The SaaS Podcast: Build, Launch & Scale Your SaaS

Bassem Hamdy closes enterprise sales deals in 9 days—not 6 months. After scaling Procore from $10M to $100M as EVP of Marketing, he built Briq to an 8-figure ARR by selling AI automation to CFOs in construction. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the enterprise sales playbook that bypasses long procurement cycles. Bassem breaks down exactly how to close enterprise sales fast by focusing on "vision and value" instead of product demos. You will learn why you should never do free POCs, how to identify when you're wasting time with "Innovation Teams," and the land-and-expand strategy that grew Briq from $15K deals to $100K+ contracts. In this episode, Bassem also shares why he made the controversial call to fire bad enterprise clients, and how partnering with industry associations gave Briq the social proof to earn trust with risk-averse CFOs before they had logos. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a call + get the first 20 hours of development free 🔑 Key Lessons 🎯 Sell Vision and Value, Not Features: Bassem closes enterprise sales in 9 days by confirming vision alignment and ROI before ever demoing the product. 💰 Never Do Free POCs: Free work attracts time-wasters from innovation teams. Even a dollar creates commitment and filters for real buyers. 🤝 Land and Expand for Enterprise Sales: Start with a small paid implementation that proves ROI, then expand across departments. 🏢 Target the Economic Buyer: CFOs write checks; innovation VPs waste your time. Always qualify whether your contact controls budget. 📉 Fire Bad Enterprise Clients: Large companies can drag you into dark alleys with endless requests. Cut them loose to protect your resources. 🛠️ Partner for Early Credibility: Before you have enterprise logos, partner with trade associations to earn the social proof CFOs need. Chapters Why SaaS Founders Should Ignore Feature Requests Introduction & Welcome Is AI "Human Replacement" Software? The "Construction Data Cloud" Idea (And Why It Failed) Finding the Wrong ICP The "Agile" Trap: Why Most Product Teams Are Waterfall The Investor-Forced Pivot to Forecasting How to Close Enterprise Sales Deals in 9 Days Selling on "Vision & Value" vs. Features SaaS Pricing: Moving to Tokenization & Consumption First Price Was $15K—And It Was Too Cheap CFO Sales: Overcoming Risk Aversion Building Trust with Industry Associations Firing Bad Enterprise Clients Land and Expand Strategy Lightning Round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/465 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Saket Saurabh closed Instacart by live-coding a fix during the pitch—and that "magical moment" became the foundation of his founder-led sales playbook. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how Saket closed the first 15 enterprise customers himself using a consultative founder-led sales approach. Saket breaks down exactly how to navigate complex corporate buy-cycles without a sales background. You will learn why he went "enterprise first" instead of starting with SMBs, how to overcome the "we can build it ourselves" objection by creating magical demo moments, and why founder-led sales is essential for connecting product, market, and customer needs. In this episode, Saket also shares the "zero salary" pivot that made Nexla cash flow positive before their Series A—and why founders must do sales themselves before hiring a team. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a call + get the first 20 hours of development free 🚨 NordStellar → Book a demo and get 20% off with code blackfriday20 🔑 Key Lessons 🎯 Founder-Led Sales Connects the Dots: Unless founders sell deals themselves, they can't fully understand how product, market, and customer needs intersect. 🪄 Create "Magical Moments" in Demos: Saket's co-founder live-coded a fix during the Instacart pitch—solving problems on the spot closes enterprise deals. 🏢 Go Enterprise First: Architecting for SMBs first prevents you from understanding enterprise-grade complexity. Nexla went straight to Fortune 500. 🤝 Consultative Founder-Led Sales Builds Trust: Don't pitch—listen. Saket's first goal in meetings was to understand if the prospect saw the same problem. 📉 The "Zero Salary" Pivot: Saket and his co-founders cut salaries to zero to reach cash flow positivity before their Series A. 💰 Price Against Internal Cost: Calculate what it costs the prospect to solve the problem internally, then price at a fraction. Chapters Introduction & The "Profit" Quote What is Nexla? (Solving the Data Fragmentation Problem) The Origin: From Ad Tech to Data Infrastructure The Contrarian Strategy: Why "Enterprise First"? Landing the First Customer (Instacart) The "Live Code" Founder-Led Sales Demo Strategy Figuring Out Enterprise Pricing & POs Founder-Led Sales: Closing the First 15 Customers Overcoming the "We Can Build It Ourselves" Objection The Pivot: Going "Zero Salary" to Hit Cash Flow Positive The Impact of AI on Data Engineering Lightning Round: Best Advice & Productivity Tools 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/464 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Ibby Syed built his AI SaaS to $150K ARR—then realized he'd accidentally built a consulting business. Customers weren't logging in. They'd call with questions, get answers, and disappear. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how Cotera escaped the services trap and pivoted to an AI SaaS agent platform to hit $1M ARR. Ibby breaks down exactly how to recognize you're stuck in a consulting trap and escape it. You will learn why his co-founder's 100-line OpenAI experiment outperformed months of data science work, and the painful decision to fire legacy customers to focus on building a real AI SaaS product. In this episode, Ibby also reveals his "value-first" LinkedIn outbound strategy that books 25+ meetings a week, why AI SaaS products need ongoing utility (not one-time insights), and how teaching customers to build their own AI agents made the business scale. