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:

• 🎧 Bootstrapped to 8-Figures with $50M in the Bank
• 🧩 Attio: The CRM for Modern Startups
• 🏆 SaaS Success: Problem First! Solution Later
• 📚 A Classic Recommendation for Founders

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🎧 Podcast

Bootstrapping an Enterprise SaaS to 8-Figures ARR

Kaveh Rostampor is co-founder and CEO of Planhat, a customer success platform that helps businesses keep customers and grow revenue.

In 2014 Kaveh was working at a SaaS company, dealing with a bunch of challenges around reducing churn. At the same time, his future co-founder Niklas was trying to solve churn and retention issues using technology.

The two teamed up and started Planhat.

For the first 6 years, the founders bootstrapped the business. They had to be really careful with cash and build a product that delivered real value. 

Finding customers was tough. It required building a deep understanding of potential customers’ problems and relentless cold calling.

As Planhat started to grow, the founders faced a new challenge: trying to make both small companies and enterprise customers happy.  

They had to make tough decisions about which features to build to ensure their platform was powerful yet easy to use.

Despite these challenges, they kept pushing forward.

There were moments of doubt and financial strain, but Kaveh and Niklas stayed committed to their vision. They constantly improved their product based on feedback and steadily gained traction. 

Today, Planhat serves hundreds of customers with tens of thousands of daily users, generating over 8-figures in ARR. 

Despite raising over $50 million, they haven’t spent that money yet and continue to operate with a frugal, bootstrapping culture.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How Kaveh and Niklas used their own experiences to build a product that solved a critical problem.

• How they leveraged just two customer acquisition channels to help them grow to 8-figures in ARR.

• How the founders navigated the challenges of serving both smaller companies and large enterprises as they scaled.

• Why being smart with their money and maintaining a bootstrap mentality, even after raising over $50 million, was crucial for Planhat’s success.

• How the duo persevered through the challenges of bootstrapping, finding PMF and fundraising to build a successful SaaS business.

I hope you enjoy it.

Listen to the full podcast episode

🤝 Attio: A Powerful, Flexible & Data-Driven CRM

Attio is built specifically for the next generation of companies. It syncs with your data sources, easily configures to their unique structures, and works for any go-to-market motion from self-serve to sales-led.

Attio automatically enriches contacts, syncs your emails & calendar, gives you powerful reports, and lets you quickly build Zapier-style automations.

The next generation of companies deserves more than an inflexible, one-size-fits-all CRM. Join ElevenLabs, Replicate, Modal and more, to scale your startup to the next level.

Get your free account today!

🤔 Don't Put the Solution Before the Problem

Success in SaaS starts with a problem. 

Don't put the solution before the problem.

Two founders recently joined my Launch program where we'll help them reach $10K MRR faster.

Here's what's interesting: 

Despite being in very different markets. 

They're facing exactly the same challenge.

- Both identified a personal problem.
- Both decided to solve their pain.
- Both built great SaaS products.

But they've been struggling to find customers.

Customers who:

1. Share the same problem.
2. Feel the pain intensely.
3. Are willing to pay.

Why? 

Because they've got a solution looking for a problem.
Instead of the other way around.

Here's the thing:

Sunk costs can be terrifying for early-stage founders. 
You've invested your time and money into a product. 
The fear of wasted resources can paralyze you.

To overcome this:

1. Accept that you might have built the wrong product.
2. Don't convince prospects; discover their problems.
3. Don't fear rejection or failure. Embrace it.

The sooner you learn what doesn't work.
The quicker you can pivot to what does.

Successful founders aren't afraid to pivot or change.

They view failure as a stepping stone to success.

So can you. 💪

Let me know if you agree or disagree here.

 📗 Book of the Week

This week's book recommendation is from Kaveh:

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins

"I worked for a guy who recommended this book many, many years ago. I still think it's a great business book. It empirically speaks about what sets great companies away, apart from good companies. I haven't read it now for many years, I would admit, but it's a good book." - Kaveh

🌟 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

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Have a great week!

- Omer

Interested in sponsoring The SaaS Podcast or this newsletter?

P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are 3 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.