Keynote by Emeric Ernoult Co-founder & CEO AgoraPulse, Dublin RDS Traction Stage at #SaaStock17

1. Growing from 0 to 300k MRR
as a self funded Saas business
What I've learned about growth, funding and
how to set priorities

2. Key Learning #1
Patience

3. This is how looooong and painful it’s been

4. “Get ready for the
long, slow Saas
ramp of death”
Gail Goodman
bit.ly/slow-saas
Founder of Constant Contact

5. Key Learning #2
Persistence

7. Key Learning #3
VC Funding is NOT for everyone

8. 1. You value your freedom and independence
more than you value becoming rich
2. You seek advice and guidance more than you
seek money
3. You operate (or plan to operate) in a crowded
space
4. What turns you on is to build a sound,
profitable business
5. You don’t have BIG dreams from Day One
6. You don’t REALLY need the money to keep
going
7. You have not yet figured out your growth levers
(or worse, you’re not sure you have one)
8. You’ve grown your business organically so far
9. You are not 100% sure about how to spend the
money raised in an efficient manner
“9 compelling
reasons not to
raise VC money”
Find it on Medium
bit.ly/no-vc

9. Key Learning #4
Remote is NOT a fantasy land

10. “pro-remote”
content is all over
the web
Hint: this is misleading

11. But choosing
remote is an
utterly
challenging path
1. On-boarding new team members in a remote
environment doubles or triples their learning curve
2. Communication is much more complicated
3. As a team leader, you have to be super disciplined, have
clear processes, document everything, it’s counter
intuitive with early stage needs
4. The high velocity pace small teams need to win is near
to impossible, everything takes a LOT more time in a
remote environment.
5. From our experience, it can work well for support and
marketing jobs, it’s far from ideal for product teams
(PM, UI/UX and developers) as it slows your product big
time.

12. Key Learning #5
Work / life balance is a mirage

13. Is this your dream
life?
Forget about it

14. As a startup
founder, this is
what you need to
be great at
1. Leadership
2. Product
3. Customer support / success
4. Finance / projections / accounting
5. Business development / growth
6. Sales
7. Hiring / coaching / mentoring / culture
8. Networking
9. Analytics / metrics / KPI tracking
10. Personal growth
11. Staying in shape
12. Taking good care of your family
13. Keeping some friends around you
All in 4 hours a week?
Really?

15. Key Learning #6
Leadership is tough and crucial

16. Read this one
book
If you only read one book about
leadership, read this one

17. Key Learning #7
Setting priorities is key (and hard)

18. Setting priorities
right will make or
break your startup
Ask yourself, every day,
“is this the ONE thing I
should be doing now?”

19. Setting priorities
for your (growing)
team is even more
important
Everyone has his/her own
agenda. If you don’t align
every team member
behind the right goals,
you’re f***

20. Key Learning #8
Hiring “right” is tough, very tough

21. Do the job yourself
until you’re about
to die, then hire
The biggest (and most
expensive) mistake a self
funded business can make
is hiring for a job that’s
not “vital” or well defined.

22. If in doubt, only
hire for customer
facing positions
You can thrive without lead
gen, ads, pixel perfect
design, email copies, an
active social media
presence…
You CAN’T thrive without
top notch customer support

23. Key Learning #9
Reinvent everything, all the time

24. What worked 6
months ago is
probably not
working anymore

25. Key Learning #10
The right tool can make a difference

26. We use 30+ tools
Too many? If a 99/month tool can
save 1 hour a day to 1 team
member, it’s a no brainer (sorry
DHH ;-)
bit.ly/saas-tools

27. Receptive.io
The best system to manage and
prioritize feature requests

28. Salesmachine.io
The best system to build a
customer success framework

29. Supporthero.io
The best system to offer top notch
self help support and reduce
redundant support tickets