210. Jens Levin, Founder & CEO of Sitoo - No Overnight Success: 22 Years of Focus, Teamwork, and Playing the Long Game

In this episode, we’re joined by Jens Levin, Founder & CEO of Sitoo, the retail SaaS platform powering in-store experiences for leading brands across the world. Today, Sitoo has 20M Euro in ARR, 40%+ growth, 300+ retailers, and deployments across 40+ countries.

But this is not a story about overnight success. Jens shares the reality behind building a company over 22 years, including 10 years of work before finding the real breakthrough. It’s a conversation about longevity, resilience, and why SaaS is not a sprint, but a long-distance team sport where focus and trust increase your chances of success.

We spoke with Jens about what changed when Sitoo found its “Holy Grail,” why saying no became more important than saying yes, and how the company evolved from founder-led hustle into a scalable global SaaS business. 

Here are some of the key questions we address:

• Why did it take 10 years for Sitoo to find true product-market fit?
• What changed when the company went all-in on one product and one focus area?
• Why does saying yes to everything keep you local, while focus helps you scale globally?
• How do you build a strong partner ecosystem without becoming a competitor?
• What happens when you scale from 3 people to 135+ employees?
• Why do so many SaaS companies hit a major shift around 80–100 employees?
• How do you move from founder-driven heroics to a scalable operating model?
• How do you keep motivation, culture, and momentum alive over two decades of building?

🎧 Tune in to hear Jens’ honest take on what it really takes to build something lasting: there is no overnight success, only years of iteration, the right people around you, and the discipline to stay focused long enough for the flywheel to start turning.