Jeff Coyle @MarketMuse. Disrupting the SaaS market with next-level AI tool

In this episode #17, we are talking with Jeff Coyle, the co-founder of MarketMuse (https://www.marketmuse.com/), an AI platform that transforms the way you research, plan and craft your content. Jeff shares his views on the challenges AI could bring to SaaS founder and the mistakes that they’ve made along the way.

(0:00:06) – Building a Successful SEO Tool 

Jeff Coyle, the co-founder of MarketMuse, an AI-powered platform that transforms the way you research, plan, and craft content, shares his journey of discovering SEO. It began in his third year of college when he got a summer internship with a company called KnowledgeStorm. He used search engines to drive traffic to the company and built a vertical search engine platform. Jeff then joined Tech Target, where he led their in-house team and had to learn to work with editorial. His experiences with SEO and content eventually led him to found MarketMuse.

(0:12:34) – Market Muse’s SEO Journey & Future 

MarketMuse’s journey of discovering the market and creating a content optimization solution is explored. We discuss how the product initially required training workflows and consulting services, as well as how the product was positioned to beat the market. The maturity of the product, the saturation of the optimized content space, and how MarketMuse had to focus on business-appropriate solutions are also discussed. 

(0:23:03) – AI and Future Jobs 

We explore the challenges of AI adoption in the software as a service space. We discuss how the perception of AI output being “simple” affects the mental model of users, and how the democratization of AI has resulted in people misusing the technology. We also examine the impact that AI will have on jobs, and how it will affect the quality of content. Finally, Jeff shares his experience in shifting from Chief Operating Officer to Chief Strategy Officer.

(0:36:39) – Sales and Product Strategy for Startups

We explore the challenges of growth in the software as a service space and the importance of network and relationship-building in scaling a business. We examine the role of product-led growth, the impact of having entry-level products, and the need to invest in marketing and outreach to get traction. We also analyze the product-market maturity curve and how to create a strategy based on what stage of the curve your product is in. Finally, we cover two potential headlines for the industry this year.

(0:45:32) – Founder Tips

We explore the journey of discovering the market and creating content optimization solutions, the challenges of AI adoption in the SaaS space, and the importance of network and relationship-building for scaling a business. Jeff Coyle, the co-founder of MarketMuse, shares his personal journey of learning to talk about his mistakes and how to move forward. We also discuss the importance of tracking keyword rankings in SEO and the potential success of MarketMuse.