Podcasts about 5m arr

In dieser Folge spricht Tim mit Johannes Mansbart, dem Mitgründer von Chatarmin. Sein Unternehmen ist in 3,5 Jahren ohne Investoren auf €5M+ ARR gewachsen und tritt gegen VC-backed Konkurrenten wie Charles an. Im diesem radikal ehrlichen Gespräch macht Johannes klar, warum er nur an Sales-Led-Growth glaubt, warum Cashflow für ihn wichtiger ist als Profitabilität, warum Chatarmin nicht budgetiert und wie sich sein Mindset über die Jahre geändert hat. Jetzt reinhören!

Most founders hear stories about lean SaaS companies and assume they are the exception. Jeremy Clarke lived one. In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush and Esben Friis-Jensen sit down with Jeremy Clarke, founder of WebMerge and now the builder behind Quin, to unpack what it really took to grow WebMerge into a multi-million dollar business with an incredibly small team. Jeremy shares how WebMerge started as a simple PDF generation tool, why integrations became the growth engine that unlocked scale, and how a strategic hire helped expand distribution without bloating the company. He also gets honest about what has changed in today's AI market: thinner margins, tougher distribution, less generous free plans, and far more noise. The conversation also dives into the founder mindset behind building highly effective companies. Jeremy explains why staying close to support made WebMerge stronger, why he delayed hiring for as long as possible, and what drove his decision to eventually sell. From there, he opens up about building Quin, what it means to compete in a crowded AI category, and why word of mouth and customer trust still matter more than ever. If you want to build a meaningful software business without defaulting to a big team or venture funding, this episode is packed with practical insight. Key Highlights: 00:43 - From WebMerge to QuinJeremy shares what he's focused on today, why Quin is a much harder business to build than WebMerge, and how AI margins change the game.07:36 - The WebMerge growth playbookHow WebMerge evolved from a simple PDF tool into an integration-driven platform, and why partnerships became a major distribution engine.12:40 - How WebMerge really got off the groundThe early days of the business, the first customer outreach, and how a slow trickle of traction compounded into millions in revenue over time.16:36 - Why Jeremy bootstrapped from day oneJeremy talks through his decision to stay self-funded, avoid outside control, and build on his own terms.19:14 - How to reach $5M with almost no teamA candid discussion on why Jeremy delayed hiring, what work he kept for himself, and when he finally saw the need for a strategic hire.21:51 - Why founders should stay close to supportJeremy and Esben discuss support as a product advantage, how it tightens the customer feedback loop, and why speed matters so much.25:28 - Why he sold a highly profitable businessJeremy shares the reasoning behind selling WebMerge, including risk, lifestyle, hiring pressure, and the chance to join a larger story.47:18 - What still wins in a crowded AI marketJeremy explains what has changed in his new playbook, what has not changed, and why customer trust and word of mouth still matter most. Resources:

Growth does not always slow down because something obvious breaks. Sometimes it stalls because small issues quietly build up across different functions.  In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim break down what a growth stall actually is, why it happens, and how to diagnose it. They walk through real examples from DemandMaven clients, including how poor team structure, technical debt, lack of analytics, and founder bottlenecks can silently cap growth.  Overcoming a stall often requires stopping, refocusing the business, and making hard organizational changes. If your company feels stuck despite continued effort, this episode will help you understand where to look and what to change. Got a question you'd like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack Joel Gascoigne - Navigating a Multi-Year Decline to New All-Time-Highs In Demand Episode 50: Why Operations Is Your Overlooked Growth Lever Chapters (00:02:30) - What is a growth stall?(00:04:50) - The three most common stall points: 1M, 3 to 5M, and 10M ARR.(00:10:15) - Getting to $10M requires pulling all the growth levers: activation, retention, monetization, and operations.(00:14:30) - Why growth stalls are almost always caused by multiple issues at once and often the solutions might be outside of marketing.(00:16:30) - Why a founder leading product can contribute to a growth stall in the 3 to 5M ARR range.(00:20:40) - How technical debt creates analytics debt, blocks better decision making, and slows growth.(00:27:00) - Why operations and team structure are often hidden contributors to growth stalls.(00:32:15) - Why a 5M ARR company is stuck due to founder bottlenecks.(00:39:00) - Why founders struggle to see the real problem and how bias affects decisions.(00:42:00) - The Buffer turnaround story and the power of pausing everything to refocus.(00:47:00) - Why small teams still need structure, process, operational discipline, and change management.

I first heard about this guy on the Joe Rogan show. He built a hot business on a simple concept: Companies hire him to embed AI usage and thinking in their businesses. Now he's creating his own agent software (a customized version of NeoClaw) that he's installing in companies. Best of all: Jon Cheney says what he built at GenAIPI can be built by people listening to this episode. We break down how. Jon Cheney is the founder of GenAIPI (General AI Proficiency Institute), an AI consulting and enablement company that helps businesses adopt AI through training, strategy, and implementation. He previously built and exited a venture-backed startup, then used AI tools to launch GenAIPI from scratch with just $400. Today, the company is at roughly $4.5M ARR and is evolving from fractional AI consulting into software-assisted AI infrastructure for clients. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Chad Ingram is the founder of Distro, an AI recruiting software company that helps mid-market and enterprise companies automate candidate screening, vetting, ranking, and scheduling. He previously built Jump, a venture-backed customer engagement software company, through a stressful growth and sale process that taught him painful lessons about fundraising, control, and acquisition pressure.    Distro started as a marketplace to help companies hire software engineers globally, then evolved into an AI-first recruiting platform that integrates with applicant tracking systems and helps recruiters handle far more open roles. When Chad sold the company,  Distro had 14 employees and about $3.5M ARR, with revenue shifting from marketplace margins toward SaaS subscription and consumption-based contracts.  Distro was acquired by Vensure Employer Solutions, a large private HR platform company that wanted Distro both for its own recruiting needs and for its 161,000 customers.  Chad explains why strategic buyers cared more about healthy financials than SaaS vanity metrics, why he said no to the first offer, what he learned from selling Jump too early, and why a daily cash flow forecast gave him the freedom to choose instead of react. Key Takeaways First Offers are not always the right offers, and founders with real options can politely say no and keep building. Manual First is often the smartest way to start, proving demand with spreadsheets, email, and humans before writing software. Product Evolution happened by following customer demand, turning a hiring marketplace into an AI recruiting SaaS platform. Cash Visibility gave Chad optionality, because daily cash flow tracking removed surprises and helped him make harder decisions earlier.  Quote from Chad Ingram, founder of Distro "You gotta know your numbers in detail. There are so many founders who don't know their freaking numbers. How do you not know your numbers? You just hope it all works itself out in six months? That's not how it works. You will go out of business.  "I learned how to do a daily cash flow forecast when we started my 2nd company, Distro. And I've been running one every day. That might seem a little too microscopic for many, but guess what? There's no freaking surprises.  "I could tell you nine months from now, the day that we would go out of business if we didn't have enough cash, unless there was some change. It's a lot less stressful knowing the facts. When you know the facts, you can make things happen. You don't have to sit and wonder and hope it works out. "I don't care if you have zero mathematical aptitude or your background is sales or something else. You have to know the basics of accounting. If you don't, you are at a huge, huge disadvantage, especially when you go to sell." Links Chad Ingram on LinkedIn Distro on LinkedIn Distro website Vensure Employer Solutions website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

Most SaaS companies do not stall because they run out of acquisition channels. They stall because their organization cannot scale what is already working. In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim break down why so many companies get stuck in the 3 to 5 million ARR range. Asia shares patterns she is seeing across companies, from flat team structures and lack of ownership to analytics debt and poor product decision-making. They unpack why growth can plateau even with experienced teams, how CEOs accidentally become bottlenecks, and why the transition from founder to CEO is critical at this stage.  If your company is stuck despite strong effort and investment, this episode will help you diagnose whether the real problem is not your growth tactics, but how your business is structured to support them. Got a question you'd like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Chapters (00:00:30) - The 3 to 5 million ARR plateau and why companies tend to get stuck at this stage.(00:02:30) - Flat org structures and why too many direct reports create bottlenecks.(00:04:58) - Analytics debt and how lack of data infrastructure limits growth teams.(00:12:00) - Why lack of internal leadership prevents teams from scaling effectively.(00:16:10) - The founder to CEO transition and shifting from execution to direction.(00:19:30) - Why being a CEO isn't about telling people what to do.(00:22:00) - Why the role of controller is a key role for companies in the 3 to 5 million ARR range.(00:25:25) - Role confusion and how unclear ownership creates friction across teams.(00:36:00) - Product missteps that can keep businesses stuck under 5 million ARR like building the wrong features without validation or market context.

