SaaS Origin Stories

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Indus Khaitan, CEO of Quolom, the best way to buy SaaS through the use of a simple card. Prior to this, he was the Chief of Growth at Chargebee, an Advisor at Sequoia Capital, the Senior Director of Product Management at Oracle, and the Co-Founder of Bitzer Mobile.They discuss how Indus found the problem points of SaaS and marketing products, how to handle feedback rejection as a startup (as well as why timing is so important), and the best way to find new customers in different communities. They also take a deep dive into how difficult it can be to start an entirely new product with no one to compare against.He is a very experienced individual and we’re lucky to have him as a guest.Guest at a Glance:Name: Indust KhaitanAbout Indus: Indus Khaitan is the CEO of Quolom, the best way to buy SaaS through the use of a simple card. Prior to this, he was the Chief of Growth at Chargebee, an Advisor at Sequoia Capital, the Senior Director of Product Management at Oracle, and the Co-Founder of Bitzer Mobile. One of his past colleagues, Melanie Fortman, said: “Indus has been a great coach, mentor and inspiration to me at Chargebee. He challenges me to be creative, think out of the box, and continually learn.”Indus on LinkedInQuolom on LinkedInQuolom’s WebsiteTopics we cover:The straightforwardness of QuolomPicking out the problem points of industry dataFinding those first few customersTaking on feedback and handling rejectionDiscovering new methods of outreachAligning yourself with the customer’s problemsWhat to do when your product is almost too uniqueBalancing the investor’s and the customer’s needsKey Takeaways:The Abuse of Sales and Marketing ToolsWhen starting Quolom, Indus was looking out for the problem points that plagued content and marketing tools. He noticed that businesses were using up to five products to do one job; he didn’t want to cancel these products out, he wanted to make sure the customers were happy with the product and that he could provide the best service for them. Such an overabundance of clashing products meant that they were being abused, and he wanted to mitigate that.“Our job was to figure out how you, as a customer, can be the happiest user of the product, rather than having five overlapping tools and then canceling them properly at the end of the year.”Searching LinkedIn for Customers and Handling RejectionIndus didn’t have any CFO connections on LinkedIn when he first started Quolom, something which he thought would be a massive problem. However, through his own contacts he was given recommendations and immediately started connecting and building his network. All of them gave him the same feedback: the product was good, just not something that they’d use right now. This, naturally, got Indus down a little. But after a few days, he went back to the drawing board and made it what it is today!“So, the first version of the product only focused on tracking the usage [...] But what the tool does is, you have to be in the flow of money. How much money are we spending on products, and then tell me what to do.”Search for Customers in New PlacesThere are more places than LinkedIn to find B2B and SaaS customers (despite what others might have you believe). If you scour the internet for communities on places like Twitter and Reddit, you’ll be able to find an abundance of new customers. These people might not even be customers, they might just help to inform you on how to alter your business. This can be extremely valuable for you to grow. “We also looked at people who were complaining about software waste and software usage on either forums on Reddit, LinkedIn, or Twitter, and then we started doing an outreach. We also started looking at companies who were using some of these bigger tools.”The Challenges of Starting a New CategoryBeing innovative and disruptive in an industry with a new category is an incredible thing - in fact, it’s encouraged. But there is a slight problem that you will face in your unique journey: the lack of competitors. On the surface, that sounds like a dream, right? Competitors can also be seen as a jumping off point, as someone to copy or imitate and figure out how to improve upon what they’re not doing so well at. With Quolom being so unique, this proved quite the issue for Indus.“If you’re building something which is brand new in a brand new category, that’s a struggle. There is no competitor to go after; nobody can tell you ‘hey, go look at that competitor and copy them’. For us, SaaS spend management or procurement, it was an absolutely brand new category and we didn’t have anybody to look up to and say ‘oh, I want to be a better version of that’.”

