SaaS District Akeel Jabber | Horizen Capital

Andreas Creten is a software engineer and an entrepreneur who loves developing apps and building teams. He’s the CEO of madewithlove, an app development company that helps startups and established companies turn ideas into applications by offering development, consulting and ad interim management services, building both products and teams.
They have been CTO in over 60 companies, mainly operating as CTO ad interim. You can regularly find Andreas working on open-source projects and speaking at conferences around the world.
in this episode we cover:
00:00 - https://byldd.com/ (Byldd - MVP Development Agency Based in New York)
01:12 - Intro
02:19 - Introducing Legacy Code
04:16 - Top Red Flags On The Due Diligence Process
08:50 - What Is Technical Debt And How They Work It
11:40 - Balancing Technical Debt and Product Development
15:24 - Scenarios Where Refactoring The Code Can Work
17:25 - Tools That Madewithlove Use To Ensure Code Quality
20:20 - Building The Perfect Engineering Team
23:24 - The App Development Process With madewithlove
28:35 - Madewithlove in Terms of Size Today
30:07 - Andreas’ Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State
31:13 - Andreas’ Piece of Advice for His 25 Years Old Self
32:51 - Andreas’ Biggest Challenges at Madewithlove
34:06 - Instrumental Resources for Andreas’ Success
36:54 - What Does Success Means for Andreas Today
38:07 - Get In Touch With Andreas

Get In Touch With Andreas:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreascreten/ (Andreas' LinkedIn)


Mentions:
https://basecamp.com/about/story (Jason Fried from Basecamp)


Books:
https://www.amazon.com.br/Getting-Real-Smarter-Successful-Application/dp/0578012812 (Getting Real by Jason Fried)
https://www.amazon.com.br/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290 (The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim and Kevin Behr)


Tag Us and Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/SaaSDistrictPodcast/ (Facebook)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram)


More About Akeel:
https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (Twitter)
https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (LinkedIn)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast/ (More SaaS Podcast Episodes)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-consulting-services/ (SaaS Consultants)
https://horizencapital.com/how-to-value-saas-business/ (Learn How to Value a SaaS Company)

Rajiv Ayyangar is the Co-founder and CEO of Tandem, a desktop app for distributed teams that simulates a "virtual office”, allowing users to see who’s around, what they are working on, talk and collaborate in one click.
Rajiv studied bioengineering at Princeton and subsequently worked at Fairchild and Yahoo. He’s also a rock climbing, classical piano player and probably an expert on blind wine tasting.
In this episode we cover:
00:00 - https://byldd.com/ (Byldd - MVP Development Agency Based in New York)
01:12 - Intro
02:45 - How Did Remote/Hybrid Work Affect Tandem’s Team
04:51 - Building Tandem
06:48 - Tandem's App Changes Before Vs After COVID-19
08:31 - How Are Tandem Helping Build A Trusting Workplace
10:51 - The Secret Of The Successful Hybrid Teams
13:40 - Ways Of Working And Their Evolvement
17:47 - Tandem's Plans To Support Remote/Hybrid Work
19:27 - Trends On VR Work Space
21:09 - What SaaS Founders Should Consider Before Hiring Remotely or In Person
23:03 - Tandem in Terms of Size Today
23:35 - Rajiv’s Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State
23:58 - Rajiv's Piece of Advice for His 25 Years Old Self
23:53 - Rajiv's Biggest Challenges at Tandem
27:06 - Instrumental Resources for Rajiv's Success
28:30 - What Does Success Means for Rajiv Today
29:15 - Get In Touch With Rajiv



Get In Touch With Rajiv:
Rajiv's e-mail
https://twitter.com/rajivayyangar (Rajiv's Twitter)


Mentions:
https://tandem.chat/newsletter (Tandem's Newsletter)
https://www.ycombinator.com (Y Combinator)


Tag Us and Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/SaaSDistrictPodcast/ (Facebook)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram)


More About Akeel:
https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (Twitter)
https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (LinkedIn)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast (More SaaS Podcast Sessions)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-consulting-services/ (Learn About Our SaaS Consulting)
https://horizencapital.com/how-to-value-saas-business/ (How To Value Your SaaS Company)

Lindsey Groepper is the president at BLASTmedia, a national B2B SaaS PR agency that takes a holistic approach to PR.
Lindsey is responsible for new business development and helping oversee the strategic direction of the agency where they focus public relations.
Lindsey graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications, majoring in Public Relations.


