Taking a SaaS to $1M ARR (#1)

Summary

The transcript is from the first episode of a podcast called 'Zero to Million SaaS,' hosted by Kyle and Simon, two SaaS founders sharing their journey and strategies for bootstrapping a SaaS business to a million dollars in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). They discuss their personal backgrounds, current business ventures, and the challenges of building a SaaS from scratch. The hosts delve into their marketing strategies, including SEO, influencer marketing, and cold outreach, while also contemplating unconventional growth tactics. They emphasize the importance of creativity and experimentation in marketing, especially when resources are limited. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to follow them on various platforms and share their feedback to shape the future direction of the podcast.

Takeaways

• 🎙️ The podcast is aimed at sharing the journey and strategies of building a SaaS (Software as a Service) business from zero to a million dollars in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).
• 🚀 Both hosts, Simon Harber and Kyle Prino, are SaaS founders who have successfully launched and run multiple SaaS products, and they aim to provide actionable advice to their audience.
• 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 They discuss their personal backgrounds, including their roles as fathers and their hobbies, to connect with the audience on a personal level.
• 💡 The name 'Zero to Million SaaS' signifies the goal of the podcast, which is to help others build successful SaaS businesses, focusing on the significant milestone of reaching $1 million ARR.
• 📉 Simon shares a concerning screenshot showing the decline in SaaS growth rates, which contrasts with the optimism of the podcast's mission.
• 🛠️ Kyle emphasizes the importance of being creative with limited budgets, which can lead to innovative marketing strategies.
• 🔍 They discuss the potential of SEO, influencer marketing, and cold outreach for growing their SaaS products, acknowledging the challenges of competing with well-funded competitors.
• 🤖 Simon introduces 'Eight Base', a new AI-driven SaaS product he's launching, which focuses on a freemium model with a generous free plan to encourage widespread adoption.
• 💰 Both hosts acknowledge the financial risks involved in SaaS entrepreneurship, with Simon mentioning being six figures in the red, yet they remain optimistic about the potential for success.
• 📈 They highlight the importance of experimenting with different marketing strategies and being open to feedback from the community to improve their podcast and business strategies.
• ⏳ The hosts express their intention to inspire and encourage others to start their own SaaS businesses, leveraging the tools and knowledge available in the current digital landscape.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the podcast 'Zero to Million SAS'?

The podcast 'Zero to Million SAS' focuses on sharing strategies and experiences related to building and growing SAS (Software as a Service) businesses from the ground up to a million dollars in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).

Why did the hosts choose the name 'Zero to Million SAS' for their podcast?

The name 'Zero to Million SAS' signifies the goal of taking a SAS business from nothing (zero) to a significant milestone of one million dollars in ARR, which is a substantial achievement for bootstrapped businesses and the average entrepreneur.

What is Simon Harber's background and what does he currently do?

Simon Harber is a software developer and consultant who has been on an entrepreneurial journey for three years. He runs three SAS products, is about to launch a fourth one, and also maintains a YouTube channel where he discusses SAS and online business topics.

What is Kyle Prino's current focus in terms of his business?

Kyle Prino's main focus is on his SAS product called Client Manager, which is aimed at freelancers and agencies for onboarding and managing clients. He also runs a freelancing mini-agency, has another SAS in the pipeline, and creates content through a YouTube channel, courses, and blogs.

What is the hosts' perspective on the current state of the SAS market?

The hosts acknowledge that the SAS market is facing a decline in growth rate, which might seem like a challenging time to start a new SAS business. However, they remain optimistic about the potential and opportunities in the SAS space.

What are some of the growth strategies that the hosts are considering for their respective SAS products?

The hosts are considering various growth strategies including SEO, influencer marketing, advertising, and cold outreach. They are also open to experimenting with unconventional methods, such as leveraging viral content or utilizing chatbot interactions for marketing.

Why did the hosts decide to have a free tier for their SAS product, Eight Base?

The free tier for Eight Base is intended to encourage widespread adoption of the product. The hosts hope that by offering a free plan, they can get their chat widget on as many websites as possible, which indirectly promotes their brand and could lead to increased conversions to paid plans.

What is the significance of the chatbot branding in the free tier of Eight Base?

The chatbot branding in the free tier of Eight Base, which includes a 'Powered by Eight Base' message, serves as a subtle marketing tool. It exposes users of the chatbot to the Eight Base brand and potentially piques their interest in the product.

How does the host's approach to marketing differ from traditional methods?

The hosts are considering a mix of traditional and unconventional marketing methods. While they plan to invest in SEO, influencer marketing, and ads, they are also open to creative strategies like initiating conversations through competitors' chatbots or creating content that has the potential to go viral.

What is the hosts' view on the importance of community feedback for the podcast?

The hosts value community feedback and are open to adjusting their podcast format based on listener input. They encourage listeners to share their preferences and suggestions to help shape the future direction and content of the podcast.

What are the hosts' expectations for their podcast in terms of audience engagement?

