Welcome!

Well, first welcome to the first subscribers to my newsletter! I am super excited to get in this journey with you. If I can help one person to change his or her life, it will be all worthwhile.

Here is a quick intro - who am I and what you can expect from this newsletter.

About me

My name is Alex Vandermeersch, and I am a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in B2B SaaS (software as a service for those who doubt).

I guess I’m a nerd: I learned to program at 8 (Basic, on a ZX Spectrum), sold my first software at 14 (OK, to my dad, maybe that doesn’t count), and then went on to study engineering in computer science. I joined a big US corporate to manage IT projects.

But then I went to an MBA (In Barcelona) and left tech roles to get into the marvelous world of strategy consulting (McKinsey then freelance). I guess I loved tech to much as I left to launch a start-up (a SaaS for social media), but this time as CEO (non IT role). I then worked for Odoo (business apps) as CMO, that I helped pivot to a more sustainable business model (now valued at €4 Billion+)

As an entrepreneur, I sold for hundreds of thousands worth of ARR (Annual Recurring Revenues), raised more than a Million, and almost went burn-out a couple of times. I was each time an exciting but rough ride.

So this time I am setting different expectations. I would like to remain independent but also build something, and avoid the excess stress that comes with traditional startup expectations. The problem, you see, is that start-ups are highly uncertain, but everyone around you expect to throw some certainty in the process: in the funding, the financial plan, in the roadmap, in the commercial plan. That creates a lot of stress and potentially conflicts.

Some stress, of course, is inevitable. I mean you need cash to survive and cash is driven by revenues (which are hard to forecast). Also, your time is valuable so nobody likes to feel they’ve wasted their time doing something that not enough people want (even if the learning is big).

But there are ways to drive this better. By being a solo founder & bootstrapped, I limit the amount of external dependencies. By getting full stack, I do what I love: a bit of everything, and also limit dependencies (but increase the time to market). By being transparent and “building in public”, I won’t take it too seriously and make it a growth experience; not a “let’s change the world” type of business.

So, this is me and what I do.

What you can expect

You shared your email and access to your (most likely) overloaded inbox, and I appreciate that. So my goal is to deliver value. Bit time. If I don’t, contact me and let me know so that I can improve.

I plan to share insights on:

• My progress as solo founder: my project and how I build it, my journey as a person to be in peak mental & physical performance but also balance, and anything related

• Thoughts on innovation, marketing, business dev & customer success as they fit in this story.

• Analysis of other solo founders, with a critical eye on what they do great and what I think is not easy to replicate or might be misleading

I would like you to get the inspiration to lead the life you want the way you want it. Maybe I’ll fail and you will actually succeed. Or maybe this is just, for you, interesting knowledge about building a SaaS or being a solopreneur - whatever the reason, welcome again!

I will be also active on Linkedin and Twitter/X. Don’t forget to follow me there!

All the best,

Alex