In this episode we cover:
00:00 - https://byldd.com/ (Byldd - MVP Development Agency Based in New York)
01:12 - Intro
02:14 - The Right Time To Write A Press Release and Announcement
04:06 - What To Expect From A Effective Copy PR Release
07:57 - What Metrics Matter To A PR Agency + Reporting and Result
12:46 - Working With A PR Team + What They Need
17:01 - The Stalking, Stealing and Using People Strategy
22:54 - Lindsey’s Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State
24:24 - Lindsey’s Piece of Advice for His 25 Years Old Self
27:03 - Lindsey’s Biggest Challenges at BLASTmedia
29:17 - Instrumental Resources for Lindsey’s Success
32:55 - What Does Success Means for Lindsey Today
34:23 - Get In Touch With Lindsey

Get In Touch With Lindsey:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseygroepper/ (Lindsey's LinkedIn)
https://www.blastmedia.com (BLASTmedia Website)



Tag Us and Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/SaaSDistrictPodcast/ (Facebook)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram)

More About Akeel:
https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (Twitter)
https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (LinkedIn)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast (More Podcast Sessions)

Leon Kuperman is the CTO of CAST AI, a platform that increases your SaaS company’s profit margin without additional work. They cut your cloud bill in half, automate DevOps tasks, and prevent downtime in one Autonomous Kubernetes platform.
Leon has over 20 years of experience in product management, software design and development all the way through to production deployment. He’s an industry leader on Web Application Security and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), e-commerce, cloud computing and web application architecture. He’s passionate about his customers, his work as well as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, where he actually holds a Brown belt.


In this episode we cover:
00:00 - Sponsor: https://byldd.com (Byldd - MVP Development Agency Based in New York)
01:12 - Intro
02:55 - The Main Value Of AI and Why Simple Automation Is Not Enough
08:24 - Problems in Cloud Service That Requires Automation
12:56 - Tips To Start Using Automation On A SaaS
15:52 - Scenarios Where Cloud Automation May Not Work Well
17:55 - The Main Tool Categories To Address The Automation Challenges
19:26 - The Secret Of Building a Machine Learning Model
21:24 - Where is CAST AI in Terms of Size Today
22:18 - Leon’s Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State
23:18 - Leon’s Piece of Advice for His 25 Years Old Self
24:17 - Leon’s Biggest Challenges at CAST AI
25:36 - CAST AI Ukraine Hiring Program
27:10 - Instrumental Resources for Leon’s Success
29:36 - What Does Success Means for Leon Today
32:36 - Get In Touch With Leon

Get In Touch With Leon:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/itexecutivecto (Leon's LinkedIn)
https://cast.ai (CAST AI Website)
Mentions:
https://cloud.google.com (Google Cloud)
https://aws.amazon.com (AWS)
https://azure.microsoft.com/pt-br/ (Azure)
Books:
https://www.amazon.com.br/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595 (Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr)
https://www.amazon.com.br/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898 (The Lean Startup by Eric Ries)


Tag Us and Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/SaaSDistrictPodcast/ (Facebook)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram)



More About Akeel:
https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (Twitter)
https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (LinkedIn)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast/ (More SaaS Podcast Sessions)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-consulting-services/ (SaaS Consulting Services)
https://horizencapital.com/how-to-value-saas-business/ (Learn How to Value a SaaS Company)

Firaas Rashid is CEO and founder of Hook, a predictive data platform that empowers Customer Success teams. Hook is transforming B2B SaaS by providing accurate revenue predictions and intelligent, actionable insights to secure more customer renewals.
Firaas founded Hook in late 2020 and has already raised millions in funding from some of the top investors and company founders in Europe. He is passionate about changing the way Customer Success Teams operate, which we’ll go deeper into on today’s episode.


