What a fantastic and raw insight into what a founder goes through. We too often highlight the highs but forget to showcase just how many lows there are, too. I'm glad you were able to reach out to your friend for advice. We all need that from time to time to keep going or to look at the wall in a different way. And that iron bar analogy is a great mindset reframe as well!
Thank you for sharing this. I have no doubt many will benefit from reading it. I know I did.
Some years just suck. I founded a B2B SaaS company seven years ago, this year nothin’ happening - previous year 400% growth, it’s part of whatever friction process we’re living in. There’s my input. If you’re not blah blah blahing about AI, which you are not. The world will reframe around your excellent product. I’ve used it. Thanks
Haha, I definitely feel the up and downs. Very cool that you’ve used eWebinar :) when was that?? Appreciate the compliment and thank you for taking the time to read this and share this comment!
Hey Melissa, happy to share my experience to date. No claims of success but I'm confident it's just a matter of time.
A few months ago, my company, Barkani, completed an enterprise solution for life science speakers bureau. The design and features are transformational, generations beyond the competition.
It wasn't easy but it was in my wheelhouse. Sales is not.
I lost my anchor client shortly after they were acquired nearly a year ago. Furthermore, the platform has a long sales cycle because it involves retraining teams of sales reps, speakers, and event planners. Plus, the automation requires integration with financial systems, A/V, and travel vendors.
Therefore, anyone adopting our platform is more likely to wait for new business than transition existing business.
In short, I'm broke with no sales leads pushing a hard sell. I'm also the absolute best at what I do and my platform is extraordinary with unlimited potential for growth.
Here's what I've been doing.
1) I've linked with a couple angel investors but I've not pitched any of them because I don't have the revenue. Once I have the revenue, investors become less important and I'll revisit.
2) Email campaign - Ran it for three months, constantly refining and reading online articles, then killed it. I couldn't find a single metric that justified keeping it alive and I was nervous of developing a poor reputation in a close knit industry.
3) Hard Sell - Killed this as well. For what I'm selling, there are no single decision makers. Rather, it goes to committee. I'm not in the room so I need a champion. Relationships need to be cultivated, the opposite of a hard sell. No more calendly links.
4) Relationships - I've met a lot of great people, people I love, people who are my friends, that I haven't spoken to in years. I'm reconnecting with all of them. When they ask me how I'm doing, I tell them the truth. I ask for help. This has led to three huge business opportunities and potentially more.
5) LinkedIn - This is my primary strategy
A) Use Claude to identify and send invitations
B) Manually invite people to connect - Use a template then personalize it. I've linked to 700 people in the past four months.
C) Post articles regularly - I'm the brand. Don't care if anyone reads (though it would be nice). I want people to remember my name before calling the competition.
D) When people connect, I do NOT try to sell them. I try to build a relationship. I wish them luck, offer to help, share a story about a mutual contact, or tell a joke. All I want is for them to smile and a response is a bonus. I've helped several people find jobs.
6) The Pitch -
I approached a couple pharma work colleagues and asked for a simple favor - Can I be included in the next RFP? Costs them nothing to say yes.
Then I ask my newly found LinkedIn contacts if their agencies can handle the additional business.
That's the opening.
7) Moonshot -
I need one case study that demonstrates FULL mobile/automation. I need a client to invest the time and money. But once we have it, we'll become the industry go to meetings platform. Nothing's bigger than healthcare.
Thanks for taking the time to write this and share your experience! Good luck with your venture!! Thanks for supporting my content and taking time to read this. Much appreciated
Looking at your eWebinar About Page, the story is compelling. You might can give it a bit more specificity. I think that the story goes a long way in helping people trust that you are the one to offer their solution.
A lot of people say "Our Story" for their About Page and there is no story at all. Not so with you! I would love to hear some of the specific struggles you had with the "least" good option.
You probably have more stories like that in your vault you can share. Perhaps that will help people connect a little better.
I love the idea of webinars on demand. Its a brilliant idea.
Thanks Todd! Unfortunately I can’t share more than “experience was lacking” because apparently, you can’t publicly say something sucks so bad it’s unusable. 😂 appreciate your support and reading this article!
Great article, Melissa! I love the wall analogy; it really reframes the way I look at building a business.
Thank you!!
What a fantastic and raw insight into what a founder goes through. We too often highlight the highs but forget to showcase just how many lows there are, too. I'm glad you were able to reach out to your friend for advice. We all need that from time to time to keep going or to look at the wall in a different way. And that iron bar analogy is a great mindset reframe as well!
