Niklas Dorn @Filestage. How to manage SaaS rapid growth

In this episode #33, we are talking with Niklas Dorn, CEO & co-founder of Filestage (https://filestage.io/ ), the content review platform that saves users up to 2 days per month chasing feedback, consolidating comments, and tracking approvals. Niklas talks about the importance of building the company culture from the very beginning and the fact that even though people come to work for a startup, they don’t necessarily share the same views on the setup they’re getting into.

(0:00:05) – From Idea to Market Leader 

We chat with Niklas Dorn, co-founder and CEO of FileStage, to learn how they became a market leader in content review and approval platforms for marketing teams. Niklas shares his background in media management and e-commerce, and how he and his co-founder discovered the main problem FileStage solves today. We explore how they went about validating their idea, their process of interviewing 30-40 freelancers and marketers to get feedback, and their journey to launching the product. We also discussed how they got their early users to talk to them and how they priced the solution.

(0:13:49) – Streamlining Content Approval Workflow 

We discussed how FileStage became a leader in content review and approval platforms for marketers. We explore how they combined easy feedback and sharing of content with a strong marketing workflow process to create their product. We also look at the difficulties of finding customers for their SaaS business and how they overcame them by adding an affiliate program and investing in content creation. We also discuss their marketing strategies, including their experience with paid marketing and outbound marketing.

(0:22:10) – Marketing and CEO Evolution

We explore how FileStage has become a leader in content review and approval platforms for marketers. We discuss how they’ve implemented processes to collect and score feature requests and show customers mockups before they’re released. We also touch on the features that they’ve developed, such as support for all file types, customizable workflow steps, and automation to save marketers time. Lastly, we look at how Niklas’ role has changed as the company has grown.

(0:29:27) – Building Culture and Hiring Strategies 

We discuss how FileStage has grown its team and the importance of hiring the right people. Niklas shares his experience with bad hires and how to avoid them in the future. We explore the company culture they’ve built, and why it’s important to check for cultural fit in job interviews. We look into the importance of finding people with relevant experience for the roles you are trying to fill, and how to balance between strategy and hands-on experiences.

(0:42:01) – Marketing Lessons and AI Automation 

We discuss the importance of having the right measurements in place before investing in paid advertising, as well as how it can be a distraction and burn money. We also explore how focusing on users and their feedback, delivering good customer service, and achieving product-market fit helped the team grow. Finally, we discuss AI solutions to help marketers become more productive and reduce manual review tasks, as well as the potential to provide automated recommendations to improve processes.