Episode Summary:

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Chris Frantz, Co-Founder and CEO of Loops, a company that helps SaaS businesses send beautiful email newsletters and one-off campaigns in a simple, easy-to-use interface. Before this, he was a founder at Snazzy AI (now Unbounce) and the Director of Digital Strategy at Curiosity Stream.

They discuss the importance of taste and curation in a SaaS business model; why simplicity is key for the user’s experience; the difference between platforms and tools; and why you should have fun with what you do before venturing into something big and serious. He also discusses why his creative marketing strategy has been so successful.

Guest at a Glance:

Name: Chris Frantz

About Chris: Chris is the Co-Founder and CEO of Loops, a company that helps SaaS businesses send beautiful email newsletters and one-off campaigns in a simple, easy-to-use interface. He believes simplicity is key to the user’s experience.

Chris on LinkedIn

Chris’ Website

Loops on LinkedIn

Topics we cover:

• The efficiency of Loops
• The importance of polish, taste, and curation
• Simplicity for the user is the key
• The difference between platforms and tools
• Think creatively with your Marketing
• Have fun building and programming first
• Can publicly sharing your process help?

Key Takeaways:

The Efficiency of Loops and Why Simplicity is Key

Often, it can be difficult to send a bulk of email newsletters and campaigns to a variety of different people, but thanks to Loops, that has been made way easier. Chris drew from his own experiences using slow and antiquated software to come up with a solution.

When starting Loops, he knew he wanted it to be as simple as possible. It only takes five clicks to send a marketing email from them, whereas their competitor, Mailchimp, takes twenty-two clicks. Keep it simple; customers respond to simplicity positively and will undoubtedly come back!

Importance of Polish, Taste, and Curation 

When building a business, one of the most important aspects is making sure the brand matches your standards of taste and curation - it has to be in line with what you care about. If you get stuck working on something you don’t have any enthusiasm for, you may end up with a messy, unfinished product, or worse, your mental health will suffer.

Difference Between Platforms and Tools 

A later-stage SaaS company often describes itself as a platform, whereas an earlier-stage company describes itself as a tool. When a company transitions from one to the other, it can spin up other product categories and expand itself. The trick is not to jump the shark too quickly and go at a steady pace.

“At a later stage SaaS company, they call it a platform; in an earlier stage company, they call it a tool. When a company becomes a platform after becoming a tool, it basically means they can spin up other product categories”.

Think Creatively with Your Marketing 

According to Chris, Loops have no plans to start any traditional marketing techniques yet. Instead, they’ve been staying creative with their marketing: making boxes of cereal for first users and letting startups display their messages on billboards. This is the reason they stand out amongst the others; they’re creative.

Chris explains how plenty of people are happy to share their building process online with others, and this is a huge part of why they were so successful. Chris, however, points out that he didn’t feel comfortable doing this and would rather remain private. It’s perfectly okay for others to do this, it doesn’t mean you won’t be successful. We all have our different methods.