SaaS Backwards - Reverse Engineering SaaS Success
Join us as we interview CEOs and CMOs of fast-growing SaaS firms to reveal what they are doing that’s working, and lessons learned from things that didn’t work as planned. These deep conversations dive into the dynamic world of SaaS B2B marketing, go-to-market strategies, and the SaaS business model. Content focuses on the pragmatic as well as strategic, providing a well-rounded diet for those running SaaS firms today. Hosted by Ken Lempit, Austin Lawrence Group’s president and chief business builder, who brings over 30 years of experience and expertise in helping software companies grow and their founders achieve their visions.
Episodes
176 episodes
Ep. 176 - Your $1M+ Media Budget Deserves Better
Guest: Courtney Hiller, Founder of All Points Agency -- You wouldn’t hire one person to build your product, sell it, and run support. So why are B2B SaaS companies still expecting one marketer to manage a million-dollar media...
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Season 4
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Episode 29
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36:30
Ep. 175 - Beyond Copy: How AI Powers the Next Generation of SaaS Growth
Guest: Hikari Senju, Founder & CEO at Omneky -- AI isn’t just generating ad copy—it’s reshaping the entire performance marketing playbook for B2B SaaS. In this episode, Hikari Senju, founder and CEO of
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Season 4
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Episode 28
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30:45
Ep. 174 - How This AI SaaS Landed 70 Customers—Fast
Guest: Adir Ben-Yehuda, CEO at Autonomy AI -- The go-to-market playbook for AI SaaS is being rewritten in real-time, and those who cling to old models risk being left behind. In this episode, Adir Ben-Yehuda, foun...
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Season 4
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Episode 27
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30:20
Ep. 173 - AI, RFPs, and the Real Path to Sustainable SaaS Growth
Guest: Ray Meiring, Co-Founder & CEO at QorusDocs -- Scaling a SaaS business from consultancy roots to enterprise success requires more than just great tech—it t...
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Season 4
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Episode 26
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32:32
Ep. 172 - Why “Founder-Market Fit” Should Guide Your AI Go-to-Market Strategy
Guest: Sammy Greenwall, Founder of Henry.ai -- What if your go-to-market motion could skip past theory and build from real-world pain? That’s exactly how Sammy Gre...
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Season 4
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Episode 25
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29:20
Ep. 171 - Why the SaaS Journey Doesn’t End at Checkout
Guests: Ken Rapp (Co-Founder & CEO) and Emily Lagasse (VP of Marketing) of Bluestream -- What if the key to SaaS growth isn’t more leads, but fewer customer drop-offs post-purchase? In this episode of SaaS Bac...
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Season 4
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Episode 24
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30:05
Ep. 170 - Why the Future of Work Belongs to Multi-Discipline Scalers + How AI Will Reshape the Org Chart
Guest: Casey Woo, CEO & Founder of Operators Guild & FOG Ventures -- What happens when startups are built not by armies of specialists, but by lean teams of senior generalists paired with AI agents? In thi...
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Season 4
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Episode 23
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38:11
Ep. 169 - Reviving Inbound: Why Your SaaS GTM Needs a Buyer-Centric Reboot
Guest: Google’s NotebookLM -- In this special episode of SaaS Backwards, we handed the mic to AI. We took our newest ebook on reviving inbound marketing—coming soon for download—and...
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Season 4
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Episode 22
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25:25
Ep. 168 - How Gen AI Is Rewiring B2B SaaS Feedback
Guest: Eli Portnoy, Founder & CEO at BackEngine -- As B2B SaaS companies scale, they often lose touch with the customers who got them there. In this episode, Eli Portnoy, founder and CEO of
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Season 4
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Episode 21
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33:24
Ep. 167 - How AI Is Changing the B2B SaaS Search and Buyer Journey
Guest: Ayse Guvencer, Fractional SaaS CMO & GTM Executive -- As AI changes how B2B buyers evaluate software, many marketers are missing the forest for the trees. In this episode,
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Season 4
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Episode 20
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36:46
Ep. 166 - Rethinking SaaS Go-to-Market in the Age of AI
Guest: Jim Curry, CoFounder at BuildGroup -- Is AI really transforming your SaaS business—or just adding noise? In this week’s episode, Jim Curry, co-founder of BuildGroup and former Rackspace exec, discusses how ...
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Season 4
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Episode 19
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42:14
Ep. 165 - Why Most SaaS Ads Fail (and What to Do Instead)
Guest: Ken Lempit, President & Chief Business Builder at Austin Lawrence Group Are your SaaS ads actually doing their job, or just burning budget? In this week’s episode of SaaS Backwards, Ken Lempit and Jason...