The hosts hope to build a strong community around their podcast. They are keen on receiving feedback and are considering various platforms to connect with their audience, such as social media, newsletters, and their website.

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ Launching a Podcast: From Zero to Million

The first paragraph introduces the launch of a new podcast focusing on building a million-dollar SaaS (Software as a Service) business. The hosts, Kyle and Simon, express their excitement and nervousness about the venture. They discuss their backgrounds, with Simon being a software developer, consultant, and YouTuber, and Kyle running a mini-agency and working on SaaS products. The conversation sets a personal tone and outlines their intentions to share valuable insights on bootstrapping and growing a SaaS business.

05:01

🚀 Aiming for a Million: The Significance of the First Million in SaaS

In the second paragraph, the hosts delve into why reaching a million dollars in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is a significant milestone for SaaS founders, especially for bootstrapped businesses. They discuss the challenges of SaaS growth, sharing a concerning screenshot of declining SaaS growth rates. Despite the seeming downturn, they express optimism and commitment to building their SaaS products, highlighting the potential and excitement of the SaaS model.

10:01

🤖 The Allure of SaaS: Benefits and Challenges

The third paragraph explores the appeal of the SaaS business model, including recurring income, enjoyment, and scalability. The hosts share their personal experiences and reasons for choosing SaaS despite its risks. They discuss the autonomy of SaaS, the potential for high value multiples when selling, and the excitement of creating something valuable that attracts customers without extensive personal interaction.

15:03

🌱 Growth Strategies: Experimentation and Listener Input

The fourth paragraph outlines the hosts' plans for growing their SaaS businesses, emphasizing a lean approach with a focus on experimentation. They intend to engage with listeners for feedback on the podcast format and content. The hosts also discuss their individual focuses, with Simon highlighting his new AI-driven SaaS product, Eight Base, and its growth despite initial challenges.

20:06

📈 Growth Hacking: Strategies and Future Plans

In the fifth paragraph, the hosts share their strategies for scaling their SaaS products. Simon details his approach with Eight Base, which includes a free tier, influencer marketing, and a focus on getting the chat widget on as many websites as possible for exposure and backlink benefits. He also discusses the financial challenges of offering free AI services and his hope to reach profitability before hitting a million dollars in ARR.

25:08

💡 Creative Marketing: SEO, Influencer Outreach, and Viral Content

The sixth paragraph covers the hosts' marketing strategies, emphasizing the importance of SEO, influencer marketing, and paid ads. They discuss the need for creativity due to limited budgets and explore unconventional ideas, including a 'crazy idea' of using chatbots for outreach. The hosts express excitement about future discussions on marketing tactics and the potential for viral marketing success.

30:09

🌟 Engaging the Community: Calls for Feedback and Subscription

The final paragraph is a call to action for listeners to engage with the podcast. The hosts request feedback on the content and format, encourage following or subscribing on various platforms, and express excitement about the future of the podcast. They also mention their new website and the intention to share a newsletter, emphasizing their commitment to delivering valuable content based on community interests.

Keywords

💡SaaS

SaaS stands for Software as a Service, which is a software delivery model in which a software application is hosted by a provider and made available to customers over the internet. In the video, the hosts discuss their experiences and strategies for growing SaaS businesses, emphasizing the importance of reaching a million-dollar Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).

💡Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping refers to starting and growing a business with little to no external funding, relying instead on the entrepreneur's personal resources and cash flow from the business itself. The hosts of the podcast are both bootstrapping SaaS founders, which means they are building their businesses without significant outside investment.

💡Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

ARR is a financial metric that represents the amount of revenue a company can expect over a year from its existing customers. It's a key indicator of a SaaS company's financial health and growth. The video's title 'From Zero to Million SaaS' refers to reaching a million dollars in ARR.

💡Podcast

A podcast is a digital audio program that you can listen to on your computer or mobile device. The hosts are launching a podcast to share their journey and insights in building SaaS businesses. The podcast serves as a platform for them to discuss strategies, challenges, and to share actionable advice with their audience.

💡Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing where individuals with a large following on social media platforms are identified and recruited to promote a product or service to their audience. In the script, one of the hosts mentions using influencer marketing as a strategy to grow their SaaS product.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the process of improving the ranking of a website on unpaid search engine results pages. It involves various strategies to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to a website from search engines. One of the hosts discusses their focus on SEO to grow their SaaS product organically.

💡Chatbot

A chatbot is an AI-powered software designed to simulate conversation with human users. In the context of the video, chatbots are mentioned as a feature of the SaaS product 'Eight Base', which is being discussed as a tool for automation and support ecosystem driven by AI.

💡Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. The hosts discuss their use of content marketing through YouTube channels, courses, and blogs to promote their SaaS businesses.

💡Freemium Model

The freemium model is a business strategy where a product or service is provided for free, but money is charged for premium features, services, or products. The host talks about offering a generous free plan for their SaaS product, Eight Base, as a way to encourage widespread adoption and later convert users to paid plans.

💡Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is a marketing technique that uses social networks to increase brand awareness through sharing. One of the hosts suggests a 'crazy idea' of creating random, potentially viral posts online to attract attention and grow their SaaS product.

