Sabari Nair, co-founder and CEO of Skillveri, joins Nathan to break down how he’s scaling a VR-powered vocational training platform to $1.5M ARR today, serving 100+ schools in the U.S., with $350K enterprise contracts — and why he believes immersive training plus SaaS pricing is the future of skilled labor education.
In this episode, Sabari explains how Skillveri combines VR software subscriptions, hardware add-ons, and a reseller-led GTM motion to win in a category traditionally dominated by $30K+ one-time simulation vendors.
You’ll learn:
— How Skillveri sells VR training software starting at $4K/year per school
— Why their largest customer pays $350K annually (and how they plan to reach $1M contracts)
— The SaaS + hardware hybrid model driving 60% recurring revenue
— Why schools (not industry) are the wedge into a massive skills market
— How reseller partnerships replaced direct sales across the U.S.
— The commission structure that motivates resellers without killing margins
— Why in-person demos beat cold pitches for immersive tech
— How VR + mixed reality creates objective skill grading (welding, painting, more)
— The COVID pivot that forced a full reset — and buying out investors at a discount
— Why Sabari turned down a $4M all-cash acquisition offer
— The roadmap to $10M ARR by expanding to 2,000+ schools
Sabari started the company in 2012 building hardware, pivoted hard into software during the pandemic, bought out early investors in 2021, and rebuilt the business into a capital-efficient SaaS with hardware upsells. Today, Skillveri runs on a lean team, supports Meta Quest and Pico headsets, and is redefining how skilled trades are taught globally.
Whether you’re a B2B SaaS founder, hardware-plus-software operator, investor exploring edtech, or operator designing reseller GTM motions, this episode is a masterclass in enterprise pricing, channel strategy, and scaling immersive technology without burning cash.
Connect with Sabari:
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In this episode, we sit down with Andrew Fennell, founder of Standout CV, to unpack how he built and scaled a resume-builder SaaS to over 18 million organic visitors, $30K MRR, and $1M+ in lifetime revenue — without venture funding.
Andrew walks through his SEO-first go-to-market strategy, pricing evolution, churn reduction, and the exact content and link-building tactics that helped him win in an ultra-competitive space. This episode is a masterclass in bootstrapped SaaS growth, monetization, and acquisition efficiency.
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How a recruitment background led to a SaaS opportunity
Transitioning from services to scalable software
Bootstrapping vs. raising capital
Why one-time payments killed LTV
Switching to subscriptions to unlock recurring revenue
Using low-friction paid trials to boost conversion
SEO as the core go-to-market motion
Why content beats ads in crowded markets
Building trust before monetization
Creating linkable assets journalists actually cite
Digital PR vs. guest posting
Programmatic SEO pitfalls and content pruning
Reducing churn in naturally short-term SaaS use cases
Running a high-margin SaaS with a small team
Positioning a bootstrapped business for acquisition
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Andrew started Standout CV as a freelance CV-writing service, evolved it into a content-driven traffic engine, and eventually built a subscription SaaS now generating consistent monthly revenue. Today, he’s also advising other SaaS companies on SEO while exploring acquisition offers for the business.
Whether you’re a bootstrapped SaaS founder, B2B operator, or investor evaluating SEO-driven businesses, this episode is a masterclass in organic acquisition, monetization, and building real leverage without venture capital.
Connect with Andrew:
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Vlad Malanin, MD, PhD and co-founder of SpeedSize, shares how he scaled an AI-powered media optimization SaaS from $400K to $6M ARR with just 25 employees. SpeedSize helps enterprise and mid-market brands deliver high-quality images and video without sacrificing site performance, serving over 200 global customers.
In this episode, Vlad breaks down SpeedSize’s capital-efficient growth strategy, enterprise pricing model, partnership-led GTM motion, and the hard founder decisions required to survive near-zero runway during wartime—while maintaining low churn, strong expansion revenue, and founder control.
Founder background
Surgeon turned AI scientist and CTO
Forbes Technology Council member
Ukrainian-Israeli founding team navigating geopolitical risk
Company overview
AI-powered image and video compression for rich media websites
Focus on preserving visual quality while improving load speed
Core customers: fashion, apparel, marketplaces, travel, jewelry
Revenue & growth
$400K ARR in 2022
~$1.5M ARR in 2023
~$3M ARR in 2024
~$6M ARR today
200+ paying customers
Low churn with strong net revenue expansion
Pricing & ACV
Annual contracts only
Pricing based on:
Data transferred (GB)
Number of original assets / SKUs
ACV ranges:
$10K–$20K (lower mid-market)
$50K–$100K (mid-market)
Low seven figures (enterprise)
Multiple customers paying $100K+ annually
GTM & acquisition
Minimal reliance on paid ads
Partnership-led growth strategy:
AWS Premium Partner
IBM Cloud partnerships
Agency referrals
Focus on cloud providers lacking native media optimization
Sales motion
Land-and-expand strategy
Customers grow usage as they adopt richer media (video, animations)
Enterprise-focused negotiations vs self-serve SMB motion
Team & operations
Team downsized from 50 to ~25 for efficiency
~70% engineers
High revenue per employee
Cash-flow controlled with variable spend levers
Capital & fundraising
~$5M total raised (2022–2023)
Founders retain 70%+ ownership
Pre-Series A
Lessons learned from VC-driven spending pressure
Crisis management
Two months of runway during 2023 war escalation
Cash dropped below $300K
Founders cut their own salaries first
Focused on survival, efficiency, and customer retention
Transitioning from medicine to AI SaaS
Building during war and geopolitical uncertainty
Making survival-first leadership decisions
Structuring enterprise SaaS pricing by usage
Designing ACV tiers from $10K to seven figures
Using land-and-expand to drive ARR growth
Why SpeedSize prioritized partnerships over outbound sales
How AWS and IBM partnerships actually work
The realities of enterprise marketplace distribution
Why low churn matters more than hypergrowth
Enabling customer expansion through product value
Avoiding paid ads in favor of scalable channels
Downsizing teams without killing momentum
Managing cashflow with variable spend
Staying capital-efficient while retaining founder control
This episode is a must-watch for SaaS founders, operators, and investors interested in pricing, GTM strategy, retention, capital efficiency, and real founder resilience.
