Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by Mistral.vc. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Mistral.vc or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

He Bootstrapped to $55M in Revenue—without ever having to hit 100% YoY growth. | Stéphan Donzé, Founder of AODocs

43:23
 
Share
 

Manage episode 502937002 series 3298391
Content provided by Mistral.vc. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Mistral.vc or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Stéphan bootstrapped AODocs to $55M in revenue and 250 employees without taking a dime of VC money—while competing directly with venture-backed competitors. Starting as a services company in 2012, he spotted the cloud migration wave early and built document management for enterprises moving to Google Workspace.

In this episode, Stéphan breaks down why doubling every two years beats hypergrowth, how to win enterprise deals with zero funding, and why touching business-critical documents means year-long sales cycles but 10-year retention. This is the anti-Silicon Valley playbook that actually works.

Why You Should Listen:

  • Why the founder must personally close every single deal in 0 to 1
  • How doubling every 2 years (not every year) creates a more stable business
  • The brutal reality of enterprise POCs: doing it for free before getting paid
  • Why you can't have both fast customer acquisition and high retention
  • How being French/European became an advantage against US competitors

Keywords

AODocs, bootstrapping, Stéphan Donzé, enterprise sales, document management, SaaS, Google Workspace, cloud migration, product market fit, B2B

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:12 Bootstrapping vs VC backed

00:03:44 From services to SaaS

00:19:08 Landing the first customer

00:20:47 Why they turned down VC money

00:25:32 The 997 grind—four days on-site with customers every week

00:35:21 Why you can't have fast sales and high retention

00:40:33 Product-market fit

Send me a message to let me know what you think!

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Bootstrapping vs VC backed (00:01:12)

3. From services to SaaS (00:03:44)

4. Landing the first customer (00:19:08)

5. Why they turned down VC money (00:20:47)

6. The 997 grind—four days on-site with customers every week (00:25:32)

7. Why you can't have fast sales and high retention (00:35:21)

8. Product-market fit (00:40:33)

216 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 502937002 series 3298391
Content provided by Mistral.vc. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Mistral.vc or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Stéphan bootstrapped AODocs to $55M in revenue and 250 employees without taking a dime of VC money—while competing directly with venture-backed competitors. Starting as a services company in 2012, he spotted the cloud migration wave early and built document management for enterprises moving to Google Workspace.

In this episode, Stéphan breaks down why doubling every two years beats hypergrowth, how to win enterprise deals with zero funding, and why touching business-critical documents means year-long sales cycles but 10-year retention. This is the anti-Silicon Valley playbook that actually works.

Why You Should Listen:

  • Why the founder must personally close every single deal in 0 to 1
  • How doubling every 2 years (not every year) creates a more stable business
  • The brutal reality of enterprise POCs: doing it for free before getting paid
  • Why you can't have both fast customer acquisition and high retention
  • How being French/European became an advantage against US competitors

Keywords

AODocs, bootstrapping, Stéphan Donzé, enterprise sales, document management, SaaS, Google Workspace, cloud migration, product market fit, B2B

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:12 Bootstrapping vs VC backed

00:03:44 From services to SaaS

00:19:08 Landing the first customer

00:20:47 Why they turned down VC money

00:25:32 The 997 grind—four days on-site with customers every week

00:35:21 Why you can't have fast sales and high retention

00:40:33 Product-market fit

Send me a message to let me know what you think!

  continue reading

Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Bootstrapping vs VC backed (00:01:12)

3. From services to SaaS (00:03:44)

4. Landing the first customer (00:19:08)

5. Why they turned down VC money (00:20:47)

6. The 997 grind—four days on-site with customers every week (00:25:32)

7. Why you can't have fast sales and high retention (00:35:21)

8. Product-market fit (00:40:33)

216 episodes

Semua episode

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play