How to Bootstrap a SaaS Company with Over 4 Million Users
Aytekin Tank is the founder and CEO of JotForm, a SaaS product that helps people to create and publish online forms.
Aytekin used to work as a developer for a media company. And he was continuously building online forms for the editors e.g. surveys, polls, quizzes etc.
He didn't enjoy creating those forms. He thought the work was boring. So he decided to research and find a product that would help him do his job.
The only thing he could find was SurveyMonkey. But he didn't just want to do surveys, he wanted to be able to do a bunch of things with online forms.
So he thought to himself — if I ever quit my job and start my own business, this could a potential product that I build. And one day, he did quit his job and started building that product.
That was 12 years ago. Today, JotForm has over 4 million users and generates 7-figure in annual revenue.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- How Aytekin validated his idea without doing any customer interviews.
- How he got this first 500 paying customers without doing any marketing.
- How he's bootstrapped a 7-figure and profitable business with no debt.
I think you'll get a ton of insights from this interview.
I hope you enjoy it.
Book Recommendation
- “The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt & Jeff Cox
The Show Notes
SaaS Club Plus – Member Spotlight
In this episode, we feature SaaS Club Plus member Stuart Crane, the founder of Voice Metrics
Recommended Podcast Episodes
- PSPDFKit: Bootstrapping a SaaS $20K to $1M ARR in 8 Months - with Jonathan Rhyne [407]
- Pointerpro: A 7-Year Journey of Perseverance to PMF - with Stefan Debois [376]
- From Bootstrapping Struggles to a $60M Exit and Beyond - with Bob Moore [396]
- Paddle: From a Failed SaaS Launch to a $1.4+ Billion Valuation - with Christian…
- Storyblok: Turning a CMS Prototype Into an 8-Figure SaaS - with Dominik Angerer [366]
- Jobs-to-be-Done: Customer Interviews That Drive Growth - with Bob Moesta [423]
- SaaStock: Global Events for SaaS Founders, Executives & Investors - with Alex Theuma [256]
- How to Build a SaaS Brand Without Doing 'Branding' - with Paul Campillo [270]
- How a High-School Teacher Earned $5 Million With Online Coding Courses - with Rob…
- Subly: Bootstrapping a SaaS from Zero to 60,000 Users - with Holly Stephens [289]