The SaaS Podcast - Building SaaS in the AI Era
Omer Khan
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SaaS Retention: From 0.1% to 8-Figure ARR | Fathom
Richard White had 100,000 signups in his first month—and only 100 people actually using the product. His SaaS retention rate was effectively 0.1%. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how to fix broken SaaS retention before worrying about monetization. Richard breaks down exactly how he turned a catastrophic retention crisis into an 8-figure business. You will learn why 99% of his signups had zero meetings on their calendars, how a "fake meeting" feature solved the trust problem killing activation, and the 60-day ultimatum that forced his team to monetize. In this episode, Richard also shares how he sold a team plan before it was built—with just two features and a slide deck—and why that approach hit $100K ARR in month one. 🔑 Key Lessons 🔄 Use Bad Signups to Fix SaaS Retention: Richard turned 99,900 inactive users into a testing ground—iterating aggressively on onboarding without risking real customer relationships. 🛠️ Build Trust Before Asking for Commitment: Fathom's "fake meeting" feature let users test the AI bot safely, solving the trust barrier that was killing early SaaS retention. ⏱️ Set Aggressive Deadlines to Force Monetization: Richard's 60-day ultimatum forced his team to launch a paid plan—even before it was fully built—hitting $100K ARR in month one. 📈 Sell the Vision, Not Just the Product: Fathom sold a team plan with only two features ready, using a slide deck to show the roadmap. Customers bought the future. 🎯 SaaS Retention Beats Acquisition: 100,000 signups meant nothing with 0.1% activation. Fixing onboarding and retention was worth more than any growth hack. 🏢 Leverage Your Network for Founding Team: Richard recruited four engineers he'd worked with for a decade at UserVoice, getting a trusted team from day one. Chapters Introduction What Fathom does and the AI note-taking market Richard's decade running UserVoice Why he decided to start over with Fathom Recruiting engineers from UserVoice The first year: Only 50 stable users The trust problem with AI meeting bots Building the "fake meeting" feature Zoom marketplace launch: 100K signups The retention crisis: Only 100 daily users Using bad signups as a testing ground Iterating on onboarding to fix activation The 2022 funding crash The 60-day monetization ultimatum Selling a team plan before it was built $100K ARR in month one Scaling to $1M ARR in a year Today: Eight figures ARR, 175K companies Lightning round 💌 Get weekly 5-minute SaaS insights: https://saasclub.io/email SaaS Club Programs Join the SaaS Club founder community: https://saasclub.co/plus Build your $10K MRR SaaS: https://saasclub.io/launch Scale from 6-figures to $1M ARR Faster: https://saasclub.io/mastermind Get 1:1 async coaching from Omer: https://saasclub.io/accelerate Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/449 Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe
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