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Scott Hurff, Founder and Chief Product Officer at Churnkey, a SaaS product that fixes every type of churn for you, supercharges all aspects of customer retention, and optimizes your company’s growth. They explore Scott's journey to founding and growing Churnkey, the differences between running a B2B versus a B2C SaaS company, and what every SaaS founder should do to scale a successful business.Guest at a Glance:Name: Scott HurffAbout Scott: Scott Hurff is a product maker, designer, and writer. He is the Founder and Chief Product Officer at Churnkey, a SaaS product that fixes every type of churn for you, supercharges all aspects of customer retention, and optimizes your company’s growth. Before Churnkey, Scott was the Founding Designer and Head of Design at Casa, Director Of Product Design at Philosophie Group (now InfoBeans), and Product Manager and Lead Designer at Tinder.He wrote Designing Products People Love, a book that highlights how product designers work at places like Twitter, Product Hunt, Facebook, and more. He is a keen writer who works on science fiction stories and is a member of the Sudowriters' writing group. In 2019, Scott graduated from the Taos Toolbox workshop.Scott on LinkedInScott’s WebsiteChurnkey on LinkedInChurnkey’s WebsiteTopics we cover:How does Churnkey handles retention for you?What can SaaS founders do to reduce their churn?The difference between running a B2B versus a B2C SaaS companyInsights for SaaS founders to succeedKey Takeaways:Cracking the Customer Churn CodeReducing customer churn is a top priority for every company, particularly in the SaaS industry. To tackle this issue, start by identifying the customers who haven't paid for two months but are assumed to be interested in continuing their subscription. This step alone can reduce churn by twenty to forty percent.Additionally, launch a well-designed survey at the point of cancellation to understand why customers are leaving. It's crucial to ensure that the survey is discreet, thoughtful, and crafted to elicit valuable feedback.To further decrease churn, consider implementing a cancel flow and regularly review as a team why customers are leaving on both the product and customer success sides. Make this an ongoing part of your routine and iterate as necessary to keep improving.“De-stigmatize the notion that that data can't be helpful because it's biased, and I think you'll make some great gains.”B2B Versus B2CWhen running a B2B company, you develop a more personalized relationship with your customers compared to B2C, where the focus is on scaling. B2B companies concentrate on resolving specific problems at a more human level. Additionally, B2B SaaS companies typically have smaller and more proficient teams, while B2C companies tend to have a more pronounced separation and specialization of various functions as they grow. However, some B2B founders make the mistake of adopting B2C practices that they believe would work similarly. This is not always the case. If you run a B2B company, your priority should be finding ways to connect with your customers as efficiently as possible.“You have to go through the process and figure out what not to do. Take the wins and then go in and build something of your own and build it your own way.”Wisdom for SaaS FoundersBe open to fundraising and showcasing your product. You won't know if it works if you don't try. Without trying, you won't know if it's effective and capable of scaling. Avoid assuming that your efforts are not good enough. Instead, consider it a motivation to drive you and your company forward. Going through the process can help in identifying your values, abilities, and limitations.“We didn't know if this was gonna work at scale. It's working now. And maybe there's that part of us that we don't want to be told that what we're doing is not good enough.”

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Daniel Fayle, Co-Founder of Chekkit, an all-in-one customer interaction software helping companies get more reviews, more social proof, message your website leads, and more! Prior to this, he was a Small Business Advisor at Scotiabank and was an Intern Analyst at Roynat Capital. One of his previous clients says he has “outstanding customer service skills,” and that it is “always a pleasure working with him and his team.”They discuss how Chekkit succeeded despite Daniel’s lack of experience in tech; why a good business pitch is so vitally important; how reviews can be super polarizing; and how a small business can begin to expand globally. They also delve into why coming into an industry a little later can actually be a benefit more than a hindrance! Guest at a Glance:Name: Daniel FayleAbout Daniel: Daniel Fayle is the Co-Founder of Chekkit, an all-in-one customer interaction software helping companies get more reviews, more social proof, message your website leads and more! Prior to this, he was a Small Business Advisor at Scotiabank and was an Intern Analyst at Roynat Capital. One of his previous clients says he has “outstanding customer service skills,” and that it is “always a pleasure working with him and his team.”Daniel on LinkedInChekkit on LinkedInChekkit’s WebsiteTopics we cover:How Chekkit solves customer service problemsThe emergence of the Chekkit ideaNo background in tech? No worries!The importance of a good pitchThe polarizing nature of audience reviewsHow to find your customersGlobally expanding your brandThink through your business plan!Key Takeaways:No Background in Tech? That’s Okay!Daniel talks about how, when they first started Chekkit, he didn’t have much experience, if any, in tech, and neither did his co-founder! In fact, he started off in finance of all industries. They decided to make an app for fun, one that could look at the analytics of restaurants and bars, but it wasn’t until a little later on that they decided to build on that idea and create Chekkit. Later, they pitched the idea to investors, and the rest is history. It just goes to show, you don’t always need a background in tech to create something great. Whilst it can certainly help, if you just believe in your product enough and are dedicated to making it work, you can make it happen.