Two non-technical co-founders taught themselves Bubble, built a prototype that barely worked, and convinced 15 companies to pay for it. That was just the beginning.
Paul Holder shares how OnRamp went from a no-code MVP to nearly 100 customers and 7-figure ARR by getting their first customers through personal networks, pivoting away from cold email to LinkedIn-driven outbound, and making the tough call to move upmarket when SMB deals stopped making sense.
Paul Holder is the co-founder and CEO of OnRamp, a platform that automates and orchestrates customer onboarding for B2B companies.
In 2019, while leading customer success at Troops, Paul and his co-founder Ross kept reflecting on the challenges they'd faced with customer onboarding at their previous companies. They spent several months validating their idea by interviewing customer success leaders to ensure the problems they saw weren't unique to their experience.
Both co-founders were non-technical, but that didn't stop them. They learned to use Bubble, a no-code platform, and although their MVP was far from perfect, they still managed to get their first customers – 15 paying companies – using it. Their customers didn't even know the product ran on Bubble.
After raising a pre-seed round, they hired their first engineer and began transitioning from their Bubble prototype to a custom-built solution. Initially focusing on startups, they discovered their solution was even more valuable for larger organizations where small efficiency improvements could drive million-dollar impacts.
Paul used three strategies to find first customers and grow OnRamp to 7-figure ARR:
1. Pounding personal networks for warm intros – every meeting led to another referral
2. Shifting paid spend from Google Ads (which attracted non-ICP leads) to LinkedIn where their buyers actually live
3. Deploying AEs with a “bear hug” approach combining LinkedIn content, Dripify connections, and strategic calling
The journey wasn't without significant challenges. They struggled with trying to build too many features simultaneously instead of going deep on one wedge. Cold email outreach became increasingly ineffective. And making the tough decision to move upmarket meant potentially losing SMB customers.
Today, OnRamp serves nearly 100 customers, has raised over $14 million in funding, and generates 7-figure ARR with a team of 25 people.
Key Insight
Key ideas
- Built a working MVP on Bubble (no-code) and sold it to 15 companies without revealing the tech stack - Validated the idea over 3-4 months by interviewing customer success leaders before writing any code - Abandoned cold email entirely after declining results - shifted budget to LinkedIn ads and organic content - AEs use a "bear hug" strategy combining LinkedIn connections (via Dripify), organic content, paid ads, and phone calls - Moved upmarket after discovering that enterprise customers get million-dollar ROI from 5-10% onboarding efficiency gains📖 Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:34 What OnRamp does and who it serves
01:24 Revenue, customers, and team size
01:44 Origin story at VTS and idea validation
03:03 From idea to execution in 3-4 months
04:19 Building the Bubble no-code MVP
05:36 How sophisticated was the no-code prototype
06:47 Selling the Bubble product to first customers
07:17 Ad break
08:27 SaaS vs non-SaaS customer onboarding examples
10:01 Early ICP and why they targeted startups first
12:00 Outbound as the primary growth channel
13:29 LinkedIn as a growth engine
14:31 LinkedIn ads strategy and targeting
16:11 Educating buyers in a new product category
18:18 Transitioning from Bubble to custom code
21:08 The MVP mistake – building too wide
23:13 Lessons from going wide vs deep
24:20 Getting to the first million ARR
26:11 Why cold email outreach is dead
28:38 Tools to filter cold email noise
30:01 The bear hug outbound strategy
32:09 Decision to move upmarket from SMB
33:58 Impact on existing SMB customers
35:49 How OnRamp disqualifies leads today
39:21 Lightning round
🔑 Key Lessons
- 🛠️ **No-code can get you first customers:** Paul and Ross used Bubble to build a working MVP and landed 15 paying customers without a technical co-founder. The product was imperfect, but good enough to validate willingness to pay. - 🎯 **Go deep on one wedge, not wide on three:** OnRamp tried to build task management, workflow orchestration, and a customer portal simultaneously. Picking the highest-pain feature and going deep would have gotten them further, faster. - 📉 **Cold email is dead for high-ticket B2B SaaS:** Despite trying heavily, OnRamp found cold email ineffective as AI tools flood inboxes and filters improve. They shifted to LinkedIn warming and personal network outreach instead. - 🤝 **Network-driven outbound scales to your first million:** Paul and Ross pounded their personal networks for warm intros to get from 10 to 50 customers. For 5-figure contracts, you don't need many deals to hit $1M ARR. - 💰 **Move upmarket when SMB ROI doesn't justify your product:** OnRamp discovered that enterprise customers get million-dollar returns from small onboarding improvements, while SMB customers couldn't justify the investment. Picking a lane freed the team to build for one segment well. - 🚀 **LinkedIn "bear hug" outbound beats single-channel tactics:** OnRamp combines Dripify connection requests, organic thought leadership, targeted ads, and AE phone calls to warm prospects before pitching - a multi-touch approach that converts at higher rates. - 🧠 **Say no to bad-fit customers intentionally:** OnRamp now turns away companies that are too small or still figuring out their onboarding program. Intentional disqualification reduces churn risk and lets the team focus resources on high-value accounts.Show Notes
Book Recommendations
- The Sales Acceleration Formula by Mark Roberge
Episode Q&A
**How did Paul Holder get OnRamp's first customers without any technical skills?**
Paul and his co-founder Ross taught themselves Bubble, a no-code platform, and built a working prototype. They sold it to their first 15 customers at around $100/month without revealing it ran on Bubble.
**Why did OnRamp abandon cold email as a growth channel?**
Open rates had dropped significantly, and AI tools flooding inboxes made cold email less effective. Paul found that personal network outreach and LinkedIn warming converted at much higher rates for their 5-figure contracts.
**How did OnRamp validate the customer onboarding problem before building?**
Paul and Ross spent 3-4 months interviewing customer success leaders at other companies to confirm the onboarding pain points they experienced at VTS weren't unique. They used Ross's business school PM class to further test the concept.
**What was the biggest mistake OnRamp made with their first MVP?**
They tried to build too wide instead of going deep on one wedge. Their product covered task management, workflow orchestration, and a customer portal simultaneously – three product categories at once – instead of nailing one first.
**How does OnRamp use LinkedIn to find first customers and drive pipeline?**
OnRamp runs a “bear hug” approach: everyone on the team grows their LinkedIn networks using Dripify, posts thought leadership content (not just product pitches), runs targeted LinkedIn ads, and AEs combine connection requests with strategic phone calls.
**Why did OnRamp decide to move upmarket from SMB to enterprise customers?**
Paul realized that for enterprise customers like Cardinal Health, even a 5-10% efficiency improvement in onboarding had million-dollar impact. SMB customers couldn't justify the same investment, and building product for both segments was spreading the team too thin.
**How did Paul Holder transition OnRamp from Bubble to a custom codebase?**
After getting 15 customers on Bubble, they raised a pre-seed round and hired their first engineer, Sean. They managed a months-long transition period where they were simultaneously selling on Bubble while building the custom solution.
**What made Google Ads ineffective for OnRamp's customer acquisition?**
Google Ads attracted people searching for “customer onboarding” who wanted services help setting up their programs, not SaaS software. The leads were consistently off-ICP, so OnRamp shifted budget to LinkedIn where they could target specific personas and verticals.
**How does OnRamp disqualify leads that aren't ready for their platform?**
OnRamp now turns away companies below a certain size, telling them they're not a fit yet. They also filter out companies still figuring out their onboarding program, explaining that OnRamp is for scaling and automating existing programs, not building one from scratch.