Romain Torres is the founder of ArcAds.ai, an AI-powered video ad platform that helps marketers create and scale ad creatives with zero production overhead. In just 20 months, he scaled the company from $5K to over $10M in ARR—completely bootstrapped.
In this episode, Romain shares how he validated demand without even having a dashboard, the growth playbook that drove viral traction, and the three channels fueling ArcAds’ revenue engine today: paid ads, sales, and influencer marketing. He also dives into usage-based pricing, churn recovery, and what’s next for the company.
Notes:
Growth Levers
Reached $10M ARR in under 2 years
From $5K to $64K MRR in 1 month after a viral tweet
Paid ads, influencer virality, and enterprise sales are main levers
GTM Strategy
Started with direct outreach and manual fulfillment
Product-led motion with a transition into high-touch enterprise sales
Events and conferences (Affiliate World, App Growth Summit) for pipeline
Revenue & Pricing
Usage-based pricing (number of generated ads, actors, etc.)
Highest ACV in the six figures
Profitably bootstrapped despite heavy infrastructure/API costs
Churn & Retention
Early churn spike due to product breaking after viral growth
Rebuilt platform in one month post-refunds
Retention improved with onboarding and product stability
Scaling Operations
8-person lean team managing 210+ live ads
Internal use of ArcAds platform to generate their own creatives
Strong rev-per-employee metrics
Data & Tech Stack
Sits on top of GenAI models from OpenAI, Google, ByteDance
Auto-selects best model per prompt based on use case
Internal feedback loops using ad performance data to improve UX and features
Founder Insight
Tested market fit without a product UI
Hired sales after passing $5M ARR
SEO and enterprise sales are next big focus areas
Founder Story
How Romain validated the idea with no product
Why ArcAds went viral and what broke
Bootstrapping vs VC-backed strategy
Pricing & Revenue
Usage-based monetization and six-figure ACVs
Profit margins despite high API costs
Leveraging viral growth to fund product rebuild
GTM & Outbound
Transition from product-led to outbound sales
Scaling via events, outreach, and Twitter content
Building a two-person sales team to close big brands
SEO & AEO
Organic strategy and plans for future growth
Why they’ve done no SEO so far—and why that’s changing
How content virality and influencer posts fueled spikes
Acquisition & Scaling
Managing churn during hypergrowth
Operating a multi-million ARR business with 8 people
Systems for testing, tracking, and scaling 200+ ad creatives
Golf course SaaS founder Jason Pearsall shares how Club Caddie scaled from $450K to $9M ARR in 5 years, sold to Constellation Software (CSI), and keeps growing with 600+ golf courses paying ~$15K ACV. If you’re building vertical B2B SaaS, this is a masterclass in niche focus, capital efficiency, and smart deal-making.
Jason breaks down why he built an end-to-end ERP for golf courses, how he used data-driven outbound, review sites, SEO and “answer engine optimization” (AEO) to win market share, and what really happened during his CSI acquisition and long-term earnout. We cover pricing, ACV targets, GTM channels, fundraising vs. selling, and how to design a growth engine when your entire ICP is just 15,000 accounts.
In this episode, Club Caddie founder & CEO Jason Pearsall breaks down how he:
Built a vertical SaaS ERP for golf courses after buying and operating his own club
Scaled Club Caddie from $450K to $9M ARR in 5 years with ~600 customers and ~$15K ACV
Raised just $600K before being acquired by Constellation Software (CSI)
Structured a long-term earnout instead of a flashy headline multiple
Used data-led outbound, review sites (Capterra, G2), SEO, and AEO (answer engine optimization) to win in a niche
Built a target list of every golf course, including who runs it, what software they use, and when contracts expire
Turned multi-course operator deals into 50–100 account wins from a single sale
Organized his BDR + AE team to touch every account on a consistent cadence
Founder story & capital strategy
How Jason went from golf course operator to SaaS founder
Why he raised only $600K seed and then chose CSI over closing a full Series A
How he thought about risk, fatigue, and opportunity cost when deciding to sell
Revenue, pricing & margins
How Club Caddie reached $9M+ in ARR with 600+ customers
Why they target $15,000+ ACV / ARPO per golf course
How complex, multi-venue golf facilities drive higher contract values
GTM, outbound and channel mix
Why vertical SaaS is a data game when your entire ICP is ~15,000 accounts
How his team touches every golf course every quarter, across multiple contacts
The role of Google Ads, review platforms, trade shows, and word of mouth
How they use multi-course operator consolidation as a growth multiplier
SEO & “Answer Engine Optimization” (AEO)
Why traditional SEO became a priority post-acquisition
How they implemented schema.org and structured data to win AEO
How to intentionally show up when buyers ask ChatGPT and other answer engines for “best golf management software”
Acquisition & long-term upside
Why Constellation Software was the right home for Club Caddie
How a small cash component + long earnout can still be a huge win
What Jason wishes he knew earlier about enjoying the journey, not just the outcome
If you’re a B2B SaaS founder, investor, or operator building in a niche vertical, this episode gives you concrete tactics for pricing, GTM, data strategy, AEO, and selling your company without killing long-term upside.