💡Outreach Marketing

Outreach marketing involves directly contacting potential customers or partners to promote a product or service. The hosts discuss the idea of using outreach, such as email outreach or engaging with potential customers through chatbots on competitor's websites, as a strategy for growing their SaaS businesses.

Highlights

The hosts, Kyle and Simon, discuss their excitement about launching a new podcast aimed at sharing insights on building a million-dollar SaaS business.

Simon shares his journey as a software developer and consultant, and his transition into entrepreneurship three years ago.

Kyle talks about his background in freelancing and running a mini-agency with about ten contractors, as well as his focus on his SaaS product, Client Manager.

The podcast's name, 'Zero to Million SaaS', signifies the goal of taking a SaaS business from the ground up to a million dollars in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).

Both Kyle and Simon express their belief in the potential of SaaS businesses despite the current declining market trends.

Simon reveals his strategy for Eight Base, a new AI-driven SaaS product, which includes a free tier to encourage widespread adoption.

Kyle discusses his focus on SEO, influencer marketing, and cold outreach as methods for growing his SaaS product, Client Manager.

The hosts contemplate the idea of using unconventional marketing tactics, including the potential legality and ethical considerations.

Simon shares his innovative approach to growth by leveraging chatbots as a means of viral marketing and backlinking for SEO purposes.

Kyle considers experimenting with email outreach using tools like Limber to target competitors' clients with a personalized sales pitch.

Both Kyle and Simon acknowledge the risks and challenges of bootstrapping a SaaS business but remain optimistic about the opportunities.

The hosts invite listeners to provide feedback on the podcast format and content, emphasizing their desire to tailor the show to their audience's interests.

Simon and Kyle discuss their personal lives, including their roles as fathers, and how they balance family with their entrepreneurial ventures.

The podcast explores the idea of selling personal brands versus SaaS products, touching on the different value multiples associated with each.

Kyle emphasizes the importance of providing actionable advice and sharing real, tangible results from their experiences in the SaaS industry.

The hosts consider the impact of AI and other technological advancements on the ease of starting and scaling a SaaS business in the future.

Simon talks about his experience with different business models like dropshipping, affiliate marketing, and consulting, before focusing on SaaS.

Kyle and Simon share their thoughts on the autonomy and scalability of SaaS businesses, and why these factors are exciting to them as entrepreneurs.

