Thesis is a place where people pay a solo founder monthly, suggest one experiment for them to run, and read what happened — good or bad. This is one of those results. How it works.
Search ads on the words people type when ready to buy
What they expected: Search ads on those words will bring sign-ups in at €9 or less.
- Whose idea
- Rui Santos
- Founder
- A solo founderAI writing toolRun by Mara Koch
- Budget
- €500
- When it ran
- 24 Mar 2026 – 11 Apr 2026
Checked against an export from the founder's own product database, read line by line against the counting rule agreed before the run. Not against screenshots or the copy that shipped — the pilot does not host those yet, which is why this is the middle badge and not the strongest one.
Twelve keywords chosen for buying intent rather than volume, each sent to a dedicated landing page matching the search term rather than the home page. Capped at €25 a day, exact match only, with brand terms excluded so the spend could not be credited with traffic that was already coming.
Written down before it ran, alongside the claim it was meant to test. The pilot does not yet host screenshots or the copy that shipped — until it does, this is the whole description, and it is thinner than it should be for judging craft.
Ad spend divided by the sign-ups that arrived through the campaign link within seven days. Stopped at 60% of budget once it was clear. Published in full, and the rest of the money rolled over.
The number moved the wrong way, or did not move at all. Published in full.