Esben Friis-Jensen @Userflow. Bootstrapping to 7 figures with a team of 3
Jun 5, 2023
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Esben Friis-Jensen, co-founder of Userflow, shares hacks for customer retention, adding affiliate programs, handling customer support, AI capabilities, and customer acquisition channels. They also discuss the importance of customer retention and effective hacks for it. The podcast emphasizes bootstrapping, building a great product, and being selective about expenses.
Userflow was able to bootstrap to over 500 customers and millions in ARR with a team of just three people.
Userflow's emphasis on self-serve onboarding has been instrumental in their growth, capturing the attention of startups and larger businesses alike.
Deep dives
Userflow's Journey from Bootstrapping to Millions in ARR
Userflow, a no-code tool for building customized in-app tours and surveys, has achieved remarkable success with just a team of three. Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer, Aspen Fries Jenssen, shares their journey of bootstrapping to over 500 customers and millions in ARR. They started with a strong background in consulting and cybersecurity and decided to shift gears, focusing on building a product-led growth company. Userflow implemented a gradual fundraising approach unlike many companies that raise a large sum before achieving product-market fit. Their emphasis on building a great product and not being afraid to charge what it's worth has been key to their success.
Building a Self-Serve Onboarding Flow
Userflow's emphasis on self-serve onboarding has been instrumental in their growth. By creating a tool that allows non-technical users to easily build engaging onboarding flows, they have captured the attention of startups and larger businesses alike. Their product helps users automate processes and make onboarding simpler and more effective. Through in-app onboarding guides, API integrations, and AI-powered assistants, Userflow ensures a seamless user experience, guiding users to their 'aha' moment and driving value. They also prioritize reducing support tickets through product improvements and encouraging customers to provide explanations in text or videos instead of scheduling meetings.
Simplicity in Pricing and Retention Strategies
Userflow has taken a simple and transparent approach to pricing. They offer three packages and have increased prices over time as their product has evolved and gained more value. They also introduced usage-based pricing, charging based on the number of monthly active users, building a correlation between value and price. By reducing friction in the buying process, they incentivize customers to opt for more affordable plans that allow for easy setup and online terms. Userflow focuses on customer retention by continually improving their product, providing tips and tricks via email, and offering video series on best practices. They aim to keep customers engaged by ensuring that onboarding never ends and providing ongoing support through features like the Resource Center and feature announcements.
The Future of SaaS Organizations
Userflow's co-founder, Aspen Fries Jenssen, believes that the SaaS industry needs to rethink its organizational structure. As product-led growth and the induced era take center stage, traditional sales-led organizations are becoming less effective. Aspen advocates for a simpler and more optimized approach to SaaS organizations, reducing silos, and avoiding unnecessary conflicts. By streamlining operations and leveraging AI, companies can become more agile and customer-centric. Aspen envisions a shift away from outdated models and hopes to see changes in the SaaS industry that encourage smarter organizations.
saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love brought to you by https://saas.group/. In this episode #35, we are talking with Esben Friis-Jensen, co-founder of Userflow, (https://userflow.com/), a no-code tool for building customized in-app tours, checklists, and surveys. Userflow was able to bootstrap to over 500 customers and millions in ARR with a team of just three people. Esben shares some hacks they use at Userflow for customer retention. Subscribe to our channel to be the first to see the interviews that we publish twice a week - https://www.youtube.com/@saas-group Stay up to date: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/1479... Twitter - https://twitter.com/SaaS_group Website - https://saas.group/
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