Transcripts

forget all the big billion dollar

headlines and just build a million

dollar sass I do have some ways but I

don't think it's

legal if we can just like get super real

for a second here a few days ago you

sent me the most depressing screenshot

I've seen

what here we are the very first podcast

episode of our new uh podcast Ser to

million SS and uh I'm here with Kyle

prino and I am super excited because we

we've been talking about doing this

podcast for quite some time now and here

we are the very first episode how are

you doing Kyle man I'm excited I am

nervous uh for this episode because we

just want to add so much value and

everything but uh man I'm really excited

and looking forward to what lies ahead

absolutely absolutely and we we have a

lot of uh of uh hopefully good value we

can share um on this podcast we're going

to dig very deep into how to build SAS

grow strategies uh how to do this the

boot strapping way as as we both are and

um we're just going to try to uh see if

we can make yet another podcast that

will add some value and some unique

perspectives from um from two

bootstrapping SAS Founders here so uh

yeah I I think U uh um maybe even before

we get into like the business side of0

to million SS and what does it mean you

know the name and uh what we want to do

uh maybe we can start with like a

personal side so so so give us a quick

intro like personally and also what you

do business-wise let's do it well um I'm

Simon harber and uh in case you don't

know me um I run three SAS products

already uh just about to launch the

fourth one and I do a YouTube channel um

where I talk about SAS and online

business and I've been a software

developer and consultant for freance

consultant for quite some years and I

jumped in uh heads first into this whole

entrepreneurial Journey 3 years ago now

and uh never looked back yeah listen

your your journey has

been genuinely incredible it's been it's

been amazing following your journey and

seeing what you've accomplished and what

your goals are and also it's it's it's

not crap you know like like the advice

you share it's actually actionable stuff

so yeah I just wanted to on back I

really appreciate that you feel that's a

quick side note I remember when I

started this whole thing I started on

twit three years ago you were already a

big name I remember everyone was

mentioning you when it came to

freelancing and that uh your content and

your courses were the go-to for people

getting and breaking into freelancing

and breaking their nine to-5 and already

back then you had a huge following

you're a big influencer and you were one

of the people I really looked up to so

it's it's quite incredible to sit here

three years later now doing this podcast

with you yeah thank you man and and I

mean I feel the same way with with you

with with cess you know and and I think

this is going to be really an awesome

you know partnership uh and uh and I

think we can get into it but just to let

our listeners know for those who don't

know about me um I yeah maybe on a

personal note so so I am a husband uh

I've got a six-month baby uh you've also

got like a baby and uh yeah I think in

terms of like hobbies and stuff I enjoy

um probably good food uh good company

good wine you know like uh those three

things lovely and then

yeah and then and then tennis and uh

squash and golf and and that sort of

thing so so I think that will be me on

like a personal side and then when it

comes to business side you mentioned

freelancing so that will be that's still

a big portion of my income you know

where dealing with clients so it's more

like a mini agency where I work with

about 10 different contractors probably

a bit more now and and that's a big

Focus um and then another one is I do

SAS um client manager is my main focus

right now that is for freelance and

agencies to onboard and manage clients

okay and that's I mean we're going to

dive into a lot of the details and

everything I'm sure for each of us and

uh there's also another SAS in the

pipeline I didn't even tell you but man

there's uh there's a lot of issues

happening there which is going to make

for a very interesting episode as well

um and then I also do content um just

like you I've got a YouTube channel I've

got you know courses and uh blogs and

all of that so yeah that's that's me um

I think first thing I would want to know

for you know listening in tuning into to

us we know a little bit more about us

now right so let's start with the

podcast itself so first of all let's

start with a name 02 million SAS podcast

what does that mean to you and why that

name great question I think personally

there's something about that first

million ARR for your SAS now given you

just said you had a six-month-old

daughter I actually realized now that we

could have called this Founders and dads

I have a one-year-old son that could

have been the thing so I I actually

think that in our world here we're just

completely normal The Humble people

sitting here and doing our small

businesses for US 1 million AR is a huge

milestone that might be not be something

particularly special for these like VC

backed fast grow startups but for the

kind of businesses that we're building I

think that that one first millionaire

are that's a huge milestone so I think

taking a SAS from Z to a million is not

only a huge thing for normal people like

us but it also that's that's personally

what I want to share and what I want to

Aspire other people to try to aim at

forget all the big billion dollar

headlines and just build a million

dollar SAS it's possible like we can do

it many people can do it today and I

think that's what we should try to do

with this podcast that was that's what

the name um means to me but that also

means that there's going to be some SAS

products we're coming in here with zero

or are at almost zero um so I want to

talk a little bit about that um we both

have like let's if if we can just like

get super real for a second here because

the other day it's not long ago a few

days ago you sent me

I think the most depressing screenshot

I've seen in in a long time actually I

have it right here it was on profit well

and it showed the progression in annual

the annual growth rate of s products

since 2021 and it is declining it is

going down rapidly it seems like this is

the most horrible time ever to build a

SAS so why on Earth are we doing this

for ourselves why are you coming in now

at zero with a new SAS that you want to

bootstrap to a million I I would love to

hear more about

that yeah man and uh and actually I sent

you two screenshots like I sent you my

mrr for client manager and I showed you

like hey we uh we did a lot of LTDs

lifetime deals which I know we're going

to have an interesting discussion about

you know in a future episode um and uh

and that generated in total about 50

Grand but my Mr is only a few hundred a

month right um but I'm planning to scale

a lot more and F on marketing and stuff

which we can uh really get into the

details on that because your marketing

