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Home/The SaaS Podcast/Episode 434
First Customers: No-Code MVP to 7-Figure B2B SaaS
First Customers·Paul Holder, OnRamp

First Customers: No-Code MVP to 7-Figure B2B SaaS

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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.

This episode is part of our First Customers series.

Key Insight

OnRamp's two non-technical co-founders got their first 15 customers using a Bubble no-code MVP, then scaled to 7-figure ARR by abandoning cold email in favor of network-driven outbound and LinkedIn warming. The strategic shift from SMB to enterprise unlocked deals where 5-10% efficiency gains meant millions in customer impact.

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

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.

Watch the Episode

Chapters

00:00Introduction
00:34What OnRamp does and who it serves
01:24Revenue, customers, and team size
01:44Origin story at VTS and idea validation
03:03From idea to execution in 3-4 months
04:19Building the Bubble no-code MVP
05:36How sophisticated was the no-code prototype
06:47Selling the Bubble product to first customers
07:17Ad break
08:27SaaS vs non-SaaS customer onboarding examples
10:01Early ICP and why they targeted startups first
12:00Outbound as the primary growth channel
13:29LinkedIn as a growth engine
14:31LinkedIn ads strategy and targeting
16:11Educating buyers in a new product category
18:18Transitioning from Bubble to custom code
21:08The MVP mistake - building too wide
23:13Lessons from going wide vs deep
24:20Getting to the first million ARR
26:11Why cold email outreach is dead
28:38Tools to filter cold email noise
30:01The bear hug outbound strategy
32:09Decision to move upmarket from SMB
33:58Impact on existing SMB customers
35:49How OnRamp disqualifies leads today
39:21Lightning round

Book Recommendations

The Sales Acceleration Formula

by Mark Roberge

Links

  • OnRamp: Website
  • Omer Khan: LinkedIn | X

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