SaaS Stories

Hosted by Joana Inch

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Latest episode

Jul 2026

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EN-AU

About the show

SaaS Stories is my not-so-secret quest to learn what it truly takes to succeed in the world of SaaS—and I’m inviting you along for the ride! I have the pleasure of sitting down with brilliant minds and industry trailblazers to explore their journeys, uncovering the secrets behind their growth, the gaps they spotted in the market, and what really drives them. It’s not all smooth sailing—there are challenges, unexpected turns, and moments of reflection where they share what they’d love to change about their journey. Think of it as a candid, insider’s look into the world of SaaS, with just the right amount of curiosity, empathy, and wit. Join me as I dive deep, selfishly soak up all the insights, and hopefully share a little inspiration with you along the way—one SaaS story at a time.

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60 recent

August 25, 2026Episode 3848 min

How SSW turned AI into ½ their pipeline — Ulysses Maclaren, COO of SSW

Most organisations are giving their teams AI tools and hoping for the best. The ones actually pulling ahead are doing something completely different and it starts long before anyone opens Claude. In this episode of SaaS Stories , Joana sits down with Ulysses Maclaren, COO of SSW, one of Australia's leading software consultancies, to unpack what 20 years of technology transformation actually looks like from the inside. From .NET development shop to AI consultancy, Uly has lived through every major tech wave and knows exactly what separates the organisations that adapt from the ones that get left behind. This conversation gets specific. We cover: → Why giving everyone a Claude licence without a strategy is a fast way to waste money → The enterprise vs BYO AI adoption models and the trade-offs nobody talks about → Why exec buy-in matters more than any tool purchase you'll ever make → How developers are shifting from writing code to managing "AI clankers" — and why some of them hate it → The inside story of YakShaver, the internal tool SSW built to turn a screen recording into a perfectly formatted backlog item, and what the go-to-market taught them about building for yourself vs building for a market → Why "selling to everyone" is a fast way to sell to no one and how to find the niche that actually wins → What to look for when hiring for an AI-native team in 2026 🎙️ SaaS Stories is brought to you by Hat Media — B2B marketing specialists for the SaaS world. Subscribe and catch every episode at hatmedia.com.au/SaaS-Stories . Send us Fan Mail

July 21, 2026Episode 3741 min

The SaaS Playbook For Growth, Partnerships & Acquisitions

An exit sounds clean on paper. The reality is messier, more human, and way more useful. We’re joined by Brian Nolan, entrepreneur and investor, to unpack how he built Sellbrite by solving a real multichannel e-commerce problem early in the Amazon FBA wave, then sold the company to GoDaddy. Along the way, we get honest about what life looks like after the deal, why corporate pace can feel painful after startup speed, and how keeping fundraising modest can leave founders and employees with real ownership at exit. We also go deep on growth without a giant media budget. Brian breaks down how partner-led marketing actually works in B2B SaaS: earning trust with platforms, showing up at the right conferences, becoming a recommended integration, and doing the math on CAC, LTV, and payback periods. Then we follow the pivots: building BookOutdoors as a marketplace for campgrounds and outdoor accommodation, learning how hard it is to sell tech to operators who still run on phones and calendars, and finally buying a premium lifestyle apparel brand for dog people, Darren & Phillip. We talk US expansion from Australia, 3PL fulfilment, influencer strategy, brand repositioning, and the career advice Brian gives his daughter in the age of AI. More episodes on B2B SaaS available here on Hat Media Send us Fan Mail

