First SaaS Customers: 4 Failed Startups Then $1M ARR in One Year

Abdullah Alsaadi failed at four different startups over four years - a crypto app with no market, a Salesforce tool blocked for 18 months, a delivery company that could not scale, and a delivery management SaaS with impossible integrations. Then he pre-sold 5-year subscriptions to four restaurants before writing a line of code, and used that money to build Taker.

Abdullah shares how he got his first SaaS customers by targeting the 20 largest restaurant chains in Saudi Arabia, converting 15 of them. He explains why landing enterprise logos first created social proof that shortened his sales cycle from three months to two weeks, and how building for mobile (where 95% of orders happen) was the early traction breakthrough.

He reveals what he learned from each failure about getting first SaaS customers, and why focus on one segment matters more than a great idea.

Key Lessons

• 🎯 Focus on one segment to get your first SaaS customers: Abdullah's earlier startups failed partly because he scattered. With Taker, he focused exclusively on Saudi restaurants and landed 15 of 20 target chains.
• 💰 Pre-sell to fund development without investors: Abdullah sold 5-year subscriptions to four restaurants before the product existed, using upfront capital to build Taker. All four are still active.
• 🤝 Land enterprise logos first for customer acquisition startup momentum: Taker targeted the biggest chains (20-30+ locations) knowing social proof would trigger word-of-mouth from smaller restaurants.
• 📉 Validate the ecosystem, not just the idea: Abdullah's delivery management SaaS had enthusiastic first customers but could not integrate with legacy POS systems. Great demand means nothing if tech blocks adoption.
• 🚀 Build for how first SaaS customers actually buy: Data showed 90%+ of food orders came through mobile apps. Taker invested in native apps, and 95% of orders still come through mobile today.

Chapters

• Introduction
• Abdullah's favorite quote on fear of failure
• What Taker does - Shopify for restaurants
• First failed startup - crypto security app with no market
• Second failure - Salesforce HR app blocked for 18 months
• Third attempt - B2B last-mile delivery that could not scale
• Pivoting from delivery management to Taker
• Pre-selling 5-year subscriptions to fund development
• Four pre-sold customers still active today
• Targeting the 20 biggest restaurant chains first
• Outreach strategy and finding champions inside organizations
• Shortening the sales cycle from 3 months to 2 weeks
• Why focus on mobile apps drove 95% of orders
• Looking back - the importance of focus and segment selection
• Lightning round
• Where to find Abdullah and Taker

Resources

• Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/260
• Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email