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Ton Dobbe

For B2B SaaS founders who are done blending in. 

The Remarkable SaaS Podcast features unfiltered conversations with SaaS founders navigating the real challenges of building software that matters. 

Hosted by Ton Dobbe, author of The Remarkable Effect, each episode zooms in on one of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies—like offering something truly valuable and desirable, and aiming to be different, not just better. 

Some guests are scaling fast. Others are still in the trenches—but all share hard-won lessons about what it really takes to create pull, shorten sales cycles, and become the only logical choice in their market. 

Expect: 

Honest conversations—no hype, no theory 

Tactical insights from sales-led SaaS founders 

Practical ideas you can apply to sharpen your product and your positioning 

If you're building a SaaS business that deserves attention—not just more noise—this podcast is for you.

Tech Entrepreneur on a Mission Podcast

This episode is for SaaS founders tired of the "grow at all costs" playbook—who suspect there's power in saying no to the wrong customers.

Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad product. They fail because they try to please everyone. Martin Balaam, CEO of Pimberly, chose restraint over reach. Former physicist turned serial entrepreneur, he'd already scaled and exited Jigsaw24 at 3x returns. At Pimberly, he refuses customers his team can't delight—even when they're ready to sign.

And this inspired me to invite Martin to my podcast. We explore how qualifying customers as rigorously as they qualify you creates compound advantages. Martin shares hard-won insights about why he walked away from license-only models, when to choose service depth over customer volume, and what happens when you give your product roadmap to customers instead of VCs. You'll discover why maintaining sub-5% churn matters more than doubling growth rates.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

 • Aim to be different, not just better
 • Focus on the essence

Martin's story is proof that sustainable SaaS growth comes from doing what others call unscalable.

Here's one of Martin's quotes that captures his contrarian philosophy:

"I really don't want to lose customers. I know from my life experience how much time and effort, blood, sweat, and tears you have in trying to acquire a customer. We'll openly put our hand up and say I can't see that this is actually gonna add the value—even though they might be happy to sign."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • Why saying no to willing customers protects your business
 • What "VIP leads" actually means (hint: not big orders)
 • When founder-led sales should naturally transition
 • Why physical presence beats remote-first for market entry

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: Martin Balaam, CEO & Founder Pimberly

Website: pimberly.com

#382 - How Martin Balaam chose depth over scale and built to $7M ARR

A story about winning by not competing—and why saying no creates speed

This episode is for SaaS founders who feel the weight of building something that matters—and wonder if being contrarian is worth the risk.

Most software companies fail because they rush to market without questioning what they're building. They see opportunity and chase it.

David Villalon, CEO of Maisa, saw the AI gold rush differently. When everyone was building faster, he spent a year building trust into the foundation. He recognized that when you can see the future—truly see it—you carry responsibility for building it right, not just first.

And this inspired me to invite David to my podcast. We explore why making AI accountable matters more than making it powerful. David shares hard-won insights about choosing regulated industries first, empowering task-doers instead of technical teams, and why he positions his company to compound value from every AI model maker instead of competing with them. You'll discover why focusing on one customer before ten creates the foundation for horizontal growth.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

 • Aim to be different, not just better
 • Offer something valuable and desirable

David's story is proof that vision without responsibility is just opportunism—and real founders feel the weight of building the future right.

Here's one of David's quotes that captures his entrepreneurial philosophy:

"Whenever you have success, what you're going to hear is everyone saying how good you are. But if you act without that ego, without wanting to become something that you are not, everything looks much better."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • When to compound competitors' value instead of fighting
 • What happens when you empower task-doers, not technicians
 • Why first principles thinking requires empathy, not just logic
 • When everyone wanting your product means stay focused

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: David Villalon, CEO Maisa

Website: https://maisa.ai

381 - How David Villalon built AI workers that enterprises actually trust

A story about finding opportunity in the moments everyone else ignores.

