The SaaS Podcast - AI, Growth & Product-Market Fit for SaaS Founders

Customer Onboarding Software: No-Code MVP to 7 Figures

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Mar 13, 2025

Paul Holder, co-founder and CEO of OnRamp, shares his entrepreneurial journey from a no-code MVP to a thriving SaaS solution for B2B customer onboarding. He discusses the power of customer feedback and the importance of validating ideas. Paul also reveals challenges in educating clients about new solutions and the evolution from prototype to a scalable product. Insights on effective outreach and market focus highlight the strategic shifts required for success. His experiences illustrate the transformative impact of great onboarding on business growth.

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ADVICE

LinkedIn for Outbound

Use LinkedIn for outbound and focus on rich content like videos.
Target specific personas and verticals; address their pain points.

ANECDOTE

Transitioning from Bubble

OnRamp transitioned from Bubble to a custom-built platform after securing pre-seed funding.
Scaling Bubble for their complex product became unsustainable.

INSIGHT

Focus on Core Offering

OnRamp initially built too many features too quickly instead of focusing on a core offering.
They recommend prioritizing a key pain point and expanding from there.

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Two non-technical co-founders taught themselves Bubble, built a prototype that barely worked, and convinced 15 companies to pay for it. Paul Holder's journey building customer onboarding software shows that you don't need engineers to prove demand. Founders will hear how OnRamp went from a no-code MVP to nearly 100 customers and 7-figure ARR.

Paul reveals how customer onboarding software validated demand before any custom code was written, why Google Ads attracted wrong-fit leads while LinkedIn delivered the right buyers, and the "bear hug" outbound strategy combining Dripify connections, thought leadership posts, and targeted ads. His SaaS onboarding playbook shows how to move upmarket when enterprise ROI dwarfs SMB returns.

OnRamp serves nearly 100 customers including Cardinal Health, has raised over $14M in funding, and automates user onboarding orchestration for B2B companies with a team of 25 people.

🔑 Key Lessons

🛠️ Build customer onboarding software with no-code before hiring engineers: Paul and Ross used Bubble to land 15 paying customers at $100/month without a technical co-founder, proving demand before writing any code.
🎯 Go deep on one wedge instead of building three products: OnRamp built task management, workflow orchestration, and a customer portal simultaneously. Picking the highest-pain feature first would have been faster.
📉 Replace cold email with LinkedIn for high-ticket deals: OnRamp found cold email ineffective as AI tools flood inboxes. LinkedIn warming and network outreach converted at significantly higher rates for their onboarding flow product.
💰 Move upmarket when enterprise ROI dwarfs SMB returns: Enterprise customers get million-dollar returns from 5-10% SaaS onboarding improvements. Picking a lane freed the team to build for one segment.
🚀 Use a multi-touch "bear hug" to warm prospects: OnRamp combines Dripify connections, organic LinkedIn content, targeted ads, and AE phone calls into one customer onboarding software sales strategy.

Chapters

Introduction
What OnRamp does and who it serves
Revenue, customers, and team size
Origin story and idea validation
Building the Bubble no-code MVP
Selling customer onboarding software to first customers
LinkedIn as a growth engine
Educating buyers in a new product category
Transitioning from Bubble to custom code
The MVP mistake - building too wide
Getting to the first million ARR
The bear hug outbound strategy
Decision to move upmarket from SMB
Lightning round

Resources

Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/434
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