The Struggle is a new series we are starting as part of the SaaS Revolution Show and it aims to showcase the story not told often enough. Once a month we will share stories of companies and founders who have a particularly difficult time in finding their way to traction. Sometimes they find their way through it. Sometimes they don’t.No matter how difficult and painful, every story carries lessons and takeouts which are as valuable to those who were part of the story as they are to the community. There are mistakes that can be avoided which our guests are kind enough to share for everyone. And there are tips on how to keep going through the tough times.

The first guest on our new series is Clay Smith, CEO and co-founder of Akita. Started five years ago as part of the Launchpad program at NDRC in Dublin, the company earned its first 50 dollars in revenue last year. As Clay puts it, they became ramen profitable. The instant kind.

It took 4 years, two pivots, consulting on the side, being creative about rent and possessing a dancing goat to make it through.

Clay told this story at the SaaStock18 stage but also separately sat for a chat with Alex Theuma before the conference. As you will hear he never quite lost hope and kept on pushing through. In retrospect, some tough situations were avoidable, others were inevitable.

If you have a story of struggle you would like to share with us, get in touch by emailing podcast@saastock.com

You can watch Clay’s entire presentation where he has a picture of the dancing goat, as well as 40 hours of recorded content from 130 speakers, by getting our SaaStock18 on demand bundle.

Sign up to be the first one to know when we release our 2-for-1 tickets in early 2019..

We hope you enjoy our new series.