strategies are incredible uh for for

growth and scaling um SAS um but uh yeah

in terms of like the SAS Market in

general man when I saw that I was like

Wow because so for some context it was

like I think it was like since 2017 or

2016 I can't remember when they did it

but it was like basically from when they

first started you know capturing this

data measuring this data to now it was

like one of the first times or it's

actually the lowest that it's ever been

in terms of SAS growth and man uh I was

I was sad I I sent it to you and I'm

like what do you

think right because like there's so many

different types of online businesses you

can do like there's the classical

selling courses you can do you can do

Ecommerce um you can do Consulting

freelancing as as you're already very

strong on um so there's like why are we

doing why are we why are we choosing

pain when we could just go and do some

kind of like more easy more lwh hanging

fruit what what uh what what is it about

SAS for you that's that's just That's so

exciting so so this is actually um a

very fresh Topic in my mind because

literally yesterday I recorded a video

on the different types of business

models uh that one can create Drop

Shipping I've got experience say almost

a million dollars a year in a business

uh don't have it anymore but uh um uh

affiliate marketing courses all of these

things and then SAS you know and and one

of the benefits of SAS for me is I think

um uh so there's a few things so it's um

recurring income ideally speaking um and

then you've got uh the the enjoyment

Factor um and uh the potential um

generally speaking so I think that if

you combine those together it is

incredible however if we offset it it's

probably the most risky business model

that you can choose obviously context is

important because if you're coming in

with let's say software development

background and you know a lot of cash

and everything else it's a little bit

different right but generally speaking

you can lose a lot of money and and I

put in a lot of cash I'm still six

figures in the red uh in in my

investment you know total um so it's

it's depressing but I wouldn't keep it

going if I didn't see the potential

potential of what we're doing so for me

it's a potential and it's also exciting

it's a nice

challenge how about yeah I mean I mean

what would your what what would your

reasons be yeah but I I I 100% agree

with it like first of all I want to say

like sex figures in in the red damn man

that's uh that's a tough one that's what

I mean like people hear this and they

they will go like how do you even sleep

at night through that but uh yeah as you

just said like you're you're quite a uh

routined business owner uh with many

years in this now and that that uh that

certainly helps and we we can drill into

that uh a bit but to to answer your

question I I 100% agree um now coming

from a background as a software

developer being able to develop uh my

own software all all the SAS products

that I uh I'm selling started with

something that I built from scratch and

from the ground up now I have a team

that's that helps me maintain and build

it further but um there is just

something in that the fact that I can

sit and type some stuff on my keyboard

and put it on the internet and then

random people will just come by and give

me their money it's something that it's

it it's hard to replicate in something

else now that sounds like obviously you

need to create something of value

otherwise they wouldn't be giving you

the money you need to actually provide

something that helps them but the the

the the the scalability of that part

most of the users that I have on on the

current s program that I'm running I

don't know who they are I've never even

talked to them uh and even though I'm

very active on social media I'm pretty

sure a lot of them they don't have any

idea who I am who I am and if you think

about it how many of the tools you're

using dayto Day do you know the founder

to know who they are some of the tools

you might but a lot of the tools you're

using you probably have no idea who the

founding team is and you also don't

really care that it's just providing

value and this level of um autonomy from

from both sides and then just a

a a cash flow that that rolls there's

something inherently exciting about that

that I haven't been able to replicate in

other in in in other types of businesses

yeah and and also there's one other

thing like uh um try selling your

personal brand right like try selling

your YouTube channel or your uh media

company or whatever

it's possible but it's pretty

challenging right um You can sell like

your freelancing consultancy agency um

although it's a little bit tricky but

your your your multiple your your value

multiple is going to be quite small but

when it comes to SAS obviously depending

on the industry and everything but if

it's profitable I know that's a you

don't say that to VC backed companies

you

know different but yeah know I I get

what you I get what you mean it's uh

it's it is just something different I I

I totally agree yeah and uh hopefully it

can it can sell um at one point if it

makes sense for the users and for

yourself you know so um I think it's a

good business model I think it's worth

trying um so that will be from my side

um a lot of my intention of doing this

episode yes is to share my journey and

uh you know to hear from your side get

advice from you share what we know

pretty much but also like Inspire and

encourage others to start their own s

because uh I think like 10 years ago it

was difficult right now looking at 2024

and Beyond with all of these tools AI

everything else I think it's going to be

extremely 100% easy but much easier I

100% agree and also as we've talked

about we we are we're in some some

groups together and we we talk a lot

about these these things and daytoday

share advice and there's just so many of

these things that we we sort of randomly

get into discussing that is extremely

valuable for other people to also kind

of oversee that discussion and often

enough we you you you know often enough

we drop that like we should make content

out of this that that could be a good

piece of content but then when it comes

to it how do you take that conversation

rrap it nicely and then you also need to

think a little bit about reality does

this can we put this into a hook and all

and and often enough it just kind of

like ends there and you you go for

something else that's that that might be

a little bit attention grabbing more

attention grabbing but a little bit less

like uh with with actual valuable actual

actionable steps and I think that this

is a good opportunity to just let people

Zone in on some of the discussions that

we're having and listen on and and try

to take away from from some of the

things that that some of the discussions

that uh that we're having on these these

topics yeah and uh would you say there's

anything else of like what the listeners

or Watchers uh on YouTube or the podcast

