Messy Growth
Welcome to Messy Growth, the podcast where SaaS founders hear the unfiltered truth about scaling. I’m Syed — I’ve spent over a decade in the trenches, growing SaaS companies from zero to tens of millions in revenue. On this show, I break down the wins, the mistakes, and the messy middle that nobody talks about. Let’s get into it
Messy Growth
AI Products Don't Sell Themselves - And Founders Are Learning This the Hard Way
Everyone's rushing to build AI products. The logic seems simple: add GPT, ship fast, watch the money roll in. Except it's not rolling in.
In this episode, I break down why AI products still need to be sold and marketed - and why founders are failing because they've forgotten this basic truth.
We cover the instant gratification trap that AI tools created, the race to the bottom in search rankings, why headline ARR numbers from companies like Lovable and ElevenLabs are misleading, and the GTM blindspot that's killing good products.
Most startups fail. With AI, your margins are even lower and the impatience is higher. If you're building an AI product, this episode will save you months of wasted time.
The old rules still apply: better distribution wins.