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a call + get the first 20 hours of development free 🚨 NordStellar → Book a demo and get 20% off with code blackfriday20 🔑 Key Lessons 🚨 Early AI SaaS Revenue Can Be a Trap: Ibby hit $150K ARR but customers weren't logging in. The business looked like software but operated like an agency—a dangerous signal he almost ignored. 🔄 The Consulting Trap Kills AI SaaS Scalability: When every customer needs custom work, you're not building a product. If customers call for answers instead of logging in, you've built a services business. 💡 Let API Breakthroughs Trigger Your Pivot: Ibby's co-founder solved a customer problem with 100 lines of OpenAI code that outperformed a complex data science solution. That contrast made the AI SaaS opportunity obvious. 🎯 Deliver Value Upfront in Outbound: Instead of pitching, Ibby sends actual leads from a Reddit monitoring agent. "If you actually show value, people go crazy for it." 📉 Analytics Products Lack Stickiness: Dashboards answer questions, but once answered, there's no reason to return. AI SaaS products need ongoing utility, not one-time insights. 🛠️ Teach Customers to Build, Don't Build for Them: After the pivot, Cotera stopped doing custom implementations. They showed customers how to build their own AI agents—that's what made the AI SaaS business scale. Chapters Introduction Favorite Quote & Mindset What is Cotera? Ideal Customer & Revenue Snapshot Founding Story & YC Entry Early Product & Customer Interviews Outbound Strategies on LinkedIn Effective Outbound Today Common Mistakes with AI Outreach Realizing the Need to Pivot OpenAI API "Wake Up" Moment Transitioning to AI SaaS Agent Builder Product Differentiation & Competition Prompt-Based Workflow Approach Traction Before & After Pivot Evolving Pricing Model How to Contact Ibby 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/463 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Bilal Aijazi built a freemium SaaS to millions of monthly active users—but struggled to convert free users to paid. Then he discovered that most users would never pay, and the real buyers were hiding in plain sight. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the freemium SaaS playbook that took Polly from $8/month to 7-figure ARR. Bilal breaks down exactly how to identify buyers in a sea of free users. You will learn the "Pain Tolerance" metric that proved demand (80% completion on a 5-step install), how to separate "pollinators" from paying customers, and why attaching to expensive company rituals drives sticky freemium SaaS conversion. In this episode, Bilal also shares how Slack building a competing feature forced him to diversify to Teams, Zoom, and Google Slides—and why creator-based pricing works better than workspace pricing for horizontal products. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a call + get the first 20 hours of development free 🚨 NordStellar → Book a demo and get 20% off with code blackfriday20 📡 Signal House → Learn more and get a demo 🔑 Key Lessons 🚀 Pain tolerance signals demand: 80% of users completed a 5-step manual install—proving massive demand before Slack even had an app store. 💰 Freemium SaaS conversion requires separating users from buyers: Most free users picking lunch spots will never pay. The buyers are running company all-hands and sales kickoffs. 🔄 Surviving platform risk means diversifying: When Slack built Workflow Builder, Polly expanded to Teams, Zoom, Google Slides, and PowerPoint. 🎯 Hook conversations into the product: Every signup triggers an email asking for feedback—these conversations reveal which use cases convert to paid. 💡 Creator pricing works for horizontal freemium SaaS: Charge poll creators, not every user. Enterprise tiers shift to monthly active users. Chapters The "Punch in the Face" Reality of Startups What Polly Does and Who It Serves Scaling to Millions of Monthly Active Users The Origin: Messaging Platforms Meet Enterprise Launching on Slack Before the App Store Existed The First Product: Polls in Slack The 5-Step Onboarding Nightmare (That Worked) Product Hunt Viral Moment Transitioning from Viral Bot to Real Company The Freemium SaaS Strategy The Fantasy Football Customer: First $8/Month Finding Buyers in a Sea of Free Users Free-to-Paid Conversion Challenges What Goes Behind the Paywall Horizontal vs. Vertical Approach Building Polly Workflows When Slack Built a Competing Feature Managing Platform Risk Why Technical Founders Must Learn Sales Building on Multiple Platforms Today Would You Start Horizontal Again? Lightning Round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/462 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

James Ashford built a bootstrapped SaaS for £4,000 on WordPress and sold it to Sage for 8 figures—without raising a single dollar of outside funding. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the bootstrapped SaaS playbook that beat competitors with $75M in funding. James breaks down exactly how to build a sellable asset from day one. You will learn why he printed logos of potential acquirers on his wall before getting his first customer, the "market like a celebrity chef" strategy that made his content go viral, and the "shock and awe" onboarding that impressed acquirers during due diligence. In this episode, James also shares how trading 10% of his software for 10% of an accounting firm gave him instant credibility as an outsider, and why skipping conferences to hire a videographer was the smartest bootstrapped SaaS marketing decision he made. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a call + get the first 20 hours of development free 📡 Signal House → Learn more and get a demo 🚨 NordStellar → Book a demo and get 20% off with code blackfriday20 🔑 Key Lessons 🚀 Small tech, big exit: James built an 8-figure bootstrapped SaaS on a £4,000 WordPress plugin MVP—proving you don't need massive funding. 📚 Market like a celebrity chef: Give away your methodology for free. People still buy because they want it done faster. 🎯 Built to sell from day one: Before his first customer, James calculated his exit number and printed acquirer logos on his wall. 💡 Bootstrapped SaaS forces creativity: When conferences cost £25K, he hired a videographer instead and dominated online. 