CartHook

What do you do when a collaborator takes your idea and builds a competing product? In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by fan favorite Jordan Gal to answer listener questions on some of the trickiest challenges founders face. They cover financing decisions like using debt to bridge cash flow gaps, competing in markets flooded with vibe-coded apps, and what to do when a collaborator takes your idea and runs with it. Want to get your question answered? Submit it here for a future episode. Episode Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Mercury Mercury is the banking solution I use across my businesses, from my personal single-member LLC to MicroConf and TinySeed. Traditional banking forces you to duct-tape tools together and work around slow, clunky processes. Mercury gives me a clean dashboard that shows exactly where each business stands at a glance. The interface is simple enough for daily banking and paying invoices, but powerful enough to handle multi-step approval workflows for large transfers. There's a reason more than 300,000 entrepreneurs have made the switch. It's free to get started with no in-person visits and no minimum balance. Apply online in minutes at mercury.com. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. Topics we cover: (3:50) – Jordan Gal on Rosie's multichannel launch (8:01) – Investing cash in slow-moving healthcare markets (10:32) – Using debt or credit against signed contracts (16:48) – Competing in crowded markets with vibe-coded apps (24:34) – Should you offer advisory shares to design partners? (30:38) – Selling to problem-aware but not solution-aware audiences (37:35) – When a collaborator steals your startup idea Links from the show: TinySeed SaaS Institute Stripe Capital The Play Bigger Book The SaaS Playbook Rob Walling's Books Rob Walling's Newsletter Rosie AI Jordan Gal (@JordanGal) | X If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Jordan Gal

Co-Founder

RallyRosieCartHook

How do you build an MVP for an AI-enabled SaaS?  In episode 764, Rob Walling interviews Jordan Gal, co-founder of Rosie, to learn about how he pivoted from Rally to build an AI-driven product for small business owners. Jordan shares insights into the challenges of finding product-market fit, the importance of trial and error, and the rapid growth Rosie has experienced since its launch. They delve into the significance of effective onboarding, and how building an MVP changes in the face of AI.  Topics we cover:  (2:38) – From CartHook to Rally to Rosie (6:28) – Deciding to pivot and feeling product-market fit (12:55) – Coming up with a feature set (16:50) – Building an MVP quickly (19:29) – Competition when developing with AI  (24:52) – Removing features and flexibility in software (29:59) – Incredibly fast onboarding (33:22) – Balancing a “better business” with a “faster business” Links from the Show:  Applications for MicroConf Mastermind Matching are Open through March 31st SaaS Institute Rosie Jordan Gal (@JordanGal) | X Rosie (@heyrosieai) | X Episode 549 | Hiring vs. Outsourcing, E-commerce SaaS, and More Listener Questions with Jordan Gal If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Jordan Gal

Co-Founder

RallyRosieCartHook

Jordan Gal built CartHook into a $6M ARR recurring revenue machine on Shopify. Then Shopify shut him down. But before that, his SaaS pricing strategy of tripling prices transformed a leaky business into a healthy one. Discover how raising recurring revenue prices from $99 to $500 plus transaction fees achieved churn reduction from 15% to 2% and doubled MRR from $250K to $500K in one year. Jordan is the co-founder of Rally. He previously grew CartHook's recurring revenue to $6M ARR processing $2.5 billion in GMV before platform risk forced a pivot. 🔑 Key Lessons 💰 Tripling recurring revenue prices filters wrong-fit customers: Jordan raised CartHook from $99 to $300 with zero drop in demand, achieving immediate churn reduction. 📉 High churn gets masked by strong recurring revenue growth: 400 trial signups per month with 15% churn would have capped MRR without raising prices. 🎯 Switch from self-serve to demos for recurring revenue power: Requiring applications dropped signups from 400 to 20 but attracted merchants paying $500 plus transaction fees. 💰 Raise prices on existing customers with a value promise: Jordan gave six months notice, committed to SaaS pricing improvements, and most customers stayed. ⚠️ Platform risk scales with your recurring revenue success: CartHook thrived on Shopify until processing $100M+ per month, when Shopify blocked new customers. Chapters Introduction What Rally does and the headless checkout concept The backstory - founding CartHook The abandoned cart idea and cold email sales No-brainer SaaS pricing that removed buyer risk Raising funding and finding a CTO Customizable Shopify checkout discovery Explosive launch demand Why tripling the recurring revenue price was right Spotting the churn wall at $250K MRR Requiring demos and raising prices for churn reduction How Shopify forced CartHook to change Platform risk lessons for every founder Lightning round Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/302 Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email

Jordan Gal

Co-Founder

RallyRosieCartHook

In Episode 439, Rob Walling is joined by Jordan Gal to answer listener questions about starting an e-commerce SaaS and the laws and regulations, and compliance requirements required. They talk about managing enterprise perceptions of risk towards bootstrap startups. They also answer questions about bootstrapping and enterprise SaaS as well as hiring a growth role and whether you should hire full-time or outsource to a contractor or an agency. The topics we cover [01:11] Regulatory requirements for starting an e-commerce platform (Solman Ahmed) [06:18] Managing enterprise perception of risk when selling as a bootstrapper (Noah Stall) [16:26] Are some markets not feasible with a bootstrapped approach? (Declan Sweeney) [22:42] Finding someone who is experienced growing SaaS companies (Russ) [30:10] Hiring full-time versus outsourcing (Filip Kis) Links from the show Crossing the Chasm DemandMaven || Growth Marketing Consultancy for SaaS & Startups MicroConf Connect — MicroConf Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Episode 499 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth - Part 1 Episode 499.5 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth - Part 2 Jordan Gal (@jordangal) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher This episode is sponsored by Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

Jordan Gal

Co-Founder

RallyRosieCartHook