Sounds Good.

Anna Nadeina
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship

Sounds Good is a podcast where I ask the questions you actually wanted answered. I am Anna Nadeina, and I talk to founders and operators about the playbooks, growth hacks, and frameworks the internet swears by — and whether any of it actually worked. Expect real numbers, honest post-mortems, and the occasional confession that the thing everyone recommended was a waste of six months. Topics: SaaS growth, bootstrapped and VC-backed startups, product-led growth, sales-led growth, founder-led marketing, exits and M&A, remote teams, AI tools, indie hackers, building on the internet. A little about me: 3 years Head of Growth at saas.group, 300+ episodes hosting saas.unbound, currently building cucobooks.com. 🎧 All platforms: soundsgoodpod.com ✉️ Pitch a guest or sponsor: anna@soundsgoodpod.com 📬 Get notified of new episodes: soundsgoodpod.com

  1. 2d ago

    The SaaS companies that will survive AI — Martin Gourdeau @Vacation Tracker

    AI is coming for SaaS—but probably not in the way most founders think. Martin Gourdeau, CEO of Vacation Tracker, has spent years operating SaaS businesses at very different scales, from a 15-person company to Workleap, where he helped grow the business from roughly 275 to 450 people. Now he's back in a small SaaS company, deliberately testing how far AI can take a business without massively increasing headcount. And his view on the future of SaaS is refreshingly nuanced. We talk about why AI could actually supercharge SaaS, why “shallow SaaS” is much more vulnerable to vibe coding, and why companies that own important data and become systems of record may be harder to replace than ever. We also get into AI adoption inside a real SaaS company, the productivity trap of generating more and more without actually moving the business forward, pricing, trials, distribution, LLM discovery, YouTube as an AI visibility channel, and where Vacation Tracker is going next. One of the biggest takeaways: AI has made building software dramatically easier—but that doesn't mean building the right software has become easier. Timestamps: 00:00 - Is SaaS dead in Quebec? 01:26 - Why nuance disappeared from the AI conversation 02:10 - Is AI actually supercharging SaaS? 03:24 - The SaaS AI can't easily replace 04:46 - Can Vacation Tracker be vibe coded? 06:00 - When building your own software makes sense 07:12 - The hidden cost of building SaaS yourself 09:54 - Did SaaS remove too much friction? 11:00 - The new opportunity: building on top of systems of record 12:45 - Why AI hype always goes too far 14:11 - How Vacation Tracker uses AI internally 16:19 - The AI experimentation playbook 18:07 - Is AI making people work more? 19:48 - The dangerous side of AI productivity 21:20 - Producing more vs actually growing the business 23:07 - Why bigger companies may be more vulnerable 24:30 - How AI can make SaaS products worse 25:41 - The craft of product management 27:28 - Could Vacation Tracker become the next Workleap? 29:39 - From 450-person SaaS to a 15-person company 31:20 - Why Martin took a year off 33:00 - Getting back into technology 34:41 - Avoiding AI shiny object syndrome 37:46 - Vacation Tracker's pricing strategy 38:26 - Why they doubled their trial period 40:24 - Did AI influence their pricing? 42:00 - The right way to raise SaaS prices 43:34 - Is SaaS distribution getting harder? 43:43 - LLMs are driving 30–50% of inbound 45:41 - How to rank in ChatGPT and other LLMs 46:00 - Why content matters for AI visibility 47:47 - Why YouTube matters for LLM discovery 51:47 - What's next for Vacation Tracker? 52:45 - MCP and the future of headless SaaS 53:37 - Could SaaS move to value-based pricing? 54:40 - Is SaaS actually dying? 55:35 - The technology Martin is excited about 57:04 - What kids think about AI 58:32 - Will we revisit these predictions? Martin Gourdeau — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgourdeau/ Vacation Tracker — https://vacationtracker.io/ ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina https://soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group — serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    The SaaS companies that will survive AI — Martin Gourdeau @Vacation Tracker

