[SaaS Club] Building a SaaS you're not rushing to sell

Hey Reader

I hope you're doing well.

Here's a quick round up of what's been going on at SaaS Club:

🎧 Podcast

Check: Building a SaaS Startup You're Not Rushing to Sell

In 2015, Andrew sold his B2C startup, Oyster, to Google. But that big win also left a void in his professional life.

He decided his next startup would be something he could work on for a decade or more, rather than just aiming for a quick sell-off.

After spending years carefully searching for the right startup idea, Andrew finally landed on the concept of an embedded payroll solution.

He spent several years in 'stealth mode', entirely focused on building the right product and early partnerships before ever officially launching.

But earning trust with customers was hard. Most prospects weren't ready to trust an early-stage startup with their payroll solution.

It took years of relationship building through warm introductions, thoughtful cold outreach, and diligently preparing for every meeting to finally land pilots with initial partners.

Despite those early struggles, Check has grown to a team of over 100 people and raised $119 million so far.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why Andrew felt unfulfilled after selling his first startup and decided he wasn't going to be in a rush to sell his next company.
How feedback from a partner about payroll complexity revealed the startup opportunity Andrew eventually pursued with Check.
Why Andrew believes staying in stealth mode for years pre-launch was crucial for Check's initial product and partnerships.
How Andrew creatively earned the trust of early payroll customers despite Check being an unknown quantity and a stealth startup.
Why Andrew believes the opportunity for embedded payroll solution is massive despite there only being a few hundred potential customers in the target market.

I hope you enjoy it.

Listen to the full podcast episode

📗 Book of the Week

This week's book recommendation comes from Andrew:

Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna

🌐 Around the Web

YouTube Channel

Here's a link to the full video episode.

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Have a great week!

- Omer

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