In this interview, Christopher Gimmer shares how he grew Snappa from an early SaaS idea into a business that reached $1.5 million in ARR, including the painful rebuild that happened right after launch. He breaks down the SEO and content flywheel that drove growth, the pricing lessons he learned, and why timing matters so much when building or selling a software company. Christopher also talks about launching GoodMetrics, why he sees a big opportunity in simple analytics, and how he is approaching product design differently this time around. The conversation wraps with a fascinating look at how AI is changing SaaS, marketing, and even how founders should build products for future AI agents.   Sponsor: Quiet LightGet a free, confidential valuation at https://quietlight.com/! Links & Resources Learn more about Snappa: https://snappa.com Explore Goodmetrics: https://goodmetrics.io Connect with Christopher: https://chrisgimmer.com See Christopher's new side project: https://srqweekly.com   Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter  Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links?  Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper  Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative 

Joseph Lee didn't follow a straight path. After spending nearly a decade building a food marketplace, he walked away and started over. What came next was Supademo — an AI-powered product demo platform that scaled from zero to $5M ARR in three years, mostly through product-led growth. In this episode, we break down exactly how that happened.We get into: How Supa Demo hit $1M ARR in under a year  The SEO + LLM strategy that drove early traction  Programmatic content and competitor pages that convert  What “product-led growth” actually means in practice  Designing virality directly into the product  Why free users are a growth engine, not a cost center  Reverse trials and onboarding that removes friction  Using AI across engineering, sales, and operations  Real internal AI workflows (including automated follow-ups)  Why most teams struggle with AI adoption  The real moat in a world where everything is easier to build  How to think about pricing without over-optimizing  Why founders should stop overthinking and just start If you're building SaaS right now, this episode is a clear look at what's actually working in today's market — and what's already outdated.

Send us Fan MailDaniel Lereya is Chief Product and Technology Officer at monday.com, the AI work platform trusted by 60% of the Fortune 500 and valued at approximately $8 billion. He joined the company when it had 30 people and $4.5M ARR, and has since grown his team from 5 to nearly 900 people as monday.com crossed $1 billion in ARR.In this episode, Daniel draws on nearly a decade of scaling one of the world's most adopted work platforms to share what it actually takes to rebuild product thinking from scratch when AI changes everything you thought you knew.In this conversation, we discuss:Why the instincts that made monday.com successful are the exact ones Daniel says had to be dismantled to build AI-first products.What the critical difference is between building a demo that impresses and an agent that actually works in production, and where most teams get it wrong.Why Daniel believes wrapping AI inside rigid workflows produces better results than giving agents full discretion, and what monday.com learned the hard way.What happened when 2,000 of 3,000 monday.com employees started building their own apps in just two weeks, and what it revealed about the future of who gets to build software.Why Daniel argues that when an AI agent makes a mistake, the real question leaders should be asking has nothing to do with the technology.Why the biggest barrier to AI adoption is not the technology itself, and what Daniel says companies must stop waiting for before they start.Explore:00:00 Why AI Adoption Is Harder Than It Looks00:53 Introduction + AI Commerce Standards: Google, OpenAI & Visa04:30 Daniel Lereya's 9-Year Journey Scaling monday.com to $1B ARR09:00 How AI Forces a Complete Reset in Product Thinking12:25 The "AI Month" Initiative: Pausing R&D to Rebuild from Scratch14:57 Building AI Products When the Output Is Non-Deterministic20:47 What 250,000 Customers Taught Us About AI in the Real World25:38 Responsible AI: Guardrails, Governance, and Data Control31:28 Who Is Responsible When an AI Agent Makes a Mistake?37:04 The Future of Work: Humans, Agents, and What Comes NextResources:Subscribe to the AI & The Future of Work NewsletterConnect with Daniel on LinkedInAI fun fact articleOn How we can take back control from Big Techhttps://peoplereign.io/podcast/

Stefano Verna and Matteo Giaccone from DatoCMS share how their side project in a web agency turned into a €6.5M ARR company with a 13-person remote team. We talk about building sustainable, bootstrapped businesses, instead of the all-or-nothing VC approach, and about their 6-week shipping cycles, prioritizing simplicity, and building trust with customers.Links:    •. Dato CMS   •. Matteo's Linkedin   •. Stefano's X

"I checked the cash balance and the number came out negative. I had to call my wife and say we might need to liquidate our entire 401k to make payroll."In today's episode of Bricks and Bytes, we had Thiago Da Costa from DataGrid and Clifton Harness from TestFit and we got to learn about the raw truth of building construction tech startups - from pivoting at $1M ARR to nearly missing payroll.These founders didn't hold back. They shared the moments that almost broke them and the decisions that saved their companies.Tune in to find out about:✅ Why Thiago pivoted his entire company after raising a Series A (and how he told his board)✅ The morning Clifton woke up and realized he couldn't make payroll✅ Why most construction tech companies plateau at $3-5M ARR and never break through✅ How to know when you've actually found product-market fit versus when you're chasing a ghostWatch now to hear the full conversation about what it really takes to build in construction tech.Our SponsorAphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.coArchdesk -  “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.comBuildVision -   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.ioChapters00:00 Introduction to Startup Journeys 05:47 Navigating the Pre-Seed Stage 12:47 The Importance of Pre-Sales and Pivoting 17:39 Understanding Product Market Fit 23:22 Defining Product Market Fit in Construction Tech 31:14 Facing Startup Challenges and Scary Moments 33:25 Navigating Financial Challenges 37:07 The Importance of Family in Business 39:00 Facing Fear of Failure and Pivots 40:32 Balancing Hype and Substance in Business 48:47 Endurance in Entrepreneurship 54:53 Optimizing for People in Startups

For the holiday break we are resurfacing some of our best episodes so far. Here is the best episode of season 3.Kyle left his job as a hacker at the NSA to launch Huntress. He bootstrapped for 3 years and burned all his savings. One of his co-founders quit. He got into an accelerator program, but had to sleep in his car for 16 weeks because he couldn't afford a hotel.Finally, 3 years in he'd hit $1.5M ARR. So he pitched 60 VCs for a Series A—and got 60 'no's. He was forced to raise a small, $1M inside round. But then things changed:2018: $1.5M ARR2019: $5M ARR2020: $10M ARR2021: $20M ARR2022: $40M ARR2023: $70M ARR2024: $100M+ ARRHuntress is valued at $2B.The investors who backed his $1M bridge are up 140x. Now every VC wants to invest—and Kyle's the one saying 'no'.Why you should listen: How to know whether you should keep going or quit.What it takes to get through the first few years at a bootstrapped startup.Why revenue expansion is a huge lever for fast-growth (Huntress has 140% net revenue retention).How starting a startup can impact your personal life and relationships.How to work with partners to sell to long tail SMB customers.Keywordsentrepreneurship, cybersecurity, product market fit, startup journey, military experience, SMB market, funding challenges, automation, human expertise, business growthTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:2:01) Working at the NSA(00:6:14) A big win in counter cyber terrorism(00:10:00) What gave way to Huntress(00:14:22) Pitching to a startup accelerator(00:16:29) Adopting curiosity(00:21:04) Getting ahead of cyber criminals(00:26:00) Starting to grow(00:32:50) Cult or conviction(00:35:00) It takes grit(00:39:50) Learning from people's lessons(00:42:20) Cockroaches and underdogs(00:46:10) Three strikes, I'm out(00:52:56) Having a military background(00:56:17) One piece of adviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

