Barb Hyman, Sapia
6 Weeks of Runway to Near 8-Figure Enterprise AI SaaS
In 2018, Barb Hyman was brought in to scale an existing HR tech startup called Predictive Hire. But within weeks, she discovered a harsh reality - the product was not working, the cap table was a mess, and the business needed a complete reset. She made the difficult decision to fire the entire team, including the founder. With just six weeks of runway left, she had to raise funding through convertible notes to keep the business alive. The next two years were a constant fight for survival. Some months, Barb was not sure they would make payroll. She and a small team rebuilt the product from scratch, pivoting to an AI-powered chat interview platform. They ran experiment after experiment to find the right approach to enterprise SaaS. Landing their first major customer, Qantas Airlines, took 15 trial runs over several years before they signed an enterprise SaaS deal. And just as they gained momentum, COVID hit, making it even harder to close new business. Barb tried to expand into the US market after raising a Series A, but the strategy failed. The sales hire used a spray-and-pray approach instead of focusing on verticals where they had product-market fit. After 18 months, Barb pulled out and moved to the UK instead, where the regulatory environment and cultural fit created better enterprise SaaS opportunities. Today, Sapia.ai is approaching eight figures in ARR with a team of 45 people. They have raised over $21 million in funding, and most of their pipeline comes from customer referrals. Barb's approach of overinvesting in customer relationships, writing handwritten Christmas cards, and sending personalized gifts has built a referral engine that outperforms traditional marketing.
