I browse this sub and Product Hunt a lot, and like most of you, I sign up for tools, hit the paywall, and bounce. It’s muscle memory at this point.
Actually, I found these guys right here on r/SaaS about two days ago. Some of you might have seen that post breaking down their Influencer Marketing A/B test results.
I was intrigued by their data, and gave the tool (Holaboss) a spin for my own X/Twitter lead gen. I set up the basics, saw the checkout page, hesitated, and closed the tab. Usually, that’s the end of it. Or maybe I got a generic automated drip campaign saying "Hey, you forgot something!" which I immediately archived.
But last night, I got an email from the founder. It wasn't a template. It was messy, clearly typed by a human, and oddly honest. He basically said: "Saw you didn't pay. Totally get it, it's a new tool. I'm not trying to sell you, but here's exactly what we suck at right now, and here is what we are actually good at." He acknowledged the UI was rough (it is) but explained the agent's logic. He offered a discount code, but the code wasn't the hook; honesty was. I went back and paid $25.
The experience so far: The tool is definitely early-stage. I’ve already found two bugs, and the dashboard isn't pretty. But the core "agent" part actually works surprisingly well. It sent me a strategy report this morning that was better than I expected.
The takeaway for us builders: I think we often try to automate everything too early. We want "scalable growth" from day one. But this founder reminded me that when you're small, your biggest advantage is that you can be human.
If I hadn't received that personal email, I would never have returned it. - He monitored the abandoned cart. - He took 2 minutes to write a real email. - He converted a lead that was 100% dead.
Just a reminder to do things that don't scale. If you have leads dropping off at checkout, maybe just talk to them?