[SaaS Club] From Bootstrapped Startup to 40M Users


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:

  • 🎧 Anaconda’s playbook: build community, then sell

  • 🀝 Attio: a CRM to supercharge your workflow
  • πŸš€ PropelAuth: simplify auth, focus on growth
  • πŸ“— Book: essential strategies for SaaS product success

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🎧 Podcast: New Episode


Anaconda: From Bootstrapped Startup to 40 Million Users


In 2011, Peter Wang and his co-founder Travis Oliphant launched Anaconda, Inc. a data science platform.


They made a bet most VCs would laugh at:


β†’ Release their software as open-source
β†’ Make it free for anyone to use *and* modify.


Enterprise software giants were spending millions on sales to crack the data science market. 


But Peter and Travis took a different path:

they made their software free and let the community help improve it.


To fund development, they consulted during the day. At night, they built their platform and grew their user base.


When enterprise customers needed custom features and security, they were happy to pay i.e. new revenue stream.


By 2015, this evolved into a full enterprise product (CTOs were already sold) AND a massive open-source community. 


Anaconda became the standard for data science teams.


Result: 


βœ… 40 million users
βœ… 8-figure ARR revenue
βœ… $80 million in funding


The playbook? 


1. Build community first. 
2. Let users become champions. 
3. Then sell to enterprises who are already half-sold.


Sometimes the best way to capture a market isn't to sell to it. 

It's to become essential to it.


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


πŸš€ 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


 πŸ“— Book of the Week


This week's book recommendation is from Peter:


The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win by Steve Blank


"I really think this is a fantastic book. It's hard to say why. It just had a lot of good bits and pieces. I just loved it." - Peter


🌟 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

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