Bluebird

SaaS: Missteps & Mastery

Business EN ↓ 4 episodes

What’s the secret to building a successful SaaS company? Join host Machiel Kunst—an ex-operator in SaaS and recruitment expert with over a decade of leadership experience—as he uncovers the pivotal missteps and moments of mastery that define the journeys of SaaS founders and leaders. Through candid conversations, Machiel explores the failures that taught the biggest lessons and the strategies that led to extraordinary success. Curious to learn? Tune in.

Author

Bluebird

Episodes

Caroline Zand-Korteweg | Life as a Female Founder 04.09.2025 41:28

In this episode, Caroline, co-founder of Uncover, shares how a casual dinner between two burned-out lawyers sparked one of Europe’s most promising LegalTech startups. What followed was anything but smooth: an MVP built by the wrong people, a founding team with zero technical background, and a fundraising journey that included questions like, “How much money does your husband make?” But Caroline an...

Matthijs Huiskamp | Mastering the Founder Mindset after a €8M Series A 04.08.2025 39:46

In this episode, Matthijs Huiskamp, Co-Founder and CEO of Altura, shares his unconventional path from a failed hardware startup (yes, it involved beer cooling) to raising a €8M Series A and building one of Europe’s most promising SaaS scale-ups. He opens up about the power of focus, why Altura delayed international expansion, and the internal chaos that comes from being “too fast” at hiring. We al...

Lars Mangelsdorf | From SDR to successfully founding & exiting a SaaS business 25.02.2025 40:35

In this episode, Lars Mangelsdorf, Co-Founder and CCO of Yokoy, takes us on a journey from his early days as an SDR to building a multi-product SaaS powerhouse. He shares candid insights on scaling aggressively, navigating complex European markets, and the hard lessons learned from over-hiring and rapid expansion. With practical advice on mastering outbound sales and adapting to market nuances, La...

Hans de Penning | How Losing Focus Can Sink A Startup 25.11.2024 25:45

Hans de Penning is the co-founder of Neople, an AI-powered customer service software. In this episode, he shares with Machiel how one of his previous startups lost focus by pursuing too many side projects. He also opens up about the challenges of building a strong team, and the steps on how to overcome those obstacles to create a high-performing, motivated workforce. Hans offers actionable insight...