The SaaS Podcast

Interview Flow

Interview Planner (Optional)

This doc helps you prep the stories, strategies, and lessons that make for a great interview. You don't have to use it, but guests who do consistently deliver better episodes.

Download Interview Planner (Google Doc)

TL;DR

Audience

  • Mostly early-stage SaaS founders
  • ~80% are under $1M ARR
  • The rest are typically between $1M–$5M or beyond

Format

45-minute video interview (video and audio)

Pre-Interview

15-minute warm-up chat before recording starts

Structure

6-part loosely followed structure:

  1. Introduction
  2. First 10 Customers
  3. From $0 to $1M ARR
  4. Scaling Beyond $1M ARR
  5. AI
  6. Lightning Round

Interview Structure

1. Introduction

We'll open with a few questions to help listeners understand who you are and what your company does. What I'll ask you:

  • A favorite quote or mindset that inspires you
  • What does your product do, who's it for, and what problem does it solve?
  • Metrics you're comfortable sharing (revenue, customers, size of team etc.)

P.S. if you don't share revenue, just say it's a 7-figure, 8-figure or 9-figure SaaS.

2. First 10 Customers

We'll explore how you went from idea to your first few paying customers. We'll talk about:

  • The biggest early struggles and what you tried to overcome them
  • Specific channels or tactics that helped you land your first 10 customers
  • Any early experiments that failed and what they taught you

3. From 10 Customers to First $1M ARR

We'll dig into how you grew your business to the first 7-figures in ARR. We'll talk about:

  • 2–3 of your biggest challenges at this stage and how you tackled them
  • The most effective customer acquisition strategies that helped you grow
  • A growth experiment that didn't work, and why

4. Scaling Beyond $1M ARR

We'll cover how your business evolved as you grew past $1M ARR. We'll talk about:

  • What changed (or broke) as you scaled
  • Strategies that helped you reach the next level
  • Lessons from missteps or surprises along the way

5. AI

We'll talk about how AI is affecting your business:

  • Where's AI having the biggest impact on your business right now?
  • What's the biggest threat AI poses to your business?

6. Lightning Round

We'll wrap up with these 7 “quick-fire” questions:

  1. What’s common startup advice that you think is actually wrong?
  2. What book would you recommend to our audience and why?
  3. What’s something you’re good at now as a founder that you were terrible at in year one?
  4. What’s your favorite personal productivity tool or habit?
  5. What’s a new/crazy business idea you’d love to pursue if you had time?
  6. What’s an interesting or fun fact about you most people don’t know?
  7. What’s one of your most important passions outside of work?