I Built A $1M SaaS In A Hidden Niche

Instead of selling an e-commerce analytics tool brand by brand like competitors, Hiro sells only to email/SMS marketing agencies (running Klaviyo etc. for Shopify brands). Each agency brings 10-30+ brands onto the platform at once, plus seats: e.g. 10 strategists at $10/month each, and agencies can give seats to their 20 clients (another $200/month). Because every agency uses the same platforms, they share the same problems, so ~99% of shipped features are relevant to every user. Zac suggests copying it by finding the 'agency layer' in an industry you know (e.g. agencies running DoorDash/Uber Eats ads for restaurants).

Use the platform's public agency/partner directory (Shopify agency partner directory, Klaviyo partner directory) as a ready-made lead list: it ranks agencies by size and influence, and since all listed agencies use the same platform they can be assumed to share the same problem. Zac recommends this for any industry: most key platforms have an agency or partner directory page.

Every agency gets a 30-day free trial. The monthly fee scales with the agency's client count: ~$500/month for 10 clients, ~$600 for 20; large agencies (up to ~200 clients) get bespoke pricing of a couple thousand dollars a month. Seats are ~$10/month per user, and agencies can buy seats for their own clients.

The founders ran an email marketing agency for ~6 years with ~30 clients, exactly Hiro's ideal customer. Brendan got fed up with the reporting friction all such agencies face and built the tool. They left the agency once Hiro had momentum. Zac advises looking for an agency layer in whatever industry you already work in.

When selling, lead with the two things every agency owner cares about: growing the client roster without adding headcount, and how much manual time the tool saves (e.g. building reports for 20 clients by hand). Hitting those points shows you understand their problem and earns a look at the product.

Hiro pulls data from Klaviyo and also Postscript, Attentive and Omnisend, because an agency with 30 clients may have 20 on Klaviyo and 10 on others. An agency wants all clients in one view, which a single platform's own reporting would not offer.