SaaS Backwards - Reverse Engineering SaaS Success

Ep. 182 - What Most SaaS Founders Get Wrong About Go-to-Market

Dec 5, 2025

Prasanth Chilukuri, co-founder and managing partner at Soul Street Ventures and former SaaS founder, shares why unfocused GTM and founder distraction stall early-stage SaaS. He discusses tightening ICPs, testing GTM motions, regional venture differences, AI’s impact on discoverability, using proprietary data as advantage, and the importance of founder coachability and disciplined strategy.

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ADVICE

Pinpoint Your Ideal Customer Before You Spend

Identify and lock a tight ICP before spending on channels and swag.
Soul Street first tests who needs the product, why it exists, then iterates GTM using data from early customer behavior.

INSIGHT

Middle America Investors Force Discipline Not Hype

Coastal venture patterns shape founder behavior: West Coast favors high-risk broad bets and sky-high valuations while mid-US funds must be more disciplined.
Prasanth contrasts Texas-based Soul Street's focus on building durable, margin-driven businesses versus coast-style spray-and-hope investing.

ADVICE

Place Marketing Where Your Customers Actually Are

Meet customers where they actually live instead of defaulting to LinkedIn or Google Ads.
For example, an oil & gas product found leads via LinkedIn job posts; an outdoors marketplace should target niche editorials and retailers.

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Guest: Prasanth Chilukuri, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Soul Street Ventures

The biggest threat to early-stage SaaS growth isn’t competition. It’s founder distraction, unfocused GTM motions, and chasing quick wins instead of building a real business.

In this episode, Prasanth Chilukuri, co-founder and managing partner of Soul Street Ventures, joins host Ken Lempit to reveal why most early-stage SaaS companies struggle long before product issues surface — and how disciplined strategy, a tight ICP, and hands-on founder coaching unlock meaningful, scalable traction.

Drawing on his experience both as a SaaS founder (Tekmetric) and investor, Prasanth explains why “scale with soul” isn’t just a mantra, but a framework for building durable companies that don’t rely on hype, vanity channels, or coast-driven valuation games.

Key takeaways from this episode:

Why misaligned ICPs and GTM distractions quietly stall early-stage SaaS
How to test, retest, and refine GTM motions using real customer behavior
Why AI discoverability is reshaping marketing efficiency (and what to do about it)
How venture style differs across regions — and why it matters for founders
Why founder coachability, discipline, and mindset are the strongest predictors of growth
How unique SaaS data assets create new value (and why most companies underuse them)

If you’re a B2B SaaS founder, CRO, or CMO navigating early-stage go-to-market, evaluating AI’s impact on your product, or preparing for institutional capital, this episode offers a practical, grounded playbook for building a company that truly lasts.

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