“I have a finance background. I was a commercial banker - no background in tech, no education, no knowledge. Nothing! I was working up north at the time [...] I met one of my co-founder and he had no background, education or network in tech and software, and we were just extremely poor. We basically said ‘why don’t we just create an app for fun.’” The Importance of a Good PitchWhen they first started Chekkit, they went door to door at different restaurants and bars, pitching their business idea to them. Their pitch was so good and useful for the customer reviewing aspect of businesses, they even managed to get a dental practice as a client, something which Daniel was surprised by. Afterall, he thought that hospitality businesses would make up all of their business, so finding out that there’s a need for Chekkit’s services in other industries was a pleasant revelation.“I knew a friend that had a dental clinic and, us being new to the space and not really knowing, I didn’t really think of reviews as a big thing for other [industries], I just thought about restaurants and hospitality. But I pitched it to my friend and he was like ‘yeah, reviews are huge for us’, so that definitely caught us by surprise.”The Polarization of ReviewsWhen trying to attain organic reviews for a business, they can be extremely polarizing. Most of the time, people will only leave reviews if they’ve had a negative experience; it has to be a really good experience for someone to go out of their way for a positive one. That’s where Chekkit comes in: it’s their job to encourage people who may not have had a five-star worthy experience, but still had a decent time, to leave reviews for businesses to get the recognition they deserve. “Reviews are super polarizing if they’re just purely organic. Like, if a lot of people have a really bad experience, they’re going to leave you one star, and there’s gonna be a lot of people that have a really good experience that leave you a five star. But you’re missing that inbetween where a lot of people are still having good experiences, they just don’t think to review.”The Global Expansion of ChekkitWhen expanding their business outside of Canada, they found that the US and Australia were more in tune with the technologies available to them and recognised the problem in the customer service market. This made it a lot easier for them to get business and clients. However, if it wasn’t for their beginnings in the tougher environment of Canada, they’d probably have found it a lot harder. There was one slight issue they had to iron out, though - due to the higher understanding of customer service issues around the world, it meant that there was far more competition. But this only drove them further to succeed, opening up more opportunities to learn from others! Sometimes, it’s best to come to a market later and help solve the same problem, but in a better way.“Sometimes it pays dividends not to be the frontrunner in your space. There’s a lot of examples out there.”

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Derek Osgood, Founder and CEO of Ignition, a collaborative hub to help launch teams dynamically plan, execute, and measure GTM processes. Derek is also a Fellow at On Deck, and was previously the Director of Product Marketing at Rippling and the Product Manager at Playstation.They delve into the fundraising process that Ignition went through, when to commit to an idea you have, the thought that goes into choosing to co-found a company, and why you should try to get feedback from customers outside of your network. They also explore just how many times you have to scrap and remake your product until it is absolutely perfect.Guest at a Glance:Name: Arsen Stepanyan About Derek: In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Derek Osgood, Founder and CEO of Ignition, a collaborative hub to help launch teams dynamically plan, execute, and measure GTM processes. He is also a Fellow at On Deck, and was previously the Director of Product Marketing at Rippling and the Product Manager at Playstation.A previous colleague described him as “the kind of manager who inspires you to come to work in the morning, and his creativity and energy flows to the rest of the team. He provided the vision and prioritization needed to do my best work, and the space and knowledge to learn and grow, and most importantly, I always felt empowered and supported by him.”Derek on LinkedInIgnition on LinkedInIgnitions’s WebsiteTopics we cover:The multiple problems that Ignition solvesThe bigger you get, the harder it getsThe fundraising process for IgnitionHow to know when to commit to an ideaDeciding to co-found a company with someoneScrapping ideas until you get the right oneThe evolutionary process of building a SaaS productFind customers outside of your networkWhy you should focus on refinement before anything elseKey Takeaways:Taking Matters into Your Own Hands Sometimes, after you’ve been using tools created by someone else and it still isn’t working, you may need to take matters into your own hands. Derek explains that, after having so many founders ask him what the best strategy when launching a product, and knowing that there was such bad or little information out there, he decided to prioritize the process and templates that he already made and built Ignition.“I’ve launched hundreds of things. Every single time that I’ve had to build this process, I’ve had to hack it together with a bunch of tools that are not really built around the workflow that exists. It was never very efficient or effective, despite my best efforts to communicate.” Discovering Surprise Investors!Before even landing on the idea for Ignition, Derek quit his job to pursue starting a company, which meant he was able to go full time but lacked the money to fund his company. But investors will come when you least expect it; when Derek first created Ignition, they only had a few customers, but they were so impressed with the hub that they offered to invest in it. It was only then that they were able to start the real fundraising process, and the rest is history!