J. Ryan Williams is a founder, media producer & coach with an extence Startup operator & advisor trajectory,  achieving the $0 - to $100M ARR mark 3 times

Ryan is a keynote speaker who devoted his career to leadership development. As an executive coach, he works with high potential teams and leaders at once-in-a-generation technology companies such as Airbnb, Lyft and the like, as well as early-stage startups backed by Google, Y-Combinator, A16Z, and other top investors.

Prior to starting his coaching-firm, Ryan created a sales-training program called SalesCollider, for new executives perfecting their go-to-market strategies and provided workshops to 400 participants over two years. He is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and was certified as an Executive Coach by the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute at the Haas School of Business.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 Contentfy, Your On-Demand Content Team (Sponsor)
• 01:02 - Intro 
• 02:26 - Ryan’s Background & Past Ventures 
• 05:49 -  $0-$100M ARR 3 times
• 17:24 - Is Your Company a Good Fit for Projection & Growth?
• 20:58 - Ideal Founder Profile & Best Performers 
• 26:21 -  Ryan’s Development Playbook Insights (coaching AirBnB, Asana, Zoom)
• 37:17 -  Churro Media & their Upcoming Film “Outside the Valley”
• 40:35 - Best Places Outside the Valley for Startups
• 48:28 - Findings about common Challenges faced by Startups Outside the Valley
• 53:25 - Advice Ryan Would tell his 25 Year Old Self
• 54:15 -  What Does Success Means To Spencer Today?
• 56:20 - Favourite Books Instrumental to his Success
• 57:26 - Get in Touch with J. Ryan Williams

People:

• Adam Goldstein
• Brad Feld

Mentions:

• Outside The Valley
• The Genie Grant
• Startup Lisboa
• OLPC - Plan Ceibal 

Books:

• The Startup Community Way

Get In Touch With Ryan:

• Ryan’s Linkedin
• J. Ryan Williams Coach

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• More SaaS Podcast Sessions
• SaaS Consulting Services
• Learn How to Value a SaaS Company

Spencer is the Founder & CEO of Podia, a platform with one of the most creator-friendly tools that can help you sell online courses, digital downloads, membership subscriptions and more, Spencer is a serial entrepreneur & has been all his life, he co-founded three bootstrapped companies TypeFrag (2003), Carbonmade (2007), and Uncover (2012).

Spencer specializes in building consumer products, helping entrepreneurs & understanding businesses, on a personal level he loves cooking & playing squash.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 Contentfy, Your On-Demand Content Team (Sponsor)
• 01:02 - Intro 
• 02:07 - Spencer’s Background, Past Ventures & Funding  Podia
• 07:27 - Problem Looking to Solve With Podia & How it Differentiates 
• 10:30 - Pivoting from Coach to Podia for Product Market Fit 
• 12:29 - How to Constantly Ensure you Stay in the Mission Track
• 15:29 -  Is COVID an Accelerant or has More Negative Effect on Podia
• 16:50 - Successful Programs & Sustainable Business in Podia 
• 19:44 - Most Common Mistake Founders are Making on their SaaS Startups
• 21:27 - Biggest Proven Growth Levers that Worked for Spencer
• 23:19 - Failures in Growth Strategies & why to Re-Test Strategies 
• 24:45 - Biggest Challenges in Scaling Podia Currently
• 26:36 - Best Resources Instrumental to Spencer Success
• 29:03 -  What Does Success Means To Spencer Today?
• 30:38 - Staying Motivated When Your Startup has Rough First Years
• 32:10 - Future Plans for Podia & How To Get In Touch With Spencer

People:

• Ben Horowitz
• Jeff Bezos
• Elon Musk

Books:

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Get In Touch With Spencer:

• Spencer’s Linkedin
• Spencerfry

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Saas Podcast
• SaaS Consulting
• How to Value a SaaS Company

Luis Camacho is the Founder & CEO of Fantom Agency, an elite digital marketing agency for SaaS & B2B companies alongside the strongest community where they help SaaS companies over the $20K MRR mark, who are trying to scale up via a predictable and strategically thought out customer acquisition process.

Luis has helped many SaaS companies increase lead and subscription volume, penetrate new markets, decrease CACs, decrease churn, and become recognized brands within their vertical through paid media.