In this episode of The Metrics Brothers, hosts Ray “Growth” Rike and Dave “CAC” Kellogg provide a critical deep dive into the 2025 SaaS Benchmark Report published by High Alpha. Known for their analytical, and sometimes "crusty" approach, the metrics brothers dissect the data behind 800+ SaaS companies to separate real market trends from report commentary.Key Highlights & BenchmarksThe brothers break down the report's most significant findings with their signature skepticism regarding "correlation vs. causation."The AI Growth Premium: Companies with AI at their core are growing significantly faster than those using AI as a supporting feature. For instance, in the $1–5M ARR band, AI-core companies achieved a median growth of 110%, compared to 40% for their peersThe "Lean Team" Era: Efficiency is surging as headcount falls. Median revenue per employee has jumped to $129K–$173K, with top-tier public companies hitting over $283K. The hosts note that engineering and support have seen the largest headcount reductions due to AI automationVenture Rebound (with a Caveat): While quarterly VC deal value has returned to near 2021 levels (~$80B), the capital is highly concentrated. Over half of all VC funding is currently flowing into AI startups, often in massive "mega-rounds."In-Office vs. Remote: For the second consecutive year, the data suggests that in-office or hybrid teams are growing faster (42% median) than fully remote teams (31% median).As always, Ray and Dave offer practical advice for founders and GTM leaders:"Read the data, but watch out for the commentary." While the data is good, some commentary and conclusions in the report imply causation where there is at best some level of correlation, such as why companies stay private longer or how AI "drives" growth.Retention is King: The strongest growth outcomes are found where high Net Revenue Retention (NRR) meets short CAC payback periods.Outcome-Based Pricing: The brothers highlight the shift toward outcome-based and hybrid pricing models as a primary driver for best-in-class NRR in 2025.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After 9 conversations with entrepreneurs and business leaders, three patterns emerged about scaling successfully.In this Season 5 recap, I share the key lessons from conversations with founders like Mark Shepherd (Gathr), George Sullivan (Sole Supplier), and Gaurav Bhattacharya (Jeeva AI), plus insights from Darcy Martin (Outward VC) and Steve Duncan (C Studios).The 3 patterns:Pattern 1: Vulnerability is the unlock, not the weakness Mark launched a 10,000-member community with a LinkedIn post about mental health. Asim went from contemplating suicide to building mental health platform Plumm. Kate lost passion until she invested in personal development. The insight? Successful founders admit "I'm struggling" instead of projecting false certainty.Pattern 2: Strategic resource allocation beats grinding George turned down VC investment knowing it would break him. Gaurav walked away from $2.5M ARR to pivot (now 300 customers in 9 months). Steve's Monday WIN list connects weekly tasks to annual goals. The insight? Real resilience is saying no strategically.Pattern 3: Peer learning accelerates growth Mark built his business around genuine peer connections. Darcy helped one founder get their first US enterprise client through a single introduction. The insight? No one scaled alone - everyone mentioned coaches, mentors, or peer groups.Here's the thing: These patterns work together. You can't access peer learning without vulnerability. You can't allocate resources without outside perspective. You can't be vulnerable without psychological safety.Your challenge: Pick one pattern and do one thing this week - have one honest conversation, create your Monday WIN list, or make three specific asks to your network.Season 6 launches in 2026. Subscribe so you don't miss it.More from James: Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com

"We were adding customers, losing customers, adding customers, losing customers. We were stalling."Gaurav Bhattacharya had $2.5M ARR and 50 customers. On paper, things looked fine. But momentum wasn't there. Instead of pushing harder, he split his company in two – and nine months later, Jeeva AI had 10,000 users and 300 enterprise customers.In today's episode, I'm joined by Gaurav Bhattacharya, Founder and CEO of Jeeva AI. After successfully exiting his first healthcare AI startup, Gaurav spent five years building a data intelligence platform to $2.5M ARR before recognising it would never become the great business he wanted. His solution? Split the team in two – one to keep the lights on, one to prove product-market fit for a completely new idea. The result was Jeeva AI, a sales intelligence tool that exploded to 10,000 users in nine months.Together we unpack:How to decide when a "good" business will never become greatThe two-team strategy: keeping lights on whilst proving new product-market fitWhy pattern recognition is the most underrated founder skillHow to pivot without killing team morale or burning investor relationshipsThe shift from enterprise sales to PLG (and why it required completely different muscles)

✅ If you're looking to scale companies and hit growth targets without burning out or losing control, this episode with Kurt Uhlir is packed with powerful frameworks and real-world experience.In just 23 minutes, you'll hear how Kurt Uhlir, CMO at Easy Home Search and an expert in growing companies past $250M, answers the very questions you're searching for:How do I build systems that scale beyond $10M in revenue?What's holding my startup back from scaling up?Is taking venture capital really worth it—or will it destroy my business?How do I lead teams without being a micromanager or burning out?Kurt has been behind over 60 funding rounds and multiple IPOs. He's not just giving theory—he's been in the trenches, scaling SaaS, tech, and real estate platforms. He shares how he transitioned from founder to scaler, and why most founders should do the same if they want long-term success.

Russ has started and sold multiple companies over 30 years, but his Dynamic Signal journey will change how you think about product-market fit. They had $5M ARR selling influencer marketing software. Then Russ told investors to pretend the $5M didn't exist and bet on a $200K pipeline instead. That pivot led to 600 Fortune 2000 customers and an exit at $50M ARR. Now building his AI measurement startup Larridin, Russ shares why being a repeat founder creates a different problem—everyone tells you your idea is great even when it's not. His solution? Don't believe anything until someone writes a check.Why You Should Listen:Why he walked away from $5M ARR to pursue a $200K pipeline.How emergent user behavior revealed a $50M business.Why "everyone loving your idea" means nothing.Why finding product-market fit is only step 1.Keywords:startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, Dynamic Signal, Russ Glass, product-market fit, enterprise sales, employee advocacy, pivot strategy, B2B SaaS, influencer marketing00:00:00 Intro00:01:36 30 years of Silicon Valley startups00:03:05 Dynamic Signal's original idea00:07:29 The emergent behavior that changed everything00:15:38 Walking away from $5M ARR to pursue a $200K opportunity00:18:23 Why product-market fit is never final00:22:14 Selling Dynamic Signal 00:24:30 Starting Laridin00:36:34 Raising $17M as a repeat founder—why everyone says yesSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Guy spent 2 years and $4M building Snyk to $100K ARR. Thousands of developers loved the product. They just wouldn't pay.Then he figured out the problem: he had product-user fit, but not product-buyer fit. Developers loved Snyk. Security teams (the actual buyers) didn't care about it. The distance between user and buyer was killing him.So Guy spent a year building governance features, reporting, and enterprise capabilities—all the stuff developers didn't care about but security teams needed to write checks. Four months later, Snyk hit $650K ARR. A year after that, $4.5M. Then $19M. Today it's over $300M ARR.This episode breaks down the brutal reality of PLG when your user isn't your buyer, why Guy thinks the worst outcome for a founder is getting stuck (not failing), and how he's now raising $125M for his next company Tessl.If you're building PLG, selling to enterprise, or wondering why your users love you but won't pay—this is required listening.Why You Should Listen:Learn why thousands of users loving your product means nothing if they won't payDiscover the difference between product-user fit and product-buyer fitUnderstand why the worst outcome isn't failure—it's getting stuck in the grey zoneMaster the art of anchoring in the future instead of just filling today's gapsKeywords:startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, PLG strategy, product-user fit vs product-buyer fit, developer tools, security startup, enterprise sales, bottoms-up GTM, Snyk founderChapters:(00:00:00) Intro(00:01:37) The first start up :Blaze.io"(00:06:16) The Beginning & Concept of Skyk(00:15:27) Why use Snyk(00:23:41) The Product Led Growth for Snyk(00:33:08) Raising for Snyk(00:38:58) The Beginning & Concept of TESL(00:46:39) Raising for TESL(00:48:52) Finding PMF(00:49:26) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

What does the future AE look like in the age of AI?Toni and Raul break down how AI could transform sales productivity, reshape go-to-market structures, and create the $5M ARR AE. From hyper-optimized workflows to the rise of the “celebrity AE,” this episode explores three new models that redefine what top performance looks like.This episode is brought to you by Evergrowth  —  Their Agentic GTM Workspace enables revenue teams to collaborate and win with AI-powered teammates, breaking down silos and helping B2B teams grow smarter with fewer resources. Want to work with us? Learn more: revformula.io(00:00) - Introduction (03:00) - The 5M ARR AE with AI (11:17) - Hyper Optimized Enterprise AE (15:18) - AI-Assisted Sales Meetings (19:04) - Maximizing Sales Efficiency (20:50) - Salesperson as a High Performer (22:01) - Factory Automation (24:42) - The SMB Multitasker (32:44) - The Celebrity AE (35:29) - Influencer Crossovers in Sales (39:00) - Wrapping up (40:42) - Next Week: The 2025 Hiring Playbook

Does Net Revenue Retention (NRR) really move your company's valuation multiple? Absolutely — and the difference can be worth tens of millions of dollars. In episode #319, Ben Murray breaks down new data from Meritech Capital and Benchmarkit.ai to show exactly how changes in your NRR directly impact your revenue multiple and SaaS valuation. You'll also learn why ACV segmentation matters when benchmarking NRR and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR), and how top-performing SaaS companies are using retention metrics to drive investor confidence and higher valuations. What You'll Learn The link between NRR and valuation multiples — a 7-point jump in NRR can double your multiple. How a $5M ARR company can see a $25M valuation swing from retention improvements. The latest SaaS benchmarks from Ray Rike (Benchmarkit.ai) for NRR and GRR. Why you must benchmark NRR by ACV, not company size or industry averages Why investors prioritize retention when evaluating durability, efficiency, and predictability of revenue. Why It Matters For SaaS Founders: NRR improvements can directly increase your exit or fundraising valuation. For CFOs & Finance Leaders: Retention trends reveal the sustainability of your revenue model and influence your ARR growth forecast. For Investors: High NRR signals strong customer economics, pricing power, and efficient growth. For Operators: Knowing your NRR by ACV cohort allows smarter resource allocation and customer success planning. Resources Mentioned The SaaS CFO Academy: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/#section-1744932157830 Quote from Ben “A 5X difference in valuation multiple can come down to just a few points in your net revenue retention. That's the power of strong SaaS metrics.”

