The SaaS Club Newsletter

Hey Reader

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

 In this week's newsletter:

• Dreamdata's $1M ARR journey—perseverance pays

• Boopos: Buy or sell a SaaS with easy financing

• Jotform Tables: More than just spreadsheets

• Founder-led sales myths—busted!

• Book of the Week: Get inspired by tech

• SaaS Founders "Face Off"!

Received this email from a friend? Subscribe here to get your own.

🎧 Podcast

Dreamdata: Scaling a SaaS to 7-Figures with Perseverance

In 2018, while at Trustpilot, Lars and his co-founder Ole built an internal tool to address data silos across departments.

They quickly realized its potential and started their startup journey. But they faced constant struggles and obstacles.

Initially, they struggled to nail their ideal customer profile (ICP). Catering to too many customers slowed growth and created unnecessary work.

Also, their early cold outreach efforts were ineffective, which made it hard for them to acquire those critical initial customers.

Their fundraising timing was terrible, coinciding with the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Investors pulled out, making the process painfully slow.

But the founders persevered.

They brought in a new co-founder who led a LinkedIn content marketing strategy, which eventually worked and helped them reach $1M ARR.

However, scaling the business came with a whole new set of challenges.

Without a playbook, they were unable to build a successful sales team and had to restart their efforts by creating a repeatable sales process.

Today, Dreamdata is a 7-figure ARR SaaS business with 45 people based in Copenhagen, Denmark, having raised $12M to date.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How Dreamdata's founders navigated pivots, setbacks, and defining moments while searching for their ideal customer profile.

• Why focusing on a specific ICP is so crucial for early-stage startups, and the consequences of not having one.

• How the founders overcame ineffective cold outreach and the lack of a formal sales playbook to build a scalable sales process.

• Why resilience and adaptability are essential qualities for founders, particularly when facing fundraising challenges during difficult times.

• How a well-executed content marketing strategy can be a game-changer for generating inbound leads and driving growth.

I hope you enjoy it

Listen to the full podcast episode

📈 Boopos: Buy a Profitable Business or Sell Yours

Boopos is the #1 platform for buying & selling a profitable online business and the first to offer built-in acquisition financing for qualified buyers.

Explore their exclusive listings, browse listings from other marketplaces, or submit your own deal for approval. 

Boopos offers pre-approved financing for recurring revenue businesses, allowing you to access fast funding with no personal guarantees. And their experienced M&A advisory team supports you every step of the way.

Sign up today and get qualified to start your entrepreneurial journey or sell your business at the right valuation.

Learn more about buying or selling a SaaS business

 👩‍💻 Jotform Tables: Beyond Spreadsheets

Jotform Tables combines the power of a spreadsheet with the flexibility of a database, allowing you to collect data via customizable online forms. 

All data submitted through your Jotform forms is automatically organized and stored. You can import and export files, and collaborate with your team in real-time, ensuring everyone is always on the same page.

But Jotform Tables is more than just a spreadsheet alternative. With data visualization, conditional formatting, and 250+ integrations, it's a complete productivity platform for your team. You can even automate tasks and workflows to save time.

Create a Jotform Table - It's Free!

🤔 Founder-Led Sales: Busting a Common Myth

Here's the Worst Advice Early-Stage SaaS Founders Hear:

"If you're not naturally good at sales, hire a salesperson."

This misguided advice is surprisingly common, especially among startup founders who fear selling.

I recently spoke with a founder who struggled with sales. After digging deeper, we discovered he hadn't started selling at all! Paralyzed by the fear of failure and the belief that he wasn’t a 'natural salesperson', he was terrified of making mistakes. He thought he needed inherent 'Sales DNA' to succeed, or otherwise, he must hire a salesperson.

Here’s the Truth: That's simply not true.

Sales for an early-stage SaaS startup isn’t about slick pitches or smooth talking. It involves:

• Understanding your customer's pains and needs.

• Communicating how your product addresses those needs.

In the early stages, you don’t need to be a salesperson; you need to:

• Be an expert on your product.

• Understand its value to customers.

No one is better positioned to do this than you, the founder.

Take Action:

Make the mindset shift and start simple:

• Aim for 5 customer conversations per week.

• This approach will help you refine your pitch, gain real feedback, and likely lead to your first sales.

Remember, every successful founder was once in your shoes. They overcame their fears, learned from each interaction, and built confidence with every conversation. So can you.

Want my help to boost your early-stage SaaS sales? Reply to this email with "SALES" and let's explore the possibilities together.

 📗 Book of the Week

This week's books recommendations is from Lars:

Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan

🌟 SaaS Founders Face Off

My friends at ActiveCampaign just started the Angles & Insights podcast.

The first episode is a 'face off' between Jason Lemkin (SaaStr) and Wade Foster (Zapier). Check out the trailer video below. 

BTW: Did you know Wade was my first podcast guest ever on epsiode 1?

🌟 Help Spread the Word

Enjoyed this week's newsletter? Please do me a favor and forward this email to someone who would benefit from it as much as you did. 

Sharing is caring, and it helps us grow! ❤️

😍 Let's Get Social

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

Have a great week!

- Omer

Interested in sponsoring The SaaS Podcast or this newsletter?

P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are 4 ways I can help you:

1. Join SaaS Club Plus: Get early access to our new community for early-stage SaaS founders. Join the waitlist now!

2. Apply for SaaS Club Launch: Designed to accelerate your journey to $10K MRR for new and early-stage founders.

3. Apply for SaaS Club Mastermind: Scale from six to seven figures with our focused mastermind group.

4. Work 1:1 with Me: Interested in coaching or advisory services? Reply with "1:1" and we can setup a chat.