June 19, 2026Episode 3644 min

The 7 pillars of trust every leader can build

Trust doesn’t usually die in a dramatic blow up. It dies in the small moments leaders let slide: the awkward conversation that never happens, the “brilliant” employee who gets away with bad behaviour, the silence that lets rumours do the talking. Gearl Loden joins us to share the thinking behind his new book, Before It Breaks, and why trust is the foundation that makes decisions faster, teams calmer, and culture stronger. We walk through Gearl’s seven pillars of trust, a practical framework leaders can actually operationalise: character, consistency, communication, competence, care, clarity, and courage. We dig into why communication isn’t the same as clarity, how promotions fail when competence isn’t developed, and what caring leadership looks like in a brisk, high-performance environment where people still have room to breathe and think. Because many of you lead SaaS teams, we also get specific about scaling from startup energy to a 50 person organisation without losing your culture. That includes onboarding, cross-team systems, AI adoption training, and remote team trust. We also look outward to customer trust: why most SaaS customers won’t complain before they churn, and how mergers and product changes can erode loyalty when you don’t communicate a roadmap early. We finish with a simple but powerful trust repair move: don’t just say “sorry” and stop. Name the impact, own the decision, and say what you’ll do differently next time, then repeat it until it becomes credible. Produced by Hat Media Book & Early Buyer Incentives Before It Breaks: The Seven Pillars of Trust Every Leader Must Build Pre-order now: https://masterclass.lodenleadership.com/before-it-breaks-pre-order Official launch: July 7, 2026 Exclusive for Early Buyers: When you register your book, you'll receive: A complete resource bundle Invitation to a complimentary live masterclass Free PDF of Before It Breaks: The Complete Leadership Workbook (Available during the early launch window) Connect with Gearl Website: https://lodenleadership.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gearl-loden-lodenleadership/ 30-Minute Discovery Call: https://masterclass.lodenleadership.com/lighting-the-path-discovery-call-30 Growth Alliance Newsletter: https://go.lodenleadership.com/Grwoth_Alliance_Newsletter Send us Fan Mail

May 22, 2026Episode 3547 min

The Human Edge in an AI World with Nik Froehlich, CEO of Saritasa

When the travel agency industry vanished overnight, Nik Froehlich saw what was coming for every industry and built a business to help them navigate it. In this episode of SaaS Stories , the President & CEO of Saritasa shares why 20+ years of bridging business and technology still comes down to one thing: people who can speak both languages. From coaching CEOs through digital transformation to adding AI agents that delivered an 83% improvement in customer service for a youth sports SaaS platform, Nik's story is proof that the future belongs to those who stay optimistic, stay agile, and never stop learning. Brought to you by Hat Media — B2B marketing specialists for the SaaS world. Send us Fan Mail

April 27, 2026Episode 3434 min

The 80/20 Growth Strategy: How to Find Your Most Valuable Customers

Is your SaaS business growing but somehow still feeling stuck? You might be spending 80% of your energy on the wrong 20% of clients. In this episode of SaaS Stories , host Jo is joined by Christine Day, B2B growth strategy consultant, published author, software developer, and fractional CMO, to explore the 80/20 Growth Strategy and what it really means for SaaS businesses trying to break through growth plateaus. Christine shares the moment everything clicked for her: sitting in a client's office and realising that the one thing missing from every growth strategy is a data-driven ideal customer profile. What followed was a framework and eventually a software tool to help businesses objectively score and rank their clients, then laser-focus their growth efforts on the ones that matter most. In this episode you will learn: What the 80/20 (Pareto) principle actually means for SaaS revenue and client value How to identify your top 20% using business goals and top-down metrics, not guesswork The three options for dealing with your bottom 80% What a value inflection point is and how to recognise when you have hit one How account-based marketing fits into a high-value client strategy Why most SaaS companies track metrics at the company level but miss the most important view, the customer level Whether you are in early scale-up or have been stuck at the same revenue number for a while, this conversation will give you a new lens for growth. Brought to you by Hat Media Send us Fan Mail