“We built a prototype and went and put it in front of a few customers who we had never met. A couple of them were excited enough to say ‘we’ll definitely buy this’ and also a couple of them offered to invest because they were so excited about the vision. That turned into us going out and kicking off an actual fundraising process.”How to Know When to Commit to the IdeaYou have to know when to commit to your business ideas. There’s absolutely no point in marrying one before you’re one hundred percent sure it’s the right choice. But how do you know when it’s the right choice? Well, it’s all about trial, error, and validation among those you put the product in front of. Oftentimes, you’ll know when you’ve struck gold, but it’s important to remember to stay level-headed and not get caught up in the excitement. Try to look at your business from an objective point of view.“We weren’t fully like, ‘lets go make anything and whatever sticks, sticks’. We were a little married to the idea, but we said we weren’t fully committing to this thing until we’ve fully validated it. This isn’t just personal pain, this is also pain that other people are feeling.”The Value of a Stranger’s VoiceIn order to get the best feedback for your work, always try to test out the product with people outside of your network - this is far more important than you might think. When we show our work to the people we know, people who we’ve already developed relationships with, they are more inclined to tell us they like our work in hopes it’ll make us happy. Whilst this is a very nice thing to do, we need criticism and pointers from an objective point of view in order to grow and develop.Strangers are honest with us. Derek himself says that, if he showed his work to people in his network, they’d likely be ‘too gentle’ and want to protect his feelings too much. 

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Arsen Stepanyan, Co-Founder and CEO of Orders.co, an online ordering suite which allows restaurants to offer food on every platform, or just the ones they prefer. Arsen is also a Board Member at BuildUp Bootcamp and is the Principal Chief Executive Officer at Aspire Vape Company. He claims he is “dedicated to offering solutions to the restaurant industry to streamline the ordering process and increase revenue”.They discuss the interesting story behind the origin of Orders.co, why listening to your audience is more important than anything else, and the advantages of going door to door in your sales approach. They also talk about why every member of your team is integral to success and why you should follow your own pace.Guest at a Glance:Name: Arsen Stepanyan About Arsen: Arsen Stepanyan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Orders.co, an online ordering suite which allows restaurants to offer food on every platform, or just the ones they prefer. Arsen is also a Board Member at BuildUp Bootcamp and is the Principal Chief Executive Officer at Aspire Vape Company. He claims he is “dedicated to offering solutions to the restaurant industry to streamline the ordering process and increase revenue”Arsen on LinkedInOrders.co on LinkedInOrders.co’s WebsiteTopics we cover:Where the idea for Orders.co came fromThe importance of audience feedbackThe difficulties of running multiple companiesDealing with SaaS roadblocksDon’t jump ahead of yourselfAdvantages of going door to door salesTry not to limit yourself!Every team member is integral to the success of a companyKey Takeaways:Product Quality and Audience Feedback In any industry, no matter what your product or service is, you need to make sure you listen to your audience. You obviously rely on them to keep the business afloat, so you need to do everything in your power to make improvements and changes whenever and wherever they suggest it. This is something Arsen made sure to do when creating Orders.co, and as a result he was able to get more customers through referrals.“When the customer is ordering a product, get the customer experience on the floor. When they receive the product, [ask them] what did they think about the product quality, and then ask if they’re happy enough to refer others.” Don’t Do Too Much, Stay Humble and Take it SlowArsen explains that, when they first started the company, they were visiting about 30-40 expos per year, trying to get their name out there in the SaaS world. If there’s one thing he learned from this experience, it’s that you should not spend loads of money or go too big before you’re ready. Instead, you should take it slow and grow naturally in your own time. There’s no point in bragging about being the best if you’re not at all ready; go small and meet with your customers and listen to them!“Don’t go too big; don’t spend too much money; don’t show that you are the best brand. It’s just about going small, and just meet with your customers. Meet with the people. Listen to them. Tell them you are here next to them, and if they have any concerns or they’re not happy, you are always here to talk with them.”Going Door to DoorOne thing that gets overlooked in the SaaS world is physically going to businesses and talking with them about your product or service. It’s a very traditional plan of action, one that can’t be replicated through any sort of technology. Arsen admits that, although he’s aware not all of his customers will stay with them for a year especially when the product wasn’t that perfect to begin with, going door to door and speaking with customers made a huge impact to Order.co.