The Remarkable SaaS Podcast

A story about destroying your own work—and creating what lasts
This episode is for sales-led SaaS founders who suspect their product is slowly becoming a custom shop—and don't know how to stop it.
Bassem Hamdy, CEO and Co-Founder of Briq, has spent 25 years in construction technology—three software revolutions, three companies.
He says Briq found product market fit every 24 months. Each time meant tearing something down to build the next version.
Each time, the same thing triggered the rebuild — the company had started solving for individual customers instead of the market.
And this inspired me to invite Bassem to my podcast. We explore why the instinct to please your biggest customers creates exactly the kind of fragility that kills companies. Bassem shares hard lessons about killing a product he spent two years building, the moment his QA team exposed how far the company had drifted, and why domain expertise—not platform size—determines who wins in vertical AI.
We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone – Master the art of curiosity
Bassem's journey proves that remarkable companies refound themselves before the market forces them to.
Here's one of Bassem's quotes that captures what happens when a company starts drifting:
"Software is like jello. You slap that thing, it's going to shake the hell out of it. So the moment you inject that code, that's client specific, you're pooched."
By listening to this episode, you'll learn:
Why saying yes to customers can turn your product into something nobody else wants
When to check whether your team is building a product or managing client tickets
Why deep domain expertise matters more than platform size in the age of AI
How one metric—revenue per employee—changes every decision a CEO makes
For more information about the guest from this week:
Guest: Bassem Hamdy, CEO and Co-Founder of Briq
Website: briq.com

A story about what happens when you build a Forever Business—instead of chasing the next exit
This episode is for sales-led SaaS founders who feel the business is getting slower the bigger it gets—and starting to accept that as normal.
Most software companies slow down as they scale. Access got faster.
Jon Jorgensen, Co-CEO of The Access Group, joined as a telesales trainee straight from school. In 2011, the company was doing £24 million. Fifteen years later, it's a £1.2 billion business with 160,000 customers.
His belief: if you build what he calls a "Forever Business," growth compounds instead of stalling—even after six private equity transactions.
And this inspired me to invite Jon to my podcast. We explore why companies that never stop learning outgrow everyone else. Jon shares lessons about what shifted when Access moved from profit-driven to value-creation thinking, why he pushed equity to over 50% of employees, and what a "Forever Business" actually demands. You'll discover how a company survives six private equity transactions and 9,000 employees—without becoming the corporate machine everyone expects.
We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Master the art of curiosity – Master creating momentum
Jon's journey proves that remarkable companies treat curiosity as a daily practice, not a poster on the wall—and that's what creates momentum competitors cannot replicate.
Here's one of Jon's quotes that captures his leadership philosophy:
"I can't change you. You've got to want to change. I can't make you do something. You've got to want to do it."
By listening to this episode, you'll learn:
Why shifting from profit-driven to value-creation thinking changes everything about growth
What happens when you push equity deep into the organization instead of hoarding it
Why the psychology of belonging matters more than strategy at scale
How building a "Forever Business" protects against short-term pressure from investors
For more information about the guest from this week:
Guest: Jon Jorgensen, Co-CEO, The Access Group
Website: theaccessgroup.com

A story about betting on what's coming—not what's working
This episode is for SaaS founders questioning whether their current traction is real momentum—or just comfortable motion.
Traction can be the most dangerous thing in a startup.
Andrei Pitis, CEO of Genezio, built a serverless developer platform with real users and real momentum. Then he killed it. Andrei Pitis built Vector Watch, a smartwatch with 30-day battery life, and sold it to Fitbit. With Genezio, he did something harder—killed a working product because he spotted a shift most founders missed.
And this inspired me to invite Andrei to my podcast. We explore why reading the future matters more than optimizing the present—and how that belief shaped a company pivot that produced 5-10x growth in months. Andrei shares candid insights about saying no to big customer money, choosing conversations over search terms, and why the best products are sculptures, not feature lists.
We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone – Master the art of curiosity
Andrei's journey proves that remarkable companies don't optimize what exists—they spot what's coming and build for it before the market catches up.
Here's one of Andrei's quotes that captures his philosophy on building products:
"A good product is not about the features that you put in. It's more about the things that you take out. Like a block of stone—you make a sculpture. You take out a lot of the stone, and you are left with something that appeals to certain kinds of people."
By listening to this episode, you'll learn:
Why walking away from traction can be the boldest growth decision a founder makes
What separates reading trends from following them in fast-moving markets
Why saying no to big customer money protects long-term product value
How building for global from day one shapes competitive advantage
For more information about the guest from this week:
Guest: Andrei Pitis, CEO & Founder at Genezio
Website: genezio.com

