The SaaS Podcast: How B2B SaaS & AI Founders Get Customers

By Omer KhanBusiness Entrepreneurship Technology

The SaaS Podcast: How B2B SaaS & AI Founders Get Customers episodes

September 09, 2020Launching a Marketplace App: From Failed B2C to 6-Figure MRR
Baskar Agneeswaran spent two years building a price comparison app that failed. His team's core strength was mobile development, not backend data infrastructure. When they aligned their skills to the Shopify SaaS marketplace - building mobile apps for e-commerce stores - traction came quickly. Launching a marketplace app on Shopify changed everything.
Baskar reveals how Vajro priced at $25/month initially to drive installs and reviews on the app marketplace, creating a compounding organic growth loop. Then COVID hit - and instead of cutting costs, he doubled team size after data showed mobile sessions jumping from 50% to 80%. Revenue tripled.
He shares why founder-market fit matters more than the idea, how validating on a small platform before launching a marketplace app on Shopify reduced risk, and what Bain research says about companies that invest during recessions.
Key Lessons
🎯 Founder-market fit determines success when launching a marketplace app: Baskar's price comparison app failed because backend data was not his strength. Vajro aligned to mobile development on the Shopify marketplace and found traction fast.
💰 Price low initially to win SaaS marketplace visibility: Vajro started at $25/month to accumulate installs and reviews. Higher ratings created a compounding organic growth loop without paid acquisition.
🚀 Invest during downturns when data supports launching a marketplace push: Vajro doubled team size during COVID after mobile sessions jumped from 50% to 80%. Revenue tripled while competitors cut costs.
📉 Fail fast on B2C if you are bootstrapped: Baskar spent two years on a B2C app before admitting it needed resources they could not afford. B2B on an app marketplace was a better fit.
🛠️ Validate on a small platform before launching a marketplace app at scale: Vajro tested on Cart Rocket (a few hundred stores) before entering Shopify (1.5M+ stores), getting validation with lower stakes.
Chapters
Introduction
Baskar's philosophy - obsession as the key to success
What Vajro does - no-code mobile apps for Shopify stores
Fully native apps with 200+ features and 50+ integrations
The PriceApp failure - two years on the wrong idea
Three co-founders and their complementary strengths
Two years on PriceApp before admitting failure
Pivoting to Vajro - founder-market fit realization
Validating on Cart Rocket before Shopify
Launching on the Shopify SaaS marketplace
Launch day - $25/month pricing strategy for reviews
Marketing beyond the marketplace - Facebook groups and affiliates
Live video selling as a product innovation driver
COVID strategy - doubling team size during the pandemic
Three factors behind the calculated risk
Lightning round
Where to find Baskar and Vajro
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/262
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
42 min
September 02, 2020Freemium SaaS: Why Free Users Killed Activation and Growth
Qwilr's freemium SaaS experiment looked perfect on paper - virality went up, signups surged, and the pipeline was full. Then the numbers told a different story: activation dropped 50%, the sales cycle ballooned from 14 to 60 days, and revenue growth fell from tripling to just 80% year over year. Free users mostly attracted more free users.
Mark Tanner breaks down exactly what went wrong with their freemium SaaS model, how they course-corrected by killing the cheap plan and doubling prices, and why moving up market to sales teams increased lifetime value 10-15x. He also explains why 14-day trial users spent 50% more time in the app than freemium SaaS users because the deadline created urgency.
Mark reveals Qwilr's "original sin" of building for freelancers too long, and why product-led growth and free trial conversion require different SaaS pricing strategies.
Key Lessons
📉 Freemium SaaS can kill activation through false comfort: Qwilr's 14-day trial users spent 50%+ more time in the app because the deadline created urgency. Free users left thinking they would return - most never did.
💰 Free users attract free users in freemium SaaS: Paid customers at higher tiers referred prospects who converted at higher tiers. The freemium virality loop generated volume but not revenue.
🎯 Define your freemium SaaS activation metric clearly: Qwilr's activation was a third party viewing a created document. Without this milestone, optimizing free trial conversion becomes guesswork.
🏢 Moving up market multiplies lifetime value 10-15x: When Qwilr shifted from freelancers ($20/month) to sales teams (10-30 seats), customer lifetime value jumped dramatically and churn dropped.
