Our B2B SaaS Journey

2: How we’re actually finding our first customers (Gavin's in a cyclone)

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In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin continue their journey in building a B2B SaaS company. They discuss the challenges of launching a startup, handling redundancy issues, and finding their first customers. Gavin also shares a personal story about a tech mishap that made him rethink business continuity.


Expect a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to launch a B2B SaaS company from scratch - completely bootstrapped.

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In this episode, we cover:

  • Reflecting on episode one and the challenge of early feedback
  • Gavin’s cyclone experience and running a business in extreme weather
  • A laptop disaster sparks a discussion on redundancy and backups
  • The challenge of long sales cycles in the event industry
  • Competing with big event tech and finding our unique niche
  • The idea of a customer advocacy group for real product feedback
  • What’s next: marketing site updates, sales outreach, and product planning

Chapters:

  • (00:00) - A slow but steady start
  • (00:45) - Recap of last week's progress: Marketing, sales, and product development
  • (01:19) - Cyclone Alfred update – running a business in extreme weather
  • (02:26) - The reality of bootstrapping a SaaS business
  • (03:20) - Gavin’s laptop disaster
  • (05:27) - Why long sales cycles are a challenge in the event space
  • (07:23) - Positioning SixSides in a competitive market
  • (10:34) - Finding early adopters and the "decision-making window"
  • (12:24) - Competing against industry giants as a startup
  • (16:10) - The importance of feedback and customer advocacy groups
  • (20:55) - Sales strategy: Building relationships vs. hard selling
  • (28:17) - Structuring redundancy in a startup team
  • (31:29) - First clients: How to go from zero to one
  • (42:15) - Introducing the SixSides Client Maturity Scale
  • (45:12) - What’s next? Marketing, product updates, and finding more early customers

    • Atlas Software is a premier software development agency based in Sydney, Australia, and founded by Mitchell Davis. We specialise in building innovative, robust, and scalable applications that drive business growth. With expertise in Laravel, Vue, React, and React Native, we help businesses craft tailored software solutions that streamline operations and enhance user experiences. Whether you're a startup finding product-market fit or an enterprise scaling digital transformation, Atlas ensures your tech vision becomes reality. Learn more at atlas.dev.

    Gavin Tye is a sales strategist and the creator of Sales Market Fit (SMF) - a game-changing framework that helps B2B startups unlock predictable, scalable growth. With over 20 years of experience in high-value SaaS sales, Gavin has cracked the code on why businesses struggle to close deals and how they can transform their approach. Sales Market Fit aligns positioning, go-to-market strategies, and sales execution into a repeatable process that wins more clients with less friction. Learn how to stop relying on hope and start winning with a deliberate, proven sales strategy at salesmarketfit.co.

    Links:

    • SixSides: sixsides.co
    • Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co
    • Mac Mini M4: apple.com
    • Backblaze for cloud backups: backblaze.com

    Connect with us:

    • Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is
    • Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav
    • Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye
    ...more
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    Our B2B SaaS JourneyBy SixSides