Quick Answer (TL;DR)
Des Traynor is the Co-Founder of Intercom, a series b+ SaaS SaaS doing $1M+/mo. Their top advice: "Build something you desperately want to use yourself, then tell everyone why it matters."
| Revenue | $1M+/mo |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Team | 50+ people |
| Funding | $10M+ |
| Growth | Content |
| Industry | SaaS |
The Origin Story
Des Traynor was working at a company called Contrast, and the team kept struggling with the same problem every software team faces. They had no idea who their users actually were or what they were doing in the product. The team would ship features into a black box and hope for the best. His co-founders Eoghan McCabe, David Barrett, and Ciaran Lee were experiencing similar frustrations in their work, so they decided to build something that would let them actually talk to their customers and understand their behavior.
If you're figuring out your go-to-market, the TAM Calculator can help size your market, and the PMF Calculator helps measure product-market fit.
Biggest Win
The early decision to focus heavily on content marketing was crucial to Intercom's growth. The team started the Inside Intercom blog and podcast not as a marketing tactic, but because they genuinely wanted to share what they were learning about building products and talking to customers. This approach helped them build trust with product managers and founders who were dealing with the same challenges they had faced. The content became Intercom's primary way of reaching new customers and establishing the company as a thought leader in the customer communication space.
The Hardest Lesson
The Intercom team learned the hard way that trying to be everything to everyone nearly killed the company. In the early days, they kept adding features and expanding scope because customers kept asking for more capabilities. They ended up with a confusing product that was hard to position and even harder for new users to understand. It took years to refocus and clearly define what Intercom was for, which meant saying no to a lot of good ideas that just weren't core to the vision.
Tool Stack
The Intercom team has always been big believers in using their own product. Beyond that, they rely heavily on data analysis tools to understand user behavior and content management systems to support their publishing efforts. They also use various prototyping and design tools since getting the user experience right is critical in customer communication software. The engineering team has evolved the stack over time, but has always prioritized tools that help them ship quickly and iterate based on customer feedback.
Compare your stack with what other founders use in our PM Tools Directory.
Key Metrics
Track your own SaaS metrics with the Quick Ratio Calculator and Rule of 40 Calculator.
Advice for SaaS Founders
Start with a real problem you've experienced yourself, not something you think might be a good business opportunity. If you haven't felt the pain personally, you'll struggle to build something that truly solves it. Also, don't underestimate the power of explaining your thinking through content - it's not just marketing, it's how you build relationships with the people who might become your customers. Be patient with finding product-market fit, and be willing to say no to features that don't align with your core vision.
Explore our SaaS industry playbook for frameworks and metrics specific to this industry.