  2. 2d ago

    The real cost of building an AI startup — Ricardo Ghekiere @ Patricia

    Ricardo Ghekiere bought BetterPic for $1 when the product was still rough, the AI struggled with consistency, and very few people believed AI headshots could become a real business. Less than three years later, BetterPic had grown into a multimillion-dollar company. But while everyone else was celebrating AI image generation, Ricardo was already thinking about what comes next. That thinking led to BetterStudio, a $2.2M venture-backed bet on AI fashion photography that ultimately failed—and to Runflow and Patricia, the companies that emerged from everything the team learned along the way. We talked about growing BetterPic through affiliate marketing, why they moved from closed-source to open-source AI models, what actually happens after you raise venture capital, why product-market fit can't be bought with headcount, and how a non-technical founder learned enough about AI infrastructure to build products at scale. Plus: whether designers disappear before developers, why software itself may eventually become free, and what companies outside the AI bubble are really doing with artificial intelligence. In this episode: * Buying BetterPic for $1 and growing it into a multimillion-dollar business * Why redesigning the product was critical to building customer trust * How affiliate marketing became one of BetterPic's biggest growth channels * The AI workflow behind consistent image generation * Why BetterPic moved from closed-source to open-source AI models * How open source helped dramatically improve margins * Raising $2.2M before finding product-market fit * Why BetterStudio ultimately failed * The biggest mistake founders make after raising venture capital * Building Runflow for enterprise AI image workflows * Why Ricardo believes designers will change faster than developers * How AI is reshaping internal teams * Building Patricia—an AI teammate that lives inside Slack * Why software itself may eventually become free * What founders outside the AI bubble still misunderstand about AI Ricardo - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardoghekiere/ BetterPic - https://betterpic.io Runflow - https://runflow.io ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina https://soundsgoodpod.com anna@soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group — serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    The real cost of building an AI startup — Ricardo Ghekiere @ Patricia

  3. 2d ago

    Stop chasing traffic, fix your SaaS funnel first — Simonida Jovanovic

    Simonida has made a career out of figuring out why SaaS users don't pay—and she doesn't think throwing more AI, more emails, or more traffic at the problem is the answer. She focuses on one of the most valuable parts of the SaaS funnel: the gap between someone starting a trial and deciding the product is worth paying for. Sometimes moving that conversion rate by just a few percentage points can create more revenue than another expensive push at the top of the funnel. We talked about what actually makes trial users convert, why "best practices" can be dangerously misleading, how behavioral segmentation can go too far, and why copy should be one of the last things you work on—not the first. Plus: founder voice, no-reply emails, suppression rules, and why product, sales, support, and marketing need to actually talk to each other before anyone writes another lifecycle sequence. And, inevitably, AI. Why Simonida thinks outsourcing strategy to an LLM is a terrible idea, why AI-generated content increasingly feels like "plastic fruit," what she does use AI for, and why firing your marketing team because ChatGPT can do the job might be an experiment you regret six months later. Timestamps: 00:00 - Can AI actually replace people? 03:07 - Why AI is dangerous for strategy 05:20 - AI won't kill work—it'll change it 06:23 - LinkedIn's AI bubble 08:52 - Why tech companies are humanizing AI 12:57 - Are we overhyping AI? 15:03 - Turning SaaS trials into paying customers 17:35 - The revenue hiding inside your existing funnel 19:40 - The problem with marketing best practices 21:09 - Why human judgment still matters 23:39 - Can AI run your marketing without humans? 28:04 - Why AI strategy still falls short 32:38 - The car wash test for AI 34:09 - Fire your marketing team for AI? Go ahead. 35:36 - What makes a great SaaS email? 38:13 - Every email needs one job 40:13 - Why emails should come from a real person 42:14 - Why no-reply emails need to die 44:48 - Stop emailing people who don't care 47:03 - Behavioral emails and knowing when to stop 49:37 - How Simonida audits a SaaS funnel 52:05 - What product, sales, and support know that marketing doesn't 55:14 - Why copy comes last 56:14 - Can you segment too much? 58:13 - When better onboarding hurts conversion 59:51 - Who should send your SaaS emails? 62:31 - Founder voice as a competitive advantage 67:17 - Cyberdecks, hedgehogs, and the internet beyond AI Simonida - https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonida-jovanovic-29778244/ ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina https://soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group — serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    Stop chasing traffic, fix your SaaS funnel first — Simonida Jovanovic