“We’re not trying to do it for free, the customer has to pay something. The very first customer was a friend, but after that we were just doing sales; traditional door to door sales, just meeting with the customers and spending time with them.”Every Team Member Is IntegralArsen recalls a time when one of his team members fell ill with COVID and was stuck in the hospital for two weeks. During that time, there was a problem that only the sick member could fix, but of course there was no way to get him to help. As a result, they had to wait for him to recover before they could do anything, causing the platform to suffer, losing about half of their customers. It was difficult and no doubt exhausting, but they understood why the customers left – they were small and it was too big of an inconvenience.But from great adversity comes great lessons. Arsen realizes now just how integral every team member is to the company since there will always be things you can’t fix yourself.

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Richard White, CEO of Fathom, a free Zoom app that records, transcribes, and highlights the key moments from your Zoom calls so you can focus on the conversation instead of taking notes. He is also the Founder and was the CEO of UserVoice; currently, however, he is Chairman of the Board at the same company.One of his previous colleagues, Jim Wright, has praised him for his approach to problem solving, “Rich is one of those developers who can see the whole picture and find a real world solution, not just a fix for a particular technical issue.”They discuss how the conception of SaaS products are usually due to finding roadblocks in technology, what it’s like searching for investors, the amount of effort it takes to keep an audience’s attention, and how Fathom became a Zoom native app and if they have any plans to expand outside of it.Guest at a Glance:Name: Richard WhiteAbout Jon: Richard White is the CEO of Fathom, a free Zoom app that records, transcribes, and highlights the key moments from your Zoom calls so you can focus on the conversation instead of taking notes. He is also the Founder and was the CEO of UserVoice; currently, however, he is Chairman of the Board at the same company.Richard on LinkedInFathom on LinkedInFathom’s WebsiteTopics we cover:Why Fathom came at the perfect timeUnderstanding exactly what users wantSearching far-and-wide for investorsBuilding a solid SaaS team and product When are you ready to launch your product?Trying to keep the audience’s attentionThe high standards of making something easy and memorableHow Fathom became a Zoom native appPlans to expand outside of ZoomKey Takeaways:The Difference Between Hearing and Listening to Your CustomersFathom was created for people like Richard, who have a lot of meetings on Zoom, yet struggle to take notes at the same time. Ever since the pandemic, people have been faced with this issue, and after researching into the user experience, Richard came up with the idea for Fathom, an app which takes important notes from zoom meetings so you don’t have to.Understanding what users want and need is a skill; it’s something you have to train yourself to look out for. Pay attention to how your customers are speaking, how they’re asking questions, what specific words are they using? It’s only because of this ability that Fathom was able to exist in the first place.Searching Far-and-Wide for InvestorsSince its conception, Fathom has managed to raise about six million dollars in investments; a million of that money is from the users themselves. It started off by asking friends and family and putting on events, but they also wanted to try to reach people with connections to Zoom, considering it was the platform they were focused on. If they could find people there to invest, then they could not only raise money, but they could build solid and professional relationships. They also did a WeFunder campaign which allowed users to donate and invest.“I’ve found that, when you get people putting their own skin in the game - angels and our users - you just get a very different kind of relationship and engagement.”Houston, We’re Ready for Takeoff…You have to make sure that before you launch your SaaS product, everything is ready. Richard explains, although they had a rough version of Fathom ready within the first few months, it took about a year before they could confidently release it into the world. In fact, a lot of the time, even when your product is in the early stages of its existence, warts and all, it’s easy to see what it could evolve into, and if you can envision that end goal, then you can easily tolerate some of the bugs at the beginning.“If you can create something that solves a problem you have, and make sure there’s a big market for that problem, it’s such a hack. I had such high conviction for the product at an early stage because it’s like, I’m willing to tolerate some of the bugs at the beginning, we just needed to polish it up.”Keeping the Audience’s AttentionWhen creating anything - not just a SaaS platform - that involves grabbing an audience’s attention, you need to be able to keep them interested for at least the first five minutes, otherwise your product just won’t work or take off. Once you’ve lost a customer’s attention and focus, it’s exceedingly hard to get it back, so make sure your product performs the best it possibly can when showcasing it. Try to take a step back from your work and be honest with yourself about it, be subjective - ask yourself what you need to alter, what needs to go and what needs to be added. This way, you’re more likely to keep the audience engaged and interested.“You learn a lot of things about how hard it is to get people’s attention. We  actually started off as a desktop app, then a zoom app, but we moved back to being a desktop app because we saw that in the zoom app, people would start a meeting and then they’d have to remember to turn on Fathom [...] It’s  very easy to be forgotten, especially when you’re trying to change people’s habits and behaviors.”

