In Demand: How to Grow Your SaaS and Stay In Demand

Asia Orangio & Kim Talarczyk
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Biweekly

Growing a SaaS? Yeah, that's hard. Growing a SaaS without a clue what you're doing from a marketing and growth perspective? Pretty much impossible — especially if you want to break the $1M and $10M ARR marks. Kim Talarczyk sits down with Asia Orangio to extract and unpack all the strategic insights she holds in her brain from working with hundreds of SaaS companies and interviewing thousands of their customers. Together, they break down how to diagnose and troubleshoot growth challenges across every part of a B2B SaaS business. About your hosts: Asia Orangio is the CEO & Founder of DemandMaven. Asia helps founders of PLG SaaS companies troubleshoot their growth across GTM, acquisition, activation, retention, and expansion and get unstuck. In early 2018, Asia founded DemandMaven — a consulting firm dedicated to helping bootstrapped and funded SaaS companies build revenue-generating growth engines. Previously, Asia served in a number of marketing roles, but most notably as head of marketing at Hull where she helped the team 10.5x in growth, and #FlipMyFunnel / Terminus as demand generation manager. Asia also served on the board of Moz before its successful acquisition in 2021. Kim Talarczyk is the Client Services and Operations Manager at DemandMaven, where she ensures all client engagements are executed to the highest standard. With a strong background in client-facing roles and professional service firms, Kim has played a key role in scaling operations and delivering exceptional experiences for both B2C and B2B brands.

  1. Sep 18 ·  Bonus

    Why customer research should never be fully automated

    Welcome back to another Reacting To r/SaaS Episode of In Demand, this time with Asia and Kim! In this episode, they react to posts about niche SaaS and what can’t be automated when you’re starting a business.  Along the way, they explore niching vs. focusing, product validation, customer research, AI-generated marketing, and why customer research should not be fully automated. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack Chapters (00:00:05) - Introduction and Episode Format(00:01:17) - Niche SaaS Post: Niching vs Focusing(00:05:11) - ConvertKit Case Study on Focused Beachheads(00:08:40) - Weighing Satisfaction, Viability, and Empathy in Niching(00:11:52) - Reddit Comments on Niche SaaS Strategy(00:15:45) - Problem-Space vs Solution-Space Product Building(00:18:51) - What Feels Manual in SaaS Launches (New Post)(00:19:29) - AI Limits in Jobs-to-be-Done and Visual Assets(00:23:11) - Why Talking to Users Can't Be Automated(00:26:20) - When Synthetic Research or Automation Is Acceptable(00:30:27) - Automating Feedback Collection vs Feedback Itself(00:31:59) - Marketing Asset Workflows and Product Marketing Ops(00:38:50) - Business Process Tools and Operationalizing Launches(00:44:16) - Closing Thoughts and Other Subreddits

  2. Sep 17 ·  Bonus

    Why AI doesn't create demand

    Founders spend a lot of time debating ideas, features, and technology. But the difference between a successful business and a failed one usually comes down to something much simpler: understanding what people are actually willing to pay for. In this “Asia reacts to r/SaaS” episode of In Demand, Asia reacts to more founder stories from the SaaS Sub Reddit. From an AI startup that flopped while a simple website service took off, to the challenge of finding your first users, to the power of repositioning a product around a specific customer segment, Asia shares practical insights on product-market fit, distribution, positioning, and growth. Along the way, she explores why AI does not magically create demand, why customer acquisition feels harder than building software, and how founders can think about niching, focusing, and finding the right market for their product. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack r/SaaS Chapters (00:00:05) - Intro to Asia Reacts to r/SaaS(00:01:11) - AI SaaS Flop to Boring Business Success(00:04:44) - Outcome Bias: Was It Really the AI That Flopped?(00:06:38) - Service Market Fit vs SaaS(00:08:57) - Why Getting Users Is Harder Than Building(00:13:01) - Marketing as a Muscle for Technical Founders(00:15:21) - Repositioning a CRM: Niche Case Study(00:17:04) - Niching vs Focusing Explained(00:21:07) - Roaster Tools and ConvertKit as Examples(00:25:44) - Choosing Your Path: Bootstrap vs VC Goals(00:28:45) - Wrap Up and Closing Thoughts

