Where startup founders raise millions and listeners can invest. Host Josh Muccio takes listeners behind closed-doors and into the room where deals are made. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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Content provided by Omer Khan. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Omer Khan 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.
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Product-Led Growth: From 20,000 Email Disaster to 7-Figure SaaS | Mailtrap
Manage episode 512563029 series 61396
Content provided by Omer Khan. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Omer Khan 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.
Back in 2011, Sergiy Korolov's team accidentally sent 20,000 test billing emails to real customers—a complete disaster. They built a simple internal tool to prevent it from happening again, shared it with the Ruby on Rails community, and it exploded. Fast forward to today: Mailtrap generates seven-figure ARR with 100,000+ monthly active users.
In this episode, Sergiy Korolov (Co-founder of Mailtrap) reveals the SaaS Pricing Strategy behind converting a massive free user base into paid customers. Learn his controversial "Mandatory Survey" tactic that unlocked deep customer insights without hurting conversion, how he used a "Fake Door" test to validate a massive product pivot before writing code, and the specific challenges of expanding from a simple testing sandbox into a full-scale Email API platform.
In this episode, Sergiy also explains why simplifying onboarding didn't increase conversions (and what that revealed about developers), the "Eat Your Own Dog Food" strategy that fueled their initial growth, and how to compete with giants like SendGrid by focusing on developer experience.
This episode is brought to you by:
💖 Sprinto → Learn more and book a demo today
🚀 SaaS Club Launch → Build your SaaS to $10K MRR
🔑 Key Lessons
- 📊 The Mandatory Survey: Why forcing users to answer questions during signup actually helped growth without hurting conversion.
- 🚪 The "Fake Door" Test: Validating a major feature (Email Campaigns) with a dummy button before building it.
- 💰 Monetization: Transitioning a free community tool into a profitable recurring revenue business using data-driven pricing.
- 🛠️ Developer Marketing: How to build a product that developers naturally share (PLG) without a sales team.
- 🔄 The Pivot: How they navigated the risky shift from blocking emails to sending them reliably in production.
📖 Chapters
- The 20,000 Email Disaster (Origin Story)
- Building Internal Tools: The "Eat Your Own Dog Food" Strategy
- The Decision to Monetize a Free Tool
- Pricing Strategy: Using Data & Interviews to Find the Price
- The Onboarding Myth: Why Fewer Clicks Didn't Increase Conversions
- The Mandatory Signup Survey (That Didn't Kill Growth)
- The "Fake Door" Test: Validating Email Campaigns Before Building
- The Pivot: Expanding from Email Testing to Email Sending
- Competing with Giants (SendGrid, Mailgun)
- AI for Developers: Hype vs. Reality
💌 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
Resources
- Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/456
- Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe
629 episodes
Share
Manage episode 512563029 series 61396
Content provided by Omer Khan. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Omer Khan 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.
Back in 2011, Sergiy Korolov's team accidentally sent 20,000 test billing emails to real customers—a complete disaster. They built a simple internal tool to prevent it from happening again, shared it with the Ruby on Rails community, and it exploded. Fast forward to today: Mailtrap generates seven-figure ARR with 100,000+ monthly active users.
In this episode, Sergiy Korolov (Co-founder of Mailtrap) reveals the SaaS Pricing Strategy behind converting a massive free user base into paid customers. Learn his controversial "Mandatory Survey" tactic that unlocked deep customer insights without hurting conversion, how he used a "Fake Door" test to validate a massive product pivot before writing code, and the specific challenges of expanding from a simple testing sandbox into a full-scale Email API platform.
In this episode, Sergiy also explains why simplifying onboarding didn't increase conversions (and what that revealed about developers), the "Eat Your Own Dog Food" strategy that fueled their initial growth, and how to compete with giants like SendGrid by focusing on developer experience.
This episode is brought to you by:
💖 Sprinto → Learn more and book a demo today
🚀 SaaS Club Launch → Build your SaaS to $10K MRR
🔑 Key Lessons
- 📊 The Mandatory Survey: Why forcing users to answer questions during signup actually helped growth without hurting conversion.
- 🚪 The "Fake Door" Test: Validating a major feature (Email Campaigns) with a dummy button before building it.
- 💰 Monetization: Transitioning a free community tool into a profitable recurring revenue business using data-driven pricing.
- 🛠️ Developer Marketing: How to build a product that developers naturally share (PLG) without a sales team.
- 🔄 The Pivot: How they navigated the risky shift from blocking emails to sending them reliably in production.
