features & Announcements 33:37 Grow, Automate & Scale With GoHighLevel 💡 ABOUT THIS SERIES This interview is especially meaningful because I’ve now had the opportunity to sit down with all three GoHighLevel co-founders and hear their individual perspectives on the company, the agency industry, and the HighLevel community. Check out my other GoHighLevel founder playlist interviews here: 👉 GoHighLevel Founder Interview Playlist:    • HighLevel Interviews ( With founders & emp...   If you're researching GoHighLevel or trying to decide whether HighLevel is right for your agency, check out the rest of the channel for tutorials, walkthroughs, strategies, feature updates, and resources designed to help you get more from the platform. Disclaimer** I am not an employee of HighLevel. Some of the links in this video description are affiliate links, which means that if you use them to make a purchase, I may earn a commission but this comes at no additional cost to you. This comes at no additional cost to you, and it helps support the content we create. Thank you for your support it means a lot to me! #GoHighLevel #HighLevel #MarketingAgency #smma #marketingagencylife #saas #saasgrowth #gohighleveltraining #gohighleveltutorial #highlevelsuccess #highlevelcontest #highleveltutorial