wherever uh can expect um what are you

hoping for them to achieve or do guests

like if we're going to try to to to sell

the the setup here and say like okay

this is some of the things we've talked

about with this podcast we're going to

have guests we're going to try to bring

in some people like us that have

experience with what we do we're also

going to try to find some industry

experts and see if we can have someone

come and teach us how to do this uh

better I think that's uh one thing

number two we're going to do this the

the lean way the same way that we're

doing anything else and the same way

that be running our SAS we're going to

try to to drop a bunch of experiments

and uh try out different formats and try

to see the best way that we can uh we

can make this work and then you if

you're a viewer right now you're you're

sitting and watching this we would love

to have your input so like when when you

finished this episode please just like

share with us in a comment below um do

you like this to be more conversational

should we edit it more should it be more

a quick bang for the buck uh kind of

rush through it how how how should the

for we're very open to to hearing about

this uh from from you the the listeners

and the viewers as well yeah yeah um I

think one thing I would like to know

from you and it and it might be we can

go in detail you know in future episodes

but um the main sess that you're

focusing on now okay wait maybe that's

the wrong question you're F focusing on

quite a few things but what is one SES

that you want to highlight now that you

want to scale to you know a million this

year or next year awesome yeah let let

let's uh let's get into that because

that's that's where we jumped off right

we we need to come to this podcast with

something that is zero and uh you said

the client manager USS is doing uh a few

hundred doll Mr so that's something but

it's it's close to zero in the bigger uh

grander scheme of things I'm I'm right

now focusing on a new SAS I launched

recently it's called eight base and it's

an AI tool so it's basically a uh

support ecosystem driven by AI uh so

we're going to cover chat Bots ticket

forms we have emails and we're going to

cover a lot of other things all uh

wrapped around AI as the primary um

Helper and tool for for um for

Automation and we just launched eight

base um two months ago and uh I I made a

uh YouTube video and things sort of took

off and we got to we we were actually up

and and round 7,000 Mr relatively fast

and then uh the initial round of churn

kicked in so we're now doing around four

or 5,000 Mr and uh it is what it is but

uh but but a great start now growth has

sort of like it it took that initial

Peak from the launch and from the hype

of it and everyone was like ah Simon's

launching a new s let's try it out and

we had a bunch of people signing up it

was great now uh growth has flattened a

little bit so we're now working on how

to get this growth engine running a

little bit more consistently and uh and

and and continuous instead of this these

sort of spikes and then and then Hal um

so so that's the the product I'm uh

going to focus on here whether I can

take it to million AR in a year I don't

know man it's a stretch like taking the

graph and the charge that we just uh

talked about before that that might be a

stretch but uh it's also okay I'm I'm

not in a in a very very big hurry but uh

of course I want to see if I can drive

eight based to to its full potential

yeah well I mean listen if you if you

were at like 7K Mr you that's like 100k

you know so it's like yeah so it's like

you're almost there um and 10x it's just

10x so so so so here's the question

right and and I want to know also for

myself you at this point how are you

going to 10 exit what is your go-to plan

what is your marketing plan what is your

what is your plan to make this ah yeah

let's get into it let's get into it now

we get to the the the juicy stuff here

um so so one one thing I really really

wanted to try with eight Bas this is

something that I'm doing quite

differently than the other SAS products

I've been uh running so far I I run a

social media management tool called feed

hiive and Link shorting tool called link

drip and then I acquired a SAS product

called tiny q small uh small editing

tool but for link drip and feed hiive

which are the tools that are driving

most Revenue I have today they are both

following the same 7-Day trial you need

to put your credit card you can't access

the tool unless youve signed up for

trial after the 7-Day we will

automatically upgrade the user unless

they actively cancel it's also what's

called known as as an opt out trial and

where I've been using this model in the

very early stages of feed High we tried

with a premium but it just didn't work

it it it's just just didn't work and as

soon as we put everything behind a pay

wall um our growth just increased much

much much faster however i' I come also

from a a place in software development

where open source was very popular and I

really wanted to try to make something

more open so with eight base we now have

a a Premium plan and we actually have a

quite generous free plan and it is fully

free so there's no trial and um right

now when you go and sign up on eight

base you just get dropped directly into

the tool and you can start using it so

there's no aggressive um prompting to

get you to upgrade there's a little uh

modal down in the corner and of course

when you hit certain limits you'll be

asked to upgrade but but there's not

this sort of like we're not locking out

parts of the tool you you just sign up

and you can start using it and one of

the growth strategies of course we we're

one of the the main features of eight

Bas is a chatbot and in that chatbot

there's a if you're on a free plan

there's branding so it says like Power

by eight base it's a very standard thing

for these chatbots and one of the

drivers I hoped to establish over time

is this sort of reality so I'm right now

not that's also why I'm taking it a bit

lightly with the whole Revenue thing

because right now my main goal is

actually to get these chat widgets out

on as many websites as possible um for

for multiple reasons it's um it's a

backl so it's a bit sneaky we're not

using iframes and Google has this

specific policy that they don't count

widget links as a backlink if they can

if their crawler can see it's a widget

but since we're not using iframes Google

can't really tell so whenever people put

this chat on their website it's a

backlink and also there's just the

traffic like The Branding when people

open the chat bot they get like other

people can see it and they get exposed

to The Branding so right now my goal is

to get this chat widget out us on as

many websites as possible that's why it

makes sense to offer free tier um and

and another one is going to be

influencer marketing and um and

advertisement but that that's going to

be a little bit later we started rolling

out some influencer marketing actually

