Ibby Syed accidentally built a consulting agency while trying to build software. In this episode, early-stage B2B SaaS founders will learn how Cotera escaped the "services trap" and pivoted to AI agents to hit $1M ARR.

Ibby breaks down why hitting $150k ARR in consulting revenue was actually a "local maxima" that nearly killed the startup. You will learn how his co-founder replaced months of data science work with a 100-line OpenAI API experiment, and the painful but necessary decision to fire legacy customers to focus on a scalable product.

In this episode, Ibby also reveals his "value-first" LinkedIn outbound strategy that books 25+ meetings a week, why horizontal AI platforms (like Cotera) will outlast narrow vertical tools, and how they transitioned from custom enterprise contracts to a product-led growth model.

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🔑 Key Lessons

• 📉 The Consulting Trap: Why early service revenue can trick you into building an unscalable agency instead of a software product.
• 🤖 The AI Pivot: How 100 lines of OpenAI API code outperformed a massive data science stack and sparked the pivot.
• 📧 LinkedIn Outbound: The "Value-First" playbook (sending free leads, not pitches) that books 25+ meetings a week.
• 🛠️ Horizontal vs. Vertical: Why broad tools (like Zapier/Cotera) are more defensible than niche AI wrappers.
• 💰 Pricing Strategy: Moving from custom enterprise contracts to a $20/mo usage model to fuel PLG.

Chapters

• The consulting trap and false traction
• Why $150K ARR nearly killed the company
• The 100-line OpenAI experiment that changed everything
• Firing customers and stopping services
• Pivoting to AI agents and prompt-based workflows
• Why deals became easier after the pivot
• LinkedIn outbound by sending free value
• Horizontal vs. vertical AI startups
• Pricing from enterprise contracts to PLG

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Resources

• Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/463
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