Episode 693 | Building a Mid-Six-Figure SaaS in Less Than 3 Years
Dec 26, 2023
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Grant McConnaughey, founder of Postpone, a social media scheduling tool, shares his entrepreneurial journey. He reveals how he validated his MVP and the challenges of early growth. Grant discusses the impact of joining TinySeed and his strategic pricing changes, resulting in significant revenue boosts. He candidly reflects on the emotional hurdles of raising prices and navigating platform risks from Reddit and Twitter. Additionally, Grant addresses areas for improvement and the importance of focus in building a successful SaaS business.
Grant McConnaughey's journey illustrates the significance of validating ideas with a minimum viable product to drive early growth.
Strategic pricing adjustments combined with feature enhancements have played a crucial role in Postpone's revenue growth and customer retention.
Deep dives
Bootstrapping Success: Building Postpone
The founder of Postpone developed the idea for his scheduling app by addressing his own needs as a creator, seeking a solution for posting content on platforms like Reddit. Starting in January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, he focused on building the application during his free time while working at Zapier. The initial minimum viable product (MVP) was launched within ten weeks, which included basic functionality for scheduling Reddit posts. Though the launch initially received a lukewarm reception, perseverance in refining the product and consistent effort in engaging with potential users eventually led to growth, transforming an early personal project into a business generating mid six figures in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Strategic Pricing and Growth Trajectory
The emphasis on pricing strategy has proven critical in driving the growth of Postpone, highlighted by a recent successful price increase of approximately 20%. With the addition of features like Twitter support and new premium plans, the founder navigated the delicate balance of raising prices while adding perceived value to the service. Unlike his initial concerns, the adjustment was met with positive reception, resulting in an increase in both revenue and subscriber numbers. This strategic alignment of new features with price adjustments demonstrated an understanding of customer needs and market dynamics, significantly improving the overall business trajectory.
Navigating Platform Risk and Diversification
The founder encountered significant platform risk when Reddit altered its API pricing structure, raising concerns about the sustainability of Postpone as a Reddit-centric application. Thankfully, the eventual pricing was manageable for the business, alleviating immediate fears of existential threats. This experience underscored the importance of diversifying offerings, prompting the founder to add scheduling features for Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. By expanding beyond a single platform, Postpone aimed to mitigate future risks and enhance reliability and revenue streams in a rapidly changing social media landscape.
In episode 693, Rob Walling interviews Grant McConnaughey, founder of Postpone, a social media scheduling tool. They discuss the app's growth from inception to mid six figures, early growth tactics, a successful price increase, and platform risks with Reddit and Twitter. Grant also shares his experience going all-in on one idea, joining TinySeed, and reveals what he can still improve upon.
Topics we cover:
2:04 – Postpone starts off as part of a New Year’s resolution
4:13 – Validating and building the MVP to schedule content for Reddit
6:44 – Launching lean to slow growth in the beginning
9:10 – Doing things that don’t scale
10:53 – What were the reasons for joining TinySeed
13:06 – Full time focus and pricing changes enabled strong growth for Postpone
17:15 – Initial hesitation for raising prices at first
22:08 – Experiencing and overcoming Reddit platform risk
If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!