Road to $1M ARR day 34/60: 3 conversations a day keep failure away

this founder proposed to give me the keys to his office

Day 34 of the $1M ARR sprint.

Three conversations today. Each one confirmed we’re building exactly what the market needs right now.

First call was with a co-founder building GTM software. The product is sharp verticalized agents and playbooks that only work if you actually know sales.

Hand it to a rookie and it breaks the entire campaign. Hand it to someone with market intelligence and it amplifies their judgment.

This confirms something i’ve been thinking about: the self-serve SaaS model is dying in the AI era. Or at least, it’s no longer the optimal path to outcomes.

You can’t just ship software and expect people to figure it out anymore. You need smart operators who understand the workflow owning the tool.

That’s why we exist. We’re the smart operators.

We build the tools/workflows and operates them.

- - - - - - - - - -

Second call was technically a re-engagement.

This prospect and i talked 12 months ago when he was building his own company. Pitched him well. He liked the approach. But timing wasn’t right.

Now he’s joined a promising scale-up in the Bay and reached out yesterday evening to restart the conversation.

His exact words: “At the time, i knew this was great. Today, it’s exactly what we need.”

Not exactly what they need because we’re special. Exactly what they need because it’s what works in the market right now.

What they require is full-stack GTM: content to build trust at scale, ads to amplify it, and two types of outreach.

Signal-based outreach where we catch attention, convert it to intent, capture that intent, and turn it into conversations.

Market monitoring outreach where we track readily available signals and act on them with high velocity.

Proposal sent same day. Answer expected within 48 hours. High probability close. Amazing company. Could be a standout case study.

- - - - - - - - - -

Third conversation was face-to-face in NYC with a scale-up founder who’s been following me since day one.

He saw my post mentioning i’m in the city and invited me to his office for coffee.

Rarely met someone that genuine. That willing to help.

He offered me keys to an office where i could work (which is insane) and proposed to make intros.

Then he said something that stuck: “Be audacious and ask for things. I’m opening the door for you. Make what you want to happen, happen.”

Two takeaways from this conversation:

One, i gotta start asking more directly. The door’s open. Walk through it.

Two, i want to become this type of person. Once you’ve got the success and legitimacy to back it, give back. Share. Be the energy you want to receive.

Also he’s interested in what we do. Asked me to send demo videos of our workflows. Another door potentially opening.

- - - - - - - - - -

Broader pattern i’m seeing across all these conversations:

The disappointment people have with AI SDRs is making our model way more attractive.

This is exactly what streamlining sales means.

Keep ownership of the last mile with humans. Automate any task that doesn’t impact prospect perception but increases your ability to improve what does.

People are tired of getting pitch-slapped by bots. They want smart operators using smart tools.

That’s our lane. That’s what we built. And the market is validating it every single day.

At least one deal converts this week. Maybe another next week. More conversations scheduled. Velocity is high and direction is locked in.

We’re exactly where we need to be. Challenge or no challenge.

Deciding to launch this crazy 60 days sprint was the best business decision i made since the beginning of the company.

ARR: $681K → Target: $1M | Days remaining: 26

See you tomorrow 👊

O.

Subscribe to Othmane Khadri

accidentally built a million ARR GTM agency by refusing to spray & pray. now racing to $1M just to prove cold emails gurus wrong.

Subscribe