This episode is for founders questioning whether their personal frustration is worth building a business around.

Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad tech. They fail because they solve problems that don't actually hurt.

Ken Rapp, CEO of Blustream, took a different path. When his $2,000 guitar cracked, he didn't blame himself—he questioned why no brand had ever taught him prevention. That question led to a 10-year journey building what didn't exist.

And this inspired me to invite Ken to my podcast. We explore how solving your own problem first gives you conviction others lack. Ken shares why he spent years on IoT sensors before realizing the real problem was human connection, not data collection. You'll discover why category creation takes a decade—not because building is hard, but because changing behavior is harder.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Focus on the essence – Aim to be different

Ken's story is proof that unmet needs hide in plain sight—we just learn to live with them.

Here's one of Ken's quotes that captures his key insight:

"Once your customer is at home, that's the moment where they will be most vulnerable, and that curve of emotional connection to you drops. It's almost like the buyer's remorse is setting in. You're all excited to go home with the product, or to open the product, and right there is when you really need to conquer that new product and make it a habit, and really get what you were hoping and dreaming for out of the product. But there's no connection between you and the company."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • Why personal problems make the best businesses
 • When to pivot from technology to psychology
 • Why categories emerge from nerve strikes, not planning
 • What 100 customer interviews actually teach you

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: Ken Rapp, CEO & Founder of Blustream

Website: blustream.io

380 – How Ken Rapp built a category by solving the problem he lived with

A story about rejecting the magic wand approach to AI—and building something businesses can actually use.

This episode is for Mid-market SaaS founders tired of AI hype who want to build something that creates real customer value—not just impressive demos.

Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad tech. They fail because they chase hype over value.

Zohar Bronfman, CEO of Pecan AI, took a different path. After years researching AI and philosophy in academia, he saw Amazon, Uber, and Spotify dominating with predictive AI—while thousands of smaller companies couldn't even get started. Instead of building another "AI for everything" platform, he focused obsessively on one thing: making predictive AI accessible to mid-market companies who couldn't afford data science teams.

And this inspired me to invite Zohar to my podcast. We explore why curiosity beats strategy when building in uncertain markets. Zohar shares hard-won insights about deprecating profitable features, why small teams outperform large ones, and how to identify which enterprise capabilities actually matter for mid-market customers. You'll discover why Pecan almost never loses customers—despite operating in the brutally competitive AI space.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

 • Trait #2: Be valuable and desirable
 • Trait #6: Create fans, not just customers

Zohar's story is proof that sustainable growth comes from solving real problems—not riding waves.

Here's one of Zohar's quotes that captures his philosophy:

"You can sell things, especially to larger organizations. You can sell things that actually don't have ROI. You can sell things that either look shiny, sound shiny or smell shiny, or all of the above. But ultimately, if you put yourself in a rigorous test, did I make a change? Did I actually add value to the system? The answer could have been no in many cases."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • Why killing profitable features strengthens retention
 • What happens when you ignore VCs' market advice
 • When customer honesty beats sales promises
 • Why hiring slower creates faster growth

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Zohar Bronfman, CEO Pecan AI

Website: pecan.ai

379 – How Zohar Bronfman built AI that actually delivers ROI

A story about passing lucrative deals to competitors—and building something users refuse to give up

This episode is for SaaS founders exhausted from chasing every opportunity—and wondering if extreme focus actually works.

Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad tech. They fail because they can't stop building.

Ray Meiring, CEO of QorusDocs, discovered this during a meeting with a bank CIO. While trying to find use cases for their generic document tool, Ray realized they had it backwards—they were hunting for problems to fit their solution instead of solving a specific problem.

That realization changed everything. Ray narrowed QorusDocs from "any document" to proposals to specific verticals. He even developed a system for passing lucrative but wrong-fit customers directly to competitors.

