Most SaaS founders think about growth through the lenses of acquisition, activation, retention, or pricing. But few think about operations and how the way you work internally either unlocks or limits growth.

In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim dig into why operations is one of the most overlooked growth levers for bootstrapped SaaS companies. They explore how internal systems, structure, and decision-making shape your ability to execute on every other lever, from marketing to retention.

If you’ve ever felt like your company’s growth has stalled for reasons you can’t quite name, this episode will help you see how your internal operations might be the missing piece.

Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here.

Links: 

• DemandMaven


• The Bootstrap Founder (Arvid Kahl)


• EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System)

Chapters

• (00:00:50 ) - The top four growth levers that slow SaaS companies down and why Asia adds a fifth: operations.
• (00:06:00 ) - Operations is about how you deliver value, and how you structure your business to deliver value.
• (00:07:15 ) - Every company “does operations,” but intentional founders use it as a strength.
• (00:10:30 ) - How weak internal ops make it harder to pull other growth levers like acquisition and activation.
• (00:15:20 ) - A case study: how restructuring a marketing team’s meetings helped a company 2× its ARR.
• (00:23:15 ) - If you don't think about operations, it will eventually create chaos in your business.
• (00:27:00 ) - Why bootstrapped companies tend to be too slow in hiring key strategic leaders and how chasing the dream of only having a couple of employees holds founders back.
• (00:32:40 ) - Four areas to audit if ops might be holding you back: team, resources, processes, and decision-making.
• (00:38:00 ) - Why decision-making style is part of operations and how executive coaches can help with improving operations.