SaaS Backwards - Reverse Engineering SaaS Success

We’ve all been frustrated by those pesky ads that pop up when trying to read an article.
We understand that publishers are trying to capture more of that lost ad revenue, but the solution is not to create such a poor experience that it drives consumers away.
And the rise of ad blockers is not the only problem for publishers.
The decline of traditional tracking methods due to privacy regulations and browser changes, such as the death of the cookie, threatens the business model even more.
Dan Rua, CEO of Admiral, believes that both publishers and visitors need to care more about each other.
Through their Visitor Relationship Management platform (VRM), publishers can offer visitors different value exchanges based on their preferences, such as ad-free experiences, email relationships, or subscriptions.
The results for publishers are a no-brainer, receiving an almost immediate return on investment for many.
Other key takeaways from this episode:

• Focus on solving specific problems first – Admiral started with ad block recovery as their beachhead and became the best in the world.
• How they went from founder-led sales to a scalable machine once they’d achieved product-market fit.
• The benefits of having a strong product team as founders and how they understood everything that’s needed to contribute to revenue early on.

Other resources to check out:

Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publishes a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing.
The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer.
And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting.

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Your messaging could be turning buyers away before you even get a chance to pitch.

🔗 Get a Free Messaging & Conversion Review

We’ll analyze your website and content through the eyes of your buyers to uncover what’s stopping them from booking a demo. Then, we’ll give you a personalized report with practical recommendations to help you turn more visitors into sales conversations.

And the best part?

💡 It’s completely free.

No commitments, no pressure—just actionable advice to help you book more demos.

Your next demo is just a click away—claim your free review now.

Pricing is often the most overlooked “P” in the SaaS marketing mix. We see it in our marketing practice often.
Companies may be averse to raising prices for fear of losing customers, focusing on other priorities like product development, or simply don’t understand the impact on the business.
In this episode, we caught up with Pat Meegan, Senior Partner at Maple Street Advisors, who talks about assessing the opportunity for pricing growth regularly by looking at four key indicators:

1. Leadership doesn't have a clear pricing strategy that everyone can point to and have confidence in.
2. Inactivity in pricing for a significant period (six months to a year).
3. Market data that indicates the potential for better pricing or an optimized pricing structure.
4. Value-added to the product without corresponding pricing adjustments

And given the risks such as customer churn or dissatisfaction, Meegan provides insights into how companies can approach pricing to drive growth and satisfy both their customers and investors.

Key Takeaways from this episode:

• How to evaluate a DIY approach to pricing or bringing in an external advisor
• How to determine if pricing is a lever you can pull for growth and profitability
• How to pressure test new pricing strategies to mitigate churn risk

Other resources to check out:

Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publishes a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing.
The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer.
And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting.

---
Not Getting Enough Demos?

Your messaging could be turning buyers away before you even get a chance to pitch.

🔗 Get a Free Messaging & Conversion Review

We’ll analyze your website and content through the eyes of your buyers to uncover what’s stopping them from booking a demo. Then, we’ll give you a personalized report with practical recommendations to help you turn more visitors into sales conversations.

And the best part?

💡 It’s completely free.

No commitments, no pressure—just actionable advice to help you book more demos.

Your next demo is just a click away—claim your free review now.

When going through a repetitive and time-consuming mortgage application process in 2017, Mang-Git Ng was surprised that the process wasn’t automated.

He realized that there were many industries that still operated in the internet dark ages and that moving all these PDFs and paper documents to online forms could solve a major problem.

But after he and his co-founder had built their initial product, they struggled to gain traction, especially with limited sales and marketing experience.

Through much experimentation, they started identifying patterns in their customer base and certain industries (like human resources workforce management and insurance) that had a need for generating, processing, and signing documents, and their product was a great solution.

By focusing on these verticals, Anvil was able to deeply understand the challenges and language used in these industries, allowing them to speak to their target customers more effectively.

Six years later, Anvil is a seven-figure ARR SaaS company that has raised $10M in funding.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• Finding patterns in your customer base that can be exploited for niche-based selling
• How to sell to companies that are resistant to change
• Why you should focus on sales and marketing early in the process

Other resources to check out:

Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publishes a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing.
The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer.
And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting.