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Season 4
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Episode 18
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31:55
Ep. 164 - Voice, AI & the Future of SaaS: Productivity, Innovation, and Risk
Guests: Ken Lempit, James Ollerenshaw, and Rob Curtis -- Voice is the new frontier in SaaS — but are we ready for the implications? In the third episode of our AI Series, Ken Lempit is joined again by James Ollere...
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Season 4
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Episode 17
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48:56
Ep. 163 - Is Your SaaS Ready for the Agentic AI Era?
Guests: Ken Lempit, James Ollerenshaw, and Rob Curtis -- AI isn’t just a bolt-on anymore—it’s rewriting the rules of SaaS from the ground up. In this episode, Standup Hiro co-founder Rob Curtis and tech strategist...
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Season 4
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Episode 16
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47:22
Ep. 162 - What Most SaaS Teams Get Wrong About Growth
Guest: Sjoerd Handgraaf, Chief Marketing Officer at Sharetribe -- The most overlooked growth lever in SaaS? Positioning. In this episode, Sharetribe CMO Sjoerd Handgraaf ...
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Season 4
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Episode 15
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33:59
Ep. 161 - Is User-Based Pricing Dead? How AI Is Reshaping SaaS Monetization
Guest: James D. Wilton, Founder & Managing Partner of Monevate -- The advent of AI is forcing a complete rethink of traditional SaaS pricing—particularly the long-standing dominance of user-based pricing. In t...
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Season 4
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Episode 14
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36:20
Ep. 160 - AI Is Rewriting the SaaS Playbook—Are You Ready?
Guests: Ken Lempit, James Ollerenshaw, & Rob Curtis -- AI is transforming SaaS—but not in the way most leaders think. Forget the headlines claiming "SaaS is dead." The real shift isn't just in tools—it's in ho...
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Season 4
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Episode 13
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38:37
Ep. 159 - Why Full-Cycle Reps Are Beating Your SDRs
Guest: Guy Rubin, Founder & CEO at Ebsta -- Most B2B SaaS leaders know their top performers carry the team, but few understand why the performance gap keeps widening. The reality is that just 14% of r...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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32:03
Ep. 158 - 97% of SaaS Churn at First Opportunity is Decided in the First 90 Days—Onboarding Is the Key
Guest: Srikrishnan Ganesan, Co-Founder & CEO of Rocketlane -- Most B2B SaaS leaders know that onboarding is important but underestimate its impact. The reality is that 97% of churn at first opportunity is deci...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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31:57
Ep. 157 - AI is Reshaping B2B Marketing—Are You Ready?
Guest: Christina Richards, Fractional CMO & Author of Rise of the AI-Powered CMO -- Most B2B marketers think they’re using AI effectively. The reality? Many are barely scratching the surface—and failing to...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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28:25
Ep. 156 - Why Traditional Sales Prospecting is Broken (And What to Do Instead)
Guest: Zach Wright, Co-Founder & CRO of Syft AI -- Most sales teams are still stuck in outdated prospecting tactics—mass email sequencing, generic outreach, and hoping something sticks. The reality? These methods are f...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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36:54
Ep. 155 - You’re Probably Doing Discovery Wrong—And It’s Costing You Deals
Guest: Peter Cohan, Author of Doing Discovery -- Most sales teams think they’re great at discovery. The reality? About 80% are getting it wrong—and it’s the single biggest reason why deals stall, g...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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33:52
Ep. 154 - Why Some SaaS Companies Are Turning to Billboards for Measurable Growth
Guest: Ty Tinker, Head of Analytics at AdQuick -- What if everything you thought about billboard advertising was wrong? Ty Tinker, Head of Analytics at AdQuick, breaks down the myth that out-of-home (OOH) advertis...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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28:30
Ep. 153 - The End of the Gumball Machine: Why B2B Marketing Needs a New Playbook
Guest: Jon Miller, Co-Founder & CEO of a Stealth AI Startup -- Jon Miller, co-founder of Marketo and former CMO of Demandbase, argues that B2B marketing’s traditional playbook—built on predictable demand generation, MQL s...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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29:18
Ep. 152 - The Critical Shift: Adapting Your Marketing to Align with Modern Buyer Behavior
Guest: Kerry Cunningham, Research & Thought Leadership at 6sense -- 85% of buyers initiate the first conversation with vendors—on their terms. If your marketing still revolves around capturing le...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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38:20