Sujan Patel @Mailshake. On the way to a 100 million exit value

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love brought to you by https://saas.group/.

I’m your host Anna Nadeina, Head of Growth for saas.group. In this episode #16, we are talking with Sujan Patel, co-founder of Mailshake (https://mailshake.com/) , a simple email outreach and sales engagement software with over 65,000+ users. Sujan shares the story of Mailshake, challenges to find product/market fit, insights about focusing on one market, pivoting, and great plans for the future.

(0:00:06) – Building a Successful SaaS Company

Sujan Patel, the founder of Mailshake, a sales engagement platform for modern sales teams, gives us a background of his experience in digital marketing, SEO, and starting a marketing agency. He discusses how he was motivated to start a SaaS company and his journey to getting there. He talks about his experience with product development, customer support, and success, and how he found it to be his weakest skill set. Sujan also shares how Mailshake was born out of a few failed attempts to build a software company and how they realized the product was much more beneficial for sales reps and sales teams. Now, Mailshake is a profitable and fast-growing startup with 45 employees and is bootstrapped.

(0:10:19) – Upscaling Functionality Journey 

Sujan Patel’s journey of founding Mailshake and his experience in digital marketing is explored. He recounts the early days of the company, where he started with 14 competitors and realized that he needed to charge more than $9 per user to build a scalable business. The company eventually closed the door behind them in going upmarket, jacked up their prices, and focused on true enterprise functionality. Sujan also explains how they identified the features they wanted to build by observing the successes and failures of their competitors.

(0:26:42) – Bootstrapping and Scaling a Business

I explore the process of scaling a business from the perspective of a bootstrapped founder. We consider the decisions that need to be made when a company hits $1 million ARR, the challenges of distribution in a competitive market, and the significance of setting a goal that is both realistic and ambitious. We discuss how to identify what moves the needle and how to divide the goal into smaller, achievable targets. Finally, I share my thoughts on the importance of concentrating on what is worth executing and how to ensure that all decisions are in line with the ultimate goal.

(0:43:40) – Bootstrapping Hacks

We explore the process of scaling a business and the decisions that come along with it. Sujan outlines what it takes to grow a bootstrapped company, from finding the right people and investors to managing customer relationships. We close by reflecting on the impact his story has had on the Saas industry and how he’s striving to reach an exceptional exit in the next five years.