AI for Founders with Ryan Estes

Built a $2M SaaS for contractors from his Mom's room

4 snips
Jan 10, 2026
In this engaging discussion, Kai Stone, founder of Stone Systems, shares his journey from working in his mom's Airbnb to creating a $297/month SaaS for contractors. He emphasizes the importance of building tech suited for a mobile-first lifestyle and the strategy of selling baseline software to establish trust before upselling services. Kai reveals his scrappy customer acquisition tactics, lessons from failures, and unique insights into unit economics. Discover his approach to customer retention and how to adapt to non-tech markets!
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INSIGHT

Copy-Paste Simplicity Wins Contractors

  • Kai built Stone Systems by copying simple, high-impact automations that non-technical contractors could use daily.
  • He prioritized phone-first workflows and low price to create stickiness before upselling services.
ADVICE

Design For Their Phone, Not Your Desktop

  • Build your product to match how customers live, not how engineers want to build it.
  • Make every key action trigger a phone notification to create a daily usage habit.
ADVICE

Reverse The Service-First Model

  • Sell cheap, sticky software first and offer higher-margin services after trust is built.
  • Use low-priced recurring revenue to avoid the 'too many leads' firing problem for contractors.
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