In this episode we cover:
00:00 - https://byldd.com (Byldd - MVP Development Agency Based in New York)
01:11 - Intro
02:25 - How Hook Works Customer Success With SaaS companies
05:57 - Understanding Customer Success and Customer Support When Building A Team
08:12 - Key Measurements and Metrics To Pay Attention
12:13 - How Often Should We Be Tracking These Metrics
13:36 - How Do These Metrics Help Prevent Customer Churn
15:08 - Key Actions We Can Take At This Stage
17:55 - Structuring Incentives For Your CS Team
21:37 - Tips On Hiring The Right Person For A CS Role
26:40 - Firaas’ Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State
27:54 - Firaas’ Piece of Advice for His 25 Years Old Self
31:00 - Firaas’ Biggest Challenges at Hook
32:14 - Instrumental Resources for Firaas’ Success
35:12 - What Does Success Means for Firaas Today
37:23 - What Is A Ideal Workplace For Firaas
40:09 - Get In Touch With Firaas

Get In Touch With Firaas:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/firaasrashid/ (Firaas Rashid LinkedIn)
https://hook.co/#metricsReport (Hook Metrics Report)
Mentions:
https://www.tkkader.com (TK Kader)
Tag Us and Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/SaaSDistrictPodcast/ (Facebook)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram)

More About Akeel:
https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (Twitter )
https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (LinkedIn)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast/ (Saas Podcast)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-consulting-services/ (SaaS Consulting)
https://horizencapital.com/how-to-value-saas-business/ (How to Value a SaaS Company)

George Chasiotis is the Managing Director of MINUTTIA, an organic growth acceleration agency for B2B SaaS companies. George started out as an independent marketing consultant but was soon pulled down the path of creating an agency. In his free time, he imparts wisdom (read: rants) on LinkedIn or buries his head in psychology books to get down the “why” of human behaviour.
In this episode we cover:
00:00 - Intro
01:35 - SEO as The Main Channel Of Traffic For a Starting SaaS
05:33 - Link Building and Creating An Authority on Early Stage
07:14 - Strategies For Later Stage Companies
12:11 - Ranking Top-Notch Content in 2022
16:17 - Google's Ranking Factor To Be Aware Of
19:27 - Follow Vs No-Follow Link
21:45 - Investing In SEO With Limited Budget
26:54 - The Problem Of Using Copycat Content
29:04 - George's Favorite Tools For Managing SEO Campaigns
34:34 - Volume Vs Quality Content
38:38 - George's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State
38:52 - George's Piece of Advice for His 25 Years Old Self
39:08 - George's Biggest Challenges at MINUTTIA
41:00 - Instrumental Resources for George's Success
41:54 - What Does Success Means for George Today
42:36 - Get In Touch With George

Get In Touch With George:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgioschasiotis/ (George's LinkedIn)
https://minuttia.com (MINUTTIA's Website)
Mentions:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmu (John Mueller)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho (Paulo Coelho)
https://asana.com (Asana)
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sparkle-and-thrive/id1476317024 (Sparkle and Thrive Podcast)
Books:
https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-Seals/dp/1250067057 (Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink)
https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299 (Atomic Habits by James Clear)
https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Bets-Smarter-Decisions-English-ebook/dp/B074DG9LQF (Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke)
Tag Us and Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/SaaSDistrictPodcast/ (Facebook)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/horizen-capital (LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/saasdistrict/ (Instagram)



More About Akeel:
https://twitter.com/AkeelJabber (Twitter )
https://linkedin.com/in/akeel-jabbar (LinkedIn)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-podcast/ (Best Rated SaaS Podcasts)
https://horizencapital.com/saas-consulting-services/ (Learn About Our SaaS Consulting)
https://horizencapital.com/how-to-value-saas-business/ (Learn How to Value a SaaS Company)