Four Months Building: Why a Serial Entrepreneur Is Betting on Profitable SaaS
It’s been four months since my last post. That wasn’t planned.
When I announced Brevleads in April, I thought I’d keep writing about the journey. Document the ups and downs. Share the lessons. But something unexpected happened: I got completely absorbed in building the right thing.
The Silent Months
Between April and today, I’ve been methodically validating and building.
I’ve conducted 5 deep customer interviews so far - each one a 60-90 minute deep dive into the LinkedIn-to-CRM problem I’m solving. And I’m actively using the newsletter and community to conduct more research and gather feedback as I build.
Each conversation has taught me something crucial about what sales teams actually need, not what I think they need. And each one has reinforced why I’m pivoting my entrepreneurial focus specifically to profitable SaaS after 11 companies of experience.
Even with just 5 interviews, clear patterns are emerging that I can’t ignore.
What Early Customer Research Is Teaching Me
The problem is bigger than I thought. What started as “I need Hublead.io for Brevo” became something much more significant. Sales teams are drowning in manual processes. They’re copying and pasting between systems. Losing leads in spreadsheets. Spending hours on administrative work instead of selling.
The solution is more nuanced than I expected. It’s not just about syncing data. It’s about workflow automation, lead scoring, and sales intelligence. It’s about giving sales teams their time back so they can focus on what they do best: building relationships and closing deals.
The market is ready. Even from these early conversations, I’m hearing genuine interest and willingness to pay. People are asking “when can I get this?” rather than just being polite about the concept.
From 11 Companies to SaaS Focus
After founding 11 companies across the US, Thailand, and Japan over the past 25 years, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t:
- Multiple ventures: SimplyCubed (cybersecurity), Marketplace Trends (SaaS insights), plus 9 others
- Hard lessons: Several failures taught me more than any success
- Recent pivot: From security consulting to growth engineering to SaaS focus
- Bootstrap mindset: Developed anti-VC philosophy from decades of building
Each company taught me something crucial. Early ventures taught me to move fast. Security work taught me to think in systems. Recent failures taught me to validate before building. Growth engineering taught me to think in experiments.
Now I’m applying all those lessons to profitable SaaS—the model I should have focused on years ago.
Why I Stopped Writing (And Why I’m Starting Again)
I stopped writing because I was learning so fast that documenting it felt premature. Each customer interview shifted my understanding. Every conversation added nuance to the problem.
I didn’t want to share half-formed thoughts or pivot publicly every few weeks. I wanted to get it right first.
But I’ve realized that was the wrong approach. The uncertainty is part of the story. The evolution is part of the value. Building in public isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about sharing the journey of finding them.
What 11 Companies Taught Me About Building This One Right
Customer interviews are everything. After multiple company failures, I know the cost of building on assumptions. These 5 deep conversations have already taught me more than months of my own opinions. My goal is to reach 25-50 interviews—a discipline I wish I’d had in my earlier ventures.
Validate before you build, but build to validate. My previous companies often failed because I either over-engineered before validation or under-built after it. I’m building lean prototypes alongside customer research—each iteration guided by real user feedback, not founder fantasies.
SaaS changes everything about technical debt. In my consulting businesses, technical shortcuts were manageable. In my previous product attempts, they killed momentum. With SaaS, every shortcut compounds exponentially. After 11 companies, I know the difference between smart constraints and destructive corners.
Profitability over scale. My anti-VC philosophy comes from watching founders lose control of their companies. I’ve seen what happens when growth becomes more important than sustainability. With Brevleads, I’m building for profit first, knowing that sustainable growth follows profitable unit economics.
The Brevleads Beta Story
We’re launching the Brevleads beta in 1-2 weeks.
It’s not the product I originally envisioned. It’s already more focused and valuable thanks to early customer feedback. As I continue gathering insights through the newsletter and community, the product will keep evolving based on real user needs.
The beta will be small—maybe 20-30 power users who’ve been involved in the development process. We’ll iterate quickly, fix issues fast, and build features based on real usage patterns, not assumptions.
What’s Next for Content
I’m committing to sharing more, not less.
The next few months will be a masterclass in applying 25 years of entrepreneurial lessons to profitable SaaS. Deepening customer research through the newsletter community. Validating product-market fit with real users. Building from beta to launch with the discipline that comes from multiple failures and the wisdom that comes from hard experience.
I’ll document it all. The wins, the mistakes, the pivots, and the breakthroughs.
This is just the beginning.
If you’re building in B2B SaaS or interested in the LinkedIn outbound space, I’d love to connect. Drop me a message or comment below. And if you’re using Brevo for your CRM and LinkedIn for outbound sales, join the Brevleads waitlist to get early access to the beta.
The best products are built in conversation with users, not in isolation. Let’s build something great together.
