[SaaS Club] A SaaS journey of pivot and persistence

Hey Reader

I hope you're doing well.

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

🎧 Podcast

AeroCloud: A SaaS Journey of Pivot and Persistence

In 2017, after retiring as a professional race car driver, George was looking for a new challenge. 

He randomly met Ian at a coffee shop in England and after they got to know each other, they decided to start a business together.

Ian had previously built and sold on-prem software for airports. 

So given his domain expertise, they duo decided to build an app to help airlines resell last-minute plane tickets.

But they struggled for 2 years to gain traction.

Eventually, they asked themselves - why not take Ian's proven on-prem airport management software and reinvent it for the cloud?

It seemed like the winning idea they had been searching for.

So they pivoted and built a new product. But even with Ian's strong track record, they still struggled to sign those critical first customers.

A breakthrough eventually came at a conference when a prospect said he'd use the product if they built custom features for his airport. 

It wasn't trivial work and would take a lot of their limited time and money.

But the gamble worked - after making the improvements to the product , their first airport signed up to pay for AeroCloud. 

But things didn't get any easier from there:

• Selling to airports was tough, with long sales cycles.

• The business almost failed, hitting a 3-month runway.

• It was a constant battle to keep their dream alive.

Fast forward to today, their company, AeroCloud, boasts over 60 airports as customers, a team of 60, generates multiple seven-figure annual recurring revenue (ARR), and has raised more than $18 million in funding.

In this episode you'll learn:

• How George convinced early customers to take a risk on AeroCloud's unproven solution.

• What crucial mistake the founders made that nearly bankrupted AeroCloud before they recovered.

• How George turned down a customer asking for discounts by reframing the value their product provides.

• How the founders maintained conviction AeroCloud would succeed despite constant setbacks threatening their survival.

• Why George feels life as a SaaS founder brings much harder struggles than his time as a professional race car driver.

I hope you enjoy it!

Listen to the full podcast episode

📗 Books of the Week

This week's books recommendations are:

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

🌐 Around the Web

YouTube Channel

Here's a link to the full video episode.

😍 Let's Get Social

Want to get more social? Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Have a great week!

- Omer

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P.S. whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

1. SaaS Club Plus: We're re-launching a brand new paid community for SaaS founders with an exciting new offering. Join the waitlist!

2. SaaS Club Launch: This 12-week coaching program that gives you the tools, knowledge, and support to fast track your journey to $10K+ MRR.

3. SaaS Club Clarity:  Book a 1-hour consulting session with Omer to get unstuck and gain clarity about your SaaS business.