📋 Playbooks enable premium exits: Every process documented. Acquirers pay more when they see exactly how the business runs. Chapters The "Don't Wish It Were Easier" Philosophy What GoProposal Does for Accountants Characteristics of the Solution: Close in 15 Minutes From Business Consultant to SaaS Founder The £4,000 WordPress MVP That Scaled Why Not Knowing Tech Was an Advantage Trading Equity for Credibility Writing a Bestselling Book in 2 Weeks Getting the First 100 Customers The Bootstrapped SaaS Marketing Playbook Outpacing Competitors with Speed Creating Content Without Being an Expert The Power of Proximity to Customers The PATH Method: Pain, Aspirations, Traps, How Onboarding: The Shock and Awe Approach Growing to 1,100+ Customers Why He Skipped Conferences for a Videographer Preparing for Exit from Day One The M&A Process and Due Diligence Why He Never Raised Money Life After Exit: The Crash and Recovery Small Tech, Big Exit: The New Project Lightning Round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/461 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Ryan Wang made a SaaS pricing mistake that nearly killed his company. As CEO of Assembled—a workforce management platform for support teams—he chose usage-based pricing with no minimums. The result? Eight months without a single dollar of revenue while burning through runway. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the brutal reality of SaaS pricing mistakes and how to fix them. Ryan breaks down exactly how he fixed his SaaS pricing model after the initial failure. You will learn why usage-based pricing needs guardrails, how he convinced Stripe to become his first paying customer, and the "shadow org chart" approach to enterprise sales. In this episode, Ryan also shares why Assembled hired senior leaders earlier than most startups recommend, and how his background at Stripe shaped his approach to building enterprise software. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Sprinto → Book a demo and get 10% off + your first pentest FREE 💖 Gearheart → Book a free consult and get the first 20 hours free 📡 Signal House → Get featured on 150+ podcasts in your niche 🚨 NordStellar → Book a demo and get 20% off 🔑 Key Lessons 💰 SaaS pricing without minimums is dangerous: Usage-based models need floors to ensure revenue predictability—Ryan learned this after 8 months of zero revenue. 🏢 Hire senior leaders earlier than feels comfortable: They bring playbooks and credibility you can't build alone. 🗺️ Build the "shadow org chart": Map decision-makers and influencers before pitching to close enterprise deals faster. 🎯 Your first customer shapes your product: Choose someone who represents your ideal future customers—Stripe set the standard for Assembled. 🤝 Trust compounds in enterprise sales: Early champions become references for future deals. Chapters Introduction and Ryan's background at Stripe The pain point that led to Assembled Why usage-based SaaS pricing with no minimums failed Eight months without revenue—surviving the runway crisis How Ryan fixed the SaaS pricing model Landing Stripe as the first paying customer The shadow org chart approach to enterprise sales Hiring senior leaders early Scaling to 8-figure ARR Lessons learned and advice for founders 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/460 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Sam Darawish sold his first company for $50 million—then bootstrapped his next SaaS to $30M ARR without a dollar of outside funding. In this episode, bootstrapped SaaS founders will learn why capital constraints actually force better decisions. Sam breaks down exactly how scarcity of capital forced Everflow to focus on what mattered. You will learn how he landed his first customers at Affiliate Summit with nothing but screenshots, why he only invested $400K after a $50M exit, and how Everflow hit profitability at just $1M ARR with 10 people. In this episode, Sam also shares the bootstrapped SaaS mindset that led him to not pay himself for two years, and why moderate 25-30% growth beats aggressive VC-fueled expansion. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Sprinto → Learn more and book a demo today 📡 Signal House → Learn more and get a demo 🚀 SaaS Club Launch → Build your SaaS to $10K MRR 🔑 Key Lessons 💰 Scarcity forces focus: Sam invested only $400K after a $50M exit because limited capital forces you to get things right quickly—no room for multiple directions. 🎯 Start with a bootstrapped-friendly niche: Everflow targeted mobile affiliate networks first—a small TAM Sam knew intimately—before expanding to larger markets. 🚀 Sell screenshots before building: Sam got his first two customers at Affiliate Summit with nothing but screenshots. Engineers hate it, but early feedback beats isolation. 📉 Profitability at $1M ARR: With just 10 people and 25-30 high-value customers, Everflow proved bootstrapped SaaS can scale efficiently from day one. 🧠 Moderate growth beats aggressive expansion: Sam argues 25-30% annual growth is healthier than 50-60% with VC—fast growth often means customers outside your ICP. Chapters Introduction and favorite quote What Everflow does and who it is for Revenue, team size, and customer count Why Everflow is completely bootstrapped The Moola Media origin story Building the first mobile affiliate network Opera acquisition for $50 million How the Everflow idea was born Validating the idea with beta customers Why they invested only $400K after a $50M exit How scarcity of capital forces focus Defining the initial ICP: mobile affiliate networks Landing first customers at Affiliate Summit Getting customers with just screenshots Why engineers fear showing early products Differentiating in a crowded market How long it took to hit $1M ARR Expanding from niche to larger TAM Why moderate growth beats aggressive expansion Lightning round and book recommendation 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/459 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

