SaaS Origin Stories Phil Alves

In this special episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil brings you the season finale of the season. Dan Martell, Mark Stouse, Dani Grant, Brandon Metcalf, Ajay Goel, Geoff Roberts, Chris Frantz, Rand Fishkin, Jason Radisson, and Rex Kurzius share their experiences and insights on various topics in the startup world. They discuss their journeys as founders, the challenges they faced, and the strategies they used to build successful companies. They also touch on topics such as fundraising, product development, marketing strategies, and the importance of understanding the needs of your target audience. They provide valuable insights and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Guests at a Glance:
Dan Martell on LinkedInMark Stouse on LinkedInDani Grant on LinkedInBrandon Metcalf on LinkedInAjay Goel on LinkedInGeoff Roberts on LinkedInChris Frantz on LinkedInRand Fishkin on LinkedInJason Radisson on LinkedInRex Kurzius on LinkedInLinks from the episode:
SaaS AcademyBuy Back Your TimeProofMisbehavior of MarketsJam.devPlaceThe Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzGMassOutsetaLoopsSparkToroRappi99 Uber TechnologiesAsset Panda
Links to full episodes:
Building A Multimillion Dollar SaaS Company From Scratch with Dan Martell of SaaS Academy5 Things They Didn’t Teach You About Leading a SaaS Business with Mark Stouse of ProofThe SaaS Product Market Fit Toolkit with Dani Grant of Jam.dev5 Things Every SaaS Founder Should Know About Navigating The World Of Startups with Brandon Metcalf of PlaceHow To Shoestring Your SaaS with Ajay Goel of GMassWhat SaaS Companies Need To Know About Content Marketing with Geoff Roberts of OutsetaHow to Refine your SaaS Product with Chris Frantz of LoopsThe End of VC with Rand Fishkin of SparkToroExploring the SaaS Impact of AI & ChatGPT with Jason Radisson from MovoHow This SaaS Founder Fixed an Outdated Business Model with Rex Kurzius of Asset PandaTopics we cover:
[01:23] - From Coding to Reading: Dan Martell's Journey of Self-Driven Education[05:37] - Mark Stouse discusses the Origin, Development, and Unique Funding Approach of Proof Analytics[09:59] - Dani Grant's Insights: Transition from VC to Founder and Navigating Fundraising[14:40] - Brandon Metcalf's Journey: From Staffing to SaaS Funding and Mastering Salesforce[19:47] - Ajay Goel on Building GMass, and Navigating Operational Costs and Monetization[24:22] - Geoff Roberts on the Journey of Outseta: Part-time Beginnings, Bootstrapping Over VC Funding, and Leveraging Unique Marketing Strategies[29:50] - Chris Frantz discusses the Art of Software Craftsmanship, Early Fundraising, and Building Loops from Scratch to Simplicity[34:35] - Independent Pathways and Rigorous Research: Rand Fishkin's Journey to Build SparkToro[41:11] - Jason Radisson’s Insights: Building a Tech-Enabled Business from Ground Up[47:40] - Identifying and Solving Market Problems: Rex Kurzius on Asset Management Evolution

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Jane Portman, Co-Founder of Userlist, an email marketing platform built with B2B Saas in mind. Together, they discuss Jane’s history of creating successful products and how they led to what Userlist is today, the experience of joining an accelerator program as an SaaS founder, and why expansion revenue is the goldmine of SaaS.
Guest at a Glance:

Name: Jane Portman

About Jane: Jane Portman, Co-Founder of Userlist, an email marketing platform built with B2B Saas in mind. A UI/UX consultant, specializing in web application design, Jane also runs the UI Breakfast Podcast. 

