Hit 100 paying customers!
by Devan SabaratnamI still clearly remember 2 years ago sitting despondently in my office, seeing that we only had about 6 paying customers to our HR SaaS. I remember thinking back then "If only I can get to 100 paying customers, that would be so great and mean so much"... But it seemed too far away and such an impossible task.
But just yesterday morning, I glanced at our company KPI dashboard and noticed that we had 103 paying customers on the books. I actually had to pause as I became emotional thinking back about how important that milestone had seemed to me, and I nearly missed it! 😄
Actually, at the time of writing this, we are up to 110 paying customers. It makes me ecstatic that all the hard work me and my co-founder have put in over the past 6 months have paid off. Most of the credit actually belongs to my amazing co-founder and the marketing team/strategies she has put in place since joining the company.
Now - onwards and upwards for the next milestone - 1000 paying customers! 🚀
-
5
Amazing milestone, congrats! Hope to be posting a similar milestone some day.
Just some feedback on your landing page. You mentioned the phrase "tools the big boys use". I reckon your target HR market are predominantly female and I wouldn't be surprised if you lost a few visitors due to this phrase being interpreted as non-inclusive.
Most people would get that it's an old phrase but it's the way the world is now.
-
2
Hey James - Thank You.
And great feedback. I've actually had a couple of other people point this out recently. Ironically, it was my (female) co-founder who came up with this strapline - she is in charge of the marketing side of the business. I'll have a chat with her and see if we can come up with a better way to express this benefit.
-
-
3
Congratulations Devan, once you ll hit 1000, 10 k would not be that difficult, and at the same time most difficult of them all still would be first 100.
Keep at it, you have got it.
-
1
Thank you Nikhil. Wow, I haven't even considered 10K yet, but that would be my ultimate dream. Big challenge now is building a team so that when we do get to 4 and 5 figures, we can still be know for the great customer service that we provide now. I never want to lose that aspect of my startup.
-
-
2
Congrats @Devan, great news! Would be happy if you could share your AppSumo results here from time to time. :)
-
2
Thanks Chris - I am fully intending to do a detailed blog post about our AppSumo experience and share it on here in a week or two, when the campaign dies down.
-
-
2
Congrats Devan! Love the landing page. 👍
We're in the middle of validating our SaaS and hoping to hit similar milestones one day.
Keep up the awesome work!
-
1
Thank you Yarty. Yes, we've revamped our landing page a couple of time, and I am really happy with what we have now. If you have the resilience and patience to stick with the early grind, I am sure you will make it. It took longer than I expected to get where we are today, but the road certainly seems easier and smoother these days.
-
-
2
Congrats. I know your pain. Slow and steady wins the race.
-
1
Thank you! Yes, I really wish someone had coached me in the early days and kept reminding me that the early days will be a harder grind than you expect, but once you are over that hurdle, things will begin to get easier.
-
-
2
Great man....congrats....Keep hustling:)
-
1
Thank you Vishal! 🙏
-
-
2
Huge milestone, congrats Devan.
-
1
Thanks Keegan! 👍
-
-
2
Congrats! When we imagine milestones like this, the reality feels so much different when we actually hit them, they just feel normal by the time we get there... Take yourself out to dinner and enjoy your weekend, tell all your friends & family, and congratulate yourself - take in the moment!
-
1
Thanks Pat. That was the weird thing. I had set it as an important goal early on, but as we got closer to it, I kind of lost focus on it in all the rush and I surprised/disappointed myself that I had pretty much missed something I considered a big milestone.
And celebrating wins is another big weakness of mine - I tend to not stop and celebrate the big (and little) wins like I should, so this weekend I am going to take time out for a little celebration. 🎈
-
-
2
Congratulations on not quitting and working hard on it.
-
1
Thank you shabanbx - It is a good feeling when persistence pays off!
-
-
2
Congrats on the milestone!
-
1
Thank you Stan!! 😊
-
-
1
Congrats guys, how did you market the product?
-
1
Thank you. I wrote a blog post a couple of months back about the discoveries we made with our marketing - hope there is something in there which can help you: https://devan.codes/blog/2019/11/29/my-chinese-bamboo-startup
-
-
1
Some marketing advice you can give to new starters in SaaS.
-
1
Hi neeraga - I distilled some of my thoughts on marketing in this blog post a couple of months back: https://devan.codes/blog/2019/11/29/my-chinese-bamboo-startup
Hope it is useful to you (and other IH-ers).
-
1
Thanks Devan
-
-
