🎙️ Backstage Tech by George Helgesen

Which SaaS Survives in AI Era? 7 Things You Must Do to Survive

▶️ Watch the full video on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@georgehelgesen [https://youtube.com/@georgehelgesen] 👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request [https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen/] and mention the podcast. In this episode of my micro-podcast, I'm breaking down 7 things every software founder must do to survive while AI eats the SaaS market around them. Pulling from 8+ years working shoulder-to-shoulder with software founders, here's what separates the products that become indispensable from the ones that get copied over a weekend: 1. Educate your customers — if they can't figure out your product without emailing support, your onboarding is broken. Build real walkthroughs, not help docs 2. Fix customer experience — pick up the phone. Email support is a churn accelerator. Adyen does it right. Stripe doesn't. That gap is a competitive advantage 3. Be more than software — stop selling a login, start selling outcomes. Dig Insights and Vsimple bundle services with their product. That's how you become a growth partner, not a vendor 4. Sell value, not features — Leadfeeder calculated my 25x ROI in the first five minutes. ContactOut just sold me contacts. One closed the deal, one didn't. Train your team accordingly 5. Remove UX bottlenecks — your users aren't telling you where they're stuck. They're just leaving. Use heatmaps and session recordings. Fix what's broken before it kills retention If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you a practical 7-point checklist to audit your product right now — before your customers start building their own version. 👉 Want to talk through how to make your SaaS indispensable? Email ogo@procoders.tech [ogo@procoders.tech] or connect with me on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen/].

Richard Mole @ SDCN: Freight Exchange Tech, Why Copycats Fail

Richard Mole is the founder of Same Day Courier Network (SDCN) — a well-respected B2B freight exchange marketplace in the UK, built over the last decade without outside investment. Richard has spent his career in transport, growing SDCN into a platform trusted by thousands of couriers, owner-drivers, and large transport companies. In this episode, Richard breaks down how copycats keep failing in this market and why he believes human-first customer service still beats AI in the transport industry. Topics covered: * Why one of SDCN's competitors stopped taking new customers * How Richard built SDCN over 10 years with no investors * Why human-first customer service still beats AI in transport * How competitors literally try to copy SDCN — screenshots, devs, the works * How SDCN helps couriers kill "dead miles" and why TMS integrations are the next unlock If you're a B2B software founder or you plan on building a transport tech solution — this episode is for you. 👉 Follow George: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen/ * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@georgehelgesen 👉 Follow Richard: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-mole-2431172b/ * SDCN: https://samedaycouriernetwork.com/

Don't Hire Devshops (I'll Tell You Why)

▶️ Watch the full video on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@georgehelgesen [https://youtube.com/@georgehelgesen] 👉  Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request [https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen/] and mention the podcast. In episode #16 of "Backstage Tech", we're walking through a 10-point framework to tell whether you're talking to a real development partner — or a devshop that will burn your time and cash. Pulling from 8+ years working shoulder-to-shoulder with software founders, here's what separates a partner who moves your business forward from a vendor who hides behind documentation the moment something goes wrong: 1. Ownership mindset — devshops spend your money, partners make you money. You feel the difference in the first conversation 2. Founder accessibility — if you can't get anyone with real authority on a call before signing, imagine what happens after you pay 3. Team retention — check LinkedIn before you commit. High turnover is a red flag that tells you everything about the culture 4. Proactive suggestions — order takers wait for instructions. Real partners show up with ideas before you even ask 5. Chase dynamic — if you're always hunting them down for updates, that's your answer. A real partner is chasing you If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you a practical checklist to use on your next agency discovery call — before you wire a single dollar. 👉 Want to talk through how to find the right dev partner for your product? Email ogo@procoders.tech [ogo@procoders.tech] or connect with me on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen/].

Steve Mast: The 3 Steps to Real AI Adoption | Co-Founder @ Twenty44

Steve Mast is an entrepreneur, AI advisor, and co-founder of Twenty44 — a company helping organizations move from AI experimentation to real adoption. Steve spent over 3 decades building digital companies, including Delvinia, where he built Asking Canadians and Methodify before selling to Sago in 2021. Now he's focused on one problem: why 45% of organizations have invested in AI, but only 12% of employees are actually using it. In this episode, Steve breaks down why AI adoption is a people challenge, not a technology one, how Twenty44 diagnoses workforce readiness, and what it actually takes to move organizations from hype to habit. Topics covered: * Why 45% of organizations have AI but only 12% of employees use it * Why most organizations are built on executors — and why that changes everything about AI training * How Twenty44's 3-step framework closes the adoption gap * Why embedding AI inside Salesforce drove more adoption than any standalone app * How to benchmark your workforce's AI readiness before spending on tools * Why AI is the most accessible technology in history — and why that still isn't enough * Whether the Twenty44 assessment platform will become a self-serve SaaS product If you're an enterprise leader or founder trying to turn AI investment into actual results — this episode is the playbook. 👉 Follow George: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen/] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@georgehelgesen [https://www.youtube.com/@georgehelgesen] 👉 Follow Steve: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevemast/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevemast/] * Twenty44: https://twenty44.co/ [https://twenty44.co/]

Dig Insights Co-Founder: Bolting AI onto legacy SaaS doesn't work

Ian Ash is the co-founder of Dig Insights — a global market research consultancy with its own SaaS platform, Dig One, trusted by McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Meta, Pernod Ricard and dozens of world-leading brands. What started as a traditional consultancy grew into an AI-native market research company with patented algorithms, a 30% compound annual growth rate over its first decade, and a successful exit to Behringer Capital. In this episode, Ian breaks down how Dig Insights evolved from traditional consulting into a tech-driven platform, why "service as a software" is replacing SaaS, and why he came back from semi-retirement because AI is moving too fast to watch from the sidelines. Topics covered: * How Dig Insights went from traditional consultancy to building their own SaaS platform * How their patented "Tinder for products" algorithm predicts market share from simple swipes * Why winning Coca-Cola and Pernod Ricard globally was a step change for the company * Why legacy SaaS companies that bolt on AI get punished * How AI skills and agents are replacing prompt engineering * Why Ian came back after exiting to Behringer Capital If you're a founder, product leader, or investor trying to figure out where AI fits into your SaaS business — this episode lays out the playbook from someone who's lived it. 👉 Follow George: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesen] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@georgehelgesen [https://www.youtube.com/@georgehelgesen] 👉 Follow Ian: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-ash-dig/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-ash-dig/] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ianash8585 [https://www.youtube.com/@ianash8585] * Dig Insights: https://diginsights.com [https://diginsights.com]