The SaaS Podcast: Build, Launch & Scale Your SaaS

SaaS Retention: From 0.1% to 8-Figure ARR | Fathom


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Richard White had 100,000 signups in his first month—and only 100 people actually using the product. His SaaS retention rate was effectively 0.1%. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how to fix broken SaaS retention before worrying about monetization.

Richard breaks down exactly how he turned a catastrophic retention crisis into an 8-figure business. You will learn why 99% of his signups had zero meetings on their calendars, how a "fake meeting" feature solved the trust problem killing activation, and the 60-day ultimatum that forced his team to monetize.

In this episode, Richard also shares how he sold a team plan before it was built—with just two features and a slide deck—and why that approach hit $100K ARR in month one.

🔑 Key Lessons

  • 🔄 Use Bad Signups to Fix SaaS Retention: Richard turned 99,900 inactive users into a testing ground—iterating aggressively on onboarding without risking real customer relationships.
  • 🛠️ Build Trust Before Asking for Commitment: Fathom's "fake meeting" feature let users test the AI bot safely, solving the trust barrier that was killing early SaaS retention.
  • ⏱️ Set Aggressive Deadlines to Force Monetization: Richard's 60-day ultimatum forced his team to launch a paid plan—even before it was fully built—hitting $100K ARR in month one.
  • 📈 Sell the Vision, Not Just the Product: Fathom sold a team plan with only two features ready, using a slide deck to show the roadmap. Customers bought the future.
  • 🎯 SaaS Retention Beats Acquisition: 100,000 signups meant nothing with 0.1% activation. Fixing onboarding and retention was worth more than any growth hack.
  • 🏢 Leverage Your Network for Founding Team: Richard recruited four engineers he'd worked with for a decade at UserVoice, getting a trusted team from day one.
  • Chapters

    • Introduction
    • What Fathom does and the AI note-taking market
    • Richard's decade running UserVoice
    • Why he decided to start over with Fathom
    • Recruiting engineers from UserVoice
    • The first year: Only 50 stable users
    • The trust problem with AI meeting bots
    • Building the "fake meeting" feature
    • Zoom marketplace launch: 100K signups
    • The retention crisis: Only 100 daily users
    • Using bad signups as a testing ground
    • Iterating on onboarding to fix activation
    • The 2022 funding crash
    • The 60-day monetization ultimatum
    • Selling a team plan before it was built
    • $100K ARR in month one
    • Scaling to $1M ARR in a year
    • Today: Eight figures ARR, 175K companies
    • Lightning round
    • 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email

      SaaS Club Programs

      • Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus
      • Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch
      • Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind
      • Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate
      • Resources

        • Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/449
        • Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe
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          The SaaS Podcast: Build, Launch & Scale Your SaaSBy Omer Khan

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