Aside from consulting and growing companies through Fantom Agency, he’s also mentored hundreds of people via multiple platforms including Growth Mentor as well as AdLeaks.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 Contentfy, Your On-Demand Content Team (Sponsor)
• 01:02 - Intro 
• 02:41 - Luis’s Background, Past Ventures & Launching Fantom Agency
• 10:13 - What’s Does Fantom CRO Process Look Like
• 16:17 - Paid Media Channels to leverage for Best Success on B2B SaaS
• 20:39 - Best Strategy Setting Up a Campaign or Optimizing your Current Funnel
• 22:14 - Establishing Baselines & Measuring Performance 
• 28:50 - Is Paid Media campaigns a good strategy for Every SaaS?
• 30:51 - $500 vs $5000 vs $10,000 LTV How Does the Marketing Campaign Change?
• 32:50 - How to Establish that Baseline Value to Measure Against the Paid Media Performance
• 35:03 - Main Reasons SaaS Growth Efforts are Failing or Under Performing
• 38:38 - What Advice Would Luis Give To His 25 Year Old Self?
• 39:41 -  Best Resources Instrumental to Syed Success
• 41:30 - What Does Success Means to Luis Today?
• 42:30 - Future Plans for Fantom Agency & How To Get In Touch With Him

Mentions:

• Fantom AgencyPenji
• Design Pickle
• GetAds
• GrowthMentor
• Janover Ventures

People:

• Foti Panagiotakopoulos
• Naval Ravikant

Books:

• A Happy Pocket Full of Money

Get In Touch With Luis:

• Luis’s Linkedin

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Best Rated SaaS Podcasts
• Learn About Our SaaS Consulting
• Learn How to Value a SaaS Company

Syed Balkhi is a Multi-Founder, CEO & an award-winning entrepreneur, recognized as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by the United Nations. He’s also been  featured on Inc., Forbes, Entrepreneur magazine, Fortune, Fast Company, FOX Business, and The Wall Street Journal. 

With over 15+ million websites using the software built by his companies to grow, he’s become a thought leader and expert in the WordPress industry.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 Contentfy, Your On-Demand Content Team (Sponsor)
• 01:02 - Intro 
• 02:03 - Syed’s Background, Past Ventures & Running Various Companies
• 03:10 - Founding Optinmonster
• 05:57 - Focusing on WordPress & the Community 
• 07:48  -  Most Common Mistake Founders on their Websites
• 10:19 - Conception & Creation of AwesomeMotive
• 12:33 - Selling Soliloquy & Envira to Only Focus on Growth Tools
• 16:06 - Best Acquisitions & Passing on Opportunities (Red Flags)
• 21:38 - On Managing Multiple Companies
• 23:40 -  Scheduling to be Effective & Productive
• 25:42 - Current Challenges Syed’s Facing in Order to Continue to Grow
• 26:23 - What Advice Would Syed Give To His 25 Year Old Self?
• 27:38 - Best Advice to Grow Your Business 
• 30:08 - Best Resources Instrumental to Syed Success
• 31:10 - What Does Success Means To Syed Today?
• 32:18 - Future Plans for AwesomeMotive & How To Get In Touch With Him

Tools:

• Time Blocks
• Mental Models

Mentions:

• AwesomeMotive
• OptinMonster
• WPBeginner
• WPForms
• CloudFlare
• MemberPress 
• AIOSEO
• WPMailSMTP

People:

• Charlie Munger
• John D. Rockefeller 
• Shane Parrish

Books:

• Extreme Revenue Growth

Quotes:

• “Don’t give prob;ems energy to expand” - Syed Balkhi
• “Consistency in more important than intensity”

Get In Touch With Syed:

• Syed’s Linkedin
• Syed’s Website

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Saas Podcast
• SaaS Consulting
• How to Value a SaaS Company

Alex San Filippo is the Founder at Podmatch.com, an A.I tool used to generate interviews by bringing in Podcast Guest and Hosts on the same platform.

Alex is also the host of the Creating a Brand podcast A top 20 entrepreneurship podcast that releases weekly masterclass interviews.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 Contentfy, Your On-Demand Content Team (Sponsor)
• 01:02 - Intro 
• 02:06 - Alex’s Background, Past Ventures & Entrepreneurial Journey
• 04:36 - Leveraging Podcasting for SaaS Branding
• 07:58 -  What are The Other Benefits of Having a Podcast, is it for Everyone?
• 10:23 - What Constitutes a High Quality Podcast Interview for Listeners?
• 14:04 - How to Start a Successful Podcast for Branding & the ROI Standpoint
• 16:48 -  Attract the Right Audience & Become a Leader in your Industry
• 21:44 - Paint Points Faced Along as a Fairly New SaaS Founder
• 26:24 - Getting more Done by Actually Doing Less
• 29:38 - Biggest Challenges Alex’s Face Now Growing Podmatch
• 32:33 - What Advice Would Alex Give To His 25 Year Old Self?
• 34:34 - Best Resources Instrumental to Alex’s Success
• 37:22 - What Does Success Means To Alex Today?
• 38:54 - Future Plans for PodMatch & How To Get In Touch With Alex

Tools:

• TextExpander

People:

• Seth Godin
• Jay Papasan
• Gary Keller
• Viktor Frankl
• Robert Kiyosaki
• Brendon Burchard
• Nir Eyal

Books:

• The One Thing 
• High Performance Habits
• Indistractable
• High Performance Planner

Quotes:

• “When you know your why you can endure any how” ( Viktor Frankl )
• F.O.C.U.S. (Follow One Course Until Successful) (Robert Kiyosaki)

Get In Touch With Alex:

• Alex's Linkedin

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• More SaaS Podcast Sessions
• SaaS Consulting Services
• Learn How to Value a SaaS Company

Pierre-Alexandre Heurtebize is an expert in financial modelling, Business Plan modelling, Financial Due Diligence, Corporate finance, and Private Fquity investments. 

