[SaaS Club] Scaling a SaaS Community Platform to $19M ARR

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

🎧 Podcast

Circle: Scaling a Community Platform to $19 Million ARR

Andrew Guttormsen is the co-founder and chief revenue officer at Circle, a platform for creators to build communities and memberships.

Andrew and his co-founders spent 5 years at Teachable, where they saw first hand how creators often struggled to build engaged communities.

So after Teachable's acquisition, they saw an opportunity to build a community first solution that was tailored to the needs of content creators.

The plan was to grow slowly and bootstrap the business. But when the pandemic hit in 2020, demand for online community tools exploded.

The founders worked tirelessly to spread the word.

They 'hustled' on social media every, did one-on-one onboarding for new customers, and Andrew personally did over 1,500 demos in 18 months!

Eventually, their efforts paid off...

Circle hit $1M ARR in just 4 months after launch!

But the journey wasn't without challenges. 

The founders had a big blow when an influential customer publicly shared his negative experience with Circle and moved to a different platform. 

For Andrew, it felt like a punch in gut. He and the team had to swallow their pride, confront their shortcomings and work overtime to fix them.

Also, as they started bringing on enterprise customers, they struggled to adapt their approach to customer success and support.

Despite those challenges, the founders kept going.

Listening to customers and improving the product as quickly as possible.

Fast forward to today, Circle has over 10,000 customers, generates $19M ARR with a team of 150 people and they've raised $30M in funding.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How the founders built traction by "doing things that don't scale" e.g. jumping into Twitter threads and doing 1-on-1 onboarding calls.

• Why landing a few key "anchor customers" can create a halo effect for your brand and product.

• How Circle aligned its pricing and packaging to grow with customers and maximize lifetime value.

• What Andrew learned about building a sales team and go-to-market motion without prior sales leadership experience.

• How a product-led approach with a "viral loop" baked in propelled Circle to $19 million ARR.

I hope you enjoy it!

Listen to the full podcast episode

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3 SaaS Customer Development Mistakes to Avoid

Building every feature customers suggest for your SaaS isn't customer development - it's product suicide.

Here are 3 symptoms of SaaS customer development gone wrong:

1. The 'Frankenstein' SaaS

Early on, your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) won't be clear.

You'll have different customer types with different needs, all asking you for different types of features.

If you build every requested feature, you'll end up with a 'Frankenstein' product that lacks cohesion and direction.

2. The 'Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink' SaaS

Customers don't know how to design your features.

If you build every feature customers want, you'll add unnecessary complexity to your product.

You'll create 'feature overload' and a product that will quickly become difficult to maintain and support.

So when a customer suggests a 'feature', change the conversation to what problem they want to solve.

Chances are you'll find a simpler and better solution.

You shouldn't have more features than customers!

3. The 'Freeloader' SaaS

"I'd pay for your product if it did X".

Be very cautious when you hear those words.

Often, these people will tell you to build a bunch of stuff, and they'll still never pay for your product.

Focus on customers (people actually paying you money) or serious prospects (people giving you their time).

Their insights are far more valuable and relevant.

Here's the takeaway: 

Customer feedback is a treasure trove, but it's essential to also have a clear vision for your SaaS product.

Listen to your customers. But don't blindly build features they ask for because it won't lead anywhere good.

Your customer's voice is important.

But it's up to you to steer the ship.

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📗 Book of the Week

This week's books recommendations is from Andrew:

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

😍 Let's Get Social

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Have a great week!

- Omer

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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. Hire Omer as an Advisor: Get the personalized attention and expert advice you need to make smart, confident decisions to grow your SaaS.