  3. Sep 15

    EP68: The busy founder's guide to retention and churn

    Retention is one of the most important growth levers in SaaS, but most founders treat churn as a single number instead of a source of insight. The companies that grow the fastest aren't just acquiring more customers. They're getting better at understanding why the right customers stay, why they leave, and where value breaks down along the journey. In this solo episode of In Demand, Asia shares her busy founders guide to retention and churn. She explains the difference between short-term and long-term retention metrics, introduces the concept of qualified versus unqualified churn, and walks through how founders can use churn analysis to uncover product, positioning, pricing, and activation opportunities. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack ProfitWell Chapters (00:00:05) - Intro to Retention and Churn(00:00:51) - The 5% Monthly Churn Benchmark(00:03:49) - Net Revenue Retention Explained(00:05:10) - Measuring NRR with Profitwell(00:06:11) - NRR Benchmarks and Growth Acceleration(00:08:40) - Qualified vs Unqualified Churn(00:11:19) - Pre-Qualifying Signups and ICP Clarity(00:15:23) - Why Top-of-Funnel Shapes Churn Metrics(00:17:33) - Why Qualified Customers Actually Churn(00:19:07) - Uncontrollable vs Controllable Churn Reasons(00:25:15) - Product-to-Value Breakdown as Growth Lever(00:27:51) - Emergency Response: Stopping Projects to Fix Churn(00:29:26) - Requiring Cancellation Reasons and Digging Deeper(00:32:39) - Applying the Process Across Different Churn Scenarios(00:35:22) - Wrap Up and Final Thoughts

  4. Sep 11 ·  Bonus

    This SaaS founder was STUCK at $150/mo for TWO YEARS

    Founders often think their biggest problem is product development. More often, the real challenge is figuring out what to build, how to price it, and how to get it in front of the right customers. In this special solo episode of In Demand, Asia reacts to two founder stories shared on Reddit and breaks down the growth lessons hiding beneath the surface. From a founder who finally stopped building and started marketing, to another who grew from $150 MRR to $8.6K MRR by simplifying their product and changing their pricing model, Asia shares what she agrees with, what she would do differently, and the growth principles that you can take from these founders’ stories.  She dives into customer acquisition, marketing sprints, pricing models, SEO, product-led growth, customer feedback, retention, and why founders often overcomplicate the path to early traction. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack Chapters (00:00:05) - In Demand: Troubleshooting Growth for SaaS Companies(00:00:26) - Why I stopped building and started Reacting to Tech Posts(00:04:59) - Do You Need Marketing on Your SaaS?(00:11:47) - The AI Rendering Mistake That Cost Me 2 Years(00:15:24) - Lessons Learned From The Chat Startup Pivot(00:18:02) - What's Net Revenue Retention?(00:19:31) - What I Love About This Founder's Channels(00:24:17) - What Didn't Work For My Website?(00:26:09) - How to Prioritize Your Product Led Growth With a Qualified(00:28:51) - Does Adding a Credit Card Reduce Signups?(00:29:48) - How to Build a Successful Business on AI(00:31:40) - Cover Story

  5. Sep 11

    EP67: How to validate product ideas without wasting money on ads

    Product validation is one of the most misunderstood topics in SaaS. Founders are told to run ads, build waitlists, and test landing pages, but those tactics often validate marketing execution more than they validate whether a real customer problem exists. In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim break down what product idea validation should look like before you build. They explore why customer conversations still matter, and how founders can gather meaningful evidence before investing significant time and money into a product. From customer interviews and prototypes to manual service delivery and building in public, this episode is a practical guide to reducing risk, finding real opportunities, and avoiding the most common validation mistakes. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack In Demand Episode 23:The 8 Customer Yeses The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick  RoasterTools Shape Up by Basecamp Chapters (00:00:05) - Intro & AI Search Musings(00:03:31) - Speaking Circuit Tangent(00:06:07) - Introducing Today's Topic: Product Validation(00:07:16) - Setting the Scene: Client Stages & Use Cases(00:10:14) - Build First vs Define Audience First(00:12:04) - The Outdated Ads-to-Validate Playbook(00:13:38) - Why Ads Don't Prove Product Viability(00:15:41) - The Wait List Trap(00:18:24) - Algorithm Limits & Churn Case Study(00:21:53) - Better Approach: Networking & Proxies(00:27:23) - Building in Public vs Ads Tradeoffs(00:29:30) - Pervasive Myths About Go-to-Market(00:31:40) - The Mom Test & Real Customer Conversations(00:36:08) - Learning from Industry Experts & Personal Experience(00:38:35) - Validating by Delivering Manually: Motivo Story(00:44:37) - Soft Launch Approach: Rand Fishkin's Alert Mouse(00:50:53) - Prototyping and Design Sprints for Feedback(00:58:38) - Wrap Up: Confidence Without Perfect Data

