Episode Details

Nobody was searching for Outgrow's product. Interactive calculators and quizzes for SaaS lead generation was not a category that existed. Randy Rayess had to invent a SaaS content strategy to sell a tool to customers who did not know they needed one.

In this episode, Randy reveals how a services business question - "how much does it cost to build an app?" - turned into a bootstrapped SaaS content strategy platform with 3,000 paying customers and 40 employees. One customer generated 90,000 leads from a single book recommendation quiz. Another saw 7x engagement improvement over paid social posts.

Randy and his co-founder were running VenturePact, a marketplace for software development services. They built an interactive calculator to answer their most common sales question and it became their biggest lead source. That content strategy SaaS insight became Outgrow - a no-code platform for interactive calculators, quizzes, and assessments that turns B2B content planning into qualified SaaS lead generation.

🔑 Key Lessons

• 🛠️ Engineering as SaaS content strategy creates products from internal tools: Randy built an interactive calculator to answer a repetitive sales question. That internal tool became Outgrow's entire product.
• 🎯 When nobody searches for your product, educate through events: Outgrow could not rely on SEO because the category did not exist. Mid-market digital marketing events let Randy teach the SaaS content strategy concept before selling the tool.
• 📉 Trying to serve every customer segment kills focus: Outgrow initially targeted freelancers through enterprise across all industries. Focusing outbound on mid-market in specific verticals gave the entire team clarity.
• 💰 Seed your first customers from an existing business: Outgrow's first paying users came from VenturePact's client base. A $45-$600/month tool was an obvious upgrade from custom software projects.
• 🚀 Use your own product as your SaaS content strategy engine: Outgrow builds calculators and quizzes on its own platform to generate leads with 4-8 data points per prospect, improving scoring and conversion rates.

Chapters

• Introduction - marketing a product nobody is searching for
• Randy's motivation - helping marketers shift from advertising to value
• What Outgrow does - interactive calculators and quizzes for lead gen
• Origin story - the VenturePact cost SaaS content strategy calculator
• Recognizing the SaaS opportunity from a services tool
• Charging VenturePact customers first
• Early pushback and customer feedback surprises
• Unexpected use cases - VR, sports brands, co-branded content
• Timeline - from internal tool to public launch
• Growth strategies - events, own product, and viral loops
• Event strategy - mid-market events with presentations
• Educating the market when no one searches for your category
• Using Outgrow to generate leads for Outgrow
• Customer case studies - 90K leads, 7x engagement
• Tips for coming up with interactive content ideas
• Hiring challenges - intelligence vs cultural fit
• Lack of focus - trying to serve every segment
• Pricing structure - freelancer to enterprise
• Lightning round

Resources

• Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/155
• Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email