The Tech Entrepreneur on a Mission Podcast

#256 – Jay Bartot, CEO Zeitworks – on creating SaaS businesses that stand the test of time  A story about how to avoid starting a SaaS business that will fail.

We explore what’s broken in the way businesses are leveraging automation. Jay explains that before you can automate something, you have to understand it. And that’s exactly where most companies are going dark. He shares his big lessons learned to create defensible differentiation and what thread is constantly looking for to build a business that grows predictable traction from the start. […]

Read More… from #256 – Jay Bartot, CEO Zeitworks – on creating SaaS businesses that stand the test of time  A story about how to avoid starting a SaaS business that will fail.

#255 – Rutger Teunissen, Former CEO 24Sessions – on building a resilient SaaS business A story about what it takes to not only survive but come out stronger when adversity hits your software business

Rutger talks about how the initial idea to build a marketplace became a complete failure and what he learned from that. He then explained the pivot and what was required to make that a success. Why COVID was a double-edged sword for the business, what critical lessons this taught them, and how they were able to not only survive but come out stronger altogether.  […]

Read More… from #255 – Rutger Teunissen, Former CEO 24Sessions – on building a resilient SaaS business A story about what it takes to not only survive but come out stronger when adversity hits your software business

#254 – Rafi Wadan, CEO Stargazr – on standing out in the very crowded FP&A category A story about using augmentation to solve 6+ figure bottlenecks in a fraction of the time

We explore what’s broken in the way manufacturing companies make decisions. Rafi shares his lessons learned on creating predictable traction in the highly competitive category of FP&A. He tells stories about how niching down helped scale faster and help deliver remarkable results in a matter of 30 days. Last but not least, he elaborates on how they can constantly raise the bar and get ahead of the market.  […]

Read More… from #254 – Rafi Wadan, CEO Stargazr – on standing out in the very crowded FP&A category A story about using augmentation to solve 6+ figure bottlenecks in a fraction of the time

#253 – Lars van Wieren, CEO Starred – on the secrets to dominating a niche A story about killing 90% of your SaaS business to become a dominating force in the market

We explore how the recruitment experience is broken and what consequences this has on companies. Lars shares some the biggest mistakes he made in taking Starred where it is today. He explains what made him decide to restart the company and say goodbye to 80%-90% of the revenue. He then elaborates on how he used the momentum of the fresh start as the mechanism to dominate the right segments of the market.  […]

Read More… from #253 – Lars van Wieren, CEO Starred – on the secrets to dominating a niche A story about killing 90% of your SaaS business to become a dominating force in the market

#251 – Christian Owens, CEO of Paddle – on building a unicorn SaaS business A story about creating a SaaS growth machine based on two core principles

We explore the journey Christian went through to claim Unicorn status. Christian elaborates on the holistic mission principles that underpin his business and how that has helped to build defensible differentiation and the foundation to scale from the start. Lastly, he talks about what it takes to get customers happily pay a premium for products that are not exactly sexy. […]

Read More… from #251 – Christian Owens, CEO of Paddle – on building a unicorn SaaS business A story about creating a SaaS growth machine based on two core principles

#250 – Greg Blazewicz, CEO SALESmanago, on bootstrapping a SaaS business to +€22 million A story about realizing a mission to turn eCommerce marketers into the CEO's trusted revenue partner

We explore how Greg took his business to €22 million ARR in a completely bootstrapped way. He shares his big lessons learned to build a business with staying power, how to find your own way of doing it, and why you shouldn’t blindly follow the advice and rules of people outside your company.  […]

Read More… from #250 – Greg Blazewicz, CEO SALESmanago, on bootstrapping a SaaS business to +€22 million A story about realizing a mission to turn eCommerce marketers into the CEO’s trusted revenue partner

#249 – Devin Bramhall, Ex-CEO Animalz – on critical Pandemic & Downturn lessons A story about setting your company up for success when it gets tough

We explore the big lessons she learned taking over the CEO role at Animalz – and what it took to grow the business by 200% in two years of pandemic and economic crisis. She shares what appeared to be really important to keep and what not to keep – thereby reflecting on her misjudgments and traps she fell into without even realizing it. […]

Read More… from #249 – Devin Bramhall, Ex-CEO Animalz – on critical Pandemic & Downturn lessons A story about setting your company up for success when it gets tough

#248 – Matt Ostanik, CEO Grateful – on creating a sustainable network effect A story about how blending social and business impact can create a remarkable effect.

We explore what’s missing in the way we build SaaS businesses. Matt shares his vision of how creating social and business impact amplifies each other when done well. He shares his lessons learned in creating successful SaaS businesses that leverage the power of the network effect. Last but not least, he provides his views on raising the bar for impact in SaaS companies.  […]

Read More… from #248 – Matt Ostanik, CEO Grateful – on creating a sustainable network effect A story about how blending social and business impact can create a remarkable effect.

#247 – Alex Levin, CEO Regal – on growing high revenue and low dilution A story about growing to a double-digit million ARR in 2 years

We explore what’s broken in the way we sell online to B2C customers. Alex explains how there is a new playbook that requires a B2C sales team and how Regal.io helps B2C sales teams 3.5x their answer rate and drive more revenue than their website does. He shares some big lessons learned on how they grew rapidly to a double-digit million ARR in 2 years and had no sales or marketing team for the first year. Last but not least, he talks about why we should prioritize creating wealth for everyone in your company rather than glorifying fundraising. […]

Read More… from #247 – Alex Levin, CEO Regal – on growing high revenue and low dilution A story about growing to a double-digit million ARR in 2 years