  6. Jun 2

    EP66: How to pick the right marketing channels for your SaaS Part II

    In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim continue their two-part series on SaaS marketing channels with a rapid-fire breakdown of the most common growth channels available to SaaS companies. They cover everything from word of mouth, SEO, and social ads to conferences, partnerships, PLG, engineering as marketing, ABM, and community building. Throughout the episode, Asia explains which channels tend to work best, where founders waste money, and why context always matters more than trends or generic advice. This episode is a practical guide to evaluating marketing channels, understanding the tradeoffs behind each one, and avoiding the trap of searching for a universal “best” growth strategy. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack Link to Part One The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Chapters (00:00:05) - In Demand: How to Troubleshoot Growth for Saa(00:00:27) - Choosing the Best Marketing Channels for SaaS(00:02:02) - Asia' Lightning Round(00:02:27) - Is Word of Mouth the best channel for sales?(00:04:03) - Organic Search: The Most Sustainable Channel for SaaS(00:07:04) - Is Organic Social Social Good for Business?(00:08:45) - What are Social and Display Ad Networks?(00:10:29) - What is Content Marketing?(00:11:55) - How to Integrate Email Marketing with Your Inbound Marketing(00:13:52) - Affiliate Marketing: Types of Channels, and How to Use(00:16:05) - Offline Ad Strategy: Social Media vs Traditional Media(00:19:51) - Do I Need to Invest in a Marketplace?(00:21:37) - Top 5 Channels for Product Led Growth(00:22:49) - "Engineering as Marketing"(00:26:38) - Speech Engagements(00:32:40) - Cold Outreach: The Low-Cost Channel(00:38:46) - Does Viral Marketing Impact SaaS Sales?(00:40:36) - Tim Ferriss on Community Building(00:42:36) - Partnerships: What are they and how do they work?(00:48:56) - What is Unconventional PR and Regular PR for SaaS(00:51:44) - How to Get Strategic with Your Channels

  7. May 29

    EP65: How to pick the right marketing channels for your SaaS

    In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim dive into one of the most misunderstood topics in SaaS growth: how to choose the right marketing channels for your company. This is part one of a two-part series on SaaS marketing channels. In this episode, they focus on the strategy behind channel selection, including customer behavior, levels of awareness, ARPU, and how different markets discover products in completely different ways. They unpack why there is no universal “best” marketing strategy, how founders fall into silver bullet thinking, and why the companies that succeed either get very lucky or build strong strategic processes for understanding their market. This episode is a deep dive on how to think strategically about SaaS marketing instead of blindly copying tactics that worked for someone else. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links: DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack Competing Against Luck by Clayton Christensen Chapters (00:04:30) - Why silver bullet thinking doesn't work when it comes to marketing.(00:07:30) - The difference between luck and strategic process in SaaS growth.(00:10:38) - How to think about picking the best marketing channels for your business.(00:13:00) - How to identify the channels your audience actually uses.(00:17:30) - Coffee roasting software as an example of how customers actually discover products.(00:24:00) - Getting creative about the channels that you invest in.(00:25:15) - Manufacturing software example: uncovering hidden channel opportunities through observation.(00:32:30) - Why average revenue per user and budget matter for choosing the right marketing channels.(00:42:15) - Eugene Schwartz’s five levels of awareness and how this informs the campaigns you choose for your channels.(00:54:00) - Why simply “running ads” usually fails for early stage SaaS companies.(01:03:30) - Recapping the questions founders should use to choose marketing channels strategically.

  8. May 15

    EP64: What early stage SaaS companies miss about product discovery

    In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim dive into product management. They cover problem space versus solution space and why so many founders and product teams build features based on assumptions, customer requests, or competitive pressure without doing the discovery work necessary to understand what users are actually trying to accomplish. This episode is a masterclass on how to avoid building features nobody uses and how to create products that customers genuinely adopt, value, and pay for. Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here. Links:  DemandMaven Subscribe to The Work by DemandMaven on Substack The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works  Continuous Discovery Habits by Theresa Torres Chapters (00:01:00) - Product discovery and idea validation.(00:03:15) - Why understanding the problem deeply creates better product decisions.(00:06:05) - What product discovery actually means in practice.(00:14:40) - Observational research and watching users interact with products.(00:16:15) - User stories versus hypothetical behavior.(00:19:50) - An example of the user stories you might look for on a SaaS reporting function.(00:23:45) - How support tickets can help lead you to the areas you should start working on.(00:29:00) - Castos example: uncovering integration problems through user stories.(00:37:45) - Theresa Torres and the Continuous Discovery approach.(00:44:30) - How discovery creates clearer product strategy and positioning.

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Growing a SaaS? Yeah, that's hard. Growing a SaaS without a clue what you're doing from a marketing and growth perspective? Pretty much impossible — especially if you want to break the $1M and $10M ARR marks. Kim Talarczyk sits down with Asia Orangio to extract and unpack all the strategic insights she holds in her brain from working with hundreds of SaaS companies and interviewing thousands of their customers. Together, they break down how to diagnose and troubleshoot growth challenges across every part of a B2B SaaS business. About your hosts: Asia Orangio is the CEO & Founder of DemandMaven. Asia helps founders of PLG SaaS companies troubleshoot their growth across GTM, acquisition, activation, retention, and expansion and get unstuck. In early 2018, Asia founded DemandMaven — a consulting firm dedicated to helping bootstrapped and funded SaaS companies build revenue-generating growth engines. Previously, Asia served in a number of marketing roles, but most notably as head of marketing at Hull where she helped the team 10.5x in growth, and #FlipMyFunnel / Terminus as demand generation manager. Asia also served on the board of Moz before its successful acquisition in 2021. Kim Talarczyk is the Client Services and Operations Manager at DemandMaven, where she ensures all client engagements are executed to the highest standard. With a strong background in client-facing roles and professional service firms, Kim has played a key role in scaling operations and delivering exceptional experiences for both B2C and B2B brands.

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