Unlock the secrets of hypergrowth in SaaS with Gaurav Bhattacharya in this electrifying kickoff of our podcast series, hosted by Lauren Hawker Zafer.

Spotlight Ten - From Saving Lives to 5M ARR - AI Sales, Founder Psychology and the Dark Side of Speed with Gaurav BhattacharyaSpotlight ten is a truly unique and insightful dive into building a SaaS venture and the 996 culture of Silicon Valley.Who is Gaurav?Gaurav Bhattacharya is a repeat B2B SaaS founder and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree who's built, scaled, and exited startups before most founders finish their MVP. Currently the CEO of Jeeva.ai, he's leading the charge in automating outbound AI-powered SDR agents — helping B2B teams 2x their pipeline in half the time (and cost).Before Jeeva, he co-founded involve.ai, a customer intelligence platform that grew to 500+ companies and 1.1M users globally. He raised over $20M from top investors like Sapphire Ventures, Stanford University, and Gokul Rajaram — and hit $5M ARR in under 9 months with just 11 people.Gaurav's story starts even earlier, at 17, he co-built a radiology tool that the Indian government adopted nationwide to fight sex-selective abortions.He's been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, LA Business Journal, and top startup podcasts — and he's not here to preach theory. Gaurav brings real-world operator lessons, raw founder stories, and tactical GTM frameworks that listeners can steal and ship the same day.When he's not building, he's probably over-caffeinating, mentoring founders, or geeking out on outbound psychology.#techpodcast #ai #redefiningai #laurenhawkerzaferSubscribe to the channel and share what you enjoyed! Give us some stars and feedback in the review section!

Chris Bakke is a 3x founder whose latest startup, Laskie, was acquired by Elon Musk just 90 days after a viral tweet. He's worked at the intersection of recruiting, SaaS, and media—and even helped build the X Hiring platform from inside Twitter. In this episode, Chris shares the full unfiltered story of building, selling, and walking away.You'll Learn:How Chris Bakke shares how one viral tweet led to a DM from Elon Musk and the eventual acquisition of his company, Laskie.The Behind the scenes of how he built a $5M ARR business with just 9 employees.What it was like scaling X Hiring inside Twitter, including launching 1M+ job listings in under a year.Chaos and culture clash: working with Tesla and SpaceX engineers inside Twitter HQ.Why Chris ultimately walked away from Elon's company to reclaim his time and freedom.Tactical gems on startup exits, newsletters, deal-making, and audience building.Lessons from selling 3 companies and why he says: “Most startups don't need to raise money.”Where to find Chris:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bakk3/https://x.com/chrisjbakke?lang=enhttps://intro.co/ChrisBakke?source=introhttps://www.chrisbakke.com/Follow Ish Instagram X Linkedin Website Subscribe to Internet Empires on YouTube

In this episode, Maximus Greenwald, founder of Warmly.ai, shares insights on building a successful B2B SaaS company. With over $5M ARR and 60 employees globally, Max discusses how they pivoted six times before finding product-market fit, why learning is the only metric that always needs to go up, and how they're building an AI-powered sales enablement platform. What You'll Learn: Finding Product-Market Fit: Why six pivots were necessary The importance of continuous learning How to know when to persist vs pivot Building Remote Teams: Managing 60 people across multiple countries The 10-15% remote work efficiency trade-off Building culture across time zones Sales & Marketing Evolution: From founder-led to team sales Why marketing should own top of funnel The future of AI in sales Co-founder Dynamics: Managing roles and responsibilities The power of cross-functional leadership Building trust between co-founders Growth & Scale: The path to $5M ARR Building in San Francisco Preparing for Series B ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery  Where to find Max: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-greenwald/  Website: https://www.warmly.ai/  More about Guest-Host Mike Mahlkow: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemahlkow  Website: https://www.mikemahlkow.com/  Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/  Chapters:  (00:00:00) What you need to know about Max & Warmly.ai (00:05:04) The rough early days at Warmly (00:10:43) How close was Max to quitting? (00:14:58) What was the actual pivot at Warmly? (00:24:23) How does Sales evolve over time? (00:34:02) How does the speed change while scaling? (00:45:50) How does Max divide and conquer the world of his co-founders?

AI “agents” have been hyped to death—but very few are truly delivering real-world impact. In this episode, we cut through the vaporware with Christian Wiens, co-founder of Loman, an AI voice agent platform transforming how restaurants handle customer calls, orders, and reservations. Christian shares how Loman went from a two-person idea to serving hundreds of restaurants and hitting $1.5M ARR in record time. We dive into why voice is the most natural, context-rich way for humans to communicate—and how AI agents that do real work (not just answer questions) will change how we interact with businesses forever. You'll hear how Loman's restaurant agents integrate directly with POS systems to take orders end-to-end, the surprising reasons Gen Z prefers talking to AI over humans, and why the future of a brand's “front door” may be an AI personality instead of a website. Christian also breaks down Loman's explosive growth playbook—from ditching cold email for native social ads, to filming on-location customer stories that convert like crazy. We cover the realities of AI-generated ads, programmatic SEO, and why outcome-driven automation is the only AI worth paying for.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhat really defines an AI agent—and why most products don't qualifyHow voice-based AI can capture richer customer context than any app or formThe operational pain restaurants face with missed calls and how AI solves itWhy customers don't care if it's AI or human—only that it gets the job doneGen Z's surprising comfort with AI calls (and discomfort with human ones)The two make-or-break factors every AI agent needs to succeedHow to create “native feel” ad creatives that crush on socialWhy hyper-specific vertical integration beats horizontal AI every timeThe massive untapped potential for outbound AI voice (and the legal gray areas)Christian's vision for a future where AI agents replace websites as the primary customer touchpointChapters00:00 – Intro & The AI Agent Hype vs. Reality 04:18 – What an AI Agent Really Is 09:02 – Why Voice Is the Ultimate Interface 13:47 – The Restaurant Industry's Missed Call Problem 18:25 – Gen Z's Comfort with AI Calls 22:58 – Vertical vs. Horizontal AI Strategies 27:41 – Loman's Explosive Growth Playbook 32:16 – Ads That Feel Native & Convert 37:08 – Outbound AI Voice & Legal Considerations 42:55 – The Future: AI Agents as the New Websites 47:20 – Closing Thoughts & How to Connect with ChristianConnect with Christian Wiens:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianwiens/Website – https://www.loman.ai/

Roy Lee went from getting kicked out of Harvard and Columbia to building Cluely, one of the fastest-growing AI startups ever—going from 0 to $5 million ARR in just 3 months. We go deep on Roy's playbook for using controversy, virality, and content to get millions of views—and millions in ARR. You'll learn why Roy intentionally designs content to spark outrage, how he leveraged Twitter to raise millions from top VCs within 24 hours, and his tactical advice for mastering the short-form algorithms that dominate attention today. If you want an unfair advantage to scale your startup, this is a must-listen.Why You Should ListenHow Roy Lee mastered viral marketing to scale from 0 to $5M ARR in 3 months.Why controversy and shock value are the ultimate distribution hacks.Exactly how Roy raised $5M in 24 hours by leveraging Twitter virality.Why short-form content is the most underrated growth channel for startups today.The secret to X/Twitter's algorithm.KeywordsRoy Lee, Cluely, viral marketing, startup growth, product market fit, AI startup, raising venture capital, short-form content, going viral, Twitter strategy00:00:00 Intro00:02:20 Getting Kicked Out of Harvard and Columbia00:10:31 How Roy Engineered His Viral Moment00:17:23 Launching Cluely and Hitting $5M ARR in 3 Months00:20:49 Secrets to Mastering the Twitter Algorithm00:28:21 The Formula Behind Virality00:38:31 Leveraging TikTok, Instagram, and an Army of Creators00:44:06 Retention Challenges and Future Product Vision00:50:50 Roy's Advice for Early-Stage FoundersSend me a message to let me know what you think!