🔄 PMF operates like gears in a car: Mark describes product-market fit as successive gears. Most startups never click into first, but you cannot reach your destination staying there.
Chapters
Introduction
Mark's favorite quotes - Atlassian and Lemkin's 10 customers rule
What Qwilr does - web-based proposals for sales teams
Company stats - 45 people, 3,000 customers, $7.5M raised
Origin story - Dylan's frustration with proposal tools
Technical foundations and the Google Wave connection
Validating the idea in two months
Getting the first 10 customers through cold calling
The freemium SaaS experiment begins
Why activation dropped when freemium launched
Qwilr's activation metric - third party document view
Free users attract free users, paid attract paid
Turning freemium off and experimenting with pricing
Qwilr's original sin - building for freelancers too long
Turning the tanker - moving up market to sales teams
Lightning round
Where to find Mark and Qwilr
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/261
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
55 min
September 02, 2020 261: Qwilr: SaaS Freemium Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them - with Mark Tanner
Mark Tanner is the co-founder and COO of Qwilr, a SaaS product that helps you create design-perfect proposals, quotes, client updates, and more.
The Show Note
•Qwilr
•Dylan Baskind (Co-founder and CEO)
•Mark on Twitter
•Mark on LinkedIn
•Omer on Twitter
•Omer on LinkedIn
Enjoyed this episode?
•Subscribe to the podcast
•Leave a rating and review
•Follow Omer on Twitter
Need help with your SaaS?
•Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support.
•Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.
•Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.
55 min
August 26, 2020First SaaS Customers: 4 Failed Startups Then $1M ARR in One Year
Abdullah Alsaadi failed at four different startups over four years - a crypto app with no market, a Salesforce tool blocked for 18 months, a delivery company that could not scale, and a delivery management SaaS with impossible integrations. Then he pre-sold 5-year subscriptions to four restaurants before writing a line of code, and used that money to build Taker.
Abdullah shares how he got his first SaaS customers by targeting the 20 largest restaurant chains in Saudi Arabia, converting 15 of them. He explains why landing enterprise logos first created social proof that shortened his sales cycle from three months to two weeks, and how building for mobile (where 95% of orders happen) was the early traction breakthrough.
He reveals what he learned from each failure about getting first SaaS customers, and why focus on one segment matters more than a great idea.
Key Lessons
🎯 Focus on one segment to get your first SaaS customers: Abdullah's earlier startups failed partly because he scattered. With Taker, he focused exclusively on Saudi restaurants and landed 15 of 20 target chains.
💰 Pre-sell to fund development without investors: Abdullah sold 5-year subscriptions to four restaurants before the product existed, using upfront capital to build Taker. All four are still active.
🤝 Land enterprise logos first for customer acquisition startup momentum: Taker targeted the biggest chains (20-30+ locations) knowing social proof would trigger word-of-mouth from smaller restaurants.
📉 Validate the ecosystem, not just the idea: Abdullah's delivery management SaaS had enthusiastic first customers but could not integrate with legacy POS systems. Great demand means nothing if tech blocks adoption.
🚀 Build for how first SaaS customers actually buy: Data showed 90%+ of food orders came through mobile apps. Taker invested in native apps, and 95% of orders still come through mobile today.
Chapters
Introduction
Abdullah's favorite quote on fear of failure
What Taker does - Shopify for restaurants
First failed startup - crypto security app with no market
Second failure - Salesforce HR app blocked for 18 months
Third attempt - B2B last-mile delivery that could not scale
Pivoting from delivery management to Taker
Pre-selling 5-year subscriptions to fund development
Four pre-sold customers still active today
Targeting the 20 biggest restaurant chains first
Outreach strategy and finding champions inside organizations
Shortening the sales cycle from 3 months to 2 weeks
Why focus on mobile apps drove 95% of orders
Looking back - the importance of focus and segment selection
Lightning round
Where to find Abdullah and Taker
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/260
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
43 min
August 26, 2020 260: Taker: Lessons on Failure & Perseverance from a SaaS Founder - with Abdullah Alsaadi
Abdullah Alsaadi is the co-founder and CEO of Taker.io, an online ordering platform and mobile app for restaurants.
