We’re championing our SaaStock Founder Members. The leaders and experts building the SaaS companies today that will shape the world of SaaS tomorrow. In this series, we’ll be profiling some of our SFM members who’ve been a part of the membership to help them scale their SaaS. They deserve the spotlight, so let’s get right into it.
Today’s post features SaaS Founder and SaaStock Founder Member, Allan Mørch.
1. What’s your story?
Hi there, I’m Allan Mørch, Founder of AskCody – a Meeting Management and Workspace Scheduling Platform used by 500,000 users across the globe to plan, manage, and book meetings smarter. Our SaaS platform simplifies the entire workspace booking experience and improves productivity across the entire workplace, combining Advanced Meeting Room Booking and Desk Hoteling, Workspace Services Management, Visitor Management, and Workspace Insights.
With more than 10 years in the meeting room management and resource scheduling field, I’m a workplace innovator who is passionate about using technology to modernize the workplace. My deep expertise on the workplace and management of the workplace has helped shape the relationship between the office, its users, and technology at more than 2500 offices globally.
AskCody is designed to equip everyone in the workplace with the right tools they need for a seamless end-to-end experience in today’s office running productive and efficient meetings. In essence, AskCody is Flight Control, the command centre for workspaces providing Certainty, Confidence, and Control. Our platform gives office managers, booking coordinators, hospitality teams, meeting administrators, executive assistants, and conference service managers an overview of what goes on, where and when, allowing them to stay ahead of the workday.
2. When did you begin building AskCody?
I started out as a solo founder from 2010-2016 with a great advisor team helping me out on setting the direction and more strategic discussions while surrounding me with a handful of super talented and skilled people helping get AskCody flying for the first years. That “founding-five”-team took AskCody from an idea/concept to a real business.
When I found the journey too lonely and after pivoting from “digital wayfinding” to “meeting management” in 2016, I invited my brother Steffen to join as a co-founder. I never planned to be an entrepreneur or found a company – it just happened, because the problem was too big an issue not to address, and then one thing led to another… Now it’s been 13 years. Overnight successes take a while…
3. Why did you decide to join the SaaStock Founder Membership?
1) Because no one was born knowing everything about SaaS
2) It’s lonely running a SaaS company.
As a founder, the struggle is real, and it’s much more fun (and healthy) to share the experience, the wins, the losses, and especially the challenges with like-minded people, dealing with the exact same challenges day in and day out.
I wanted to grow, learn, and share together with a bunch of happy fools and crazy ones, that are crazy enough to build and launch a SaaS company, and who work tirelessly on being that 0,4% that makes it. These are people I truly admire; the ones punching about their weight and trying to beat the odds.
4. As a SaaS founder, what’s the biggest challenge you are facing in your SaaS right now?
Can I name ten?! There’s no such thing as only one challenge as a SaaS founder… For now, I would say aligning the entire company and organisation on the same super-focused objective and initiatives taking us there, ensuring profitability in everything we do, while navigating a world of chaos (and being an SVB customer…)
5. How are you looking to overcome this challenge?
Together as one team, one united unit taking one step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Right now, it’s not about solving for next year or 5 years down the road; it’s about solving for the main challenge in front of us, ensuring we climb the next plateau, before taking the next step. But, we can only do this if we work as a team, and do it together.
6. If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your SaaS to enable faster growth?
Pace of development and throughput. The world has been changing rapidly in our space and category accelerated by covid and Hybrid Work. The one thing that could enable faster growth was higher throughput on Product/Engineering to meet the markets’ needs and requirements.
7. What ‘one piece’ of information do you wish you were privy to before founding AskCody?
That overnight successes aren’t made overnight… On the other hand, if everyone knows how tricky it is, no-one starts on the journey. Most important learning for me: do it with someone else, otherwise, it’s too tough.
Find a group of people you most importantly trust and have faith in, then ensure you have the 3 cornerstone capabilities: Product/Engineering, Go-To-Market + Marketing, and Business, Finance and Operation. Or as someone once put it: someone to build the product, someone to sell the hell out of it, and someone to keep you out of jail doing it 🙂
I think many good SaaS companies and founders’ “give-up” along the way, because they were too lonely being a solo founder. Do it with a team you trust.
8. As an SFM Member, what are the key learnings you’ve gained so far to get you closer to $10MM ARR
1) You need to balance working in your business, while working on your business.
2) You need to focus on your own business first, your own challenges, and take one step at a time towards the next goal. It’s easy to get distracted from the outside: experts telling you to do this or that, “implement this playbook and triple in a year”, etc.
Everyone wants to grow and scale faster, but not all strategies, tactics or playbooks can, or should, be implemented in your business. 99 out of 100 times, there is no such thing as a quick-fix or pill you can take, to solve your challenges. You need to know what to do next, what you prioritise, and then stick to the plan, instead of getting pulled in a thousand directions at once.
3) Focus, focus, focus.
4) Really, like really ensure that the entire organisation knows and deeply understands your ICP, what their main problem and challenge is, how you solve it, and why they choose you to solve it. That’s a winning formula for alignment.
9. Have you attended any in-person SFM events yet? If so, what value did you find in them?
SaaStock 2022 in Dublin. Magnificent event! Especially meeting with my Founder Circle in person, spending time with them and just getting to know their story was great.
10. Finally, what do you aspire to become, personally or professionally, within the next 12 months?
Both life personally, and life as a founder has taught me that no one knows tomorrow – anything can happen. It’s all about how you face the next challenge ahead of you. What do I aspire to become 12 months from now? To me, if I can truly take one day at a time, enjoy the moments, while getting the most out of every opportunity, I’d be happy.
Are you looking to achieve success all year round and be put in the spotlight? Check out the SaaStock Founder Membership:
The SaaStock Founder Membership is a global private support network exclusively for B2B SaaS Founders, providing members with the tools, networking opportunities, support and education to help achieve $10M ARR and beyond.
Are you a SaaS founder with revenues over $100k?
Apply today and experience the power of a community that understands the struggles of being a SaaS founder.
The SaaStock Founder Membership Annual Retreat in Mykonos
As a founder, running a successful SaaS business is both exhilarating and exhausting, it’s important to take a step back and recharge your batteries every now and then.
Join 40 SaaS Founders this summer on the sun-kissed island of Mykonos, where white buildings gleam under the dazzling Mediterranean sun, and the 5-star Myconian Imperial Hotel provides a haven of luxury and rejuvenation.
Here, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with other passionate SaaS founders, form lasting relationships, and learn from world-class mentors. Whether you’re looking to scale your business or gain new insights, this retreat will provide you with everything you need to succeed.
Follow the link below to learn more. 👇