today the first round of influencers are

starting to to post about our tool um

but but again with the goal of getting

people on the on the free plan and put

the the widget on the website that is

our main objective right now uh we're

also running red numbers on eight BAS by

the way talking about that um open AI

because now we're giving people a bunch

of free AI essentially they can bring

their own um open AI key if they want to

completely bypass the limits on the free

plan we actually do offer that um but

we're still offering a um some AI

included in the free plan and it's

expensive uh so we're also running red

numbers right now and and that's just a

part of the game and I I I think that

we're probably going to be running red

numbers most of this year year I don't

aim for being profitable this this year

at all I'm I'm happy to invest in

getting these widget out on as many

websites as absolutely possible so we

can uh we can kind of get get growth

going so to answer your your question in

a very long way um yeah wow I mean I

didn't know that um how do you foresee

like the I mean the break even Point

like is that like a particular number or

is cu I know it's usage based so it's a

bit tricky um W so so you don't think

you'll break even this year I don't

think I'll break even this year but

whether I'm going to break even before

hitting a million dollar AR um I I hope

so that's a lot of that that that would

be a lot of uh it's still I'm still a

bootstrap founder so so burning a

million a year uh without any without

profitability that's uh that that would

be uh that would be a little bit uh

uncomfortable I I don't know if I can

say it it's risky or scary but but uh I

hope I I'll reach profitability before

that um and yeah yeah yeah I man I would

we need to clip this part because I

would love to be in a position to say

yeah I can I can lose a million and I'll

be okay it's okay it's a bit

uncomfortable yeah yeah well uh yeah and

and bouncing it back to you now now I

need to hear growth because I know that

you and I have complet different

approaches when it comes to to uh to

growth and you I know you've been much

stronger on SEO you constantly give me

uh I I want to say you give me about you

tell me how I do SEO wrong all the time

let's just say it like that because this

is really not my strong uh strong um

side I'm I'm more on the influencer

marketing advertising kind of things but

uh I really want to hear because I know

you're you strong on SEO and I know you

have a lot of experience with just plain

old cold Outreach and can you talk about

how how are you planning on getting the

initial growth of client manager

going yeah so uh look um I want to get

it to a point where it breaks even ASAP

and then it makes profit and then it

makes uh and then eventually hopefully

the 1 million ARR will it happen this

year realistically I don't think so

however I do think it will get to a

point where it's making a good income uh

you know by the end of this year so the

question is how am I going to get there

and yes you mentioned SEO um that's

something that we've been investing in

and slowly taking some progress I think

in 3 months it's going to be really

really good we are in quite a

competitive market so we're competing

against um some interesting people with

a lot of VC backed you know cash and

marketing budgets and whatever and as

you mentioned I mean we bootstrapped you

know we're doing something differently

it like forces creativity with limited

budget exactly by the way that that that

is actually where real creativity comes

in it's not like you've got a million

dollars a month just do what you want

it's like no you've got ,000 or 5,000 a

month you know what can you do with it

that's where real comes in so yeah um so

it's SEO you mentioned influencer

marketing I've started with that for

paying a few guys um for blog content um

for YouTubers um also got some

interesting ones going out in the next

week or two but I'm you must report back

on on how your results were and then uh

the ads so you helped me with Google ads

and I literally just set it up like a

couple of days ago because this is where

you've done incredibly well with your

sess and I'm trying to pick your brain

get some advice and I'm sure we're going

to go into more detail in future

episodes on Advertising specifically and

then do some Facebook ads uh retargeting

ads and then the other one you mentioned

is called uh called Outreach so called

Outreach I've got some success in that

in like marketing and and freelancing so

I'm going to do exactly the same for

scaling the Sass and I'm going to start

with that in about a month I just want

to get through a few core little issues

that we're dealing with um uh into

internally and also some features and

then boom we're going to go nice nice

I'm look I'm very much looking forward

to we're going to dig very deep into

that in some future episodes as well

because it's uh um I I think for for a

lot of people thinking the SAS model um

uh it's it's a bit of a different way of

of approaching it and especially doing

it at scale so I'm very much looking

forward to to hearing more uh more about

uh more about that and now um we if we

we're looking into growing these SB as

you just said we need to be more

creative we don't have um we don't have

the budgets we don't have the staff we

don't have a lot of things that big VCB

companies uh have so we need to be

sneaky whenever we try to do things like

SEO ads these kind of things where we

try to compete in the same marketing

channels as big tools but if what what

would be like a crazy idea do you have

any sort

of like off the bat like crazy thoughts

that you kind of like ideas that you

kind I'm gonna try to do this no one

have done this before let me just see if

I can grow my my products this way not

necessarily something you want to

realize but do you have any

uh yeah so um I do have some ways but I

don't think I want to share it publicly

because I don't think it's

legal all good advice starts like right

there um but yeah I think uh

questionable thing so so I'm going to

ask you a question um is it is it

possible to scrape all your

competitors uh uh you know in a database

and then pay some hackers to access you

know who their users are and then give

them a discounted rate uh I don't know

is that is that doable or not I'm not

sure I I have uh I I should have a an

opinion about that here publicly

either no uh um I think uh um yeah

that's that's definitely an interesting

question I think um uh I'm just going to

go sort of the slow and boring approach

um however so okay so you mentioned at

the beginning we're going to do some

experiments right and I think that is

the beauty of marketing that is the

beauty of advertising because you come

in with certain theories and you want to

test them you know and it's running test

hey I try this I try this and then

you'll be like whoo this worked let me

hammer down so I think we're at the

point where we haven't done everything

and we sort of in the testing phase and

