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Stuart Faught is the Founder and CEO of MiniHorse, where he helps first-time founders transition from corporate life to software business ownership through Ready-to-Scale™ SaaS business opportunities. A strong believer in the potential of vertical SaaS, Stuart focuses on helping entrepreneurs acquire and grow software businesses as long-term assets. Stuart has built and sold more than 20 SaaS businesses, gaining extensive firsthand experience across the full journey of building, operating, and exiting software companies. He is also the Co-Founder of Covington, a Revenue Intelligence platform for oral surgery groups. Based just north of Los Angeles, Stuart lives with his wife and four children and continues to connect with entrepreneurs interested in acquiring and growing SaaS businesses. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:29 - What Makes a Small SaaS Attractive to Buyers07:32 - Why Small SaaS Is a Great Path for First Time Founders09:57 - Why Vertical SaaS Wins13:45 - Growing SaaS From $0 to $500K ARR19:56 - Why Stuart Built MiniHorse24:00 - Profile of a Successful Franchise Founder26:24 - Stuart's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State27:38 - Stuart's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self29:02 - Stuart's Biggest Challenges at MiniHorse29:44 - Instrumental Resources For Stuart's Success31:26 - What Does Success Mean for Stuart Today33:12 - Get In Touch With Stuart Get In Touch With Stuart: Stuart's LinkedIn MiniHorse Website Mentions: John Richards Andrew Gazdecki Books: Goals! How to Get Everything You Want by Brian Tracy Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Keith Gillispie is the founder of REI Automated, a platform that helps real estate investors build businesses powered by systems instead of constant chaos. He has helped hundreds of investors close more deals, generate millions in equity, and create true operational freedom through automation, using a practical, no-nonsense approach grounded in real-world experience. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro06:37 - Keith's Early Investing Lessons15:58 - Why Most New Investors Fail21:57 - When Chaos Starts Killing Momentum24:54 - How to Find the First Deal29:00 - The Mindset Traps Holding Investors Back38:14 - Keith's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State40:32 - Keith's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self42:42 - Keith's Biggest Challenges at REI Automated45:19 - Instrumental Resources For Keith's Success47:50 - What Does Success Mean for Keith Today49:50 - Get In Touch With Keith Get In Touch With Keith REI Automated Website Keith Gillespie on Facebook Books: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Leo Poitevin is the founder of Astrak, a SEO agency that helps ambitious companies build sustainable organic growth through SEO strategy, content production, and link-building. Working with businesses in competitive industries such as eCommerce, high-intent services, and complex SEO niches, he focuses on creating long-term visibility that translates into measurable business results. Before launching Astrak, Leo led SEO initiatives for international companies and helped brands improve their search visibility and organic performance. Leo also shares practical insights on SEO and link-building through his YouTube channel, where he helps marketers and founders better understand what drives sustainable search growth. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro02:01 - From SEO Expert to Agency Founder05:00 - The Rise of AI Visibility and GEO10:12 - Why AI Recommends Some Brands Over Others17:50 - Adapting SaaS Growth for the AI Era23:44 - Building Trust and Authority in an AI-First Internet33:52 - Growing Organically Without Paid Ads37:07 - Leo's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State37:30 - Leo's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self38:09 - Leo's Biggest Challenges at Astrak39:08 - Instrumental Resources For Leo's Success39:57 - What Does Success Mean for Leo Today40:55 - Get In Touch With Leo Get In Touch With Leo: Leo LinkedIn Astrak Website Mentions: Alex Hormozi My First Million Podcast Books: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Krzysztof Szymko is the founder of Enterploy, a recruitment and talent partner that helps SaaS companies across the United States and Europe build and scale teams in Poland. Leveraging more than a decade of recruitment experience in the SaaS sector, Enterploy connects growing businesses with top talent across Tech, Engineering, Marketing, and Operations, helping companies access the expertise they need to scale efficiently. With a background in technical recruiting and over 12 years of experience in SaaS, Krzysztof has built Development, Sales, Marketing, and Operations teams from the ground up, along with the HR and recruitment processes required to support rapid growth. He works closely with founders and C-level executives to develop people and hiring strategies that align directly with business goals, ensuring every hiring decision contributes to long-term company success. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:42 - Building a Startup From the Ground Floor09:17 - The First Hires That Shaped Ziflow16:48 - Building at Startup Speed Without Breaking the Team23:03 - The Hiring Mistakes That Come With Hypergrowth27:21 - What Founders Get Wrong About Hiring in Poland32:24 - The Hiring Advice Krzysztof Wishes He Had Earlier35:07 - Krzysztof's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State35:32 - Krzysztof's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self37:13 - Krzysztof's Biggest Challenges at Enterploy38:09 - Instrumental Resources For Krzysztof's Success39:31 - What Does Success Mean for Krzysztof Today40:36 - Get In Touch With Krzysztof Get In Touch With Krzysztof: Krzysztof's Email Krzysztof's LinkedIn Enterploy Website Mentions: Agnieszka Szydłowska Mat Atkinson Anthony Welgemoed Alex Hormozi Books: The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Julio Martínez is the Co-Founder and CEO of Abacum, an AI-native FP&A platform built to help finance teams drive efficient growth and deliver real business impact. With Abacum, he focuses on turning finance into a strategic function by giving teams real-time visibility into their KPIs, automating reporting, and enabling better forecasting, planning, and decision-making across the organization. Before founding Abacum, Julio spent over two decades across finance and technology, beginning his career in investment banking in New York, São Paulo, Zurich, and London. He later transitioned into tech, where he launched multiple fintech products and deepened his focus on building solutions for modern finance teams. Originally from Spain and now based in New York, Julio brings a global perspective and a practical, operator-driven mindset to helping companies scale with greater clarity and control. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:52 - From Investment Banking to SaaS Finance05:36 - Why Abacum Was Built10:07 - Turning Finance Into a Growth Driver13:38 - AI Trends in the Office of the CFO18:16 - How AI Is Changing Forecasting and Planning23:20 - The Biggest Financial Planning Mistakes in SaaS27:32 - Building a Strategic Finance Function32:57 - Julio's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State33:29 - Julio's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self35:20 - Julio's Biggest Challenges at Abacum36:22 - Instrumental Resources For Julio's Success40:04 - What Does Success Mean for Julio Today41:42 - Get In Touch With Julio Get In Touch With Julio: Julio's LinkedIn Abacum Website Books: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Amp It Up by Frank Slootman The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Janina is the CMO of Flipsnack, where she leads marketing across product marketing, go-to-market strategy, content, sales enablement, and growth. She specializes in building scalable marketing systems that connect customer insights with business outcomes, ensuring marketing serves as a true growth driver rather than simply a support function. With a strong focus on clarity and execution, Janina helps align marketing, sales, and product teams around clear positioning, messaging, and customer value. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy and execution, translating how customers actually use products into effective go-to-market plans, stronger team alignment, and sustainable growth. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:40 - From Flipbooks to a Full Content Platform03:45 - Finding the Right ICP07:18 - When Customer Feedback Changes Positioning10:25 - When Customer Requests Shape Your Product Roadmap11:49 - Roadmap Decisions vs Messaging Decisions14:09 - Winning Channels and Failed Experiments17:30 - Prioritizing GTM Across Multiple Markets21:30 - Janina's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State21:58 - Janina's Piece Of Advice For Her Younger Self22:58 - Janina's Biggest Challenges at Flipsnack24:14 - Instrumental Resources For Janina's Success27:12 - What Does Success Mean for Janina Today28:06 - Get In Touch With Janina Get In Touch With Janina: Janina's LinkedIn Flipsnack Website Mentions: April Dunford Emily Kramer Kieran Flanagan Books: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Cem Atik is the Co-Founder and CMO of Harucon Ventures, where he works with fast-growing eCommerce brands that are becoming harder to run as they scale. His focus is on helping companies navigate the stage where revenue increases but margins tighten, decisions slow down, and operational pressure starts to build. At Harucon Ventures, Cem helps rebuild the systems behind these businesses so growth becomes efficient, scalable, and controllable. His work centers on turning complex, high-growth environments into structured operations that are better positioned for long-term scale and eventual exit. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:39 - When Revenue Growth Becomes a Problem06:48 - Scaling Revenue vs Scaling Profit10:00 - Why Margins Shrink as Brands Grow13:40 - The Warning Signs of Inefficient Scaling15:57 - Turning Growth Into Profitability20:46 - How AI Is Reshaping Acquisitions and Operational Efficiency24:07 - Shifting From Chasing Revenue to Building a Scalable Business27:07 - Cem's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State28:03 - Cem's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self28:48 - Cem's Biggest Challenges at Harucon Ventures30:31 - Instrumental Resources For Cem's Success32:32 - What Does Success Mean for Cem Today33:34 - Get In Touch With Cem Get In Touch With Cem: Cem's LinkedIn Harucon Ventures Website Books: Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Jon Mest is the CEO of ChatRank and JustReachOut, where he operates at the intersection of data, growth, and marketing. Throughout his career, he has worked across companies like Thomas Weisel Partners, 1010data, and Sika Health, building a strong foundation in using data to drive scalable growth strategies. At ChatRank, Jon is focused on helping businesses win in the era of AI-driven search, where relevance and quality matter more than ad spend. He also leads JustReachOut, a PR platform that enables companies to secure media coverage through targeted outreach, analytics, and proven frameworks. With a background in applied mathematics from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Wharton School, Jon brings a data-driven perspective to helping businesses amplify their visibility and compete more effectively in evolving digital landscapes. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:24 - Jon's Journey Through Data, Growth, and Startups03:16 - Building ChatRank and JustReachOut05:21 - How AI Is Reshaping Startup Teams07:55 - Why Jon Chose Bootstrapping Over Venture Capital10:51 - Building the Product You Actually Need14:35 - How AI Search Is Changing Brand Discovery16:56 - The New Rules for Startup Growth in 202621:38 - Building an AI-First Startup Team26:26 - Jon's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State27:23 - Jon's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self28:55 - Jon's Biggest Challenges at ChatRank and JustReachOut31:03 - Instrumental Resources For Jon's Success33:46 - What Does Success Mean for Jon Today35:37 - Get In Touch With Jon Get In Touch With Jon: Jon's Email ChatRank Website Mentions: Joe Delgado Yelp G2 Trustpilot Healthgrades Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Anthony Saniger is a board member at Beauty Rep and a consumer-focused brand builder with over 17 years of experience across the beauty, fashion, and wellness industries. He brings a strong blend of strategic vision and creative execution, helping brands grow by building meaningful connections with their audiences and positioning themselves effectively in competitive markets. Anthony actively invests in and advises brands across CPG, beauty, and hospitality, using his entrepreneurial perspective to drive growth, innovation, and long-term brand value. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:27 - From Consumer Brands to Beauty Rep03:57 - Fixing Inefficiencies in Traditional B2B07:07 - Centralizing Vendor Management and Timing09:14 - The Challenge of Building a Two-Sided Marketplace11:23 - Designing B2B Products That Drive Revenue13:09 - What Companies Still Get Wrong About Marketplaces15:34 - Entering Niche Industries and Uncovering Inefficiencies17:27 - Exploring Potential in Aesthetic and Longevity Industries18:56 - Anthony's Favorite Activity To Get Into a Flow State19:30 - Anthony's Piece Of Advice For His Younger Self20:25 - Anthony's Biggest Challenges at Beauty Rep22:00 - Instrumental Resources For Anthony's Success23:26 - What Does Success Mean for Anthony Today25:40 - Get In Touch With Anthony Get in touch with Anthony: Beauty Rep Website Anthony's LinkedIn Mentions: Keri Concannon Olivia Schmid Brené Brown ZO Skin Health, Inc. Books: "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Carl Lenocker is the Chief Unicorn at Rockstar Unicorn Consulting and a top-tier Customer Success executive with over 20 years of experience operating in high-stakes, revenue-critical environments. He has built his career managing and protecting multi-million dollar relationships, focusing on executive-level conversations where outcomes matter more than optics and where revenue is either secured or quietly lost. Known for his no-fluff, field-tested approach, Carl teaches Customer Success professionals to think and act like revenue owners, not support teams. He is also the author of Success Plan for Life, where he applies the same principles used to protect enterprise accounts to career growth, wealth building, and long-term leverage, helping leaders earn trust, de-risk renewals, and break through professional ceilings. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro03:08 - Carl's Journey in Customer Success06:16 - Mindset Shift From Support to Revenue Ownership09:11 - Building Relationships and Overcoming Fears12:18 - Navigating Remote Interactions and Building Trust15:05 - The Impact of AI on Customer Success Roles18:17 - Lessons Beyond Business and Success Plan for Life21:09 - The Power of Planning for Success24:19 - Wealth Accumulation and Legacy Thinking26:18 - Personal Growth and Life Goals27:04 - Choosing the Right Partner29:00 - Navigating Career Growth and Challenges31:07 - Influential Resources for Success33:26 - Defining Success at Midlife Get in touch with Carl: Carl's LinkedIn Rockstar Unicorn Consulting Books: "Success Plan for Life" by Carl Lenocker "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki "Awaken the Giant Within" by Tony Robbins "Power Questions" by Andrew Sobel Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Daniel Layfield is the Founder of Subscription Index, a consulting and advisory firm that helps subscription and SaaS businesses monetize more effectively. He brings deep experience in growth and product management, having driven more than $100M in business growth with a strong focus on self-service revenue. Previously, he led the growth team at Codecademy, scaling ARR from $10M to $55M prior to its $525M acquisition in 2022. He later served as a product manager at Uber Eats, leading Homefeed ranking, and now works with startups to improve subscription revenue and build sustainable growth models. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - A Journey from $10M to $50M05:06 - Key Decisions and Strategies for Growth13:24 - Finding the Right Model Fremium or Trial20:49 - Connecting Product Roadmap to Business Impact24:26 - Lessons Learned and Overlooked Strategies26:14 - Personal Insights and Rapid Fire Questions Get in Touch with Daniel: Subscription Index Daniel's LinkedIn Mentions: Brian Balfour Reforge Diligent Bumble Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Andrea Bronzini is an engineer, strategist, and systems thinker with over 20 years of experience designing and building complex systems across industries. Currently a coach and consultant at Galileo Consulting, he helps organizations evaluate, acquire, and implement technologies by combining technical insight with commercial and strategic analysis. Before that, Andrea spent nearly 15 years helping companies grow by identifying and fixing their bottlenecks, often working with businesses generating over $1M per day. Frustrated by recurring structural issues, he developed a systems-driven approach to diagnose and solve them faster, which led to the creation of ZeroBottlenecks and later Confident Story. Known for turning complexity into clear, actionable frameworks, Andrea focuses on helping teams move from analysis paralysis to confident, system-backed decision making. In this episode we cover: 00:00 Intro02:57 Understanding Bottlenecks in A/B Testing05:49 The Impact of Noise on Conversion Rates09:07 Engineering Approach to Business Decisions12:08 Optimizing the Conversion Path15:00 Exploring A/B Test Winners and Noise17:46 Statistical Significance and Noise in KPIs21:01 Avoiding the Noise Trap in Decision Making23:56 The Real Costs of Misinterpreting Data26:59 Final Thoughts and Rapid Fire Questions Get in touch with Andrea: Andrea's LinkedIn Mentions: Michael Gerber Donald Miller Alex Hormozi Companies: Zero Bottlenecks Confident Story Books: The E-Mith Revisited by Michael Gerber StoryBrand by Donald Miller Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Richardson Dackam is a Senior AI Engineer at BoxOne Ventures, a privately held investment firm focused on early-stage companies in fast-moving sectors. He builds production AI systems that scale venture investing workflows across the full investment lifecycle, helping investors operate more efficiently with AI-driven tools and automation. He also runs N Shipyard, a one-person venture studio where he rapidly builds AI-first SaaS products. Known for his solo-builder approach, Richardson focuses on identifying practical problems and turning them into functional products in hours or days using modern tools, clear product requirement documents, and strong context engineering for AI agents. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Introduction to Building SaaS with AI01:28 - Overcoming Idea Blockages in SaaS Development03:30 - The Importance of Solving Personal Problems05:20 - Misconceptions About Building SaaS Products07:17 - Preparing for Development: The PRD09:48 - Choosing the Right Tools for Development12:33 - Marketing Strategies for New SaaS Products15:02 - Defining Minimum Viable Features16:36 - Building Defensibility in SaaS Products18:27 - Getting Started with AI-Driven SaaS Development19:41 - The Future of AI and Autonomy20:26 - Rapid Fire Questions and Personal Insights24:59 - Get in Touch with Richardson Get in Touch with Richardson: Richardson Website BoxOne Ventures Website Mentions: Patrick McCormick My First Million Podcast Vaclav Smil Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

In this episode, Akeel Jabber interviews Sarah Jeanneault, head of marketing and strategy at ProcedureFlow, discussing the operating system behind sustainable growth. They explore the importance of visual knowledge management, the role of AI in enhancing organizational processes, and the need for leaders to adopt a proactive approach in regulated industries. Sarah shares her insights on the continuous journey of AI integration, the significance of a growth mindset, and the human element in leadership. The conversation also touches on the differences between scaling efficiently and responsibly, and how creativity can be fostered through AI. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro01:29 - Understanding Visual Knowledge Management03:04 - The Role of AI in Knowledge Management06:06 - Proactive Leadership in Regulated Industries08:11 - The Continuous Journey of AI Integration09:33 - Embracing a Growth Mindset with AI13:14 - Leadership Lessons from Experience17:15 - The Human Element in AI Integration18:31 - Identifying Risks and Making Adjustments20:30 - Scaling Efficiently vs. Responsibly22:42 - Fostering Creativity with AI24:34 - Rapid Fire Questions and Personal Insights Get in Touch with Sarah: Procedureflow Website Sarah's LinkedIn Mentions: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard Lisa Brodie Books: The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Bem Horowitz Tag Us & Follow: Facebook LinkedIn Instagram More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company

Yash Sharma is the founder of Total Finance Resolver, a boutique financial intelligence firm serving SaaS founders, VCs, and private equity operators. He specializes in building investor-grade FP&A systems, valuations, and acquisition-readiness frameworks for scaling SaaS companies. His firm also performs AI-driven financial and technical due diligence for VC and PE funds, helping investors assess revenue integrity, product scalability, and operational risks with greater speed and accuracy. In this episode we cover: 00:00 - Intro02:04 - Where Founders Misread Runway During Scaling10:46 - Common SaaS Metric Misconceptions12:30 - Building Investor-Grade Finance17:03 - Financial Blind Spots That Delay or Kill Fundraising19:38 - What to Fix First When Preparing for Due Diligence23:20 - Using AI to Improve SaaS Valuations Going Into 202625:48 – Yash's Favorite Activity to Get Into a Flow State25:56 – Yash's Advice for His Younger Self26:15 - Yash's Biggest Challenges and Goals for 202627:11 - Instrumental Resources for Yash's Success29:00 – What Does Success Mean for Yash Today29:46 – Get in Touch with Yash Get in Touch with Yash: Yash's LinkedIn Website Mentions: Naval Ravikant Lionel Messi Books: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda More About Akeel: Twitter LinkedIn More SaaS Podcast Episodes SaaS Consultants How To Value Your SaaS Company