Jane on LinkedInUserlist on LinkedInUserlist WebsiteUI Breakfast Website
Links from the episode:

Jane on LinkedInUserlist on LinkedInUserlist Website
Topics we cover:

[00:07] - The Problem that Userlist Solves and How Jane Discovered It[01:26] - Jane’s History of Trial and Error in Creating Successful Products[06:41] - Making the Decision to Join an Accelerator[09:54] - Business Growth after Joining an Accelerator[13:35] - Finding Your First Customers[19:38] - Dealing with Surprising Customer and Non-Customer Feedback [24:25] - Learning the Limit of Resources[26:04] - Expansion Revenue as the Goldmine of SaaS[27:44] - Tiered vs. Metered Pricing Models[31:54] - The Problem with Pricing Too Low[33:02] - A Look into the Current and Future Picture of Userlist

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Artem Koren, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Sembly AI, an SaaS platform that uses proprietary AI algorithms to transcribe and analyze meetings. Together, they discuss making smart decisions in the early stages of a startup, as well as how to recover from blunders, insights into building out an AI engine, and how Artem found and filled a gap in the technology market.

Guest at a Glance:

Name: Artem Koren

About Artem: Artem Koren, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Sembly AI, an SaaS platform that uses proprietary AI algorithms to transcribe and analyze meetings, making them a more effective experience for teams. Previously he was the Senior Vice President at UMT Consulting, which was acquired by EY Advisory in 2015, and the Co-Founder of Neusana.

Artem on LinkedInSembly AI on LinkedInSembly AI Website
Links from the episode:

Artem on LinkedInArtem on TwitterArtem’s article on the Major Pitfalls of Generative AIArtem’s WebsiteArtem’s book UntetheredSembly AI on LinkedInSembly AI WebsiteSembly AI BlogSembly AI on Twitter 
Topics we cover:

[00:14] - Artem’s Journey from Consulting to Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer[03:48] - Sembly AI as a Problem Solver[08:39] - Insights into Building Out an AI Engine[20:58] - The Importance of Focussing on Individual User Experiences when Approaching Big Organizations[27:54] - Finding and Filling a Gap in the Technology Market[34:23] - Dealing with ‘Hype’ when Building a New Product[37:39] - Making Smart Decisions in the Early Days of a Startup[45:52] - How to Deal with Early Mistakes and a Lack of Predictability[51:46] - Why You Should Approach Customers Earlier Rather Than Later

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Jason Radisson, CEO of Movo, a platform that helps businesses build, run, and upskill their workforces. On top of that, he is also an Investor & Growth Advisor at Rappi! Together, they delve into Jason’s history as a serial entrepreneur, how Movo acquired online giant Amazon as a client, and why bootstrapping can be both a risky and effective method of funding a startup. They also discuss whether entry-level jobs will be automated away by the likes of ChatGPT and AI.
So make sure you stick around for this one; you don’t want to miss out!!
Guest at a Glance:

Name: Jason Radisson

About Jason: Jason Radisson, CEO of Movo, a platform that helps businesses build, run, and upskill their workforces! On top of that, he is also an Investor & Growth Advisor at Rappi! Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer at 99-Taxis, General Manager at Uber Technologies, and Founder and CEO of Echtzeit GmbH.

Jason on LinkedInMovo’s LinkedInMovo’s Website
Links from the episode:

Jason on LinkedInMovo’s LinkedInMovo’s WebsiteRappi99 Uber TechnologiesTopics we cover:
[00:20] - Jason’s History as a Serial Founder and Entrepreneur[04:44] - What Distinguishes a Massive Online Marketplace?[07:03] - How Movo Acquired Amazon as a Customer[11:10] - Bootstrapping: A Risky But Effective Method of Fundraising[20:20] - Helping the Bigger Corporations Onboard Your Systems[24:10] - Most Founders Just Want to Help People Get Ahead[34:01] - Will Entry-Level White Collar Jobs be Automated Away?

