[SaaS Club] Bootstrapping a SaaS to 20 Million Users

Hey Reader

I hope you're doing well.

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

🎧 Podcast

There's no new episode this week. So, I decided to browse through the archive of nearly 400 episodes to hand-pick one of my favorites for you:

Jotform: Bootstrapping a SaaS to 20 Million Users

Ever heard of Jotform? It has over 20 million users.

Here's the surprising story of how it all started.

Aytekin was a developer for a media company.

He had to regularly build online forms.
But he didn't like doing that work.
He found it dull & repetitive.

So he looked for a product to make his job easier.

He found SurveyMonkey. But it wasn't enough.

He wanted more than just surveys.

He decided if he ever left his job.
And started his own business.

He'd create such a product.

In 2006, he quit his job and started building Jotform.

It started out as a free product.
Over the years, it grew to 20,000 users.
Eventually, he converted 500 to customers.

Aytekin was delighted to make $5k in monthly revenue.

In the following years, he faced tons of challenges:

- Hiring & paying the first employee.
- Juggling consulting work to pay the bills.
- Making painful mistakes with product releases.
- Rebuilding trust with angry users after disruptions.

However, his focus on:

- Solving a real problem
- Listening to user feedback
- Continuously improving the product

Helped Aytekin to capture a huge market.

Today, Jotform has 20 million users, 500 employees and is a profitable multi-million dollar business.

And the business is 100% bootstrapped.

What's frustrating you today?

It might just be your opportunity.
To build something great tomorrow.

Listen to the full podcast episode

P.S. when I recorded this interview Jotform "only" had 4 million users. 😀

 🚀 Accelerate Your Journey to a 6-Figure SaaS

Struggling to grow your SaaS business to $10K MRR? Success at this stage requires a solid plan, the right tools, and help when you need it.

SaaS Club Launch is a 3-month coaching program tailored to give you the strategy, tools, and know-how to accelerate your journey to $10K MRR.

Join a small group of serious (and awesome) early-stage founders who are building sustainable SaaS businesses. Together, you'll support each other's journey with insights and encouragement.

Learn more and apply to join here

📗 Book of the Week

This week's books recommendations is:

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt & Jeff Cox

😍 Let's Get Social

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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 Launch: Join an awesome mastermind group of early-stage SaaS founders supporting each other to 6-figures in revenue and beyond.

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

3. SaaS Club Accelerate:  Want to work directly 1:1 with Omer? Apply for a free strategy session.