David Shim sold his first startup for $200M, but when he started Read AI in 2021, he built something that failed spectacularly — 5% retention after 30 days. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the Product-Led Growth playbook that turned that failure into 8-figure ARR. David breaks down how he increased retention from 5% to 81% by focusing obsessively on "Day-One ROI" instead of chasing revenue. You will learn the $0 ad spend strategy behind acquiring 1 million new accounts monthly, and why building "bridges" between platforms like Zoom and Microsoft is the secret to competing with tech giants. In this episode, David also reveals how to design viral loops into your product (like auto-shared meeting notes), why analyzing body language gave them the edge over generic AI wrappers, and the "Multiplayer Mode" tactic that turns every user into a salesperson. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 ⁠⁠Sprinto⁠⁠ → ⁠⁠Learn more and book a demo today 🚀 SaaS Club Launch → Build your SaaS to $10K MRR 🔑 Key Lessons 📉 From Failure to Fit: Why the first product failed with 5% retention and how focusing on actionable insights jumped it to 81%. 🚀 The $0 Ad Spend Model: How to build viral loops (like auto-shared meeting notes) that drive 1M+ signups without paid ads. 💡 Day-One ROI: Why prioritizing immediate value over revenue is the secret to PLG success in a crowded market. 🤖 The Multimodal Edge: How analyzing tone and body language (not just text) differentiated Read AI from generic GPT wrappers. ⚔️ Competing with Giants: How to survive when Microsoft, Google, and Zoom launch features that compete with you. 📖 Chapters Intro & The $200M Placed Acquisition The Read AI Origin Story (The ESPN Glasses Moment) Why Our First Product Failed (5% Retention Mistake) The Pivot: How Multimodal AI Beat Simple Summarizers The 81% Retention Strategy (The Key to Day-One ROI) The $0 Ad Spend PLG Playbook & Viral Loops Competing with Platform Features (Microsoft, Google, Zoom) Land and Expand without Salespeople The Future of AI Agents and Decision-Making Resources: Full Show Notes: saasclub.io/458 Subscribe to the Podcast: saasclub.io/subscribe Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: saasclub.io/email Join the SaaS Club founder community: saasclub.co/plus

Kevin Wagstaff and his brother Michael turned a $5,000 investment into a $27 million ARR home inspection software business—without raising venture capital for the first six years. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the "Serve Before Selling" strategy that beat well-funded incumbents. Kevin breaks down how he spent 12 months building an SEO moat before launching, creating an "unfair advantage" in a skeptical market. You will learn his "Agency Wedge" tactic (building websites manually to sell software), the specific pricing psychology needed to move an old-school industry to SaaS subscriptions, and why he stepped down as CEO at the peak of growth. In this episode, Kevin also reveals the "6 AM Sunday Demo" that unlocked their biggest growth wave, how to use community engagement to sell without pitching, and the "Secondary Offering" exit path that lets founders take money off the table while staying in the game. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 ⁠⁠Sprinto⁠⁠ → ⁠⁠Learn more and book a demo today 🚀 SaaS Club Launch → Build your SaaS to $10K MRR 🔑 Key Lessons 🚀 The SEO Head Start: Why writing content 12 months before launch created an unfair advantage. 🛠️ The Agency Wedge: How building 200+ websites manually became a critical wedge to sell software. 💰 Pricing Wars: How to convince an old-school industry to switch from one-time fees to monthly subscriptions. 🤝 Community Growth: The strategy of being the "first to comment" in Facebook groups for 12 hours a day. 🛑 Founder Transition: Recognizing when you are the bottleneck and how to exit gracefully to Private Equity. 📖 Chapters The "Zero to 10" Founder Mindset The $5k Bootstrap Origin Story 9 Months of Customer Interviews (That Actually Worked) The MVP: Focusing on Workflow vs. Features The "Smart Home Inspector" SEO Strategy The Agency Wedge: Building Websites to Sell Software Serving vs. Selling: The 10-Year Trust Game The 6 AM Sunday Demo: Doing Things That Don't Scale The Failed $10k Ad Experiment Raising Capital via Private Equity (Secondary Offering) Stepping Down as CEO 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/457 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Back in 2011, Sergiy Korolov's team accidentally sent 20,000 test billing emails to real customers—a complete disaster. They built a simple internal tool to prevent it from happening again, shared it with the Ruby on Rails community, and it exploded. Fast forward to today: Mailtrap generates seven-figure ARR with 100,000+ monthly active users. In this episode, Sergiy Korolov (Co-founder of Mailtrap) reveals the SaaS Pricing Strategy behind converting a massive free user base into paid customers. Learn his controversial "Mandatory Survey" tactic that unlocked deep customer insights without hurting conversion, how he used a "Fake Door" test to validate a massive product pivot before writing code, and the specific challenges of expanding from a simple testing sandbox into a full-scale Email API platform. In this episode, Sergiy also explains why simplifying onboarding didn't increase conversions (and what that revealed about developers), the "Eat Your Own Dog Food" strategy that fueled their initial growth, and how to compete with giants like SendGrid by focusing on developer experience. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 ⁠⁠Sprinto⁠⁠ → ⁠⁠Learn more and book a demo today 🚀 SaaS Club Launch → Build your SaaS to $10K MRR 🔑 Key Lessons 📊 The Mandatory Survey: Why forcing users to answer questions during signup actually helped growth without hurting conversion. 🚪 The "Fake Door" Test: Validating a major feature (Email Campaigns) with a dummy button before building it. 💰 Monetization: Transitioning a free community tool into a profitable recurring revenue business using data-driven pricing. 🛠️ Developer Marketing: How to build a product that developers naturally share (PLG) without a sales team. 🔄 The Pivot: How they navigated the risky shift from blocking emails to sending them reliably in production. 