In this episode, Wes Bush interviews Gaurav, founder and CEO of Jeeva AI, about how they pivoted from a failed startup to building a $5M ARR AI sales platform in just 8 months.  Gaurav reveals their unconventional approach to being "different not better," and how they recently launched a PLG motion that generated 10,000+ users and $100K ARR in their first week. Key Takeaways: [00:01:32] Gaurav's origin story [00:05:26] Building "the cursor for sales" [00:15:05] The launch strategy: Getting 320 form fills and 27 customers  [00:25:05] The feature trap: Focusing too much on new features instead of funnel optimization  [00:30:01]  The Ogilvy principle that shaped their positioning strategy [00:37:01] Breaking down their Product Hunt launch that generated 900+ upvotes [00:42:12] The two-team approach during transitions [00:51:15] Why product, customers, and hiring/firing are the only three things that matter [00:54:09] How consistent posting (2x daily) grew from 500 to 23,000 followers  [01:01:17] The mindset shift to maintaining high energy Resources: 

In this episode of Founder's Club, Dez DeCosta sits down with Ujwal Arkalgud—a cultural anthropologist turned entrepreneur who built and sold a high-eight-figure company without a single dollar of venture capital. Ujwal unpacks how understanding the "invisible rules" of human behavior and perception can give founders a powerful edge in product–market fit, credibility, and scaling without traditional sales tactics. From bootstrapping MotivBase to $5M ARR with no sales team to helping founders de-risk their ventures and master buyer psychology, Ujwal shares the mindset shifts and tactical frameworks that turn insight into impact. Whether you're a startup founder or a seasoned builder, this conversation will challenge how you think about growth.Connect with Ujwalnewsletter.invisible-rules.comhttps://www.instagram.com/ujwal.arkalgud/

In this episode, Wes Bush interviews Philippe-Antoine Lehoux, co-founder of Missive, about how they built a $7.5M ARR email collaboration platform with a lean team of just 15 people over 9 years. Philippe reveals their unconventional approach to growth, why they ignored startup playbooks for years, and how focusing on the "first five pages" of product fundamentals helped them compete against well-funded competitors like Front. Key Takeaways: [00:02:25] The biggest challenge: scaling the founders, not just the product [00:05:45] Why they ignored startup playbooks for years [00:06:59] How Front became their biggest growth channel by creating the market category [00:12:06] The differentiation strategy: Email-centric vs customer service-centric approach [00:15:49] Philosophy of fixing "paper cuts"  [00:24:47] The depression after hitting $100K/month  [00:34:03] Current channel breakdown [00:39:41] The lean team structure [00:46:31] The 3-4 year grind from $300K to $1.2M ARR [00:50:51] Positioning as the alternative to every funded competitor early [00:56:17] What he'd do differently Resources: 

Why you should listenGaurav shares how Jeeva.ai is revolutionizing sales automation by making AI-powered outreach as simple as ChatGPT, without the complexity of tools like Clay.Learn how to cut through the noise of generic AI outreach with personalized, multi-channel strategies that actually improve deliverability and response rates.Discover the future of sales technology and why natural language interfaces will replace complex CRM workflows - plus get insights from a Forbes 30 Under 30 founder backed by Mark Benioff.Your clients' sales teams are drowning in CRM busywork, spending hours on data entry and lead research instead of actually selling. Meanwhile, their cold outreach campaigns are getting lost in the noise of AI-generated spam, delivering terrible conversion rates despite all the time invested. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone - and there's finally a solution. In this episode, I sit down with Gaurav Bhattacharya, CEO of Jeeva.ai, who's built the AI sales automation platform that's changing everything. Gaurav is a repeat B2B SaaS founder who went from creating a radiology tool adopted by the Indian government at age 17 to raising over $20M and hitting $7M revenue in just 12 months with his latest venture. We dive deep into how Jeeva.ai eliminates the biggest pain points in modern sales - from automated lead research and data enrichment to personalized outreach across multiple channels. You'll discover why most outbound tools are actually making the spam problem worse, how to improve email deliverability in an AI-saturated market, and why the future belongs to natural language interfaces that work where sales teams actually spend their time.About Gaurav BhattacharyaGaurav Bhattacharya is a repeat B2B SaaS founder and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree who's built, scaled, and exited startups before most founders finish their MVP. Currently the CEO of Jeeva.ai, he's leading the charge in automating outbound AI-powered SDR agents — helping B2B teams 2x their pipeline in half the time (and cost).Before Jeeva, he co-founded involve.ai, a customer intelligence platform that grew to 500+ companies and 1.1M users globally. He raised over $20M from top investors like Sapphire Ventures, Stanford University, and Gokul Rajaram — and hit $5M ARR in under 9 months with just 11 people.But Gaurav's story starts even earlier — at 17, he co-built a radiology tool that the Indian government adopted nationwide to fight sex-selective abortions. He's been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, LA Business Journal, and top startup podcasts — and he's not here to preach theory. Gaurav brings real-world operator lessons, raw founder stories, and tactical GTM frameworks that listeners can steal and ship the same day.When he's not building, he's probably over-caffeinating, mentoring founders, or geeking out on outbound psychology.Resources and LinksJeeva.aiGaurav's LinkedIn profileGet Jeeva at 90% off on your first yearElevenlabs.ioCaptions.aiHeygen.comChatgpt.com593

Joseph built Freshline to $3.5 million in revenue and nearly $2 million raised. It looked like a marketplace success story—until it wasn't. In this episode, Joe shares the hidden reasons marketplaces fail, critical lessons on how to spot the right market, and why traction alone doesn't guarantee success. It's a raw, real look at what happens when hype meets reality.Why You Should ListenHow a $3.5M startup stalled despite tractionHard lessons on finding the right marketThe hidden traps of marketplacesWhy staying gritty isn't always enoughPainkillers vs. Vitamins Rethinking Startup AdviceKeywordsmarketplace, product market fit, startup failure, raising capital, entrepreneurship, founder advice, traction, B2B SaaS, early-stage startup, growth challenges00:00:00 Intro00:04:10 Crashing the Boston Seafood Expo00:08:25 From Shopify to Marketplace00:12:40 Door-to-Door Fish Sales00:17:55 Hidden Risks of Marketplace Models00:23:05 Cracks Emerge at $3.5M Revenue00:26:45 COVID Hits and the Pivot Begins00:30:50 Why Market Matters More Than Grit00:32:55 Rethinking Painkillers vs Vitamins00:35:30 Staying Alive Long Enough to WinSend me a message to let me know what you think!

About MatiMati is currently Co-Founder & COO at School In One, an EdTech App (Endeavor ScaleUp 2025 Miami-based) operating in the USA as a SaaS or "SIS" (Student Information System) for K12 schools (kindergarten to 12th grade). The platform also operates back in LatAm, with +700,000 users, 40 full-time employees, $2.5M ARR, and +800 schools in 120 different cities. The team raised $500K from one Investor in LatAm for the US market expansion.Over the last few years, he helped +300 startups internationalize in Miami, with an accelerator that Mati co-managed until October 2023, owned by businessman Moishe Mana. During that moment, He structured strategic alliances with Dell for Startups, Wilson Sonsini, Zendesk, Delta & LatAm Airlines, Marriott, Deel, and acceleration, internationalization, and local economy promotion programs with Microsoft, IDB, ProChile, ProColombia, Uruguay XXI, Ingenio Incubadora, Ganesha Lab, etc., bringing $1M ARR and growing the team from 2 to 8 people.Learn more about Mati on LinkedIn. School In One websiteInstagram: School In OneLinkedIn: School In OneAbout RachelleEducator, Keynote Speaker, Consultant, Attorney, and AuthorSubscribe to my ⁠newsletter⁠.Check out my ⁠blog⁠ and submit a guest blog.Contact me for speaking & training related to AI, AI and the law, Cybersecurity, SEL, STEM, and more!⁠bit.ly/thriveineduPD⁠Interested in a sponsored podcast or collaboration? Contact me! Rdene915@gmail.com