He holds an MBA from top tier Business School ESSEC (Paris / Cergy), formerly an investment associate in small caps private equity, he has over 4 years of experience in M&A financial due diligence at PwC, one of the big 4 on professional services for enterprises, he builds business plans and has advised several entrepreneurs in Europe and Australia.

Pierre has a full-time Data Scientist training where he learned how to leverage his business analysis skills using Machine learning and deep learning techniques that allows him to go deeper in his understanding of businesses and dig up valuable insights from big datasets. He has also created a list of very effective Excel Models and efficiency tools that everybody can download and use for free.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:03  - Financial Buyers vs Strategic Buyers
• 04:00 - SaaS Businesses Trending in The Current Market 
• 07:52 - Why is There an Uptick in the M&A Landscape & Deal Activity in 2021?
• 10:00 - How Does This Impacts Valuations?
• 11:49 - What Multiples SaaS Founders Should Expect on Their Exit 
• 14:59 - Read Flags on SaaS Companies  
• 18:04 -Drivers/Metrics to Get the Highest Multiples on an Acquisition
• 19:31 - Are They Different From Financial to Strategic Valuations?
• 21:12 - Management have to Stay On?
• 22:58 - Prepping a SaaS for an Exit & Increasing Your Chances of Getting Acquired 
• 28:26 - M&A Market Activity Going into 2021 
• 29:47 - Get In Touch With Pierre

Mentions:

• Clubhouse
• Pierre’s Eloquens Channel

Get In Touch With Pierre:

• Pierre’s Linkedin
• Email: [email protected] 

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• More SaaS Podcast Sessions
• SaaS Consulting Services
• Learn How to Value a SaaS Company

Dom Einhorn is a serial entrepreneur, his expertise lies in assisting startup entrepreneurs as well as startup investors in selecting the right business model and/or the right startup(s) to invest in, he’s currently the founder & CEO of Uniqorn Incubator, the largest rural incubator-accelerator of its kind in the world. Located in southwestern France.

Dom created the first online art auction back in March 1996, which was acquired by one of the largest auction sites in the world five months later. He then created Powerclick, a digital marketing agency with 500+ advertisers as clients.

The agency merged with a publicly listed company in the spring of 2001 in an eight-figure M&A transaction. Today, he advises and invests in a wide range of technology startups.

Dom is also the Founder of the Startup Supercup, a leading tech conference that unites 1000 carefully vetted angel investors, VCs, private equity funds, technology startups and leading media outlets from around the world. The three-day conference takes place in medieval Sarlat France,  hub of the French tech ecosystem in the Dordogne Valley.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:42 - Dom’s Background, Past Ventures & Expertise
• 03:14 - How Many Startups Has Dom Invested In So Far & Typical Check Size? 
• 04:39 - Founding Uniqorn
• 06:25 - The Do’s & Don'ts of Startup Investment 
• 13:01 - The French Ecosystem is the Most Promising Tech Landscape?
• 16:44 - How Does the Landscape Look Like in the Near Future (Post-COVID)
• 19:13 - Markets Dom’d Avoid the Tech Space
• 20:57 -  Markets Dom’s  Excited & Bullish on
• 23:07 - What Uniqorn Can Do For You as Accelerator & Incubator
• 26:18 - How Does The Effective & Successful Founder Look?
• 29:25 - From 0 to 1 Million in 6 Months, How to Grow a Mobile App's User Base
• 32:55 - What Does Success Mean to Dom Today?
• 34:00 - What Advice Dom Would Tell to Any New SaaS Entrepreneur
• 34:58 -  Top Resources Instrumental for Dom’s Success
• 39:52  - Future for Dom Einhorn, Uniqorn & Where to Get in Touch

Mentions:

• Uniqorn
• Startup Supercup

Terms:

• AR/VR

People:

• Jules Verne
• Normand Doidge

Books:

• The brain That Changes Itself

Get In Touch With Dom:

• Dom’s Linkedin

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• SaaS Podcasts
• SaaS Consultant
• How To Value Your SaaS Company

2020 was so far the year of the Software as a Service (SaaS industry because of a complex combination of  factors including political changes that disrupted data processing  agreements in the UK, the ongoing global pandemic that impacted every industry, but validated the cloud-service, value proposition and a record-breaking year for SaaS IPOs that derived in a fertile ground to make this last year a good one for the SaaS industry. 

