#119: Growing His Third Side Gig SaaS Venture After Selling His First Two – Troy Munson

Nov 22, 2024

Troy Munson, CEO of Dimmo and serial entrepreneur, shares his journey from sales rep to successful SaaS founder. He discusses how he leveraged annoying gaps in the software demo process to create Dimmo, allowing buyers to evaluate products without sales chaos. Troy emphasizes fast-start entrepreneurship, testing ideas quickly, and enjoying the process without the pressure of permanence. As he navigates the challenges of building a valuable company, he reflects on the importance of adaptability and personal connections in elevating sales.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Fast-Paced Entrepreneurship: The Launch of DIMMO

01:43 • 2min

Aspirations and Dynamics of a SaaS Venture

03:34 • 6min

Demos and Growth in Enterprise Sales

09:11 • 16min

Navigating Uncertainty in Software Sales

25:10 • 8min

Building the Minimum Viable Company

32:48 • 12min

Streamlining Business Sales Through Acquired.com

44:37 • 2min

Navigating Side Gigs and Career Transitions

46:14 • 14min

Navigating Entrepreneurial Growth and Future Opportunities

01:00:21 • 3min

Troy Munson has been a successful enterprise SaaS sales rep for several years, but he wanted more control over his life—and eventual financial independence. So he launched his own small startup on the side. He learned a lot and sold it before launching his second side gig software company, which he sold for a little bit more.

He started his third side-gig startup, Dimmo, in 2023 to allow enterprise software buyers to watch product demos without talking to sales reps. With the help of co-founders, Dimmo is now live and revenues are growing fast. With a little angel funding, Troy was able to go full-time to make Dimmo successful quickly.

Troy is a fast-start SaaS founder, testing ideas and launching companies when traction starts. He and his cofounders don’t think about running this forever, but they do want to create a valuable company and achieve financial independence as successful practical founders.

Quote from Troy Munson, CEO of Dimmo

"I'm like this fast-starter person. I built Vocul and Refurl, my first two side gigs, from an immediate thought: This is annoying, this should be solved. Let me solve it, let me sell it. And then let me see if there's any interest.

"With Dimmo, I just wanted to create extra income on the side. The hope for Dimmo was to pay my mortgage with a side gig. I knew software buyers just wanted to watch software demos. So let's just make it like a YouTube for software demos and then we'll just take some sort of revenue.

"It blew up on LinkedIn when we launched and grew faster than expected. I had to go full-time and I'm so happy I did. It feels great. I hope I never go back to the side gig guy. I also hope I never go back to any sort of any sort of W-2 work. I'm buying my freedom."

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Podcast Sponsor - Cypress Growth Capital

This week’s podcast is sponsored by my friends at Cypress Growth Capital. For 15 years, Cypress has provided non-dilutive growth funding to bootstrapped SaaS founders, including many successful founders I’ve interviewed here on this podcast.

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