  4. 2d ago

    Don't add features: how to simplify your SaaS — Jeremy Chatelaine @ MonsterOps

    Jeremy has been bootstrapping SaaS products for more than a decade. After building QuickMail into one of the most respected outbound platforms, he's now betting on a much bigger idea: AI won't replace companies — it'll replace the way companies operate. We talked about where AI actually delivers value (and where it absolutely doesn't), why founders are creating technical debt faster than ever, how to build products without drowning users in features, and why becoming a real CEO means giving up control. Plus: AI search, pricing AI features, distribution in 2026, bootstrapping a second company, and raising kids while building SaaS from hotel rooms. In this episode: - Why AI is incredible at customer support but terrible at strategy - The biggest mistake founders make when building internal AI tools - Why coding with AI creates tomorrow's technical debt - Should AI features cost extra? - Building MonsterOps while still running QuickMail - The real reason distribution is still harder than building - How to simplify products instead of endlessly adding features - Bootstrapping a second SaaS company from scratch - Raising entrepreneurial kids while traveling the world Timestamps 00:00 - Why AI isn't replacing SaaS yet 01:56 - What MonsterOps actually replaces inside companies 06:31 - Finding AI use cases that actually work 10:24 - AI customer support that's surprisingly good 14:15 - Does AI replace jobs or change them? 18:42 - Feature bloat and knowing when to stop building 25:22 - AI coding and the coming technical debt problem 27:54 - Pricing AI features the right way 30:20 - Bootstrapping MonsterOps differently than QuickMail 33:15 - Distribution in the age of AI search 39:17 - Becoming a CEO instead of just a founder 45:29 - Running two SaaS companies while traveling 50:23 - Teaching the next generation to build with AI 51:52 - The one business book Jeremy keeps rereading Jeremy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremychatelaine/ QuickMail: https://quickmail.com MonsterOps: https://monsterops.io ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina https://soundsgoodpod.com anna@soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group — serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    Don't add features: how to simplify your SaaS — Jeremy Chatelaine @ MonsterOps

  5. 2d ago

    The human advantage: how to give your brand a real voice — Lianna Patch

    AI can write. But can it actually persuade customers? In this episode of Sounds Good, Lianna Patch joins Anna Nadeina to talk about what AI is genuinely good at, where Claude and ChatGPT still fail, and why the best SaaS companies are investing more—not less—in brand, personality, and great content. We cover: • Why AI-generated copy still sounds the same • When Claude is actually useful (and when it isn't) • Why website copy and lifecycle emails still need humans • Founder branding vs company branding • Why humor is becoming a competitive advantage in SaaS • How to create content people actually remember • Building trust through personality—not prompts • The role of communities like MicroConf in founder growth • Whether content marketing can actually be measured If you're building a SaaS company, leading marketing, writing content with AI, or wondering whether founders should still invest in brand, this conversation is packed with practical advice. Lianna -   / liannapatch   Punchline Conversion Copywriting - https://punchlinecopy.com/ ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    The human advantage: how to give your brand a real voice — Lianna Patch

  6. Jul 20

    The $500M SaaS company that doesn't chase AI hype — Ken Weary @ Hostaway

    Hostaway has raised more than $500 million. It still hasn't acquired a single company. Ken Weary, COO at Hostaway, believes that's not a missed opportunity—it's discipline. Instead of buying competitors, the company has spent the last decade building a single platform, staying profitable, and resisting the temptation to chase every shiny new thing. We talked about what AI is actually changing inside SaaS companies (and what it isn't), why "SaaSpocalypse" is mostly a story about adaptation rather than extinction, how to think about third-party platform risk when your business depends on Airbnb and Booking.com, and why founder-led companies often win by acting like they still have no money. In this episode: Why Hostaway has never made an acquisition despite evaluating hundreds of companies What a $500M-funded company can teach bootstrappers about spending money The real relationship between AI and layoffs Why AI should augment people, not replace them Building software on top of platforms like Airbnb without becoming dependent on them What SaaSpocalypse gets right—and what it completely misses Why customer events matter even more in a fully remote company How Hostaway uses AI to improve customer support and guest experience "Be frugal, not cheap"—the mindset behind sustainable growth The marathon lesson that applies surprisingly well to building SaaS Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction to Hostaway 03:45 - The Importance of Property Management 06:59 - Navigating Guest Reviews 07:37 - Handling Third-Party Dependencies 10:54 - Mergers and Acquisitions Strategy 16:47 - AI Integration in Property Management 24:28 - AI as Augmented Intelligence 28:00 - The Impact of AI on Employment 31:54 - The Importance of Real-Life Events 38:49 - SaaS Evolution and the 'SaaSpocalypse' 43:25 - Playbooks for Success in Business Ken - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenweary/ Hostaway - https://www.hostaway.com ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    The $500M SaaS company that doesn't chase AI hype — Ken Weary @ Hostaway

