Startup Funding: He Got Customers to Call VCs For Him
Show notes
Jeremy King had no product, no revenue, and a six-month deadline from his wife. Instead of pitching VCs the usual way, he convinced 15 potential customers to call investors and ask them to fund Attest so they could buy the product. That startup funding hack compressed two years of struggle into four months. In this episode, Jeremy reveals how he used Series B investors to create warm intros to seed funds for his SaaS fundraising, why he interviewed 200 people at Waterloo train station to validate his idea, and how a subscription flip took Attest from pay-as-you-go users to $1M ARR in just 7.5 months. You will learn the specific startup traction tactics that helped Attest reach eight figures in ARR and $104 million in total early traction funding. What You Will Learn How Jeremy used customer demand as a startup funding proxy for revenue Why pitching Series B investors shaped his seed-stage strategy How flipping to annual subscriptions converted nearly all existing users Why Attest's freemium experiment bombed despite strong user adoption 🔑 Key Lessons 💰 Use customer demand as a startup funding proxy for revenue: Jeremy got 15 potential customers to call VCs directly, replacing traction metrics with firsthand demand. 🧠 Pitch later-stage VCs to shape your startup funding strategy: Jeremy pitched Series B/C investors who gave milestone feedback and warm referrals to their preferred seed funds. ⚡ Compress timelines by engineering social proof loops: Customers, Series B investors, and seed VCs all reinforced confidence in Attest, compressing two years of SaaS fundraising validation into four months. 🔄 Force a subscription flip when usage proves recurring value: Attest moved all users to annual contracts, converting nearly everyone because the product had proven regular utility. 📉 High-ACV products can backfire with freemium: Giving away a $45,000-ACV product made users question data quality and reduced urgency for startup traction. Chapters Introduction Jacques Cousteau quote and the science of curiosity What Attest does and who it serves From McKinsey consultant to SaaS founder Desktop research and validating the TAM Interviewing 200 people at Waterloo Station Proving demand exists beyond corporate research teams The Links of London area manager surprise Zero to $1M ARR in 7.5 months Compressing two years of startup into four months Raising 650K pounds in seed funding Meeting co-founder Tony Hunter at a startup event Building the product for international scale The November 2017 subscription flip 29-day sales cycle and $45K average contract value Growing to 170 people and eight figures ARR Why Attest's freemium experiment bombed Competing against guesswork, not incumbents Never hearing the term SDR until 18 months in Lightning round Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/331 Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email
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