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I talk about fintech companies that we're definitely not giving investment advice on!  We kick things off with Nekuda. Human-not-present is the new card-not-present. Nekuda's building SDKs (software development kits) for agentic checkout, so your AI assistant can securely store and inject payment credentials at just the right moment. This is Visa's “agent on file” era. We've spent a decade trying to keep bots out of commerce. Now we're figuring out how to let the right ones in (without blowing up the fraud model). What happens to trust, attribution, and liability when no human's at the checkout? Next is Vontive. Call them embedded mortgage lending for investment properties (basically, BNPL for real estate investors).They raised $135M in 2022, just added fresh equity from Citi, and secured a $150M revolving securitization shelf. They connect proptech platforms, banks, and marketplaces with private credit, so those platforms can embed short-term bridge loans or long-term rental mortgages directly into their UX. They don't hold the loans, but they do centralize underwriting across a very regionally variable asset class. And that can get risky fast. Then, there's Atticus, a stablecoin neobank in extreme stealth mode (with Palmer Luckey reportedly leading a new round at a $2B valuation). So naturally, we speculated: is Atticus a stablecoin bank with Fed access? A defense-industrial banking layer with regulatory immunity? If the GENIUS Act passes, this could be the first stablecoin issuer with full access to traditional rails. Finally, there's Affiniti. Embedded, vertical-specific SMB credit cards. Affiniti partners with trade associations (pharmacists, HVAC techs, auto dealers) to co-brand its SMB credit cards and distribute to pre-qualified member bases. They hit $5.5M ARR in year one and are on pace for $1B in transaction volume this year. Their edge is twofold: tailored underwriting based on industry norms, and an AI-powered CFO agent that flags anomalies, forecasts bills, and suggests vendor strategies. It's Ramp-as-a-service for the parts of the market that Ramp and Brex won't touch. The scaling question then becomes: choose depth (more products) or breadth (more industries)? We'll be watching. Plus, a manifestation: can someone please build a model that uses cashflow data to detect early signs of gambling addiction? It's doable, valuable, and might just save lives. This episode is brought to you by: Newline™ by Fifth Third is an innovative, API-first platform that enables fintechs to launch embedded payment, card and deposit solutions directly with Fifth Third Bank. Visit Newline53.com to see how Newline can elevate your business. Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://nekuda.ai/ https://www.vontive.com/ Atticus (extreme stealth mode is right) https://affiniti.finance/

"The best renewal is no renewal. So closing a three-year agreement, right?"In today's episode of our Go To Market Series from the Bricks & Bytes Podcast, we have Kevin Halter (CRO of OpenSpace) share his journey from scaling PlanGrid from $5M to $100M+ ARR and building high-performing sales teams in construction tech.Tune in to find out about:✅ Why construction tech requires a unique go-to-market approach focused on project-level ROI✅ How to transition from project-level sales to enterprise agreements (the key to breaking the $10M ARR ceiling)✅ What to look for when hiring sales talent ("fire in the belly")✅ When founders should hire their first VP of Sales vs CROWhether you're a founder struggling with the 5-10M ARR plateau or a sales leader in construction tech, this episode delivers practical insights on building scalable go-to-market motions in an industry where "it's easy to start a pilot, but hard to scale."06:30 Introduction to Construction Tech Journey09:30 Scaling from 5M to 100M ARR12:31 Understanding Project-Level Value15:22 Building Trust and Transparency in Construction18:28 Transitioning to Enterprise-Level Sales21:28 The Importance of Customer Success Management24:28 Hiring the Right Sales Team27:29 Effective Communication with Executives30:24 Building Long-Term Partnerships33:31 Creating a Scalable Sales Model44:47 Building Long-Term Partnerships (appears to be repeated)48:30 Lessons from Biotech for Construction Tech53:17 Hiring and Scaling Sales Team57:57 Developing Talent and Leadership1:07:31 Choosing the Right Company to Join1:14:53 When to Hire a Chief Revenue Officer

In episode #278, I'm tackling the metrics to track in your SaaS journey. One you reach the 3-5M ARR range, things can get really interesting with your financial profile and metrics. - Use my 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework - Pillar 1 Growth - Pillar 2 Retention - Pillar 3 Margins - Pillar 4 Financial Profile Retention Bootcamp:https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/Q2uE6U2B/checkout 5 Pillar SaaS Metrics Framework: https://www.thesaascfo.com/scaling-with-confidence-the-ultimate-saas-metrics-playbook/

After building a successful VC-backed company, Esben Friis-Jensen took a different path — bootstrapping his next SaaS startup to $5M ARR with just a team of 3.In this episode, he shares why he turned down venture funding, how he built an efficient, product-led growth engine, and lessons on scaling smart without sacrificing ownership or speed. (00:00) - Introduction (00:32) - Meet Esben Friis-Jensen (02:30) - The Decision to Bootstrap (06:27) - Product-Led Growth Strategy (11:25) - Competing in a Crowded Market (18:54) - The Role of AI in Business Operations (22:08) - Efficiency and Execution in Small Teams (27:48) - Making Tough Decision (31:17) - Revenue Metrics (32:10) - Speed of Decisions (38:43) - Challenges and Benefits of Founder-Led Companies (40:49) - Joining a Bootstrapped Company  Never miss a new episode, join our newsletter on revenueformula.substack.com

Use agents https://www.lindy.ai/greg (thanks to Flo for hooking us up with 50% off and you can get started for free)Join me as I chat with Flo Crivello, founder of Lindy AI, where he demonstrates how to build AI agents that can automate various business processes without coding. The conversation showcases practical applications including meeting recording, scheduling, recruitment, competitive analysis, and customer support. Crivello emphasizes that there's currently a significant gap between what's technically possible with AI agents and what most businesses are implementing.Built your first AI Agent with Lindy: https://www.gregisenberg.com/ai-agentsTimestamps:00:00 - Intro02:08 - Demo 1: Meeting Notes04:41 - Demo 2: YouTube comment scraping06:49 - Meeting Notes Continued08:27 - Demo 3: Outbound Phone Calling10:16 - Demo 4: Meeting Prep10:25 - Agent Swarms Explained11:25 - Meeting Prep Continued13:31 - Demo 5: Meeting Scheduler15:04 - How to start using Lindy15:52 - Live Building of a Recruitment Agent17:57 - When should you loop in a human18:37 - Building of a Recruitment Agent continued 20:34 - Demo 6: Sales Prospecting 22:44 - Why start using AI Agents26:00 - Overview of template categories and use cases28:52 - Demo 7: Elon Lindy30:12 - Demo 8: Competitive Analysis32:58 - Demo 9: CRM and Networking Manager34:50 - Final ThoughtsKey Points:• Lindy is a no-code platform for building AI agents that can automate business processes• Users can create their first agent in 10 minutes and automate significant portions of their business• The platform features "Agent Swarms" that can handle multiple tasks in parallel with greater reliability• Lindy offers thousands of integrations with various platforms and services1) Meeting Assistant AgentsThe most universal use case for AI agents? Meeting management!Lindy can:• Record and transcribe your meetings• Create searchable notes in Google Docs• Organize notes by person (incredible for context)Flo: "I just had to dig up Google Docs and send him everything we've ever talked about with this person."2) The Agent vs Workflow DifferenceUnlike Zapier which connects isolated steps, Lindy creates TRUE AGENTS that:• Understand context between steps• Can recover from mistakes• Let you speak to them in natural language• Don't need every step configuredThe magic? You're basically telling an AI to execute a sequence of connected actions.3)  Agent Swarms = GAME CHANGERThis new feature lets you deploy multiple agents simultaneously!• Send personalized outreach to hundreds of leads• Research multiple people in parallel• Execute tasks reliably without losing coherenceThink Agent Smith in The Matrix - your agent duplicates itself to handle massive workloads FAST.4)  Real-World Examples That Blew My MindFlo's Lindy made a restaurant reservation BY PHONE The hilarious part? The restaurant was using an AI receptionist!"It's already happening - AI agents are working together in the wild"His AI also schedules meetings, preps him for calls, and manages his network.5) Building a Recruiter Agent LIVEIn just 2 minutes, Flo built a recruiting agent that:• Takes job criteria• Searches for matching candidates• Researches them on Perplexity• Sends personalized outreach emailsAll with human approval built in when needed!"There's a huge gap between what's possible and what people are actually doing."6) The "Elon Lindy" = Middle Management KillerThis agent:• Calls every team member weekly• Asks what they accomplished• Compiles everything into a report for the CEOOne customer deployed this to 1000+ employees, essentially "replacing the middle management layer"!7) Competitive Intelligence on AutopilotFlo's competitive tracker:• Wakes up monthly• Monitors competitors from a spreadsheet• Tracks employee count, traffic, funding, etc.• Sends reports on who's pulling ahead8) The MASSIVE Opportunity Right Now"There is a HUGE arbitrage between what's possible and what people are actually doing."Companies exploiting this gap are EXPLODING:• One AI ad generator hit $5M ARR in months with just 8 people• Small teams can now operate like they have 30-50 peopleLCA helps Fortune 500s and fast-growing startups build their future - from Warner Music to Fortnite to Dropbox. We turn 'what if' into reality with AI, apps, and next-gen products https://latecheckout.agency/BoringAds — ads agency that will build you profitable ad campaigns http://boringads.com/BoringMarketing — SEO agency and tools to get your organic customers http://boringmarketing.com/Startup Empire - a membership for builders who want to build cash-flowing businesses https://www.startupempire.coFIND ME ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenbergInstagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/FIND FLO ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://x.com/AltimorLindy: https://www.lindy.ai