With a new year on the “HoriZen”, in this episode, we’ll re-cap the top 10 challenges that SaaS startups and companies have faced in 2020 &  tips from top industry SaaS experts on how to overcome them going into 2021.

During This Episode We Cover:

1. 01:10 - Go To Market Strategy  
2. 04:28 - Viable Business Model
3. 06:50 - Hiring Top Talent
4. 10:00 - Rising Capital  
5. 12:50 - Onboarding  Strategy
6. 14:45 - CX & Support
7. 18:41 -  Lead Generation
8. 21:13 - Marketing
9. 24:56 - Churn 
10. 37:47 - Exiting

Mentions:

1. TK Kader
2. Mike Watts
3. Gary Swart
4. Sydney Wong
5. Jeff Epstein
6. Peldi Guilizzoni
7. Matt Wolach
8. Rand Fishkin
9. Patrick Campbell
10. Sujan Patel

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• SaaS Podcasts
• SaaS Consultants
• Learn How to Value SaaS Companies

Ken Wells is the founder & CEO of SalesKey, a sales & marketing company helping B2B companies identify, attract and close their target clients. What they call a Done for you Lead Generation Service and a coaching program with SaaS founders.

Ken has over 17 years of B2B Sales & Marketing experience which includes helping grow multiple Inc. 500 & 5000 companies, Ken’s a book reading machine, Italian food lover, casual basketball player, snowboarder & Powerlifter.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 A word From The Sponsor
• 01:02  Intro
• 02:07 Ken’s Background & Becoming an Entrepreneur
• 09:18 First Step for  Running Effective Linkedin Campaigns
• 11:18  What Stage or Type of Business Does Exploring LinkedIn as a Sales and Lead Generation Channel Makes Sense 
• 13:01 Conversion Rates Compared to Cold E-Mail Outreach?  
• 15:23 Aiming for 22-36 avg. Leads per month & Reason for that Approach  
• 18:24  The Right Time to Scale The Linkedin Channel Marketing Channel 
• 21:34 What to Improve in The Prospecting Process to Get Better Results?
• 25:16 One Advice Ken wish Had Known & Would tell Himself at 25 years old
• 29:50 Ken’s Best 3 Instrumental Resources to His Success
• 34:07 Biggest Challenges Ken’s Currently Facing in order to Continue to Grow SalesKey  
• 35:45 What Does Success Mean to Ken Today?
• 41:04 Get In Touch With Ken

Mentions:

• SalesKey
• Udemy

People:

• Fraser Burns
• Peter Drucker
• Michael Masterson
• Eugene Shwartz 

Books:

• The Effective Executive 
• Breakthrough Advertising

Get In Touch With Ken:

• Ken’s Linkedin

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Best Rated SaaS Podcasts
• Learn About Our SaaS Consulting
• Learn How to Value a SaaS Company

Nestor is an engineer & entrepreneur and founder of Mi Refacción, a high-tech startup focused on connecting the user with more than 200 brands and companies with their inventory. 

Prior to Mi Refacción he was involved in the aftermarket retailer industry for many years as a general manager, where he identified the clear problem in the market that was lacking in this industry.

He has been awarded the E100 Mexico West Entrepreneurship (2012) and he has been involved in several international competitions including a Mass Challenge Bootcamp to expand his company into the U.S. and Canadian market.

During this interview we cover:

• 00:00 A word From The Sponsor
• 01:02  Intro
• 02:18 Nestor’s Background, orm Engineer to Entrepreneur & Finding the opportunity for RIGS/Mi Refacción
• 10:33 Building RIGS from the Ground Up  & Raising Money 
• 16:34 LATAM Challenge  in The Online Startup Space
• 21:56  Find the Right Product for the Right Market  
• 26:10 Attracting the Perfect Customers for Your Business
• 28:16  Aiming to Increase LTV & ACV
• 33:36  How RIGS is Looking to Achieve Profitable Long-Term Growth 
• 39:50 Challenges Nestor is Currently Facing in Order to Grow Mi Refacción
• 42:23  With a Fresh Start, What Does Nestor Would Venture into?
• 46:43  Advice Nestor Would give Himself at 25 & Starting His Journey  
• 50:29 What Does Success Mean to Nestor Today?
• 53:35 Get In Touch With Nestor 
• 54:18 Extra Questions for The SaaS District Crew 

Mentions:

• Mi Refacción

People:

• Jorge Arturo Lopez Solis

Get In Touch With Nestor:

• Nestor’s Linkedin
• Email Nestor: [email protected]

Tag us & follow:

• Facebook 
• LinkedIn
• Instagram 

More about Akeel:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Saas Podcast
• SaaS Consulting
• How to Value a SaaS Company