Ibby Syed accidentally built a consulting agency while trying to build software. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how Cotera escaped the "services trap" and pivoted to AI agents to hit $1M ARR.

Ibby breaks down why hitting $150k ARR in consulting revenue was actually a "local maxima" that nearly killed the startup. You will learn how his co-founder replaced months of data science work with a 100-line OpenAI API experiment, and the painful but necessary decision to fire legacy customers to focus on a scalable product.

In this episode, Ibby also reveals his "value-first" LinkedIn outbound strategy that books 25+ meetings a week, why horizontal AI platforms (like Cotera) will outlast narrow vertical tools, and how they transitioned from custom enterprise contracts to a product-led growth model.

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

• 📉 The Consulting Trap: Why early service revenue can trick you into building an unscalable agency instead of a software product.


• 🤖 The AI Pivot: How 100 lines of OpenAI API code outperformed a massive data science stack and sparked the pivot.


• 📧 LinkedIn Outbound: The "Value-First" playbook (sending free leads, not pitches) that books 25+ meetings a week.


• 🛠️ Horizontal vs. Vertical: Why broad tools (like Zapier/Cotera) are more defensible than niche AI wrappers.


• 💰 Pricing Strategy: Moving from custom enterprise contracts to a $20/mo usage model to fuel PLG.

Chapters

• The consulting trap and false traction


• Why $150K ARR nearly killed the company


• The 100-line OpenAI experiment that changed everything


• Firing customers and stopping services


• Pivoting to AI agents and prompt-based workflows


• Why deals became easier after the pivot


• LinkedIn outbound by sending free value


• Horizontal vs. vertical AI startups


• Pricing from enterprise contracts to PLG

💌 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/463
  


• Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe