Bootstrapping SaaS

There are ton of positives I am feeling about my talks with the potential angel investor. There are a few things which make me reluctant in taking this investment, but overall — the mood is positive.

There's a new paying client and I launched an upgrade which caused a few clients to write me 10 seconds later about a bug (Is this PMF? People crying 'fire' seconds later?)

Started doing Case studies and here's where my inspiration came from: https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1141978808368664576

The benefits of keeping it honest in this podcast and how honesty can backfire sometimes.

I start with a little bit of venting on how I am not doing enough with my outreach efforts and hanging out in places (Twitter) where my clients are not. My best visits come from Linkedin, Medium, Quora — and I should be more there.

I talk a bit about on how our business should be a flower with a ton of nectar to support a bee and help it invite all its friends to join (word of mouth) — and not be always on the outreach mode where we are tapping on our potential customer's shoulder with our offering.

I have been playing a bit of guitar to let some steam off and forget about what I do on daily basis.

...and managed to answer Tony's question write after I wrapped the show and went back in to add this bit https://twitter.com/tonydehnke/status/1140364407056326656

I talk about the boring bits, how Saas is a long game and you really have to love the grind. Then I continue on how things are getting serious because a new client signed up with +30 staff and "daily active users" went up to 70 on Wednesday.

The idea of an investment crossed my mind and I spoke to two sources (fund/vc in Europe and an angel in New York City). Not sure it's the route I would see myself in, though weighing the options and its worthiness.

Answered a few listener questions and ended with some Podcast stats and what I will be working on during the week.

In this episode I talk about how to know when you have a product with some positive signals and how to push through. I also, quickly talk about the benefits of thinking of your business as a hobby and how it could have a positive impact in your growth.

Towards the end I share what I have done this past week and what I will be doing the coming week.

In this episode I talk about how leads are still a problem and that I will focus on content (I describe in detail what is working for me and where I will focus my efforts). Also, that I will be giving cold emailing another try but a bit differently (highly prospected) and on a new target market (content marketers).

Claritask, the app, is in good shape with great comments coming from current users. I will also continue with a few new features and improvements inside the app.

There's one thing I want to try with my website, where I tone everything down, instead of trying to "sell" the entire time and try to convince someone that Claritask is better than other products.

In this episode I talk about how hard the week was. Not that anything in particular happened, but the way I feel about things going slower than I want them to be — and how I am trying to overcome these feelings and look forward.

I recorded this episode while driving. The sound maybe a bit off, but I like this episode as there's something about driving that gives me the freedom to vent and "be real" with everything that is going on in life and business.

I take a question from a fellow maker Tzelon Machluf, which you can find here.

Also, I talk about how I am "finaly" focusing my content marketing efforts solely on Medium, Linkedin, and Quora.

In this episode I talk about how I am focusing on Content Marketing as my sole growth channel of choice, for now.

Other notes include on how I don't want to play the 'numbers game' just yet and how I want to focus on helping every new customer one-on-one. This is hard, clearly, but I want to be there for every new client that comes through the door. Like an actual store, where you walk in and someone greets you. Yes, Claritask is an online product, but it's a service at the end of the day, hence the name "Software as a Service", not "Software as an Automation"

Also, I talk about Luck — what it means to me and how I think about it. Thanks Anurag for the question.

I briefly mention this Podcast stats

Mentioned on this podcast:

• Hotjar
• Build Your Saas Podcast
• Saas Reality Podcast
• Startups for the rest of us Podcats

This week starts with me explaining how I am overwhelmed with everything I am working on in and around Claritask (code, marketing, sales, growth) and what steps I am taking to not burn out

The rest of the show includes:

• Sales/Marketing/Growth struggles since it's not my main strength (having more faith and trusting the steps, while playing the long game)
• Trying to get the marketing/sales/growth in autopilot with affiliate marketing — Claritask Affiliate Program
• New Claritask Asset Page for affiliate marketers and media appearances (down the line)
• Delighting customers by recording personalized demos with Loom
• Starting Claritask LIVE Webinars — Claritask Webinars
• Contacting Affiliate Marketers (following up)
• NEW: Soft upgrade on Claritask without a credit-card (pay later)
• Sending out a 'salesy' Newsletter that didn't work: Direct link to that Newsletter
• The benefits of using apps like Claritask, built by small teams (getting responses/fixes much faster than on bigger apps/companies)
• Listening to Khalid, Nilüfer Yanya, and Better Oblivion Community Center
• Claritask expenses: StartupCosts.co/claritask
• Claritask income: on IndieHackers (hooked to Stripe)

In this episode I talk about how I worked less (not in purpose) and actually, did more.

Also, here are quick show notes:
- Growth channels for the time being
- Current numbers (MRR, users)
- Website updates
- New "Who is it for?" page
- New Pricing plans and new paying clients
- Expenses

Websites I mention:
- Transistor.fm — where I host my/this podcast
- Rewardful — my affiliate program manager
- My online friend Jace from Pattern&Craft
- Megamaker.co — the online club of makers I belong to

Visit Claritask.com for everything else

In this very first inaugural show of Bootstrapping Saas, I get to talk about various growth channels I am considering for Claritask.com. While daily activity with current users is solid, my challenge remains in generating qualified leads for Claritask — users that will potentially turn into paying customers.

Outlets I mention in this episode:
- Rewardful
- TechnologyAdvice
- Sujan Patel
- Mailshake

Thanks to everyone who supported, inspired, and pushed me to start this Podcast!