📖 Chapters The 20,000 Email Disaster (Origin Story) Building Internal Tools: The "Eat Your Own Dog Food" Strategy The Decision to Monetize a Free Tool Pricing Strategy: Using Data & Interviews to Find the Price The Onboarding Myth: Why Fewer Clicks Didn't Increase Conversions The Mandatory Signup Survey (That Didn't Kill Growth) The "Fake Door" Test: Validating Email Campaigns Before Building The Pivot: Expanding from Email Testing to Email Sending Competing with Giants (SendGrid, Mailgun) AI for Developers: Hype vs. Reality 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/456 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Jonathan Kazarian built Accelevents to $10 million ARR working nights and weekends for five years while keeping his hedge fund day job. But when COVID hit just as he went full-time, every event worldwide got canceled and revenue dropped to zero – forcing him to borrow $75,000 from his father's retirement to survive. In this episode, Jonathan reveals the reality of bootstrapping a global platform without quitting your day job. He shares the brutal truth about hiring remote developers (firing 21 Upwork contractors to find one good one), the "19-Second Support" strategy that wins enterprise deals, and how they survived their entire revenue stream vanishing overnight during COVID by pivoting to virtual events. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 ⁠⁠Gearheart⁠⁠ → ⁠⁠Book a free strategy session + get 20% off select services⁠ 🚀 SaaS Club Launch → Build your SaaS to $10K MRR 🔑 Key Lessons ⏰ The 5-Year Grind: Balancing a hedge fund job with a growing SaaS (and why he didn't quit sooner). 📉 The COVID Crisis: Losing 100% of revenue in March 2020 and 10X'ing it by December. 🛠️ Hiring Mistakes: Why he had to fire 21 remote developers to build a stable product. 🍽️ Event-Led Growth: Hosting intimate dinners to close high-value customers without pitching. ⚡ 19-Second Support: The customer success metric that beats competitors with bigger budgets. 📖 Chapters Introduction & The Charlie Munger Quote The Origin Story: A Cancer Fundraiser Event The 5-Year Grind: Nights & Weekends Hiring Disasters: Going Through 21 Upwork Contractors The COVID Crisis: Revenue Going to Zero The Pivot: Pre-Selling Virtual Features Before Building Them Event-Led Growth: Hosting Dinners to Win Customers B2B Sales Strategy & Consolidating Tech Stacks The "19-Second" Customer Support Standard Advice for Founders on Focus 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/455 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Richard Hollingsworth bootstrapped an executive assistant agency to $5M ARR before pivoting to an AI SaaS. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the "Agency to SaaS" playbook that drove Fyxer from $1M to $18M ARR in just 9 months. Richard breaks down their "Data Moat"—how they used six years of manual agency logs to train GPT-3, creating a product far superior to generic wrappers. You will learn how a single Facebook ad led to a $1.2M enterprise deal closed in just 7 days, and why targeting "Professional Services" instead of tech companies unlocked massive growth. In this episode, Richard also shares the brutal reality of hypergrowth (like when support response times collapsed), the "Unreasonable Effort" mantra that aligns his team, and how living in a hacker house in San Francisco shifted their ambition from "What if Google builds this?" to "This will be huge." This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a call + get the first 20 hours of development free 🔑 Key Lessons 💡 The Data Moat: How they used 6 years of manual agency data to train GPT-3, creating a product better than generic AI wrappers. 📈 Hypergrowth Reality: Scaling from $1M to $18M ARR in under a year and the specific things that broke (like support response times). 🏢 The $1.2M Deal: How they turned a single Facebook Ad signup into a 5,000-seat enterprise contract in just 7 days. 🎯 Contrarian Targeting: Why they explicitly ignore the "Tech" market to target Real Estate and Professional Services instead. 🧠 Culture of Intensity: The "Unreasonable Effort" mantra used to align a team during a period of extreme scaling. 📖 Chapters Introduction & The "Unreasonable Effort" Mantra Rich's Background: From Farming to Tech Transition to SaaS: Bootstrapping an Agency to $5M Early Product Lessons: Why Tech-Enabled Services Failed Launching the First Product with GPT-3 Building the Team: Pitching Technical Co-Founders Scaling Challenges: The "Build or Talk to Customers" Rule Product-Market Fit: Leveraging LinkedIn Influencers Sales & Customer Acquisition: The Move to San Francisco Partnerships: The $1.2M Real Estate Deal Key SaaS Metrics: Moving from Single Player to Multiplayer Tough Lessons: When Support Broke During Hypergrowth Company Culture: Hiring for Intensity SaaS Trends: AI Agents & Future of Work 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/454 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Bernard Aceituno went from PhD research at MIT to founding Stack AI, a no-code AI platform that's now generating 7-figures in ARR with over 100 enterprise customers and $16M raised. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the enterprise AI strategy that turned a scrappy MVP into a market leader. Bernard shares how a perfectly-timed launch on Hacker News generated 20 enterprise meetings in 48 hours. You will learn why chasing too many customer segments (SMBs vs. Enterprise) nearly derailed the company, and the data-driven framework he used to fire small customers and double down on IT teams. In this episode, Bernard also explains the "Monte Carlo" approach to testing sales channels without wasting time, why early reseller partnerships failed, and the "Maker vs. Manager" schedule that allows founders to code and sell simultaneously. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a call + get the first 20 hours of development free 🔑 Key Lessons 🚀 The Hacker News Launch: How a simple "Show HN" post for a scrappy MVP generated 20 enterprise meetings in just 48 hours. 🎯 Finding Focus: Why chasing too many ICPs (SMBs, Startups, Enterprise) nearly derailed the company and why they fired their small customers. 💡 The MVP Pivot: What signals showed Bernard it was time to move from "Dataset Management" to "Workflow Automation." 