Join Jon Darbyshire, CEO of SmartSuite, as he shares insights from his unique journey in SaaS. He discusses the pivotal challenges faced while building SmartSuite, emphasizing the importance of community and customer feedback in shaping products. Jon reveals why SmartSuite relies on organic growth instead of paid marketing, and how they maintain transparency and trust with users. With over 2,500 customers gained in just two months, he highlights strategies for success and the critical role of hiring talent that aligns with company culture.

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Kaumana Rindlisbacher, Co-Founder and COO of Pickle, a platform designed to help companies of any size understand their customer conversations and strengthen their relationship by transcribing audio into text. He is also a member of the Revenue Collective, RevGenius, and Modern Sales Pros. Prior to this, he was an Enterprise Account Executive at EasyPost.They discuss Kaumana’s atypical journey into becoming a founder, how COVID influenced the creation and popularity of Pickle, why he quit his job in order to pursue his vision, and the importance of having a distraction free space. Not only that, but they also delve into why having a sales-driven business model works so well for them.Guest at a Glance:Name: Kaumana RindlisbacherKaumana Rindlisbacher is the Co-Founder and COO of Pickle, a platform designed to help companies of any size understand their customer conversations and strengthen their relationship by transcribing audio into text. He is also a member of the Revenue Collective, RevGenius, and Modern Sales Pros. Prior to this, he was an Enterprise Account Executive at EasyPost.A previous colleague of his, Carlos Diamond, said about him, “Kaumana is one of the hardest workers I have ever met. He comes in early and stays late. Not only is he working hard to reach his goals, but he also goes out of his way to help others too. Kaumana is the type of worker you want on your team no matter what project you are a part of. He will learn what is required of him and find success whatever it takes”Kaumana on LinkedInKaumana on TwitterPickle on LinkedInPickle’s WebsiteTopics we cover:How Pickle utilises artificial intelligence for high quality transcriptionsKaumana’s atypical journey into becoming a founderCOVID’s influence over the creation of PickleQuitting their jobs and funding the businessDiversifying your content and marketingThe importance of having a good sales teamPickle’s ambiguous product market fitKey Takeaways:From Salesperson to Founder: Kaumana’s aTypical JourneyKaumana says it’s not all that common to see salespeople become business founders, especially in SaaS. It’s for that reason that Kaumana’s journey was an atypical one, especially considering his dense background in sales. But this gave him a unique perspective as a founder, enabling him not to fall into traps his peers do. “A lot of people think that if you build it, they will come, especially first time founders,” he says. “They focus heavily on product, and they think ‘if we just focus on product, the rest will take care of itself. That’s not the case. You have to be able to sell”“This Call Will be Monitored for Quality and Training Purposes”We’ve all heard those words spoken into our ears the minute you call a business or a call center. But how much of those calls are actually monitored and reviewed? According to Kaumana, even the biggest corporations only review about two percent of their customer phone calls. This is how Pickle came to be, and because of the pandemic and the uprising of Zoom calls, they were able to really focus in on and transcribe different conversations, making a name for themselves and really coming into their own.The Fundraising Process: All in or NothingKaumana says that Pickle wasn’t something they just did as a side project. In fact, they were so determined and enthusiastic about the idea that they quit their jobs to pursue it and rented an office space. However, this isn’t to say that you should do the exact same thing. After all, it is a very risky move to pull off, and if it wasn’t for how lucky they were with the fundraising, it could have gone very wrong. But luckily, it didn’t! Their passion for the project and their willingness to learn elevated them to heights beyond what they could have imagined. If you have a project that you’re passionate about, or a business idea you’re certain will work, you should follow through with it! You never know what could happen!The Importance of a Distraction-Free SpaceThere is something unique about working in an office compared to working from home; we are social creatures, and being able to see and talk to people in the flesh can make a huge difference in our outlook. While it may seem like SaaS companies don’t