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Daniel Bakh, CEO of Fullview, a platform that enables SaaS companies to deliver delightful support that is fast, personable, and scalable. He is also the Host of the Collective Hindsight podcast where accomplished founders and investors share their stories, and was previously the Growth Manager at Contractbook and a Product Evangelist at TwentyThree.
Join them as they delve into how Daniel turned his frustration in a customer-facing SaaS role into an entirely new business, why going full-time with Fullview straight away was a very risky but worthwhile move, and why your SaaS product needs a hook for your investors. They also discuss why listening to your customers' problems is one of the most important things you can do as a founder.
Guest at a Glance:

Name: Daniel Bakh

About Daniel: Daniel Bakh is the CEO of Fullview, a platform that enables SaaS companies to deliver delightful support that is fast, personable, and scalable. He is also the Host of the Collective Hindsight podcast where accomplished founders and investors share their stories, and was previously the Growth Manager at Contractbook and a Product Evangelist at TwentyThree.

Daniel on LinkedInFullview on LinkedInFullview’s Website
Topics we cover:

How Fullview saves time for B2B SaaS companiesGoing fulltime from day one and the fundraising processJumping straight into the company: brave or stupid?Pitching the idea to investorsSometimes all you need is a powerpointFiguring out your North StarWhy you should meet with every user of your productVisualizing the design of a feature before actually making itListen to the customers, but focus on their problems
And more!

In this episode of SaaS Origin Stories, Phil speaks with Rex Kurzius, Founder of Asset Panda,a powerful cloud-based asset relationship management platform that helps you keep track of your devices and create interdependencies between them. He is also the Founder of LRK Partners, Timberhorn, and Resulte Universal. He was also the President of Virtual Village.
Together, they get into how Rex’s serial entrepreneurship journey played out and whether or not first time founders should even start with SaaS, how he found (and solved) a problem within the SaaS market, why you should always mindmap your idea, and why retaining your customers means you have to keep making your product better.
Guest at a Glance:

Name: Rex Kurzius

About Rex: Rex Kurzius is the Founder of Asset Panda, a powerful cloud-based asset relationship management platform that helps you keep track of your devices and create interdependencies between them. He is also the Founder of LRK Partners, Timberhorn, and Resulte Universal. He was also the President of Virtual Village.

Rex on LinkedInAsset Panda on LinkedInAsset Panda’s Website
Topics we cover:

How Asset Panda helps companies understand their equipmentShould you wait before building a SaaS company?The Age of EntrepreneurshipSolving the problems of an outdated business modelMindmap your ideas for a businessFinding the gaps in the marketContent marketing: the most effective way to marketRetaining your customers means making the product better
And more!
Key Takeaways:

The Arc of a Serial Entrepreneur

When Rex was just twenty-three years old, Rex built and sold his first company called ‘Resulte Universal,’ an IT services business. It grew to be worth about thirty million dollars! But he didn’t start off with a SaaS product, instead, he built his way up and got used to what it was like building more traditional companies. SaaS is a very complex and intimidating market, so starting off in that industry may be, whilst brave, very risky.

“My background is, I did build several other types of companies before I got into SaaS, and those experiences really helped me with it. And you’re right, SaaS can be quite a bit more complex, and the runway to build these SaaS companies needs to be quite a bit longer.”
Looking for a Problem to Solve: Do it Yourself!

When Rex was building one of his service businesses, he continually ran into the problem of lost equipment. Despite using one of the most widely used accounting systems in the world, it seemed to be a problem that a lot of others were having. When he looked into it, he found that this was a common issue a lot of people were having and that the real problem lay within the business model. So what did he do? He took it upon himself to fix it, and thus, Asset Panda was born.

“I had built up several service businesses and as I was building one of them I ran into a problem, and the problem was lost equipment. And we were using one of the most ubiquitous accounting systems in the world with Quickbooks, and it had a fixed asset ledger and that’s where we were supposed to track our fixed assets, but we continually lost equipment.”
Mindmap Your Ideas

When starting your business, before really committing to an idea, write it all down, whether that be through a mindmap or notes, get it all down on paper and try to make connections to things in the industry. Eventually, you will figure out where the gap in the market lies, and your idea for your business will come to the forefront, all the pieces falling into place.

“In any business, if you stick at something long enough and you’re gritty enough, you’ll eventually overturn questions and get some answers.”