🧪 The Experiment Framework: How to use a "Monte Carlo" approach to test sales channels without wasting time on mediocre experiments. 🛑 Channel Mistakes: Why attempts at reseller channels failed early on and what Bernard learned about timing partnerships. 📖 Chapters Introduction & The "Risk" Mindset From MIT PhD to YC Founder What is Stack AI? (Enterprise AI Toolkit) The MVP Launch: 20 Meetings in 48 Hours Early Traction: Finding the First $100k ARR Discovering the ICP: Why SMBs were the Wrong Customer The Enterprise Pivot: Selling to IT & Compliance Teams Founder-Led Sales: Closing the First 12 Enterprise Deals Hiring Sales Teams: When is the Right Time? The "Mediocre Experiment" Trap 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/453 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Pat Kinsel went from years of painful struggle at Notarize to building Proof, a SaaS platform approaching $100M ARR with 230 employees and $260M raised. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the growth strategy that turned a notary error into a market-defining company. Pat explains how he validated demand with a simple landing page before writing a line of code, how he endured years of negative margins, and the specific "Regulatory Moat" strategy of lobbying to change state laws. You will also learn why the 100x COVID demand spike was actually a "false signal" that nearly killed the company, and how he pivoted from a point solution to a full transaction security platform. In this episode, Pat also shares the "Sunday Night" habit that keeps him connected to the product, why he rebranded to expand his TAM, and the reality of firing non-strategic customers to save the business. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a free strategy session + get 20% off select services 📫 Mailtrap → Get 20% off with code THESAASPODCAST 🔑 Key Lessons 💡 Validation Strategy: How Pat validated demand with a simple landing page and Google ads before writing code. 💰 Surviving Negative Margins: Why losing money on every transaction nearly killed the company and how they fixed unit economics. 📈 The COVID Spike: What really happened when demand spiked 100x overnight and why many of those customers churned later. 🏛️ Regulatory Moat: How he spent years lobbying to change state laws, turning red tape into a massive competitive advantage. 🔄 The Pivot: Why he rebranded from "Notarize" to "Proof" to expand TAM beyond just digital notary services. 📖 Chapters Introduction & About Pat Kinsel Validating Demand: Landing Page & Google Ads Losing Money, Struggling for Profitability Lobbying to Change Notary Laws Origin Story: Where the Idea Came From Early Investment Experience & Industry Connections Initial Research & Testing (Unbounce Landing Page) Building the MVP: Mobile App for Online Notary Early B2C Go-to-Market Strategy Recruiting the First Notaries Educating and Acquiring Consumers Marketing Tactics: Google Ads, SEO, Channel Partners Long, Slow Early Growth and Doubts Breaking Even & Gross Margin Challenges Lobbying Strategy & Industry Support COVID-19 Impact: Exploding Demand Shift to Enterprise Customers During COVID Post-COVID Reality Check & Refocusing Expanding Beyond Notarization: The Proof Platform Enterprise Transaction Security & Deepfakes Technical/Engineering Moat & Compliance Lightning Round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/452 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Todd Olson went from two failed startups to building Pendo, a SaaS platform now generating $200M ARR with 880 employees and nearly $500M raised. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how an obsession with product-market fit turned past failures into a unicorn. Todd reveals why he refused to hire salespeople until he validated the sales motion himself (at $500k ARR), how he used manual outreach instead of inbound to create a new category, and the controversial pricing decision—raising the minimum from $99 to $1,000 overnight—that changed the company's trajectory forever. In this episode, Todd also explains how building "Auto-Track" gave them an unfair advantage over competitors like Segment, why "Product-Led Growth" failed them early on, and the specific metrics he used to validate fit before scaling. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a free strategy session + get 20% off select services 📫 Mailtrap → Get 20% off with code THESAASPODCAST 🔑 Key Lessons 💡 Finding Product-Market Fit: Why Todd refused to scale until he had undeniable fit, unlike his first two startups. 💰 The 10x Price Hike: How raising the minimum price from $99/mo to $1,000/mo filtered out bad customers and accelerated growth. 🤝 Founder-Led Sales: Why Todd personally sold the first $500k in ARR before hiring a single salesperson. 🏗️ Building the MVP: How Pendo launched with critical features (Auto-Track) that competitors like Segment ignored for years. 🚀 Category Creation: The challenge of selling a product nobody was searching for and why "Product-Led Growth" didn't work early on. 📖 Chapters Introduction & Favorite Quote What is Pendo? Product Overview Company Metrics Todd’s Early Coding Career First Startup Failure & Lessons Missing Product-Market Fit Inspiration for Pendo Building the First Product Landing First Customers First Paying Customer Pricing Evolution Hardest Challenges Scaling Lightning Round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/451 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Flo Crivello built one of the fastest-growing AI SaaS companies after a brutal startup pivot. His previous company, TeamFlow, raised $50 million—but when people returned to offices, growth flatlined overnight. He had to fire two-thirds of his team. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how Flo turned that failure into Lindy, an AI SaaS platform now generating high seven figures with just 25 employees. Flo reveals why he rebuilt his AI SaaS product from scratch at $100K MRR, how tweeting 20 times a day for years led to 70,000 waitlist signups from a single video, and the "Zapier for AI" positioning breakthrough that made customers finally understand what an AI agent platform was. In this episode, Flo also shares why Lindy's first product literally sent nonsense emails to job candidates (and why early adopters were surprisingly forgiving), the YouTuber discovery that triggered explosive growth five days after launch, and his advice for founders building AI SaaS products today. This episode is brought to you by: 👉 This episode is sponsored by Mailtrap. Try it at Mailtrap.io — use code THESAASPODCAST for 20% off 🔑 Key Lessons 🔄 Pivot Fast When the Market Disappears: Flo could see COVID waves on TeamFlow's growth chart. When the market vanished, he fired two-thirds of his team and pivoted to AI SaaS within months. 🧠 Climb the Ladder of Abstraction: Lindy started as "update Salesforce after meetings" and kept generalizing until Flo realized he was building an AI SaaS agent platform. 📱 Tweet 20 Times a Day for Years: Flo's 70,000-person waitlist came from a single video because he'd spent years building a Twitter audience. 🛠️ Ship Embarrassingly Broken AI SaaS Products: Lindy's v1 literally sent emails saying "the user wants me to send an email." Early adopters were forgiving because they bought the vision. 💰 Rebuild at $100K MRR If It Doesn't Work: Despite early traction, Flo spent 5-6 months rebuilding because the AI SaaS product was "falling well short" of customer needs. 🎯 "Zapier for AI" Positioning Wins: The AI SaaS product clicked when they positioned against something customers already knew. Chapters Introduction and Winston Churchill quote What Lindy is and the AI SaaS agent market Revenue, team size, and $52M raised Background at Uber and starting TeamFlow COVID waves matching TeamFlow's growth chart Where the Lindy AI SaaS idea came from Firing two-thirds of the team to pivot The AI agent landscape in early 2023 Launching with a demo video Building a Twitter following with 20 tweets a day The 70,000 person waitlist Shipping embarrassingly broken products Rebuilding everything at $100K MRR The "Zapier for AI" positioning breakthrough YouTuber discovery triggers explosive growth Lightning round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/450 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Richard White had 100,000 signups in his first month—and only 100 people actually using the product. His SaaS retention rate was effectively 0.1%. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how to fix broken SaaS retention before worrying about monetization. Richard breaks down exactly how he turned a catastrophic retention crisis into an 8-figure business. You will learn why 99% of his signups had zero meetings on their calendars, how a "fake meeting" feature solved the trust problem killing activation, and the 60-day ultimatum that forced his team to monetize. In this episode, Richard also shares how he sold a team plan before it was built—with just two features and a slide deck—and why that approach hit $100K ARR in month one. 🔑 Key Lessons 🔄 Use Bad Signups to Fix SaaS Retention: Richard turned 99,900 inactive users into a testing ground—iterating aggressively on onboarding without risking real customer relationships. 🛠️ Build Trust Before Asking for Commitment: Fathom's "fake meeting" feature let users test the AI bot safely, solving the trust barrier that was killing early SaaS retention. ⏱️ Set Aggressive Deadlines to Force Monetization: Richard's 60-day ultimatum forced his team to launch a paid plan—even before it was fully built—hitting $100K ARR in month one. 📈 Sell the Vision, Not Just the Product: Fathom sold a team plan with only two features ready, using a slide deck to show the roadmap. Customers bought the future. 🎯 SaaS Retention Beats Acquisition: 100,000 signups meant nothing with 0.1% activation. Fixing onboarding and retention was worth more than any growth hack. 🏢 Leverage Your Network for Founding Team: Richard recruited four engineers he'd worked with for a decade at UserVoice, getting a trusted team from day one. Chapters Introduction What Fathom does and the AI note-taking market Richard's decade running UserVoice Why he decided to start over with Fathom Recruiting engineers from UserVoice The first year: Only 50 stable users The trust problem with AI meeting bots Building the "fake meeting" feature Zoom marketplace launch: 100K signups The retention crisis: Only 100 daily users Using bad signups as a testing ground Iterating on onboarding to fix activation The 2022 funding crash The 60-day monetization ultimatum Selling a team plan before it was built $100K ARR in month one Scaling to $1M ARR in a year Today: Eight figures ARR, 175K companies Lightning round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/449 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Rob Woollen spent seven brutal years with almost zero revenue before finding product-market fit. Then, after finally hitting $1M ARR, he made the gutsy call to rebuild the entire product from scratch. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the reality of the long search for product-market fit. Rob breaks down exactly how a single lunch with Snowflake's CEO changed everything. You will learn why founders must be "entirely irrational," how to recognize real product-market fit signals vs. polite feedback, and why he rebuilt at $1M ARR when most founders would celebrate. In this episode, Rob also shares how losing two founding engineers after 10 months nearly killed the company, and why the quarter after they thought they had product-market fit resulted in zero sales. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a free strategy session + get 20% off select services 📫 Mailtrap → Get 20% off with code THESAASPODCAST 🔑 Key Lessons 🎯 Stay focused on the problem, pivot on the solution: Sigma never changed the problem they were solving—only the interface. Seven years of iteration finally led to product-market fit. 🧠 Founders must be "entirely irrational": If someone can talk you out of starting a company, you shouldn't start one. 🔄 Rebuild even when you're winning: At $1M ARR, Rob made the controversial call to rebuild because the interface "still wasn't quite right." 💡 One passionate response beats a hundred polite ones: When Snowflake's CEO said "I want this—when can I start using this?" they knew they'd found something real. 📉 Product-market fit isn't a light bulb moment: After closing deals three days in a row, the next quarter was zero sales. Chapters Introduction and what Sigma Computing does The tale of two companies: 7 years of zero revenue Raising $8M and the first seven years of iteration Building the team and the first "colossal failure" prototype Losing two founding engineers and shrinking to three Why founders must be "entirely irrational" The Snowflake meeting that changed everything The messy reality of product-market fit Building champion relationships and early traction Deciding to rebuild the product at $1M ARR Founder intuition vs. data-driven decisions The partnership flywheel with Snowflake How it feels after seven years of persistence Lightning round: books, habits, and advice 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/448 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