And this inspired me to invite Ray to my podcast. We explore how narrowing from documents to proposals to law firms and engineering firms created users who'd "pry QorusDocs from their cold dead hands." Ray shares why moving 10,000 miles to Seattle transformed their network, how building inside Microsoft Office became their differentiator, and why consistency beats constant pivoting. You'll discover how saying no to features actually accelerated growth.

We also zoom in on three of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

 • Acknowledge you can't please everyone
 • Aim to be different, not just better
 • Focus on the essence

Ray's story shows how narrowing your focus can multiply your impact.

Here's one of Ray's quotes that captures his philosophy:

"We were trying to be everything to everyone and just build this very generic product. But as we worked with more customers, we started to see a pattern around a very specific set of documents that were challenging—proposal documents."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • Why the A-B-Z framework beats traditional segmentation
 • What happens when you deprecate features instead of adding them
 • When proximity to customers trumps remote efficiency
 • Why integration beats innovation for enterprise retention

For more information about the guest from this week:

 • Guest: 
Ray Meiring • , CEO QorusDocs
 • Website:
 qorusdocs.com

378 - How Ray Meiring built fanatical customers by choosing exactly who to ignore

A story about turning impatience into competitive advantage.

This episode is for SaaS founders tired of building "professional" products nobody remembers—and anyone wondering if controversy beats convention.

Most SaaS companies fail because they try to please everyone.

They play it safe with every decision.

Joao Marques, CEO of Oscar, took a different path.

He quit his job, built the app in four months, then raised 70K euros to start acquiring customers. Created an on-demand home services marketplace that sends marketing messages designed to provoke action. Became Portugal's market leader in two years—by deliberately risking cancellation with every campaign.

And this inspired me to invite Joao to my podcast. We explore how strategic controversy creates memorable brands faster than perfect products. Joao shares hard truths about focus, growth over features, and why being hated by some customers beats being ignored by all. You'll discover why having your entire company obsess over one metric beats any complex strategy.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Focus on the essence – Master the art of creating momentum

Joao's story is proof that market leadership often starts by doing what makes others uncomfortable.

Here's one of Joao's quotes that captures his philosophy:

"Just having one goal. My focus, for example, right now, is acquisition and then GMV, so volume in my app. I'm refreshing the dashboard every 10 minutes. Every decision that we make is based on that. Every goal is based on that. Everyone in my team, and we are, like, 50 people, from customer support to senior management, everyone knows GMV on a daily basis.”

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • Why building features before growth is startup suicide
 • What happens when you do the unscalable things competitors avoid
 • When being annoying drives better retention than being nice
 • Why one metric beats ten strategies

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: Joao Marques, CEO Oscar

Website: oscarapp.com

377 – How Joao Marques became Portugal's home services market leader in 2 years

A story about building a cult following in the unglamorous world of aviation maintenance

This episode is for SaaS founders exhausted from building "nice-to-have" solutions.

Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad tech. They fail because they prefer to solve sexy problems instead of expensive ones.

Dinakara Nagalla, CEO of EmpowerMX (acquired by IFS), took a different path. He spent 14 years in aviation watching mechanics waste 50% of their day on paperwork. Instead of building another dashboard for executives, he built tools for the technicians themselves—and turned a cost center into a profit driver with 78% gross margins.

And this inspired me to invite Dinakara to my podcast. We explore how solving unglamorous problems creates fanatical customers. Dinakara shares hard truths about why productivity software beats regulatory software, how guaranteeing 10% efficiency shrinks sales cycles by 67%, and why hiring from the industry you serve changes everything. You'll discover why his customers became his sales force—without being asked.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

 • They create fans, not customers
 • They sell the idea, not the product

Dinakara's 14-year journey proves that the most loyal customers come from solving their daily frustrations, not their strategic initiatives.