The Show Notes
•Taker
•Salesforce
•Abdullah on LinkedIn
•Abdullah on Twitter
•Omer on Twitter
•Omer on LinkedIn
Enjoyed this episode?
•Subscribe to the podcast
•Leave a rating and review
•Follow Omer on Twitter
Need help with your SaaS?
•Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support.
•Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.
•Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.
43 min
August 17, 2020Selling a SaaS Business: $0 to $55K MRR to 7 Figures in 2 Years
Arvid Kahl spent 5 hours a day on a train commute reading books and listening to podcasts about building SaaS businesses. Every previous idea had failed. Then he and his partner Danielle built FeedbackPanda - a simple tool for online English teachers - and completed selling a SaaS business for seven figures in just 2 years.
But the path to that SaaS exit nearly destroyed Arvid's mental health. He ran 5,000 customers with zero employees, creating severe anxiety from constant on-call pressure. Arvid shares why "product-workflow fit" matters as much as product-market fit, how community word of mouth in Facebook groups drove nearly all growth, and the hiring mistake he still regrets when selling a SaaS business.
Arvid reveals how targeting an ultra-specific niche accelerated both growth and the exit strategy, and why a 30-day free trial created switching costs that improved his SaaS acquisition metrics.
Key Lessons
🎯 Target the most specific niche for a faster path to selling a SaaS business: FeedbackPanda served only freelance English teachers at Chinese online schools - an ultra-precise audience with a mandatory pain point.
🛠️ Build for product-workflow fit, not just product-market fit: FeedbackPanda's browser extension integrated directly into teachers' classrooms, eliminating friction a standalone app would have created.
📉 Not hiring is the most dangerous mistake when selling a SaaS business: Arvid ran 5,000 customers with zero employees. A part-time support person would have prevented the burnout that nearly derailed the SaaS exit.
💰 Community-driven growth accelerates a bootstrapped SaaS exit: FeedbackPanda grew through word of mouth in Facebook teacher communities where users shared the tool organically.
🧠 Absorb knowledge before building - preparation compounds: Arvid spent 2 years on train commutes reading SaaS books and listening to podcasts before finding the right idea.
Chapters
Introduction
What FeedbackPanda does and the niche it serves
The ultra-specific audience of freelance English teachers
How 5-hour train commutes became SaaS education
Previous failed ideas and what was different this time
Danielle's insider knowledge as a teacher in the niche
Building the browser extension for product-workflow fit
Growing through Facebook teacher communities
The 30-day free trial strategy inspired by Hooked
Reaching $55K MRR with 5,000 customers
Why product-workflow fit matters as much as product-market fit
Automation and knowledge base for customer support
The critical importance of understanding your audience
The seven-figure SaaS exit after just 2 years
Biggest regret - never hiring a single employee
Anxiety from being the only person on call for 5,000 customers
Lightning round
Where to find FeedbackPanda and Arvid
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/259
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
55 min
August 10, 2020Niche SaaS: From CRM Extension Nobody Wanted to 2,000 Customers
Jeroen Corthout built a CRM extension that nobody wanted to buy. Prospects could not see the value of adding another tool alongside their existing CRM. Then he noticed something unexpected - smaller companies were using his product as a full CRM replacement, not an extension. That insight became the niche SaaS positioning that grew Salesflare to over 2,000 paying companies.
Jeroen shares how he spent 18 months doing things that did not scale - personal demos, manual onboarding, sending invoices instead of online payments - to discover the competitive differentiation that made Salesflare succeed. The niche SaaS sweet spot was automation that eliminated manual data entry for small B2B teams.
He also reveals why Product Hunt with prepared onboarding outperformed AppSumo, and how targeting "Salesforce alternatives" search terms became a scalable niche SaaS content marketing channel.
Key Lessons
🎯 Watch how customers use your product to find your niche SaaS positioning: Salesflare was built as a CRM extension, but smaller companies used it as a full CRM. That observation unlocked competitive differentiation and growth.
📉 Confusing positioning kills niche SaaS growth: Jeroen could not sell a "CRM extension" because prospects already had a CRM. Simplifying to "automated CRM for small B2B teams" made the value clear.
🤝 Do things that do not scale to discover what scales: 18 months of personal demos and manual onboarding taught Jeroen exactly what customers needed before building automated processes.