Jared Siegal got his first customers by giving his product away for free—then converted every single one of them to paying subscribers in four months. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how to acquire first customers without spending on sales or marketing. Jared breaks down exactly how he turned 30 consulting clients into his first customers using a "Trojan Horse" strategy. You will learn how to borrow resources from clients to build your MVP, why giving your SaaS away for free creates unbreakable stickiness, and the negotiation leverage that comes from being profitable before raising capital. In this episode, Jared also shares the "Disney World strategy" that creates client loyalty beyond contracts—some of his first customers have literally written him into their wills. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a free strategy session + get 20% off select services 📫 Mailtrap → Get 20% off with code THESAASPODCAST 🔑 Key Lessons 🎯 Get First Customers by Giving Your Product Away: Jared gave his SaaS away for free for six months, making clients completely dependent on his tech—100% converted when he started charging. 💰 Use Consulting Revenue to Fund First Customers: Jared used $2M/year in consulting revenue as his own VC fund—no investors, no dilution while acquiring his first customers. 🛠️ Borrow Resources from First Customers: Jared got a client's engineer for free for six weeks by aligning incentives: "If this works, you save money." 📈 Be Profitable Before Raising Capital: Jared waited until $5M ARR to raise his Series A. His advice: "If you're profitable, you control the negotiation." 🤝 Build Relationships That Transcend Business: The "Disney World strategy"—annual trips with clients—creates loyalty that goes beyond contracts. 🧠 Let Go to Scale: A forced two-week vacation taught Jared the company could run without him—essential for scaling beyond founder-led operations. Chapters Introduction & The "Luke Bryan" Quote From Employee to Scrappy Consultant Three Acquisition Offers in One Month Borrowing a Client's Engineer to Build the MVP The Deep Client Relationships: "I'm in Their Wills" Converting First Customers: From Free to Paid SaaS Hitting $1M ARR in Four Months The Pain of Bootstrapping & Personal Financial Risk Why You Should Be Profitable Before Raising VC Cold Emailing VCs: 100% Response Rate Strategy Growing Without Sales or Marketing The "Disney World" Client Retention Strategy Transitioning from Sales-Led to Product-Led Letting Go: How a Forced Vacation Saved the CEO Lightning Round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/447 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe

David Zitoun bootstrapped Submagic from zero to $1M ARR in just 90 days—then scaled to $8M ARR with a 14-person remote team. No VC money. No sales team. Just TikTok videos and an army of affiliates. In this episode, bootstrapped SaaS founders will learn how to go viral with zero followers and build a scalable affiliate program. David breaks down exactly how he recruited 50+ affiliates paying 30% lifetime commissions, why he went viral on TikTok from day one with zero followers, and the bootstrap-friendly growth playbook that took Submagic from idea to $8M ARR in two years. In this episode, David also shares why lowering prices—not raising them—broke through a $5M plateau that stalled growth for seven months, and how WhatsApp groups with early customers turned them into free product managers. This episode is brought to you by: 💖 Gearheart → Book a free strategy session + get 20% off select services 🔑 Key Lessons 🚀 Bootstrapped Growth Engine: How David went from $0 to $1M ARR in 90 days using TikTok and affiliates—with zero ad spend. 💰 The Bootstrap-Friendly Affiliate Playbook: Why paying 30% lifetime commissions to young creators built an "army" posting daily content for free. 📱 Go Viral With Zero Followers: How one TikTok video hit 100K views in 10 days from a brand new account. 📉 Breaking the $5M Plateau: Why lowering prices—not raising them—restarted growth after seven months of stagnation. 🤝 Customer-Led Product Development: How WhatsApp groups with early customers turned paying users into free product managers. Chapters Introduction and the "Opportunity" Quote What Submagic does and who it helps Revenue ($8M ARR) and bootstrapping to $1M in 90 days Origin: Solving the "Alex Hormozi caption" problem Finding a co-founder through YC Co-Founder Match The 12-month MVP experiment pact Building the first ugly MVP (one feature only) Selling on TikTok with zero followers The first viral video: 100K views in 10 days Building WhatsApp groups with early customers Scaling with 50-70 TikTok affiliates at 30% lifetime commission Why timing and product-market fit matter more than tactics Advice: Talk to your customers, not acquisition channels What "iterating a lot" means in practice Gut feelings: How to know when to stop iterating Scaling from $1M to $5M ARR (SEO, influencers, word of mouth) Hitting the $5M plateau for 7 months Breaking through: Lowering prices and launching Magic Clips How David thinks about competition Lightning round: Advice, podcasts, habits, and passions 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/446 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe