Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.
Brought to you by:
Today’s Episode
Today, we have an extraordinary founder with a story that will inspire you to believe in yourself.
He started as a Wall Street credit trader but took a bold leap into entrepreneurship, bootstrapping not one but two profitable SaaS companies.
His latest venture RB2B went from 0 to $4M ARR in just 280 days.
No ads. No extravagant budgets. No big teams.
Beyond his SaaS success, he’s built a loyal LinkedIn following of 113k, sharing his unconventional wisdom on building lean, profitable companies in today’s competitive landscape.
And today, he’s generously pulling back the curtain in his longest podcast yet:
Their Initial GTM Motion to Grow – 00:11:35
How Much He Paid for Retention.com Domain – 00:39:06
Retention and Churn Metrics They Look At – 01:06:00
How They're Planning to Improve Churn – 01:40:34
Product + Growth Lessons as a Founder – 02:09:32
How Much He Pays Himself – 02:21:26
Here are the Key Takeaways
Here are the 5 key takeaways from Adam’s Journey:
1. Sell Before You Build
Most entrepreneurs focus on building a product first.
Then they figure out how to sell it…
But his approach flipped this on its head.
Before creating his email newsletter app, he built a web scraper to identify users of a competitor (Constant Contact) and validated demand by reaching out to these customers.
This de-risked the product launch entirely.
And it made it sure that they’re building something that people are looking to buy, not what they “think” people will buy.
Also, offering a 20% commission to partners for referrals (affiliate program), WORKED.
This GTM perfectly aligned incentives with the audience's needs and created a viral growth loop.
2. The Hidden Growth Engine: Word-of-Mouth
Word of mouth isn’t just a bonus.
It’s the backbone of sustainable growth.
Without organic buzz, even the best marketing campaigns will fall flat.
Because when customers naturally advocate for your product, every program to enter the market becomes dramatically more effective.
If people aren’t already talking about your product, no amount of emails or ads can create sustained interest.
If you want that buzz for your product too:
Focus on creating a product that delivers such clear value that customers can’t stop sharing it.
Monitor where and how your audience is spreading the word — this feedback loop will guide your messaging and marketing efforts.
If you’re struggling to generate organic buzz, revisit your product’s core value proposition and make sure enough people know about it.
3. The Power of a Lean Team
Forget bloated teams and massive overhead.
Move to the new way to build SaaS – Be Lean.
They had achieved $10M ARR with a small, focused team that only works on what truly moves the needle.
Even now, their team isn't that big compared to similar VC funded companies.
And running lean doesn’t just maximize productivity…
It gives maximum authority to the founders.
With a few highly skilled individuals, you can avoid the pressures of early-stage funding, maintain full control, and decide your future:
Scale, sell, or reap the rewards of a profitable business.
4. Churn Is the Silent Growth Killer
Churn often spikes in SMB-focused products is due to the volatility of these businesses and their sensitivity to cost.
For example, Shopify merchants using Retention.com showed an average churn of 18 to 24 months.
Even after shifting to enterprise clients, churn remained a critical area requiring constant attention and strategy.
Additionally, competitors targeting the same customers often increase churn risks by undercutting prices or offering similar features.
To reduce your churn rate and increase your retention, ask yourself;
Are you targeting the wrong audience?
Is your product solving a short-term problem rather than delivering lasting value?
Focus on building long-term relationships by addressing these gaps, and aim to shift toward stickier customer personas, such as enterprise or mid-market clients, for more sustainable revenue.
5. The Power of Solving Unsolved Problems
True innovation lies in solving problems others haven’t dared to tackle.
Addressing unsolved challenges can be a game-changer.
Retention.com found success by creating a solution to capture emails from website visitors who didn’t fill out forms — a “mind-blowing” idea in 2019 that reshaped email marketing for eCommerce.
This approach not only carved out a unique niche but also created a defensible market position, making the product indispensable to its users.
Find answer to these and pinpoint that unique problem;
What frustrates customers in their existing tools or workflows?
What need remains unmet in your target market?
Then, focus on solving it with precision.
A truly novel solution will naturally stand out and build customer loyalty.
For more details, listen to the full episode now!
Referenced
Books:
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss — Gives a vision for creating a small, efficient SaaS business
Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson — Idea of running a highly efficient SaaS team, focusing on simplicity and impact
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries — Emphasizes the importance of building a product while simultaneously validating customer demand to reduce risks
Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank — Foundational book for entrepreneurs, promoting the concept of developing customers in parallel with product development
Tools:
Where to find Adam
If you prefer to only get newsletter emails, unsubscribe from podcast emails here.
Email productgrowthppp at gmail for advertising opportunities.
Up Next
We have some great podcasts coming from Sergio Pereira (Fractional CTO and CPO), Pierre Herubel ( B2B Content Expert, 122K+ on LinkedIn), and Mario Gabriele (Founder, The Generalist; Former VC). I’m so excited to share them with all of you.
In the newsletter, check out this week’s latest piece if you haven’t yet: The AI PM's Playbook: How Top Product Managers Are 10x-ing Their Impact in 2025.
And look out for these pieces up next:
European Market Deep Dive
How to Grow Exec Levels (M2 to D1)
Rock the Product Design Interview
I think you’re going to love them,
Aakash