March 31, 2026Episode 3312 min

Account-Based Marketing Fundamentals with Hat Media

Short and sweet episode on the fundamentals of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) . The fastest way to waste a B2B SaaS budget is to market to the wrong accounts, then call it “pipeline”. Joana sits down with Nigel Houghton, co-founder of Hat Media , to unpack what actually changed in B2B sales and marketing over the last 20 years and why those changes make account-based marketing a must for enterprise SaaS. If you’re choosing between demand generation and account-based marketing, building an enterprise pipeline, or trying to break into a small set of high-value accounts in Australia and beyond, this conversation will give you a clearer path. Subscribe for more, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with the one ABM question you want answered next. Send us Fan Mail

March 3, 2026Episode 3245 min

Stories that Sell: The marketing strategy algorithms can’t kill

Want a marketing edge that still works when algorithms shift and feeds overflow? We dive deep with publisher and ghostwriter Henry DeVries to show why story beats noise and how a single book, paired with the right stages, can turn your expertise into inbound demand and high‑value clients. Henry lays out his “Magnificent Seven” for converting pages into pipeline: run small online seminars, speak on other people’s stages, publish consistently, show up in target‑rich communities, volunteer to open doors, create short video assets, and host paid deep dives that often break even while surfacing serious buyers. Along the way, we talk generosity as a brand, why trust outlasts tactics, and how to market actively without sliding into hard sell. If you’ve felt stuck at seven figures, spread thin across demos and content formats, this conversation makes a focused case to niche harder and be intensely useful to fewer people. View more SaaS Stories at Hat Media. Send us Fan Mail

February 8, 2026Episode 3138 min

Inbox Gold: Turning Emails Into Revenue

In this episode of SaaS Stories , Vadim Rogovskiy, Founder and CEO of EVE , shares how AI-first sales execution is reshaping B2B SaaS growth and why most teams are leaving revenue hidden inside their inboxes. We explore how acquiring a legacy SaaS business uncovered hundreds of untouched opportunities, inspiring EVE to turn real email conversations into a live, prioritised sales funnel without changing workflows. Vadim breaks down founder-led GTM, AI-powered follow-ups, pipeline prioritisation, and why inbox-driven execution often outperforms traditional CRM-only approaches. Drawing on experience as a multi-time founder, VC, and operator, Vadim also shares lessons on scaling, hiring with AI, community-led growth, and what separates SaaS companies that scale from those that stall. Learn how Hat Media helps B2B SaaS teams operationalise demand generation, ABM, and revenue execution at scale. Send us Fan Mail

February 4, 2026Episode 3058 min

The 4 numbers every CRO obsessively tracks (Ignore the Rest)

In this episode of SaaS Stories , Thomas Waites, seasoned CRO and enterprise SaaS advisor, shares how strong sales culture and revenue alignment transform teams into predictable growth engines. We explore why founder-led sales builds empathy and speeds decision making, how enterprise deals still close on emotion backed by proof, and how technical founders can shift from feature-focused pitches to buyer-led discovery. Thomas also breaks down how shared metrics and aligned incentives help sales, marketing, and customer success pull together through key GTM milestones. A practical conversation on revenue execution, culture-driven growth, and building systems that compound predictable results. Learn how Hat Media helps B2B SaaS teams operationalise demand generation, ABM, and revenue execution at scale. Send us Fan Mail

December 11, 2025Episode 2951 min

SaaS as an Orchestra | How to conduct CX, content & AI into one seamless journey

Most SaaS founders chase a bigger TAM, but Arman Eshraghi, Founder and CEO of Qrvey , argues the real advantage comes from winning smaller, high-pain markets where focus and execution matter most. In this episode of SaaS Stories , we unpack how embedded analytics and AI built for multi-tenant B2B SaaS can outperform generic dashboards, and how customer education drives stronger demand generation than broad advertising. Arman shares how Qrvey designed an orchestrated buyer journey by aligning content, trials, sales engagement, and pricing to key GTM milestones, while using customer experience as a strategic execution layer to accelerate retention and growth. We also explore global expansion, team culture, and where AI-powered automation delivers real enterprise value today. A masterclass in precision, ABM-aligned GTM execution, and building systems that compound trust and revenue. Send us Fan Mail