then we're going to hammer down but one

thing I do want to try is and it's a bit

random but it's like these like viral

posts you know um so so it's like if you

look at the stuff that people read and

then they share online it's not it's not

thing it's not your typical

advertisements you know like logical

emotional telling a story that type of

approach um it's more like this is so

Random you know let me just share it

with with someone cuz I find it stupid

and funny you know I think it's worth

trying so I think uh that'll probably be

my crazy idea I suppose um but uh yeah I

don't know I mean what do you think and

also throwing it back to you what do I

mean what are you going to do yeah

that's a that's a good question um I

think probably just like you I'm going

to follow somewhat of

um can you say like a traditional path

but um I did have

one now I'm now I'm considering whether

I should sit and say this public I

actually don't know if this this is

completely legal either I uh uh you know

how like when you do email Outreach um

you can just kind of the the old kind of

way where you you buy some email list

somewhere and then you just kind of spam

out emails to random people from some

segment you can't do that anymore it's

super legal so um doing this unsolicited

Outreach on email unless you have the

consent from the user and all you can

get in massive trouble especially here

in the EU but hear me out here what if

you for real here for a second what if

you went through and crawled the

internet and every time you saw a

chatbot in the corner just open it then

you start chatting with them about uh

whatever their website is about then you

sneak in by the way I see the use have

you heard about this tool eight base

it's a brand new tool it can really and

then go on to do a sales pitch and then

I was thinking I could hire a small

sales team I could probably get someone

on upwork like like fairly affordable

and then have like five people just sit

all day and go on different websites and

try to find chatbots and initiate

conversation and then sneak in a sale

the people on the chat then there would

be of course like you reach some kind of

big um services that have chat BS and

they have Live support then the Live

support agents might not not be that

Keen on selling this on to their manag

it's just like oh but you're going to

then ay then I have no job right you're

going to replace an me with an AI but

take smaller Ecom stores and Drop

Shipping businesses and small SS where

it's the founder that will be on the

chat himself and be like we know he's

super stressed he have other things to

do but he feel like he needs to be on

the chat to kind of like answer then

have these people sort of sneak in eight

base and this I bet there is no Curr

rules or regulations or laws that say

you can't do that like that's just

chatbot Outreach I've never heard of

anyone doing this before so that would

be my only uh I know I don't think I'm

going to do it I was just

contemplating you know if I were to do

something kind of like weird it will

probably be

that yeah I think um I mean in terms of

innovation and and idea I think it would

actually work um in terms of like will

it be a good thing for you and your

brand

I think it's questionable but but but

but you know what I think U uh I think I

think what what you might try so so have

you tried cold out emails yet

no to be honest I never it's it's I

think I don't know how to scale that

probably so so so to be fair no yeah

okay because it might be worth testing

right just just an experiment so you can

use a tool like builtwith or something

and you can see which uh uh websites

would have let's say for example the

zenes or I don't know your competitors

for live chat uh um and you can sort of

like get a whole database you know like

100,000 of these emails and you can even

Niche it down so let's say you find that

uh e-commerce stores you can say like

you know Shopify or woocommerce or

whatever you can filter it even more so

it's like super targeted then what you

do is you use a tool like LM list and

you can uh use the multi- channel um

Outreach marketing where you would

follow the founders on LinkedIn interact

with them all automated not in a non

sley way and then you would send like an

email and like a whole sequence and

everything just an idea just an idea LM

list yeah yeah I know the the the

founder I was actually on the founder of

lim List's podcast a few years ago

talking to he has this name I can't

pronounce it he's a french guy

G something like that yeah yeah yeah

they're killing it that's that's not a

bad idea I I I would uh I'll check out

Lim list see if this could be something

it's something I've never dabbled with

before I've never tried doing automated

Outreach like this so definitely

something I would uh I would take a look

at but then we are so we're going to

hold each other up on some crazy ideas

here you will post random content and

see if you can get like sneak in

virality and I will do something with

either it will be that I will do

something stupid with trying to do use

chat b or I'll I'll look into limb list

and see if email outre if is the first

time I'm going to try to do something

more Outreach at scale that's uh that's

a good deal and a good uh topic for for

a future episode yeah nice one man yeah

I'm I'm looking forward to it and um

yeah in terms of in terms of this

episode I know we approaching sort of uh

you know uh the time is there anything

else that you wanted to mention to our

uh listeners people who joining in

nothing that we haven't mentioned

already in the middle of the episode I

mean um we're trying out a new cont

format here and um we would just love to

have your opinions as well is this

something you would like to see more of

is there anything in particular you

would like us to dig into and of course

please show us the honor if you're on

Spotify follow us there and if you if

you're on YouTube subscribe there and on

Apple follow there and so on and so on

wherever you're listening or or watching

this please give us a follow and a

subscribe to indicate and to show that

this is something you're interested in

that that would mean like a ton to us

and then we would really love to take

your inputs we have no plans that go

very far into to the Future about this

so we're just we're going to try to to

to give what you uh what you guys want

to hear more about yeah yeah yeah uh um

and then also we've got our new website

uh well it's not new but it's like live

uh uh 02 million SAS Z2 million sas.com

check it

out yeah and uh we also going to have

like a newsletter and all of these

things so yeah I'm I'm excited man I'm

excited that's it you wanna yeah do you

want to do you want to give The Parting

The Parting words The Parting word how

yeah how is there anything specific

you're going to say it to kind of like

wrap it up or we just going to go like

and then that's it that's uh that's the

episode I think that's perfect Let's uh

talk soon for the next one awesome

cheers man