need to meet in person, you’d be surprised just how much of a difference it can make to your morale.While remote working has revolutionized the way we work, Kaumana points out just how important it was for him and his co-founder to have a distraction-free place to work while building their company. As they both had infant children at the time, they needed to be able to meet up and work in order for the business to be successful.A Sales-Driven SaaS Business ModelThe secret to building a successful sales-driven business model is actually quite simple: content. Produce lots of good, diversified content with a focus on SEO and creativity. Think about all the different routes you could take in terms of marketing: blog posts, podcasts, LinkedIn posts, website SEO - there’s so many tools at your disposal, just waiting to be used!“A lot of our buyers are on LinkedIn, so he’s posting on LinkedIn everyday, doing a blogpost every week. We’re releasing a podcast every week - forty episodes at this point. So we’re generating content, working on SEO, driving people to us on LinkedIn, driving people to the website.”

Episode Summary:In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil is joined by Ran Aroussi, Founder of Tradologics, a cloud based platform which helps traders, investors, and firms across the world develop, test, run, and scale their programmatic trading strategies. Previously, he was a special project manager at Panda Trading Systems, and Founder of Tuki Media and Tuki Apps. They dive headfirst into the luck involved with funding your SaaS platform; just how long it takes to finish your product; the process of finding users; and why they call their customers ‘Prosumers’. They also touch on how the Ukrainian conflict has affected their job, as well as making sure you’ll have the right tools for the job.Guest at a Glance:Name: Ran AroussiAbout Ran: Ran Aroussi is the Founder of Tradologics, a cloud based platform which helps traders, investors, and firms across the world develop, test, run, and scale their programmatic trading strategies. Previously, he was a special project manager at Panda Trading Systems, and Founder of Tuki Media and Tuki Apps.When asked about Ran, one of his colleagues said, ‘If talent and creativity is what you are looking for then Ran is THE man for it. Always with a smile, Ran is a true professional in his field!’Ran on LinkedInRan on TwitterTradologics on LinkedInTradologic’s WebsiteTopics we cover:How Tradology removes the problematic barriers in tradingWhy they call their clientele the ‘prosumers’Ran’s journey to where he is nowThe peaks and troughs of funding your SaaS platformHow the Ukrainian conflict has affected their businessThe length of time it took to get the first version of Tradology finishedThe process in finding your usersWill your work ever be truly over?Make sure you have the right tools for the jobKey Takeaways:How Tradology Removes the Problematic Barriers in TradingRan says that Tradology is solving a ‘myriad’ of problems in trading, removing most of the frivolous, technical barriers that stand in the way of people who are trying to generate a solid trading strategy in stock or crypto. But who is the target audience for this? Well, Ran explains that they made the choice to refer to their customers as ‘prosumers’, an in-between market of the smaller professional traders (fund managers and investment advisors) and some of the most prestigious retail traders (people who trade for a living with their own money). With such an innovative platform, Tradologics is bound to expand their audience and reach more traders across the globe.Funding Your SaaS PlatformFunding anything, whether it be your SaaS platform, a business startup, or even something like an independent movie - it can take time, effort, and a lot (really, a lot) of convincing. But don’t let that put you off! If your idea and platform is innovative and brilliant, if you are passionate enough about it, then you will find someone who will invest. Ran explains that, before Tradologics, he had no experience in trying to raise money for a project. It was only through some stroke of pure luck that he managed to grab the attention of and hit it off with the first investor he contacted. He acknowledges, though, that this really isn’t the norm, and that it was a very good start. It wasn’t until the second round of seeking investors when reality hit and it began to take much more time.