🛠️ Prepare onboarding before launching on platforms: Product Hunt with a dedicated onboarding flow outperformed AppSumo, where unprepared users churned faster.
💰 Target competitor search terms for niche SaaS content: Salesflare's SaaS differentiation content focused on terms like "Salesforce alternatives," positioning their automated CRM directly against manual incumbents.
Chapters
Introduction
What Salesflare does and who it serves
The problem with traditional CRMs and manual data entry
Building an automated CRM from existing data sources
Starting as a CRM extension that nobody wanted to buy
Discovering smaller companies used it as a full niche SaaS CRM
Finding the first customers through personal outreach
Doing personal demos and manual onboarding for 18 months
Sending invoices instead of accepting online payments
Product Hunt launch with dedicated onboarding
AppSumo deal and lessons learned
Content marketing targeting CRM competitor search terms
Word of mouth and organic growth to 2,000 companies
Weekly team meeting structure and prioritization
Lightning round
Where to find Salesflare and Jeroen
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/258
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
46 min
August 02, 2020Startup Traction: 5 Signups to $2M ARR With Content and Pricing
Jacob Eiting posted his new SDK on Reddit and got destroyed. People called him a rip-off middleman. His beta launch attracted just 5 signups. He had no revenue and was living off his wife's income. Getting startup traction seemed impossible.
So he started writing. He spent 6-12 hours a week publishing content that answered the questions mobile developers were already searching for. Slowly, SEO traffic trickled in. RevenueCat went from $400 MRR to $7K MRR - then exploded to $2M ARR. The startup traction came from compounding effects: content for early traction, usage-based pricing that created 4-5% monthly expansion revenue, and developer word of mouth.
Jacob shares why "founder-product fit" matters more than confidence, how Y Combinator accelerated his startup traction through social proof, and why negative feedback does not mean your idea is wrong.
Key Lessons
🛠️ Write content to find startup traction when nothing else works: Jacob spent 6-12 hours per week writing blog posts answering developers' questions. This slow-burn SEO strategy produced the first paying customers after months of zero revenue.
📉 Negative feedback does not mean no startup traction ahead: Reddit called RevenueCat a "rip-off middleman," but a few developers who understood the pain validated the idea. Jacob focused on them.
💰 Align pricing with customer growth to compound startup traction: RevenueCat switched from per-user to revenue-based pricing, creating 4-5% monthly expansion that compounded automatically as customers' apps scaled.
🧠 Founder-product fit matters more than confidence: Jacob battled self-doubt throughout the early days. Choosing a problem in his technical wheelhouse gave him enough conviction to keep going.
🚀 Stack compounding advantages for startup traction: Content creates evergreen traffic, usage-based pricing creates expansion revenue, and developer word of mouth grows with your customer base.
Chapters
Introduction
What RevenueCat does and the problem it solves
From $6.9K MRR to $161K MRR in under two years
How the idea came from building subscription apps at Elevate
Sitting on the idea for 2 years before acting
Posting the MVP on Reddit and getting torn apart
The beta launch that attracted only 5 signups
Struggling with zero revenue and self-doubt
Writing content 6-12 hours per week to drive SEO
First paying customers and reaching $400 MRR
Pricing evolution from per-user to revenue-based
Getting into Y Combinator
Overcoming founder self-doubt and imposter syndrome
Raising a $1.5M seed round led by Jason Lemkin
How compounding effects drove growth to $2M ARR
Mistakes and lessons from early hiring
Lightning round
Where to find RevenueCat and Jacob
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/257
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
49 min
July 29, 2020B2B Community Building: From Blog to 4,000-Person SaaS Events
Alex Theuma had no background in events and no great business idea. He just started writing about SaaS. A blog turned into a podcast, which turned into meetups, which turned into a B2B community building success that drew 700 people to Dublin in its first year. By 2020, SaaStock was running SaaS community events across five continents with 4,000 attendees.
Then the pandemic wiped out his revenue overnight. Within two weeks, Alex had a new product live and was generating revenue again. He shares how B2B community building through 12 months of content and free meetups created the audience that powered 37 ticket sales on day one, and why the pivot to SaaS Remote attracted 2,700 attendees.