In this episode, Wes Bush interviews Adam Robinson, founder of RB2B, about how they built a $5M ARR business in just 13 months. Adam reveals their approach to product development, founder-led marketing, and staying lean while competing in a new category they created. We explore the counterintuitive strategies that allowed RB2B to find rapid success by identifying website visitors at the individual level. Key Takeaways:   [00:01:13] RB2B's journey to $5M ARR with just 5 team members [00:03:30] How Adam's previous business getting stuck at $3M ARR led to retention.com [00:14:15] The viral LinkedIn content moment that sparked RB2B's creation [00:18:37] RB2B's approach to product validation with 300+ discovery calls [00:23:00] Creating a differentiated product with real-time website visitor identification [00:26:40] Pricing challenges and the journey to finding the right model [00:30:58] Creating massive awareness primarily through LinkedIn [00:35:30] The four main product challenges and their plans to overcome them

In episode #273, I'm sharing some insight from a Mark Roberge talk in Tempe, AZ at PHX FWD. Should we believe the ARR per FTE hype? - Is my SaaS being left behind? - Should we believe the hype? - Current benchmarks for ARR per FTE Be in the know! Join our SaaS community. https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout

We dive into the evolution from "Scale Mail" to Sherlock, their direct mail strategies, and why personal branding is the next growth lever. Oh—and he used to row for Oxford and coach at Princeton. Yeah, it's that kind of episode.

50% Cash, 50% stock. Bridget Harris grew You Can Book Me from 0 to $5M revenue over 12 years. David is building Capacity (previously at Answers.com which sold for ~$900M). Today, Capacity acquires YouCanBookMe in a big win for bootstrappers!

A few years into building Flashfood, Josh was $35K in debt with no money in his account. Just a few months earlier, he'd lost both the pilot customers he'd worked so hard to lock in. He'd worked for months to land them and had delivered what he promised.But both retailers told him the problem he was solving was not important enough.And then, he met Loblaws-- one of Canada's largest retailers. They loved the case studies he had. They tested it out and quickly launched it across 100% of their locations. "I was going to shut down the company." That's how close it came to failing completely. Instead, a year after meeting Loblaws he was doing $1.5M ARR and had raised a $3M seed round. Now, he does 10s of millions in revenue and will soon be profitable.Here's the story.   Why you should listen:Why startups often drive founder to near bankruptcy.Why you need to keep testing your startup until you hear 'no'.Why sometimes large customers might be easier to close than small ones.How to get champions to close enterprise deals. Why you might be a top priority for some customer sets and not others.Keywordsfood waste, grocery stores, app development, early stage founders, product market fit, sustainability, entrepreneurship, discount food, consumer behavior, environmental impact, enterprise sales, customer priorities, stakeholder buy-in, corporate culture, product-market fit, revenue growth, grocery industry, startup challenges, business strategy, environmental impactSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Gusto is a $9.5B startup that does $500M ARR. Josh built an absolute monster of a company-- and it all started with payroll software for SMBs. Not just that, he started by servicing only new tech startups that were based in California. It was exceptionally niche, and it worked.After YC, he raised a $6M seed round from tier 1 angels, back when large seed rounds were not at all common. But, unlike others, he didn't spend the money. He kept his team small as they iterated on the product. By the time they raised their $20M Series A, they were  only 10-15 people. Gusto is now a $9.5B startup doing $500M ARR. Here's the story of how they got started, gained initial traction, and took off.Why you should listen:Why starting super small can lead to massive outcomes.Why you need a huge, no-brainer pain point to succeed.How to use early customer interviews to deeply understand your ICP. Why small teams allow for faster decision-making and execution.Why deep passion about the problem set is so important.KeywordsGusto, Josh Reeves, entrepreneurship, startup, payroll, small business, Y Combinator, business model, innovation, technology, fundraising, startup, product-market fit, team building, customer satisfaction, growth strategy, small business, Gusto, entrepreneurship, SaaSSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Prepare to be inspired by Nile Frater, the founder of Masse, an SEO powerhouse that has achieved an extraordinary $1.5 million in annual recurring revenue within its first year. On this episode of the Grownlearn Podcast, Nile shares how his human-AI hybrid approach to SEO is helping cutting-edge tech startups scale rapidly through high-impact content strategies. We delve into his remarkable journey—from selling NoCode.Tech to A16z-backed Stacker, to transforming Lloyds Banking Group's digital strategies, and running Concrete Capital, a micro-PE fund for niche websites. Nile's story is a masterclass in scaling businesses, blending innovation, and delivering results. Tune in for jaw-dropping insights on startup growth, the future of AI-driven SEO, and practical advice for entrepreneurs aiming for exponential success. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Grownlearn on X: https://x.com/grownlearn1729

Kyle left his job as a hacker at the NSA to launch Huntress. He bootstrapped for 3 years and burned all his savings. One of his co-founders quit. He got into an accelerator program, but had to sleep in his car for 16 weeks because he couldn't afford a hotel.Finally, 3 years in he'd hit $1.5M ARR. So he pitched 60 VCs for a Series A—and got 60 'no's. He was forced to raise a small, $1M inside round. But then things changed:2018: $1.5M ARR2019: $5M ARR2020: $10M ARR2021: $20M ARR2022: $40M ARR2023: $70M ARR2024: $100M+ ARRHuntress is valued at $2B.The investors who backed his $1M bridge are up 140x. Now every VC wants to invest—and Kyle's the one saying 'no'.Why you should listen: How to know whether you should keep going or quit.What it takes to get through the first few years at a bootstrapped startup.Why revenue expansion is a huge lever for fast-growth (Huntress has 140% net revenue retention).How starting a startup can impact your personal life and relationships.How to work with partners to sell to long tail SMB customers.Keywordsentrepreneurship, cybersecurity, product market fit, startup journey, military experience, SMB market, funding challenges, automation, human expertise, business growthTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:2:01) Working at the NSA(00:6:14) A big win in counter cyber terrorism(00:10:00) What gave way to Huntress(00:14:22) Pitching to a startup accelerator(00:16:29) Adopting curiosity(00:21:04) Getting ahead of cyber criminals(00:26:00) Starting to grow(00:32:50) Cult or conviction(00:35:00) It takes grit(00:39:50) Learning from people's lessons(00:42:20) Cockroaches and underdogs(00:46:10) Three strikes, I'm out(00:52:56) Having a military background(00:56:17) One piece of adviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Are you wondering how to grow your B2B SaaS towards 10M ARR? In Season 4 of the Grow Your B2B SaaS podcast, we asked all our guests a crucial question: “What advice would you give to a B2B SaaS founder aiming to reach $10,000,000 in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)?” We've compiled their answers into one special episode, which you can listen to in under 30 minutes. If you're looking to grow your SaaS business and need help surpassing the $10,000,000 ARR mark, this episode is a must-listen. It's packed with practical advice from industry experts who share their strategies and tips for achieving long-term success. The episode features diverse perspectives from experienced professionals, providing you with a range of actionable insights. Whether you need advice on marketing, sales, or customer retention, you'll find valuable information to help you move forward. If you find any particular guest's advice particularly helpful, we recommend checking out their full episodes for even more in-depth guidance. Each guest's individual episode offers additional tips and detailed strategies that can further support your growth efforts. In short, this episode gathers the best advice from Season 4's guests to help you overcome the $10,000,000 ARR hurdle. Tune in to gain valuable insights and practical advice that can make a significant impact on your SaaS business. Season 4 guests of the Grow Your B2B SaaS podcast S4E1 – How to bootstrap two SaaS companies to a combined $10M ARR With Michael Kamleitner S4E2 – How Cybersmart grew to $5M ARR with $20M in funding With Jamie Akhtar S4E3 – How Userflow grew to 4.6M ARR with a team of 3 With Esben Friis-Jensen S4E4 – The story behind Ocean.io: AI first & 10M in funding With Michael Heiberg S4E5 – How Involve.me Bootstrapped To 7 Figures in ARR | Lessons Learned With Vlad Gozman S4E6 – How Tally bootstrapped to $100k MRR with a team of 2 With Marie Martens S4E7 – How MyAskAI bootstrapped with a team of 2 to $300k ARR With Michael Heap S4E8 – Learnings from a Second-Time SaaS Founder With Joe Lewin S4E9 – How to Bootstrap a B2B SaaS to $5M and Beyond With Bridget Harris S4E10 – How To Grow Your SaaS While Being Sued With Preston Keller S4E11 – Bootstrapping your fully remote B2B SaaS beyond 20M+ ARR With Liam Martin S4E12 – Learnings & Advice from Second-Time SaaS Founder With Gary Amaral S4E13 – How AuthoredUp Achieved 3,000+ Paying Clients with Their Go-To-Market Strategy With Ivana Todorovic S4E14 – How MorningScore Transforms SEO with Gamification With Karsten Madsen S4E15 – Scaling Success: How Luzmo's B2B SaaS Surpassed $5M+ ARR With Thomas De Clerck S4E16 – Buying & Selling a SaaS: Everything you need to know with Blake Hutchison S4E17 – How to build a startup within a Corporate? Building Respona within Visme With Farzad Rashidi S4E18 – Learnings from a SaaS founder with 25+ years of entrepreneur experience With David Baum S4E19 – Go To Market learnings from B2B SaaS Trumpet With Rory Sadler S4E20 – Building Client-Obsessed SaaS: Insights from a Seasoned Founder With Daan Assen

