Geoff Roberts is the co-founder of Outseta, all-in-one membership software that makes it easier to build SaaS products, membership sites, and online communities.
In 2016, Geoff and his two co-founders set out to build Outseta.
After experiencing first-hand the pains of cobbling together different tools, they decided to build an all-in-one solution to simplify things for developers.
But progress was slow. It took them 2 years to build their MVP.
And then they quickly discovered that selling the product was going to be a lot tougher than they had expected. Most developers they talked to just wanted to build their own tech stack.
The founders struggled for almost a year trying to get traction.
But during that time, they also kept listening to customer feedback and improving the product. As the product became easier to use, they started getting the attention of no-code founders who built products on platforms like Webflow.
That's when they realized their all-in-one software was more valuable to these less technical folks and that they had been focusing on the wrong target customer.
So they doubled down on their new ideal customer profile and finally got traction.
An interesting side note; today, their customer base is split evenly between the no-code founders and developers. Although they struggled to sell to developers in the early days, things changed as the product kept improving.
It's a great story of perseverance and the importance of continuously improving your product.
In this episode, you will learn:
- How the founders pivoted from developers as their target market to no-code founders who were building products on Webflow.
- The role of content marketing in driving growth and how the team takes an unconventional approach to the content they create.
- How the founders built successful partnerships with Stripe and Webflow, which have both helped to drive new leads and customers.
- The benefits of the company's self-managed business model and unique compensation structure they have that's helping to attract a lot of talent.
I hope you enjoy it.
Book Recommendation
- Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness by Frédéric Laloux
- Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success by Adii Pienaar