  7. Jul 14

    SaaS isn't dead but old playbooks are — Mac Martine @ Demandbird

    Mac Martine has been building and acquiring SaaS for 20 years. He still doesn't think it's easy — and that's the point. We talked about what it actually looks like to run a small SaaS portfolio as a two-person team, why buying a boring Slack backup tool led to Fortune 500 clients and a 50x price increase within 48 hours, and why the fundamentals of distribution haven't changed as much as the hype suggests. Plus: AI search, third-party dependency risk, building in your own voice, and why bot media is quietly replacing social media. In this episode: - Why buying beats building for early validation right now - The graveyard SaaS market and what makes something worth acquiring - How good SEO still converts overnight — even in 2026 - AI search vs regular search: is there actually a difference yet? - Third-party dependency risk: Aware, Shield, and what comes next - Why AI-assisted humans beat AI alone — and where the line breaks down - Content production, scheduling tools, and keeping your voice when AI helps you write - What won't work anymore in micro SaaS Timestamps: 00:00 - Navigating Uncertainty 06:05 - The Shift from Building to Buying: Exploring Holdco Strategies 12:29 - Validating Ideas: The Importance of Community and Feedback 18:27 - SEO's Enduring Relevance in the Age of AI 23:31 - Building with Dependencies: Risks and Strategies 29:18 - Finding Value in Content Production and Scheduling Tools 32:25 - The Evolution of Retail and Music 36:05 - The Impact of AI on Human Interaction 41:58 - Navigating the Noise in AI Development 46:09 - The Future of AI and User Interaction 51:48 - Exciting Discoveries on the Internet Mac - https://www.linkedin.com/in/macmartine/ Demandbird - https://demandbird.com ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com anna@soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    SaaS isn't dead but old playbooks are — Mac Martine @ Demandbird

  8. Jul 7

    You don't need to go shopping ever again — Felix Hoffmann @ 7Learnings

    Felix Hoffmann has been inside Zalando's pricing engine. Now he's building the tools retail brands need to survive the AI. We talked about what agentic shopping looks like these days, why European platforms are dangerously slow to react, and why asking "how do I use ChatGPT in my company" is completely the wrong question. In this episode: - Why 30–50% of online purchases already start with an AI conversation - The real reason OpenAI paused agentic shopping (hint: Amazon) - How product decisions — not just pricing — will be shaped by what AI assistants recommend - Why Zalando is losing to Amazon - The offline retail impact nobody's talking about yet - Why predictive pricing beats LLM-based pricing for explainability and trust - The chess computer analogy: why specialized AI beats general AI for enterprise use cases - What a €500M investment commitment would actually look like for a European platform to win Felix is one of the clearest thinkers on what AI actually changes in commerce versus what's just noise. Timestamps: 00:00 - The Future of AI in Shopping 03:47 - The Role of Discoverability in Retail 06:47 - Personalization and Production in Fashion 10:58 - The Impact of AI on Consumer Behavior 13:59 - 7Learnings: Optimizing Retail Decisions 16:48 - Consumer Readiness for AI Shopping Assistants 19:35 - The Offline Shopping Experience and AI 22:50 - Luxury Brands and AI Integration 27:43 - The New Gatekeepers of Retail 28:57 - The Competitive Landscape of AI in Shopping 31:02 - Opportunities for Independent Brands 32:14 - Navigating Uncertainty in AI Adoption 36:14 - Strategic AI Investments for Retailers 37:56 - The Risks of Inaction in Retail 40:55 - Pricing Strategies in the Age of AI 46:28 - Trust and Explainability in AI Systems 51:07 - The Future of Decision Automation Felix - https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-hoffmann-7learnings 7Learnings - https://7learnings.com/ ─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com anna@soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

    You don't need to go shopping ever again — Felix Hoffmann @ 7Learnings
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About

Sounds Good is a podcast where I ask the questions you actually wanted answered. I am Anna Nadeina, and I talk to founders and operators about the playbooks, growth hacks, and frameworks the internet swears by — and whether any of it actually worked. Expect real numbers, honest post-mortems, and the occasional confession that the thing everyone recommended was a waste of six months. Topics: SaaS growth, bootstrapped and VC-backed startups, product-led growth, sales-led growth, founder-led marketing, exits and M&A, remote teams, AI tools, indie hackers, building on the internet. A little about me: 3 years Head of Growth at saas.group, 300+ episodes hosting saas.unbound, currently building cucobooks.com. 🎧 All platforms: soundsgoodpod.com ✉️ Pitch a guest or sponsor: anna@soundsgoodpod.com 📬 Get notified of new episodes: soundsgoodpod.com

Information

  • Creator
    Anna Nadeina
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Anna Nadeina
  • Show Website
    Sounds Good.