Here's one of Dinakara's quotes that captures his contrarian philosophy:

"Being remarkable shouldn't just be a slogan. You should make it as a responsibility. It's what you do when no one is watching. It's a system you build after the pitch is done, and it should be built with the highest level of accountability, with the most trust you can possibly put in. To me, the most remarkable companies don't scale high; they scale trust."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • How his customers became his sales force
 • What happens when you guarantee 10% productivity gains
 • When hiring only from aviation changed everything
 • Why reducing organizational stress beats adding features

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: Dinakara Nagalla, CEO & Founder of EmpowerMX (now part of IFS) 

Website: https://dinakaranagalla.com/

Episode #376 – How Dinakara Nagalla turned aircraft mechanics into his biggest fans and built a successful exit

A story about finding freedom by solving problems others ignored—on purpose.

For SaaS founders tired of feature bloat—and wondering if serving fewer people better might be the smarter path to freedom.

Most SaaS companies fail because they try to please everyone.

They fail because they spread themselves across every platform, every feature request, every shiny opportunity.

Samy Dindane, CEO of Hypefury, took a different path.

He spotted a gap nobody else cared about—Twitter thread scheduling—and built a prototype in three days. Instead of raising money or hiring fast, he chose freedom through focus.

And this inspired me to invite Samy to my podcast. We explore how deliberate constraints create stronger businesses. Samy shares hard-won insights about platform dependence, community-driven development, and knowing when to say no. You'll discover why his users became product owners and how charging more actually made customers happier.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – They acknowledge they can't please everyone – They master the art of curiosity

Samy's story is proof that sustainable freedom comes from saying no to good opportunities—not just bad ones.

Here's one of Samy's quotes that captures his philosophy:

"Whatever time you spend on something, you don't spend on something else. So whatever time you're going to try to build something crazy for another platform, it's the time you're not spending improving."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn: 

 • Why power users matter more than market size
 • What happens when the platform you depend on demands $500K yearly 
 • When adding features becomes a liability 
 • Why your best product managers pay you monthly

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: Samy Dindane, CEO Hypefury

Website: hypefury.com

Want to dig deeper into the 10 traits of remarkable SaaS companies? 

 • Get my book The Remarkable Effect at 
valueinspiration.com/book • 
 • Or sign up for Espresso with Ton at 
valueinspiration.com/daily • - a 2-minute daily email to sharpen your thinking and strategy.

#378 - How Samy Dindane achieved total business freedom by choosing who NOT to serve

#374 - How Chad Rubin helps Amazon brands escape the pricing race to the bottom

A story about moving from being a cost center to becoming the profit engine—by challenging assumptions no one else dared to question.

This Episode is for SaaS founders who are tired of customers seeing their solution as just another expense—and those questioning whether there's a smarter way to build something customers actually want to pay more for.

Most SaaS companies position themselves as efficiency tools. They help you do things faster, cheaper, better.

Chad Rubin, CEO of Profasee, took a different path. After selling his previous inventory management company in 2021, he had a realization: he was always building solutions that lived on the expense side of his customers' businesses. He wanted to be on the revenue side.

So he started questioning assumptions in his own struggling Amazon business. Why doesn't anyone change price dynamically? Why do sellers copy pricing from competitors who might be broke?

This led him to build Profasee—dynamic pricing software that uses AI to help Amazon brands optimize pricing and ad spend together, creating a flywheel that drives profit growth.

And this inspired me to invite Chad to my podcast. We explore how questioning fundamental assumptions creates breakthrough opportunities. Chad shares insights about turning your founder story into sales leverage, the shift from efficiency to effectiveness in SaaS, and why data-driven pricing decisions compound over time. You'll discover how he's building a lean organization while investing heavily in AI and quant teams to create competitive moats.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – They acknowledge they can't please everyone – They sell the idea, not the product

Chad's story proves that the biggest levers are hiding in plain sight.

Here's one of Chad's quotes that captures his contrarian philosophy:

"You have to always be a dot, a dot collector. Constantly collecting dots. Most brands are not looking at their whole system. They're not zooming out to understand the process, understand with clear thinking, how you can have some self-awareness and look at, okay, price and PPC, how do these things interconnect?"

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • Why questioning belief systems creates challenger advantages 
 • What happens when you connect isolated business levers
 • What happens when you refuse to compete on other people's terms • Why founder stories become leverage in sales conversations

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: Chad Rubin, CEO of Profasee

Website: profasee.com

#374 - How Chad Rubin helps Amazon brands escape the pricing race to the bottom

A story about turning personal frustration into breakthrough technology—and why great products come from pain you actually feel.

This Episode is for SaaS founders struggling to identify their real target audience—and wondering how to separate urgent problems from nice-to-have features.

Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad tech. They fail because they try to solve problems they don't actually feel.

Davit Baghdasaryan, CEO of Krisp AI, took a different path. Former head of product security at Twilio, he spent evenings in Armenia taking morning calls from San Francisco—dealing with background noise that existing solutions couldn't touch. One personal frustration became the foundation for technology that now processes over a billion minutes monthly and powers 80% of human-to-AI voice interactions.

And this inspired me to invite Davit to my podcast. We explore how building from real pain creates unbeatable product-market fit. Davit shares insights about choosing problems with no alternatives, why great demos feel like magic, and how focusing on essence over speed built technology that companies like Discord and Twilio now license. You'll discover why their "marketing experiment" desktop app became Product of the Year—and how they accidentally created infrastructure that now processes over a billion minutes monthly.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – They focus on the essence – They offer something valuable and desirable

Davit's story proves that breakthrough technology starts with problems that personally bother you.

Here's one of Davit's quotes that captures his philosophy on problem selection:

"In order to understand the pain, you need to understand the alternative. If you are in an office, the alternative is to go find a quiet room—probably not that painful. But if you're in an airport or call center with people speaking next to you, there is no alternative."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 1. Why understanding alternatives reveals true market urgency 
 2. What separating horizontal from vertical markets actually means
 3. When building hard technology first pays off long-term
 4. Why great demos feel magical instead of technical

For more information about the guest from this week: 

Guest: Davit Baghdasaryan, CEO of Krisp AI 

Website: krisp.ai 

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#373 – How Davit Baghdasaryan built the world's best voice AI by solving problems others ignored

A story about building an open-source search engine that developers actually want to use.

This episode is for SaaS founders chasing feature parity with bigger competitors—and those wondering if there's a smarter way to compete with tech giants.

Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad technology. They fail because they try to be everything to everyone.

Quentin de Quelen, Co-founder & CEO of MeiliSearch, took a different path. A former carpenter's son turned developer, he saw search as a fundamental problem worth solving properly. Instead of building another complex enterprise solution, he chose to make search so simple that any developer could implement it in five minutes.

This inspired me to invite Quentin to my podcast. We explore how focusing on three core principles—simplicity, performance, and relevance—creates both developer love and business wins. Quentin shares insights about choosing open source as strategy, not ideology, and why saying no to features actually accelerates growth. You'll discover how one conversation with their community led to a breakthrough that took two hours to code but changed everything.

We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies:

 • They acknowledge they can't please everyone
 • They focus on the essence

Quentin's story is proof that traction often starts by doing what most others avoid.

Here's one of Quentin's quotes that captures his philosophy on building:

"Open source is not, should not be by default. It should be thought as a strategy, also for your company to grow. Because everything we are doing at the end is for business wise."

By listening to this episode, you'll learn:

 • Why letting competitors copy you actually creates competitive advantage
 • What happens when you optimize for developer joy over enterprise features
 • Why saying no to customers actually accelerates product growth
 • Why three simple principles beat complex competitive analysis

For more information about the guest from this week:

Guest: Quentin de Quelen Co-founder & CEO of MeiliSearch

Website: meilisearch.com

Discount code: mission (2 months for free on all plans and valid until end of August '25)

#366 – How Quentin de Quelen built MeiliSearch by choosing what others avoid

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