Thank you for sharing this. I have no doubt many will benefit from reading it. I know I did.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, Tim! Appreciate the support!
Some years just suck. I founded a B2B SaaS company seven years ago, this year nothin’ happening - previous year 400% growth, it’s part of whatever friction process we’re living in. There’s my input. If you’re not blah blah blahing about AI, which you are not. The world will reframe around your excellent product. I’ve used it. Thanks
Haha, I definitely feel the up and downs. Very cool that you’ve used eWebinar :) when was that?? Appreciate the compliment and thank you for taking the time to read this and share this comment!
Great piece!
Thank you, Hannah!
Hey Melissa, happy to share my experience to date. No claims of success but I'm confident it's just a matter of time.
A few months ago, my company, Barkani, completed an enterprise solution for life science speakers bureau. The design and features are transformational, generations beyond the competition.
It wasn't easy but it was in my wheelhouse. Sales is not.
I lost my anchor client shortly after they were acquired nearly a year ago. Furthermore, the platform has a long sales cycle because it involves retraining teams of sales reps, speakers, and event planners. Plus, the automation requires integration with financial systems, A/V, and travel vendors.
Therefore, anyone adopting our platform is more likely to wait for new business than transition existing business.
In short, I'm broke with no sales leads pushing a hard sell. I'm also the absolute best at what I do and my platform is extraordinary with unlimited potential for growth.
Here's what I've been doing.
1) I've linked with a couple angel investors but I've not pitched any of them because I don't have the revenue. Once I have the revenue, investors become less important and I'll revisit.
2) Email campaign - Ran it for three months, constantly refining and reading online articles, then killed it. I couldn't find a single metric that justified keeping it alive and I was nervous of developing a poor reputation in a close knit industry.
3) Hard Sell - Killed this as well. For what I'm selling, there are no single decision makers. Rather, it goes to committee. I'm not in the room so I need a champion. Relationships need to be cultivated, the opposite of a hard sell. No more calendly links.
4) Relationships - I've met a lot of great people, people I love, people who are my friends, that I haven't spoken to in years. I'm reconnecting with all of them. When they ask me how I'm doing, I tell them the truth. I ask for help. This has led to three huge business opportunities and potentially more.
5) LinkedIn - This is my primary strategy
A) Use Claude to identify and send invitations
B) Manually invite people to connect - Use a template then personalize it. I've linked to 700 people in the past four months.
C) Post articles regularly - I'm the brand. Don't care if anyone reads (though it would be nice). I want people to remember my name before calling the competition.
D) When people connect, I do NOT try to sell them. I try to build a relationship. I wish them luck, offer to help, share a story about a mutual contact, or tell a joke. All I want is for them to smile and a response is a bonus. I've helped several people find jobs.
6) The Pitch -
I approached a couple pharma work colleagues and asked for a simple favor - Can I be included in the next RFP? Costs them nothing to say yes.
Then I ask my newly found LinkedIn contacts if their agencies can handle the additional business.
That's the opening.
7) Moonshot -
I need one case study that demonstrates FULL mobile/automation. I need a client to invest the time and money. But once we have it, we'll become the industry go to meetings platform. Nothing's bigger than healthcare.
Thanks for taking the time to write this and share your experience! Good luck with your venture!! Thanks for supporting my content and taking time to read this. Much appreciated
On the day you published this I was looking inside the code of my web app
I noticed a comment in the file about a change made to the code on Sept 22 2025
Exactly one year ago yesterday.
So I was reminded that I have been developing this project for more than a year.
I still don’t know if it is a new category of software or a folly (or both)
There’s only one way to find out
Looking at your eWebinar About Page, the story is compelling. You might can give it a bit more specificity. I think that the story goes a long way in helping people trust that you are the one to offer their solution.
A lot of people say "Our Story" for their About Page and there is no story at all. Not so with you! I would love to hear some of the specific struggles you had with the "least" good option.
You probably have more stories like that in your vault you can share. Perhaps that will help people connect a little better.
I love the idea of webinars on demand. Its a brilliant idea.
Thanks Todd! Unfortunately I can’t share more than “experience was lacking” because apparently, you can’t publicly say something sucks so bad it’s unusable. 😂 appreciate your support and reading this article!
We entrepreneurs often look outside the business for solutions. Most of the time, the answers are already inside it.