Lucas Lovell: The SaaS Expansion Playbook, AI Payments and Global Growth

Lucas Lovell is the Director of Product at Paddle, a global payments platform helping SaaS founders optimize their pricing, payments, and go-to-market strategies. He has firsthand experience launching and scaling startups across multiple international markets.

In this conversation, we explore:

• The merchant of record model and its impact on SaaS businesses
• Localization strategies for pricing, payments, and expansion
• The decision-making process for international expansion
• How AI is shaping the future of payments and automation

Lucas shares his personal experiences from running a startup through COVID, the pitfalls of not localizing correctly, and his insights on the evolving global SaaS landscape.

EPISODE LINKS:

• Lucas Lovell on Twitter:https://x.com/lucas_lovell
• Lucas Lovell on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucaslovell/
• Paddle:https://www.paddle.com/

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Intro and Background

00:01:12 Paddle

00:01:44 The Merchant of Record Model

00:05:38 Localization Strategies for SaaS

00:07:31 Importance of Currency and Language Localization

00:10:22 Local Payment Methods and Pricing Strategies

00:14:13 Expanding Internationally

00:18:54 Prioritizing Global Expansion for SaaS

00:19:30 When Should SaaS Founders Consider Global Expansion?

00:20:21 Challenges and Strategies in International Markets

00:22:18 Case Study: Multilingual Customer Support Platform

00:24:10 Emerging Trends in the Payment Space

00:26:10 AI and the Future of Transactions

00:31:04 Paddle, AI and Customer Value

00:38:31 Advice for SaaS Founders

00:39:26 Closing

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