“In the beginning, they invest in the idea. Later they invest in the team or the product - whatever it is. And then, as you progress, it starts to get more difficult [...] It either becomes a massive success, or a bust.”The Unfathomable Impact of the Russo-Ukrainian War on BusinessRan has a fair few colleagues in Ukraine, and the war has, just as it has for a lot of people, affected the way business is done. Fifty percent of the time, daily meetings are constantly shifted to different times, and all too often they have no electricity or an internet connection. He recalls a time when during one meeting, a colleague was surrounded by candlelight with poor internet quality.It’s safe to say that we all have the utmost admiration for those continuing to work and making a living through the Ukrainian conflict, and we wish them well.“They’re amazing, they truly are. It’s been a tricky road,” says Ran, wholeheartedly. The Length of Time it Takes to Get a Product DoneThe first version of Tradologics came into fruition after about six months, but Ran claims that the finished product took them around a year and a half. But remember, just because something is functional and working, it doesn’t mean that it’s the final ever version. No matter what you create in SaaS, no matter how talented a programmer you are, there will always be something to change and tweak further down the line. You will, most likely, never be finished, and given all the possible delays and interruptions that will occlude your process, there is no telling how long it will truly take. Therefore, it’s important to have dedication, perseverance, and passion for what you’re doing, otherwise you will fall victim to giving up.The Process of Finding Your UsersRan admits that he was very fortunate when finding his ‘prosumers’. It was thanks to his blog (which he also admits he hasn’t updated in a while) that people saw what his idea was and signed up to a waiting list. He asked people to fill out surveys and answer questions so that they could make Tradalogics the best it could be. Now, they have about 20,000 people on the waiting-list, an impressive number for a business with no advertising!

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Niclas Lilja, CEO of Yoonium, joins host Phil Alves to discuss a wide range of topics, from keeping your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) simple to early growth strategies and scaling outwards from a narrow customer profile.Niclas Lilja is the Founder and CEO of Younium, an automation subscription management SaaS. He has over seventeen years of experience in product development, management, and marketing.Guest at a Glance:Name: Niclas LiljaWhat he Does: Niclas Lilja is the Founder and CEO of Younium. He has led production and marketing teams in his previous roles. Younium is a six-year-old startup founded in Stockholm, Sweden. Niclas Lilja on LinkedInYounium on LinkedInNiclas’s Book Recommendation Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap While Others Don’t by Jim CollinsTopics we cover:Birthing a SaasKeeping a Tight Control on MVP ScopeEarly Growth StrategiesCatering to a Niche and Scaling OutwardsHighlights:The Birth of an Idea and Validating itNiclas shares how the idea of automating subscription management stems from one of his tasks in a previous role where, among other things, he was responsible for managing the subscription portfolio of the company. It was a tedious, time-consuming, and frustrating manual process. The desire to automate subscription management was the birth of his startup idea. Niclas shared his idea with his peers in other companies and discovered that the desire was universal.“Using your peers in other companies as a sounding board is the initial first-hand research”.  Keep Your MVP Light on Design and EngineeringWhen designing the MVP, keep a tunnel vision of your first three customers' needs; don’t think of serving 10,000 customers. Above all, you need to make sure that the product works. The way to do this is to keep a tight rein on design and engineering complexities and focus on the product's core solution. “We went for a basic and pragmatic first version; we went with something we knew while avoiding new things initially”.Early Growth StrategiesNiclas started promoting the initial version at B2B industry meetups. The approach helped get in front of potential clients and build a contact network. It was also valuable for getting feedback in real-time. Attending meetups ran parallel to hard cold-calling to identify new leads. “In the beginning, you don’t need 100 meetings. You only need to catch a few relevant prospects in a friendly environment”.  Go Vertical Before Branching out HorizontallyNiclas feels it was smart to identify a target niche in the B2B space and develop a product for it. He followed the same logic in his GTM strategy. The product evolved with vertical growth in the niche before broadening the scope of the ideal customer profile. The ensuing growth was more stable without the constant effort of trying to be everything to everyone.“If we hadn’t been hard about a granular definition of our ICP, we might not have been here today”.