Play It Smart

In this episode, Alexej hosts Charlie Dolan, co-founder of DSQ Technology, a company specializing in software for the waste and water management industry. Previously, Charlie and his brother built and sold Sequoia Waste Solutions, a tech-enabled service business in the same sector. This episode delves into the entrepreneurial journey of pivoting from a service to a software company, discusses stra...

In this podcast episode, Alexej interviews Dennis Hu, a chemist-turned-founder who launched Drug Hunter, a B2B subscription service for drug discovery professionals. Dennis discusses his academic background, including a fast-tracked PhD from Stanford and work in the biotech industry, before founding Drug Hunter. He shares insights on the initial challenges, such as pricing strategies and deciding...

In this podcast episode, Alexej interviews Jean Baptiste (JB), the French founder of EvaBoot, a LinkedIn scraping tool. JB shares his entrepreneurial journey, detailing how he and his co-founder scaled EvaBoot from zero to 2 million ARR in two years without external funding. He discusses the importance of talking to customers before building a product, the strategic use of no-code tools for fast d...

In this podcast episode, Alexej interviews Cody McGuffie about his transition from a recruiter at Qualcomm to establishing successful e-commerce brands and ultimately founding a SaaS business, Everbee. Cody shares his journey of scaling Everbee from zero to $5 million ARR in just over two years through bootstrapping. The discussion covers Cody's insights on identifying a market need despite existi...

Rob Smith is the co-founder of Slick, a salon management SaaS tool. He explains how Slick, which is catering to hair and beauty salons, aids in managing bookings, payments, website and marketing, and has seen expansive growth with over 2000 customers. Rob also highlights the importance of their quality product which has an 85% NPS and less than 1% churn. In the interview, he provides insight into...

Alexej interviews Sam Shepler, the founder of Testimonial Hero, a company specializing in creating impactful video testimonials for SaaS and professional services firms. They delve deep into the significance of social proof in today's business world and discuss the unique value video testimonials bring to the table. Sam shares his entrepreneurial journey from starting a video production agency to...

From leading a medical cannabis testing software company to venturing into the private equity industry, Tony Lewis shares his experiences, tips, and lessons. He discusses his perspectives on co-founding, scaling up a software business, understanding the evolving SaaS market, finding the right fit between AI technology and potential clients, and the importance of values in business. He also shares...

Hannah Forbes is the CEO and co-founder of Lima, a SaaS business for communities. We discuss insights on how to launch a SaaS business in the community space and how to leverage an accelerator to find a co-founder. We also cover strategies for achieving product-market fit, dealing business challenges, defining pricing strategies, managing investor relations, and the importance of taking breaks for...

Vadim Rogovskiy is a three-time founder, and a partner at an early-stage tech fund in New York. He is the Founder of 3D Look, an AI enterprise SaaS which raised $16m.  We delve into Vadim's journey of scaling a body scanning enterprise SaaS business that sells into Fashion and Fitness. He also discusses the challenges he faced, the changing perspective about fundings, and the importance of patienc...

Jenny Wolfram is the CEO and Founder of Brand Bastion, a MarTech SaaS business that works with prestigious clients like Uber, Netflix, and North Face.  Jenny shares her journey from studying law in Finland to moving to LA two years ago and starting her successful business. She also talks about the challenges and strategies of building a SaaS business without a technical background, the evolution o...

Einar Vollset is the founder of Tiny Seed (over $40m assets under management), a leading B2B SaaS accelerator, and Discretion Capital, an M&A boutique for SaaS founders.  Einar shares insights as an entrepreneur with experience in different sectors, discussing why he decided to launch TinySeed over a venture studio. He provides an insightful view into how TinySeed operates, comparing it to YC,...

Matteo Grassi is a five-time founder backed. He grew Popup to over 40 people in the team, and it successfully raised $3.5 million from many backers including Accel, 20VC, and Seedcamp Unfortunately, the business encountered difficulties and, in January 2024, Popup was shut down.  The episode dives into the challenges Grassi faced in the competitive world of content management systems, the importan...

Simon Hay is the founder of Firefly, one of the UK's top EdTech SaaS businesses.  We discuss Firefly’s 17-year journey, from its humble beginnings when Simon was still in school to its notable exit. Simon shares insights into the formation and growth of Firefly, the challenges faced during funding rounds, their growth strategies, their mergers and acquisitions, and their subsequent successful exit...

Jordan Shlosberg is the founder and former managing director of ProSapient - a leading expert network platform.  Jordan shares his experience of successfully raising £10 million and scaling ProSapient to an impressive 300 staff and £40 million in revenue.  In addition to this, we delve into Jordan's decision to embark on two new businesses - a recruitment and an HR tech company.  We discuss the un...

In this episode, Alexej interviews Amar Ghose, CEO of ZenMaid. ZenMaid is a successful maid scheduling software which helps business owners grow their maid service.  Amar shares his journey from starting out with a friend to bootstrap ZenMaid up to an impressive $2.5 million ARR, all while leading a digital nomadic lifestyle.  He discusses his approach to customer acquisition, the importance of te...

In this episode of SaaS Minds, Aman, Head of Growth at Nuoptima, is joined by Deepak, co-founder and CEO of BoxyHQ.  They discuss the ins and outs of selling SaaS compliantly to enterprises. Topics include BoxyHQ's foundation story, the hidden costs and challenges of building bespoke security solutions, understanding compliance and security requirements of enterprise buyers, future trends, and mar...

In this episode, David Scott Turner, co-founder and CTO of Imburse Payments, shares his entrepreneurial journey starting from the launch of his enterprise SaaS solution business, Imburse, to its acquisition by Duck Creek.   The episode covers a variety of topics including the challenges and rewards of scaling, customer acquisition strategies, crucial considerations during hiring, insights into the...