📖 Chapters
- The 20,000 Email Disaster (Origin Story)
- Building Internal Tools: The "Eat Your Own Dog Food" Strategy
- The Decision to Monetize a Free Tool
- Pricing Strategy: Using Data & Interviews to Find the Price
- The Onboarding Myth: Why Fewer Clicks Didn't Increase Conversions
- The Mandatory Signup Survey (That Didn't Kill Growth)
- The "Fake Door" Test: Validating Email Campaigns Before Building
- The Pivot: Expanding from Email Testing to Email Sending
- Competing with Giants (SendGrid, Mailgun)
- AI for Developers: Hype vs. Reality
💌 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
Resources
- Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/456
- Subscribe to the podcast: https://saasclub.io/subscribe
629 episodes
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Similar to The SaaS Podcast: Build, Launch & Scale Your SaaS
Where startup founders raise millions and listeners can invest. Host Josh Muccio takes listeners behind closed-doors and into the room where deals are made. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
…
continue reading
1
The Ticket: Discover the Future of Customer Service, Support, and Experience, with Intercom
Intercom
1k484
On The Ticket, you'll hear Intercom's Customer Support team in conversation with the customer service leaders, renowned customer experience thinkers, and influential authors who are shaping the field of customer support. Follow The Ticket to get the weekly episodes and sign up for our twice-monthly newsletter bursting with all the insights, trends, tips, and assets your team needs to embrace the future of customer service. https://www.intercom.com/blog/newsletter 🏠 www.intercom.com
…
continue reading
Get cutting-edge insights from world-class leaders in health, fitness, longevity, entrepreneurship, music and brain science. In-depth interviews with 400+ world-renowned experts including James Clear, Dr. Casey Means, Dr. Shawn Baker, Dr. Mark Hyman, Robb Wolf, Dr. Jack Kruse, Nir Eyal, Tony Horton, Dr. John Gray, Tim Ferriss, Lewis Howes, JP Sears, and many more. Originally launched in 2012 with the tongue-in-cheek title, The Fat-Burning Man Show, this podcast hit #1 in Health in 8 countrie ...
…
continue reading
Big tech is transforming every aspect of our world. But how, and at what cost? This season of Land of the Giants – The Disney Dilemma – focuses on Disney’s ability to weather the ups and downs of the business cycle and changing tastes and explores what has kept it successful for over 100 years. The entertainment giant has leveraged nostalgia and its intellectual property to build a beloved brand, but after an acquisition spree that included Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox, can it sus ...
…
continue reading
The Village Global podcast takes you inside the world of venture capital and technology, featuring enlightening interviews with entrepreneurs, investors and tech industry leaders. Learn more at www.villageglobal.vc.
…
continue reading
Profits Through Podcasting is your go-to resource for turning engaged listeners of your health-focused podcast into paying clients. Learn from health and wellness entrepreneurs who successfully employ a podcast as their main marketing tool, generating quality leads and growing their business. Whether you're a doctor, chiropractor, clinician, health business coach, therapist, or an entrepreneur in any other health or wellness related field, so long as you have a podcast, Profits Through Podca ...
…
continue reading
Owning a small business can be one of the most rewarding and challenging things a person does. Amid an uncertain economy and ever-evolving consumer trends, there is a lot to figure out and navigate to ensure your business thrives. Join hosts Jannese Torres (Yo Quiero Dinero) and Austin Hankwitz (Rate of Return) as they connect with small business owners and hear their stories about managing the ups and downs of starting and growing a small business. Listen to "Mind the Business: Small Busine ...
…
continue reading
Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (Hubspot's SVP of Marketing), lead you down the rabbit hole of marketing trends, growth tactics and innovation. On the way you’ll pick up undiscovered strategies to give you that slight edge for success. These are not your typical twitter thread regurgitated marketing tactics that everyone is doing. These are new methods, with unfiltered examination of successful fresh ideas.
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Wholesaling Inc with Brent Daniels
Find distressed properties for pennies on the dollar and turn them for huge profits!
2k1k
Let’s face it, Real estate education has lost the script. Everybody “claims” to have the secret sauce. They get you to sign up, get you to bite on a “magic” formula, but there’s no real tools to get there. There’s so much talk, no practical steps. It’s not instructional, it’s hype. The ideas aren’t focused on your success, it’s focused on theirs. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. If you’ve been searching for a way to escape the rat race and achieve true financial freedom wholesaling real ...
…
continue reading
Stephan Piscano founder of The Real Estate Networking Group the largest real estate group online interviews experts in real estate, finance, sports, motivation and more as we use common sense concepts to give investors insights on financial markets and have a lot of fun talking sports, politics and business motivation as well!
…
continue reading
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