---
Not Getting Enough Demos?

Your messaging could be turning buyers away before you even get a chance to pitch.

🔗 Get a Free Messaging & Conversion Review

We’ll analyze your website and content through the eyes of your buyers to uncover what’s stopping them from booking a demo. Then, we’ll give you a personalized report with practical recommendations to help you turn more visitors into sales conversations.

And the best part?

💡 It’s completely free.

No commitments, no pressure—just actionable advice to help you book more demos.

Your next demo is just a click away—claim your free review now.

You’ve probably never thought about what goes on behind the scenes when you return a product, but there’s a lot to it.
In this episode of the SaaS Backwards podcast, Chuck Fuerst, CMO at ReverseLogix, gives a look behind the scenes at some of the challenges and opportunities in the returns management system category.
And because it’s so complicated, their go-to-market strategy requires problem agreement to be considered. And because companies enter different stages of problem awareness, the company has adopted a modular approach to pricing and packaging that allows them to take advantage of a land-and-expand strategy.
Overall, the Fuerst emphasizes their need to stay close to customers, understand their pain points, and deliver value through a comprehensive solution that addresses their needs one step at a time.
Key Takeaways from this episode:

• How active listening shapes their messaging and positioning
• Building credibility and validation through analyst relations
• How ReverseLogix takes a modular approach to pricing to fit their land and expand strategy

Other resources to check out:

Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publishes a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing.
The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer.
And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting.

---
Not Getting Enough Demos?

Your messaging could be turning buyers away before you even get a chance to pitch.

🔗 Get a Free Messaging & Conversion Review

We’ll analyze your website and content through the eyes of your buyers to uncover what’s stopping them from booking a demo. Then, we’ll give you a personalized report with practical recommendations to help you turn more visitors into sales conversations.

And the best part?

💡 It’s completely free.

No commitments, no pressure—just actionable advice to help you book more demos.

Your next demo is just a click away—claim your free review now.

Guests: Ken Lempit, James Ollerenshaw, & Rob Curtis

AI is transforming SaaS—but not in the way most leaders think.

Forget the headlines claiming "SaaS is dead." The real shift isn't just in tools—it's in how fast software is built, marketed, and bought.

In this episode, Rob Curtis (VC-backed founder), Ken Lempit (SaaS GTM strategist), and James Ollerenshaw (AI advisor) break down what AI means for the future of SaaS—and why B2B CROs and CMOs need to rethink their strategy now or risk falling behind.

From the death of mid-market software to the rise of agentic AI, they map out how SaaS leaders can adapt, differentiate, and thrive in this new reality.

Key Takeaways:

• Agentic AI is here: Build for agents, not just users.
• The middle is collapsing: Niche depth and data win.
• Ideas now beat execution: Speed favors bold builders.
• Risk fuels innovation: GTM teams lead AI adoption.
• Data is your moat: Structured models drive defensibility.

Ken, Rob, and James offer B2B SaaS leaders a high-level yet practical view of what’s next—and what it’ll take to win in an AI-native world. If you’re a CRO or CMO thinking about survival and scale in 2025, this episode is your blueprint.

Plus, don’t miss:

👉 Rob Curtis’s AI Venture Studio – StandUp Hiro, where he’s building AI-native tools at lightning speed

👉 Rob’s Substack – Future Work, where he shares front-line insights on building in the agentic age

👉 This Crunchbase article on why VCs are betting on Human x AI teams over foundational models

---
Not Getting Enough Demos?

Your messaging could be turning buyers away before you even get a chance to pitch.

🔗 Get a Free Messaging & Conversion Review

We’ll analyze your website and content through the eyes of your buyers to uncover what’s stopping them from booking a demo. Then, we’ll give you a personalized report with practical recommendations to help you turn more visitors into sales conversations.

And the best part?

💡 It’s completely free.

No commitments, no pressure—just actionable advice to help you book more demos.

Your next demo is just a click away—claim your free review now.