381: Airbase: From Solo Founder to 8-Figure ARR SaaS - with Thejo Kote
Jan 11, 2024
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Thejo Kote, founder and CEO of Airbase, discusses starting as a solo founder, validating the problem, navigating competition, and creating a valuable community for finance professionals.
Airbase offers a comprehensive spend management solution for mid-market and enterprise companies, streamlining processes and providing visibility and control for finance and accounting teams.
Airbase differentiated itself in a crowded market by expanding its product offerings, focusing on execution, and continuously iterating based on customer feedback, leading to its success.
In the early stages of a startup, it is crucial to connect with potential customers, gather feedback, and persistently engage with them, while also considering the decision to have or not have a co-founder based on rational reasoning and skill assessment.
Deep dives
Thejo's Journey to Airbase
In this podcast episode, Thejo Corte, the founder and CEO of Airbase, shares the story of how he transitioned from his previous successful startup to creating Airbase. Thejo explains how his experience at his previous company made him realize the pain points in spend management for mid-market and enterprise companies. He spent six months interviewing CFOs to validate his idea and design a software mockup. After gathering feedback from potential customers, Thejo iterated and improved the designs. Once the initial product was built, he faced challenges in gaining trust as an unknown startup, but persisted and eventually landed his first customers, leading to Airbase's growth to eight figures in ARR, around 300 employees, and over $100 million in funding.
Airbase: Solving the Complex Problem of Spend Management
Airbase is a spend management platform targeting mid-market and enterprise companies. The platform focuses on solving the complex and messy problem of managing non-payroll expenses. Airbase provides solutions for front-end collaboration, AP automation, expense management, and guided procurement. By consolidating all non-payroll spending workflows and payments into one system, Airbase offers a solution that streamlines processes and provides visibility and control for finance and accounting teams. The platform has been well-received by controllers and CFOs seeking a comprehensive and efficient spend management solution. With its value proposition, Airbase has gained a strong foothold in the market, leading to impressive growth in both revenue and customer base.
Navigating Competition and Building a Sustainable Business
As Airbase gained traction, competition emerged in the market, especially in the corporate card space. However, Airbase's approach went beyond corporate cards, focusing on a complete spend management solution. Thejo and his team methodically expanded their product offerings to include AP automation, expense management, and guided procurement. They positioned Airbase as a SaaS business with a sustainable business model, driving subscription-based revenue. By prioritizing execution and continuously iterating based on customer feedback, Airbase has differentiated itself in a crowded market and established a strong foundation for growth. The company's strategic approach, value-centric content creation, and focus on customer relationships have contributed to its success.
Building Confidence around Product-Market Fit
Building confidence around product-market fit can be challenging, especially in the early stages of a startup. It's crucial to connect with potential customers and gather honest feedback. Leveraging relationships and networks can provide an unfair advantage in getting introductions to key decision-makers. However, it's important to diversify beyond known contacts to gather unbiased feedback from individuals who don't have prior relationships with the founder. Identifying early adopters who enjoy participating in the creation process and are not afraid to provide honest feedback is essential. While rejection and getting numerous no-responses are expected, it's crucial to persistently reach out to potential customers and engage with as many of them as possible.
The Decision to Not Have a Co-Founder and Hiring a VP of Sales
The decision to have or not have a co-founder depends on various factors. While having a co-founder can bring diverse skill sets and emotional support, it is not always necessary. In this case, the founder decided not to have a co-founder based on rational and logical reasoning. They assessed their own ability to handle the emotional burden of building a business and felt equipped to distance themselves from the business's success or failure. Additionally, they had the required skills to handle technical aspects such as sales and product development. Instead of having a co-founder, they focused on hiring employees and granting equity generously to attract highly invested individuals. As for hiring a VP of Sales, this may go against conventional wisdom, but the founder believed it was necessary to bring in a senior sales professional to scale the sales process and build a strong team. This decision was tied to the founder's choice to not have co-founders, as they wanted to retain a larger share of the company's value from day one. These strategic decisions were made to ensure long-term sustainability and control over the company's destiny.