In Season 4 of the Grow Your B2B SaaS podcast, we asked all our guests a crucial question: “What advice would you give to a B2B SaaS founder aiming to reach $10,000 in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)?” We've compiled their answers into one special episode, which you can listen to in under 30 minutes. If you're looking to grow your SaaS business and need help surpassing the $10,000 MRR mark, this episode is a must-listen. It's packed with practical advice from industry experts who share their strategies and tips for achieving long-term success. The episode features diverse perspectives from experienced professionals, providing you with a range of actionable insights. Whether you need advice on marketing, sales, or customer retention, you'll find valuable information to help you move forward. If you find any particular guest's advice particularly helpful, we recommend checking out their full episodes for even more in-depth guidance. Each guest's individual episode offers additional tips and detailed strategies that can further support your growth efforts. Season 4 guests of the Grow Your B2B SaaS podcast S4E1 – How to bootstrap two SaaS companies to a combined $10M ARR With Michael Kamleitner S4E2 – How Cybersmart grew to $5M ARR with $20M in funding With Jamie Akhtar S4E3 – How Userflow grew to 4.6M ARR with a team of 3 With Esben Friis-Jensen S4E4 – The story behind Ocean.io: AI first & 10M in funding With Michael Heiberg S4E5 – How Involve.me Bootstrapped To 7 Figures in ARR | Lessons Learned With Vlad Gozman S4E6 – How Tally bootstrapped to $100k MRR with a team of 2 With Marie Martens S4E7 – How MyAskAI bootstrapped with a team of 2 to $300k ARR With Michael Heap S4E8 – Learnings from a Second-Time SaaS Founder With Joe Lewin S4E9 – How to Bootstrap a B2B SaaS to $5M and Beyond With Bridget Harris S4E10 – How To Grow Your SaaS While Being Sued With Preston Keller S4E11 – Bootstrapping your fully remote B2B SaaS beyond 20M+ ARR With Liam Martin S4E12 – Learnings & Advice from Second-Time SaaS Founder With Gary Amaral S4E13 – How AuthoredUp Achieved 3,000+ Paying Clients with Their Go-To-Market Strategy With Ivana Todorovic S4E14 – How MorningScore Transforms SEO with Gamification With Karsten Madsen S4E15 – Scaling Success: How Luzmo's B2B SaaS Surpassed $5M+ ARR With Thomas De Clerck S4E16 – Buying & Selling a SaaS: Everything you need to know with Blake Hutchison S4E17 – How to build a startup within a Corporate? Building Respona within Visme With Farzad Rashidi S4E18 – Learnings from a SaaS founder with 25+ years of entrepreneur experience With David Baum S4E19 – Go To Market learnings from B2B SaaS Trumpet With Rory Sadler S4E20 – Building Client-Obsessed SaaS: Insights from a Seasoned Founder With Daan Assen

Mike Kovarik is the founder and former CEO of Attribytes, a software company he started, grew, and successfully sold in just over five years. Mike was a data analytics leader at large food distributors, where he discovered a chronic challenge with low-quality product data in their massive e-commerce systems. He quit his job, built a product with a friend, and his former employer became his first customer.  Attribytes grew steadily in the next few years, serving food distributors and retailers in the US, with Mike making the first sales and slowly adding new employees. He invested his savings in the company and raised just over $2 million from a strategic and several angel investors in Phoenix, Arizona. They grew to nearly $5 million in ARR in 2019 with just over 20 employees.  In 2020, Mike sold the company to Syndigo, a larger data management provider that served the same industry. He joined Syndigo for over a year to lead the acquisition of other data management companies to expand their product offerings. When their acquisition strategy changed in 2022, Mike left to take a break and then acquire and retool another vertical software company called ShopControlller. Quote from Mike Kovarik, founder of Attribytes "I built a little spreadsheet and I put in what our revenue was, what our current valuation was, and then what that exit would look like after taxes for me, just to see what that dollar amount was. We were at almost $5M ARR, and we were getting interest from acquirers, so it was already interesting. "I created another spreadsheet to show what would happen if we raised big VC funding and invested that lover for 5-10 years to grow. What rate of return would I get? How would we be diluted? What annual recurring revenue would we need to get to, and what valuation would that be? What would my dollar amount be? "The reality is that the amount for me would be pretty close to the same if we sold now or raised a big VC round. And I'm not trying to risk everything to potentially buy a plane. I could have a big exit now and have a lake house and a place in Flagstaff, and my kids' kids will be good. What else do I need?" Links Mike Kovarik on LinkedIn Attribytes on LinkedIn Syndigo website ShopController website The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. 

In this episode of the Grow Your B2B SaaS Podcast, Joran hosts Thomas De Clerck, founder of Luzmo (formerly Cumul), a company specializing in AI-powered analytics solutions for businesses. Thomas, who brings extensive experience from previous roles at Google and other tech companies, shares his journey from Luzmo's inception in 2015 to its current status with over €5 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).  Thomas' story provides a masterclass in navigating the complexities of scaling a SaaS startup and offers invaluable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs. Tune in to explore the key takeaways from his experience that can guide you on the path to success. Key Timecodes (00:43) - Guest Introduction (01:13) - Company Overview (01:48) - Funding and Growth (02:27) - Product and Services (02:30) - Company Description (03:00) - Personal Journey (03:39) - Motivation and Goals (04:48) - Challenges and Learning (06:15) - Founding Story and Pivot (08:16) - Market Feedback and Success (09:38) - Early Customers and Growth Tactics (11:01) - Equity and Incubator Programs (11:16) - Rock Bottom Moments (12:07) - U.S. Market Entry (13:10) - Company Challenges (14:13) - Go-to-Market Strategy (15:21) - Successful Strategies (16:25) - Additional Go-to-Market Techniques (18:03) - Critical Decisions (19:24) - New Initiatives and AI (20:29) - Rebranding (21:51) - Outbound and Sales Scaling (22:58) - AI and Machine Learning (25:09) - Reflections and Learnings (26:54) - Practical Advice for Founders (28:05) - Advice for Early-Stage Founders (30:24) - Advice for Scaling Founders (32:22) - Summary (33:11) - Closing Remarks

Today, I'm joined by Joe Stolte, a serial entrepreneur, growth coach, and the CEO of Daily.ai, a company that helps brands publish AI-powered email newsletters that generate 40-60% open rates without writing a single piece of content.  As a program manager at Microsoft in his 20s, Joe was making over $250,000. But as an entrepreneur at heart, he knew he couldn't ignore the call to go out on his own. After his first attempt at raising outside capital left Joe $37,000 in debt, he learned from his experience, going on to found 5 companies and exit 3. Joe is also a former Inc 500 entrepreneur who helped create a $60M+ exit at GrowFlow, helped take Lottery.com public at $526M, and helped grow Tractionology Group to producing $44M in client revenue in 3 years. In today's episode, you'll hear Joe's firsthand experience about the pros and cons of bootstrapping vs. fundraising. You'll also learn a step-by-step process for fundraising (even if you don't have high-powered connections), how to set up powerful introductions to investors with deep pockets, and how to use AI to boost your revenue — not just your dopamine. Key Takeaways with Joe Stolte Being predestined for entrepreneurship Quitting a $250K job to pursue a calling How breakdancing set Joe up for success Keeping your identity in new environments Tips for raising for a Series A How to set up impactful introductions The pressure that comes with outside money Going from $0 to $1.5M ARR in 14 months What should you not use AI for? Advice for entrepreneurs in their 20s Get the full show notes here: https://beyondamillion.com/131 Subscribe to the Podcast We hope you enjoy this episode and that you find some golden nuggets within this interview. Trust us, it's there! If you want episodes delivered straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to the show and we'll email you each time a new episode is released! Thanks for tuning it & keep being awesome. BAM!