► Tell us about you and your podcast
I'm Anna, Head of Growth at saas.group, a founder-friendly private equity company acquiring amazing SaaS businesses to take them and the teams to the next level.
A podcast is a way for us to raise brand awareness, get founders to know what we do, and get to know the founders! We don't necessarily focus on just the companies that fit our acquisition criteria but try to find inspiring stories.
saas.unbound is about and for the founders out there that want to know the journeys behind successful businesses, mistakes to avoid, and get actionable advice from founders that are already a few steps ahead.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I feel like podcasts can be very agile. You don't have to stick very strictly to the concept or the format. We release both video for YT and audio for the other platforms. And by repurposing the materials we end up with a ton of good stuff that is easy to digest and can be distributed in different formats.
The initial goal was to showcase the companies and the founders that we're already working with. They've got fascinating stories of founding and growing their businesses. They've got great insights about the reasons behind selling, preparing, getting things done, processes, dealing with the changes, and much more.
saas.unbound first episode was live on February 6th, 2023. Just barely a month after I joined saas.group. It took about a week from shooting to getting it to YT.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
Usually episodes are about 40-45 minutes, there're longer and shorter ones, of course. Like I mentioned before, a podcast has a very agile format. If there's something else to talk about, if there's a story worth listening to, I'm not going to stop the guest and finish the podcast. It's about value content not the timing.
We release them twice a week. every Monday and Thursday. And it takes about a couple of hours for shooting and editing. Then Marketing is the longest part. And, to be honest, it never really ends. Putting an episode on the platforms is one thing. Obviously, you need to think about the right text, keywords, etc. But then we make posts on Twitter, LinkedIn about it. If I see a post on social media that relates to one of the episodes I'll comment and put a link to it. So distribution is a process.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
Because this is a podcast that we do as a part of growth marketing strategy in the company, there's no external sponsorship. There can be internal sponsorship from one of the company brands but then there's no revenue distribution since we're working on the same goal.
Podcasting definitely benefits my career and the company a lot. It gives infinite opportunities to network, find interesting topics, and learn. I love the quote "First, let your network work for you, then, let your network work for you". I think it brilliantly relates to podcasting.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
To shoot an episode I use Riverside. Super simple tool, a lot of the guests already know it, and it's so much easier to navigate then.
For editing I use Descript. It's a very intuitive tool. I was specifically looking for something that would allow me to edit without fixating on the video but rather focusing on what is being said, and Descript is great for that.
Podcasting seems a lot easier than it is :) you talk to amazing, successful, and super talented people. They know their stuff. So you should at least have a basic understanding of what they are doing and ask questions accordingly.
Because the founders I talk to all serve different industries, it's definitely sometimes exhausting to prepare.
But hey, there's ChatGPT. I try to find as much information about the founder and the business as possible. I feed the whole thing to ChatGPT and ask to create a short description. When necessary, I got to the source and got a more detailed view on the matter.
Then I try to prepare a few questions ahead. It helps me to navigate the situation when a founder is not very talkative. Then I have something to fall back on and continue the conversation. And because I usually send these questions to the guest, it helps them to estimate the questions and come prepared.
► How do you market your show?
It's a bit too early to assess the acquisition channels but, as I already mentioned, we distribute through YT, Spotify, Apple Music. Then we post on Twitter and LinkedIn about it. Soon, there'll be a podcast dedicated page on the saas.group website, too.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
I thought it might be a lot more difficult to get a speaker to join the podcast. It's new, the audience is still very small but I could even get some big names to join it like DHH, Andrew Gazdecki, Rand Fishkin, and others. People are happy to get exposure and you never know which piece of content will become super successful. You just have to be honest and upfront about the numbers that you have.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
You can find the podcast here:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1VW2yLI7IBsDivRLemQObS?si=4db7c23056be4562
Apple Music - https://podcasts.apple.com/tr/podcast/saas-unbound/id1673963894
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@saas-group
You can find me here:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-nadeina-78775046/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AnnaNadeina1