The Bright Ideas eCommerce Business Podcast | Proven Entrepreneur Success Stories
BI 319: SaaS Success Story: How Suneera Madhani Has Grown Fattmerchant Into a $5B Success
June 23, 2020
What does it take to have an SaaS success story?

It takes more than capital and experience for sure.

At age 24 and with no experience, Suneera Madhani launched Fattmerchant, a payment technology company aiming to integrate all the solutions her competitors offer into one single platform.

As a visionary leader, Suneera revolutionized the payments landscape. She was recognized as 2018’s Most Influential Woman in Payments, among other accolades.

It started with just an idea; today, Fattmerchant is processing billions of payments, reaching 6,000 customers all over the world, and enjoying 2000% growth every year.

How did Suneera do it? Find out in this episode.
[00:12] — Suneera introduces her company, Fattmerchant

*Fattmerchant deals with integrated payments for small to medium-sized businesses. It takes the various ways businesses can accept payments and brings them into a single and unified platform.
*She was a part of a processing company before launching her own. She was disappointed in the lack of transparency in the marketplace, particularly on fees.
*Suneera had been selling merchant services before and handling payments for a variety of large companies for a long time.

[02:00] — Fattmerchant launch & customer profile

*Suneera launched Fattmerchant in 2014. In the same year, it made $5 million in payments.
*In five years, they were able to reach as high as $5 billion in payments.
*The company was self-funded, with Suneera getting the company up and running for a year. They’ve raised about $20 million in venture capital with a big growth trajectory in sight.
*Their ideal customers are small- to medium-sized businesses processing $100,000 to $20 million annually.
*Currently, they have over 6,000 US-based customers.

[05:42] — How did they attract more customers?

*Fattmerchant used what its competitors lack and innovated ways on how they can make online payments possible and more efficient.
*They focused on their marketing strategies, starting with building an incredible website and spent a considerable amount on paid advertising.
*They went online and established a pioneering payment system.

[10:24] — A precise and powerful ad campaign

*Fattmerchant's ads say “Unify your payment experience.”
*They included a savings component to their model. 
*The value proposition is in Fattmerchant’s products and price.
*The company uses different campaigns. Aside from text ads, they employ dynamic videos and also use review sites. 

[12:43] — What does their offer look like?  

*The offers are dependent on the campaign and the platform used. For example, their Google AdWords campaign is on the low funnel.
*The goal is just to be visible regardless of the platform. 
*The call to action varies depending on where the funnel is.

[17:58] — Building the team

*When you need experts but can’t afford them, you have to learn and implement on your own.
*Fattmerchant initially enlisted the help of an agency to assist them with their marketing approach. The company eventually started to bring in experts.
*They invested in more experts as they continue to grow.

[21:02] — Engaging in partnerships

*At first, she was not a fan of this idea. She wants to be in control of who sells their services. 
*Now, integrated partnerships became one of their fastest-growing divisions.

[24:12] — Integrated partnerships & reaching out to potential partners

*You need a great API that a potential partner can understand easily.
*Fattmerchant’s sales cycle with partners takes nine months.
*According to Suneera, the sales part is easy. On the other hand, the implementation takes skill to ensure the partnerships are fruitful.
*Have a great ABM strategy on the partnership side.
*They have SDRs, but you can leverage email campaigns and setting appointments.

[30:30] — How can you do inside sales better?

*You can automate many things but you can’t replicate the human touch when closing the deal.
*Understand your customer.
*Tell them why the solution is an excellent fit for the needs of their company. 
*Close the deal with that customer.
*Fattmerchant’s payment consultants are their closers. Their close rate is 40% of SQLs.

[39:21] — Why company culture is crucial to your SaaS success story

*The core values behind Fattmerchant's SaaS success story: One Team, Create Joy, and Get Shit Done.
*In their case, their core values came out organically. This culture and core values became their anchor in every challenge that they face.
*This also led them to not be hasty in hiring their employees. 
*They made sure their new hires fit both the job description and the company culture.
*Your company must be intentional and deliberate in implementing your core values.
*Don’t lose your culture as you continue to grow.

[46:28] — Fattmerchant’s hiring process

*Applicants submit a video application.
*The HR team screens them and interacts with them via phone interview.
*If the applicant is a good fit, the HR team invites them for a two-part face-to-face interview.
*A random peer is always included among the panelists. This is to ensure the process is not limited to a managerial or executive standpoint.
*They conduct personality testing on some roles to keep teams diverse and balanced.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/319/