SaaS Growth Strategy: From $0 to $100M ARR | Proof

Pat Kinsel went from years of painful struggle at Notarize to building Proof, a SaaS platform approaching $100M ARR with 230 employees and $260M raised. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn the growth strategy that turned a notary error into a market-defining company.

Pat explains how he validated demand with a simple landing page before writing a line of code, how he endured years of negative margins, and the specific "Regulatory Moat" strategy of lobbying to change state laws. You will also learn why the 100x COVID demand spike was actually a "false signal" that nearly killed the company, and how he pivoted from a point solution to a full transaction security platform.

In this episode, Pat also shares the "Sunday Night" habit that keeps him connected to the product, why he rebranded to expand his TAM, and the reality of firing non-strategic customers to save the business.

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🔑 Key Lessons

• 💡 Validation Strategy: How Pat validated demand with a simple landing page and Google ads before writing code.
• 💰 Surviving Negative Margins: Why losing money on every transaction nearly killed the company and how they fixed unit economics.
• 📈 The COVID Spike: What really happened when demand spiked 100x overnight and why many of those customers churned later.
• 🏛️ Regulatory Moat: How he spent years lobbying to change state laws, turning red tape into a massive competitive advantage.
• 🔄 The Pivot: Why he rebranded from "Notarize" to "Proof" to expand TAM beyond just digital notary services.

📖 Chapters

• Introduction & About Pat Kinsel
• Validating Demand: Landing Page & Google Ads
• Losing Money, Struggling for Profitability
• Lobbying to Change Notary Laws
• Origin Story: Where the Idea Came From
• Early Investment Experience & Industry Connections
• Initial Research & Testing (Unbounce Landing Page)
• Building the MVP: Mobile App for Online Notary
• Early B2C Go-to-Market Strategy
• Recruiting the First Notaries
• Educating and Acquiring Consumers
• Marketing Tactics: Google Ads, SEO, Channel Partners
• Long, Slow Early Growth and Doubts
• Breaking Even & Gross Margin Challenges
• Lobbying Strategy & Industry Support
• COVID-19 Impact: Exploding Demand
• Shift to Enterprise Customers During COVID
• Post-COVID Reality Check & Refocusing
• Expanding Beyond Notarization: The Proof Platform
• Enterprise Transaction Security & Deepfakes
• Technical/Engineering Moat & Compliance
• Lightning Round

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Resources

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