A story about choosing margins over momentum—and letting investors call you wrong
This episode is for SaaS CEOs stuck around 20% EBITDA and wondering what it actually takes to double it without cutting their way there.
Most SaaS companies treat 20% EBITDA as a healthy number. Georgi Petrov targets 50.
Georgi, CEO of Uxify, has founded four companies in 15 years with two exits—including one to WP Engine. He doesn't get there by cutting. He gets there by building differently from day one: small teams with high ownership, self-service at premium prices, and a refusal to add cost before it earns its place.
And this inspired me to invite Georgi to my podcast. We explore why targeting 50% EBITDA changes every hiring decision, every pricing decision, and every partnership decision a founder makes. Georgi shares hard-won lessons on why small teams outperform large ones, why focus beats optionality, and why selling business outcomes—not product features—makes premium self-service pricing work.
We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone – Focus on the essence
Georgi's journey proves that starting from profit forces every decision to earn its place.
Here's one of Georgi's quotes that captures how he actually gets to 50% EBITDA:
"Most of the high-leverage decisions that we made turn out to be not so good decisions. We find the good somewhere in the middle. Not having a support team sounds like a high-leverage decision, but that's ultimately bad, because customers need 24/7 support. So, ultimately, expand the support team, but do it in a smarter way, and that's how we end up. If we're super able to leverage a lot, very likely we can achieve much more than 50%, but I think you end up somewhere about 50% ultimately."
By listening to this episode, you'll learn:
Why profitability shapes better decisions than fundraising ever will
What self-service at premium prices requires to actually work
Why the biggest partners rarely deliver the biggest results
When adding people stops creating productivity and starts destroying it
For more information about the guest from this week:
Guest: Georgi Petrov, CEO of Uxify
Website: uxify.com

A story about users competitors can't steal
This episode is for SaaS founders wondering why their users like the product but don't love it.
Second movers usually copy the leader's playbook.
Pete Hunt, CEO of Dagster Labs, took a different path. He joined as Head of Engineering in 2022, became CEO ten months later, and inherited a company that was #3 or #4 in a crowded category. Today they're #2 overall—and #1 for greenfield deployments.
The difference? Pete built a product with values so clear that choosing it feels like choosing sides.
And this inspired me to invite Pete to my podcast. We explore what happens when users choose you for reasons competitors can't copy. Pete shares why being #2 means you have to be 10x more aggressive, why relabeling a version number created an inflection point without changing code, and what broke when his sales forecasts started slipping.
You'll discover why the real challenge wasn't preserving his culture—it was changing it.
We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone – Master the art of curiosity
Pete's journey proves that remarkable companies don't just build tools—they build tribes.
Here's one of Pete's quotes that captures his contrarian belief about technical buyers:
"These technical folks connect with the values of the product in an emotional way. It's a very powerful thing. People would choose JavaScript frameworks based on their values—something that becomes their identity. People say brand marketing doesn't work on developers. I just think it's completely wrong.
By listening to this episode, you'll learn:
Why healthy pipeline numbers lie
Why crossing the chasm meant changing culture, not preserving it
What a version number change did that new features couldn't
Why sales teams hold onto deals they should kill
For more information about the guest from this week:
Guest: Pete Hunt, CEO of Dagster Labs
Website: dagster.io