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:

• 🎧 How a dev turned rejection into a $5M+ SaaS success

• 🤝 Why Attio is making waves in the CRM space

• 🚀 The auth solution devs actually want to use

• 🤔 When not to pivot your struggling startup

• 📗 The science-backed guide to SaaS revenue

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🎧 Podcast

CV Partner: From Developer to $5M+ ARR Saas CEO

In 2011, while working as a developer, Erling decided to start a business.

After working on several different ideas that didn't take off, he discovered a significant pain point in consulting firms.

He built the initial version of CV Partner to solve that problem, but his "developer-designed" user-interface couldn't win customers.

After blunt feedback from a prospect about the poor design, he brought on a UX expert as co-founder to overhaul the product's design and usability.

This major design shift became a key differentiator for CV Partner.

The early days were difficult. Erling had no sales experience, and his initial demos often dragged on for hours, overwhelming prospects. 

Over time, he learned how to streamline his pitch and focus on what customers really cared about.

And growth was slow but steady. 

Erling bootstrapped the business for 10 years, relying on conferences, SEO, and word-of-mouth to acquire customers.

Today, CV Partner generates over $5 million in ARR and employs 42 people across five countries.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How Erling went from a developer to a salesperson to a CEO, learning new skills as the company grew.

• Why having a great user experience was key to getting customers to recommend them.

• How the team balanced getting customers through inbound marketing with building a more active sales team.

• Why Erling decided to get VC money after 10 years of bootstrapping, and how it changed the business.

• How CV Partner is navigating the challenges of expanding into North America and what they're learning as they grow.

I hope you enjoy it!

Check out the full episode on:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Web

🤝 Attio: The Next Generation of CRM

Attio is the CRM for teams who love products like Notion and Figma. It's powerful, configurable, and takes minutes to set up.

Attio delivers value faster than any other product out there - with a simple tactic during onboarding: they sync your work email & calendar, instantly mapping all your interactions and enriching them with valuable insights.

The result? In less than a minute, you're looking at a comprehensive view of all your email relationships, enriched with additional data. This gives you time back to focus on what truly matters.

Join companies like ElevenLabs, Replicate, Modal and more in scaling your startup to the next level.

Try Attio for free today

🚀 PropelAuth: Authentication for B2B SaaS

PropelAuth is authentication your whole company will love. 

If you're tired of your dev team getting bogged down with authentication issues instead of building your core product, it's time to use PropelAuth.

They take care of all the complex auth stuff - from Enterprise SSO to user analytics - so you can focus on what really matters: your product.

PropelAuth integrates quickly for devs and provides built-in tools for your customer-facing teams. It's the full package.

Sign up for free (no credit required). And when you're reading to upgrade use code SAAS24 for 50% off the Growth plan for 6 months!

Sign up for a free account

🤔 SaaS Insights

Pivot or Persist? The Hidden Trap Killing SaaS Startups

On a recent group coaching call in my SaaS Club Launch program, a founder asked "Should I pivot my SaaS startup?".

The other SaaS founders in the group listened carefully to his situation, his challenges, and asked lots of great clarifying questions. 

The group's unanimous response? "Don't pivot... yet." 

Here's why:

1. Pivoting is a Last Resort

• It's disruptive and costly, potentially derails your current momentu

• You may be abandoning untapped potential in your existing market

2. It's Likely Not a Product Problem

• Your software's value may be hidden behind unclear messaging

• Broad targeting across industries dilutes your impact and relevance

3. Explore Other Options First

• Refine your messaging to resonate with specific industry pain points

• Narrow your focus to industries where your solution adds most value

Instead of pivoting, we recommended:

1. Find Your Language

• Research how customers describe their problems

• Study keyword data for their vocabulary

• Focus on benefits, not labels

2. Target Pain Points

• Test specific, outcome-focused messaging vs. generic descriptions

• Focus on industries where mistakes are costly

3. Narrow Your Focus

• Choose 4-5 promising markets

• Understand their specific problems

• Position your solution around their challenges

Key Takeaway:

Before pivoting, explore positioning, messaging, and market focus.

What seems like a product-market fit problem is often a communication and targeting issue. Sometimes, the path to growth isn't a pivot, but a refinement of your message and focus.

 📗 Book of the Week

This week's book recommendation is from Erling:

Revenue Architecture by Jacco Van Der Kooij

"He takes so much science models and theories out there and he puts them into context. It makes it a lot easier to take different pieces of advice and see where they fit in and why you should maybe listen to it or maybe why you shouldn't" - Erling

🌟 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?

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