Ibby Syed accidentally built a consulting agency while trying to build software. Then, he executed a SaaS Pivot to AI Agents and hit $1M ARR.
In this episode, Ibby (Co-founder of Cotera) reveals how to escape the "Service Trap." Learn why hitting $150k ARR in consulting revenue was actually a "local maxima" that nearly killed the startup, how his co-founder replaced months of data science work with 100 lines of code, and the specific LinkedIn Outbound Strategy (sending free leads) that books meetings with high-value buyers. He also breaks down why teaching customers to build their own AI Agents is the secret to scaling a horizontal platform.
🔑 Key Lessons
- 📉 The Consulting Trap: Why early revenue can trick you into building a service business instead of a product.
- 🤖 The AI Pivot: How 100 lines of OpenAI API code outperformed a massive data science stack.
- 📧 LinkedIn Outbound: The "Value-First" message script that books 25+ meetings a week.
- 🛠️ Horizontal vs. Vertical: Why broad tools (like Zapier/Cotera) will outlast niche AI wrappers.
- 💰 Pricing Strategy: Moving from custom enterprise contracts to a $20/mo usage model to fuel PLG.
📖 Chapters:
- Introduction & The "White Collar" Quote
- The Y Combinator Journey & The First Idea (Customer Analytics)
- Old Outbound vs. New Outbound (LinkedIn Strategy)
- The "Consulting Trap": Revenue vs. Scalability
- The Wake-Up Call: 100 Lines of Code vs. Data Science
- The Pivot: Building an AI Agent Platform (Cotera)
- The "Teach, Don't Do" Service Model
- Prompt-Based Workflows vs. Drag-and-Drop
- Pricing Evolution: From Enterprise Sales to PLG
- Why Vertical AI Startups Might Die
- Founder Advice: Focus & The "Local Maxima"
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Resources:
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