Alex reveals why building community before monetizing is essential, how speaker social proof drove 50% of ticket sales, and what he learned about cash flow in an events business.
Key Lessons
🎯 Build a B2B community before trying to monetize it: Alex spent 12 months creating content and running free meetups before launching a paid conference. The audience generated 37 ticket sales on day one.
💰 Know your costs before setting B2B community event pricing: SaaStock lost 60-70K at its first event because sponsorship pricing was set before production costs were known.
🤝 Use speaker social proof to grow your SaaS community events: Getting names like Des Traynor committed early created a viral effect - roughly 50% of attendees came because of the lineup.
🔄 Pivot fast when your B2B community building model breaks: When the pandemic killed in-person events, Alex pivoted to online within two weeks. SaaS Remote generated revenue within two weeks of launch.
📉 Adapt your community content to what members need: SaaStock switched from generic "growth" content to "adapt, survive, thrive" pillars during the pandemic, dramatically improving engagement.
Chapters
Introduction
What SaaStock is and the mission behind it
Starting the SaaS blog and podcast
Launching meetups and building community
The decision to run a conference
Doing customer development with The Mom Test
First SaaStock Dublin 2016 - selling the first 37 tickets
Strategies for selling 700 tickets over 9 months
Why SaaStock lost 60-70K at the first event
Recruiting high-profile speakers without connections
Scaling from Dublin to global events
Managing spiky cash flow in an events business
How the pandemic wiped out revenue overnight
The war room pivot to SaaS Remote
Lessons from the first virtual event with 2,700 attendees
The future of hybrid SaaS community events
Lightning round
Where to find SaaStock and Alex
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/256
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
56 min
July 19, 2020SaaS Content Marketing: Help Docs to $2M ARR With Zero Ad Spend
Three college grads in India spent $150 on Google Ads and got zero leads. So they tried something different - they turned their help docs into blog posts, distributed them through forums and co-marketing deals, and built a SaaS content marketing engine that took Trackier from zero to $2M ARR.
Udit Verma reveals how Trackier bootstrapped to 350 customers without spending a dollar on paid advertising. Their SaaS content marketing strategy started with repurposing product documentation as SEO-optimized blog posts, each with a free trial CTA. They distributed content through niche affiliate forums, picking up 1-2 high-value clients per forum at $2,000+ each.
Udit also shares how co-marketing barter deals expanded their inbound marketing SaaS reach, how word of mouth compounded with their content strategy, and what he learned from studying HubSpot's content playbook.
Key Lessons
🛠️ Turn help docs into SaaS content marketing assets: Trackier wrote product documentation that doubled as blog posts with free trial CTAs, generating leads without creating separate marketing content from scratch.
📉 Failed paid ads can redirect you to better SaaS content marketing: Trackier spent $150 on AdWords with zero results, which forced a pivot to inbound content that ultimately drove $2M ARR.
🎯 Target niche forums for high-value leads: Udit posted helpful content in affiliate marketing forums, picking up 1-2 customers per forum at $2,000+ each - a high-ROI content strategy for large contract values.
🤝 Use co-marketing barter deals to distribute SaaS content marketing: Trackier exchanged free product access for content placement on partner websites, building distribution without spending money.
🚀 SaaS content marketing growth compounds with word of mouth: Trackier's combination of content and organic referrals created compounding organic growth that reached $2M ARR in 4 years.
Chapters
Introduction
What Trackier does and who it serves
Starting a web development company in college
First product failure and pivoting to Trackier
Building the product based on customer feedback
Launching with 10 customers and $1,000 MRR
SaaS content marketing and word of mouth as growth drivers
The $150 Google AdWords experiment that failed
Help docs as blog content strategy
Co-marketing and barter distribution deals
Forum marketing for affiliate industry leads
How word of mouth referrals developed organically
Adding SEO to the SaaS content marketing mix
Growing to 200K MRR and 350 customers
Positioning one product for two different segments
Lightning round
Where to find Trackier and Udit
Resources
Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/255
Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
55 min

About The SaaS Podcast: How B2B SaaS & AI Founders Get Customers

From the publisher's feed

Building software got easier. Getting customers didn't. Every week, a founder building B2B SaaS or an AI product tells you how they got their first customers, and how they kept them: what worked, what didn't, and what they'd do differently.