Stefan Bader couldn't find a referral tool that integrated directly into his SaaS product, so he quit his job as a CRO to build it himself. Today, Cello is a $2.5M ARR platform powering referral programs for giants like Typeform, Miro, and Pipedrive.
In this episode, Stefan reveals the "Growth System" playbook that helped him land his first customers through network sales (turning investors into customers), how he used content collaborations with influencers like Kyle Poyar to drive massive inbound, and why he made the controversial decision to hire a Head of People as his second employee.
π Key Lessons
- π The "Casual Contact" Loop: How the "Powered by Cello" badge creates a viral loop that drives linear inbound leads from every customer they sign.
- π The "Notion Page" MVP: Why they launched without a customer portal, managing everything manually via Notion pages to validate demand first.
- π€ Network Sales Strategy: How Stefan used his pre-seed round to turn micro-funds and angels into his first design partners and customers.
- βοΈ Content Collaboration: The strategy of partnering with high-authority creators (like Kyle Poyar) to borrow trust instead of building an audience from scratch.
- π₯ Contrarian Hiring: Why hiring a Head of People as employee #2 (before sales or marketing) was the secret to scaling the team effectively.
π Chapters
- Introduction & The "Incentives" Quote
- What is Cello? (Referral Infrastructure)
- The Origin: Why Existing Referral Tools Failed
- The "Compliance" Moat
- The "Notion Page" MVP Strategy
- The Growth System: "Casual Contact Loops" Explained
- Content Strategy: Partnering with Kyle Poyar
- Network Sales: Turning Investors into Customers
- Why Hire a Head of People First?
- Rapid Fire Questions
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Resources:
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