Growth

The rocky road to $10M ARR with David Darmanin, Founder & CEO at Hotjar (Podcast)

Dec 13, 2017 Edward FordEdward Ford

Last updated 31 October, 2021.

For any SaaS company, the journey to $10M in ARR is anything but easy; just ask Hotjar Founder & CEO, David Darmanin.

In this episode, David takes us on an adventure along this rocky road as he shares some of the highs and lows of building Hotjar. 

Starting from pre-Hotjar times, David talks about his background growing up in Malta and how he went from studying a Doctorate in Law to becoming a serial MarTech entrepreneur, and he gives us a very open and honest account of what it really takes to build a successful B2B SaaS business, including:

  • Why David decided to start Hotjar
  • How Hotjar generated 60,00 beta signups in 6 months through a gamified referral program
  • The big challenges in converting these free beta users into paying customers
  • The difficulties with pricing and how David and the team dealt with a European Tax Law issue just days before Hotjar’s commercial launch
  • How Hotjar was able to scale up and the key factors that enabled them to reach $10M in ARR
  • The benefits and challenges of growing a fully remote team including how to build a strong remote company culture and the keys to successful leadership.

 

Stay tuned to the end of the episode where David takes on our fast five challenge and shares his best piece of advice for fellow SaaS marketers.

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Enjoy the show!

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Links:

Hotjar >> hotjar.com

The Essential Guide to Growing Your Early-Stage SaaS Startup >> hotjar.com/grow-your-saas-startup

Radical Candor >> radicalcandor.com

SaaStr >> saastr.com

SaaStock >> saastock.com/blog

Follow David on Twitter >> twitter.com/daviddarmanin

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Advance B2B >> www.advanceb2b.com
Follow The Growth Hub on Twitter >> twitter.com/SaaSGrowthHub
Follow Edward on Twitter >> twitter.com/NordicEdward