We talked about what agentic shopping looks like these days, why European platforms are dangerously slow to react, and why asking "how do I use ChatGPT in my company" is completely the wrong question.

In this episode:

- Why 30–50% of online purchases already start with an AI conversation

- The real reason OpenAI paused agentic shopping (hint: Amazon)

- How product decisions — not just pricing — will be shaped by what AI assistants recommend

- Why Zalando is losing to Amazon

- The offline retail impact nobody's talking about yet

- Why predictive pricing beats LLM-based pricing for explainability and trust

- The chess computer analogy: why specialized AI beats general AI for enterprise use cases

- What a €500M investment commitment would actually look like for a European platform to win

Felix is one of the clearest thinkers on what AI actually changes in commerce versus what's just noise.

Timestamps:

00:00 - The Future of AI in Shopping

03:47 - The Role of Discoverability in Retail

06:47 - Personalization and Production in Fashion

10:58 - The Impact of AI on Consumer Behavior

13:59 - 7Learnings: Optimizing Retail Decisions

16:48 - Consumer Readiness for AI Shopping Assistants

19:35 - The Offline Shopping Experience and AI

22:50 - Luxury Brands and AI Integration

27:43 - The New Gatekeepers of Retail

28:57 - The Competitive Landscape of AI in Shopping

31:02 - Opportunities for Independent Brands

32:14 - Navigating Uncertainty in AI Adoption

36:14 - Strategic AI Investments for Retailers

37:56 - The Risks of Inaction in Retail

40:55 - Pricing Strategies in the Age of AI

46:28 - Trust and Explainability in AI Systems

51:07 - The Future of Decision Automation

Felix - https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-hoffmann-7learnings

7Learnings - https://7learnings.com/

─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com

anna@soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

Yeah. We've all been there.

I've clicked on those links. And hey, fair enough, some of those did work. And some sent me on a trip to Cringeville and my wine cabinet because I had to recover from thinking people get paid for this stuff.

So that's what this is. I'm Anna, and this is sounds good. — where I talk to SaaS folks who walked that yellow brick road. People who ran with it and can look me in the eye and tell me if it worked, or spectacularly didn't.

Because I'm not sure if playbooks are real. Or if there's a version of SaaS success you can follow like a recipe — or if every company that made it just had a great team, obsessive founders, and quite a bit of luck. And then someone wrote a LinkedIn post about it afterwards.

That's what I want to find out.

Tune in to "sounds good." podcast episode 1 on June 1st.

We talked about what it actually looks like to run a small SaaS portfolio as a two-person team, why buying a boring Slack backup tool led to Fortune 500 clients and a 50x price increase within 48 hours, and why the fundamentals of distribution haven't changed as much as the hype suggests. Plus: AI search, third-party dependency risk, building in your own voice, and why bot media is quietly replacing social media.

In this episode:

- Why buying beats building for early validation right now

- The graveyard SaaS market and what makes something worth acquiring

- How good SEO still converts overnight — even in 2026

- AI search vs regular search: is there actually a difference yet?

- Third-party dependency risk: Aware, Shield, and what comes next

- Why AI-assisted humans beat AI alone — and where the line breaks down

- Content production, scheduling tools, and keeping your voice when AI helps you write

- What won't work anymore in micro SaaS

Timestamps:

00:00 - Navigating Uncertainty

06:05 - The Shift from Building to Buying: Exploring Holdco Strategies

12:29 - Validating Ideas: The Importance of Community and Feedback

18:27 - SEO's Enduring Relevance in the Age of AI

23:31 - Building with Dependencies: Risks and Strategies

29:18 - Finding Value in Content Production and Scheduling Tools

32:25 - The Evolution of Retail and Music

36:05 - The Impact of AI on Human Interaction

41:58 - Navigating the Noise in AI Development

46:09 - The Future of AI and User Interaction

51:48 - Exciting Discoveries on the Internet

Mac - https://www.linkedin.com/in/macmartine/

Demandbird - https://demandbird.com

─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina

soundsgoodpod.com

anna@soundsgoodpod.com

sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

Finn runs Project 33, an executive LinkedIn agency working with B2B founders and C-suite leaders to turn their actual opinions into content that moves pipeline. He's obsessed with the gap between what people think LinkedIn content does and what it actually does.

In this episode:

- Why AI ghostwriting and human ghostwriting have almost identical failure modes

- The real reason LinkedIn reach is dropping (hint: it's supply, not algorithm)

- How to train an AI — or a writer — to not produce slop

- Why Finn stopped using em dashes and what that tells you about the platform right now

- The "VP of Supply Chain" rule: what good engagement actually looks like in B2B

- When LinkedIn posting can't save you (and what product-market fit has to do with it)

- Where Finn would go if LinkedIn disappeared tomorrow: newsletters, in-person, and why

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

03:59 - The Role of AI in Content Creation

07:01 - Human Touch vs. AI in Content Strategy

09:44 - Navigating AI Biases and Content Quality

12:54 - The Importance of Clear Communication in Content

15:53 - The Shift in Audience Perception of AI Content

19:02 - The Impact of Algorithms on LinkedIn Engagement

22:55 - Understanding Content Effectiveness and ROI

25:48 - Balancing Salesy Content with Value-Driven Posts

28:35 - Final Thoughts on Content Creation and Engagement

36:11 - Finding Balance in Content Creation

41:56 - Navigating LinkedIn and Social Media Burnout

48:42 - Debunking Myths About AI and Content Creation

53:58 - The Shift Towards In-Person Networking

56:28 - Inspiration from Real-Life Experiences

If you've ever wondered whether any of this content stuff actually works, this one's worth your time.

Finn Thormeier - https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

Project 33 - https://www.project33.io/

─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina

soundsgoodpod.com

anna@soundsgoodpod.com

sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

Not because SaaS is dying. He doesn't buy that — neither do I. But the gap between building a product (easier than ever) and getting your first SaaS customer (harder than ever) got pretty broken.

Mike Hill is a serial bootstrapper. His newest thing is Smile — a Slack app for sending dorky cards to your team (which I love using!).

What we got into:

- Why the SaaSpocalypse started five years ago and has nothing to do with AI

- The Google-to-ChatGPT shift is wiping out bootstrappers

- AI makes senior people better and junior people worse

- Lifetime deals stop making sense when token costs are ongoing and buyers already have your competitor's LTD

- The day Claude went down and Mike just went home, and what that says about all of us

- Why he still recommends every founder who emails him to get a technical co-founder

Timestamps:

00:00 - Is SaaS Still Worth Starting?

00:57 - SaaSpocalypse Explained

03:14 - AI Makes Seniors Faster

04:30 - Content Led Growth Edge

06:00 - Why Not Start SaaS

07:47 - AI Search Hurts Discovery

11:11 - Building SaaS for Fun

15:46 - Ship Fast New Process

17:59 - Agent Overload Limits

25:24 - Get a Technical Cofounder

28:21 - AI Skepticism and Hype

29:36 - Reliance and Outage Fear

31:09 - API Risk and Cost Creep

33:09 - Lifetime Deals vs Token Costs

37:35 - SaaS Is Not Dead

45:05 - Competition and Go To Market

48:27 - AI Sidekicks Not Replacements

50:46 - Why AI Design Still Fails

52:02 - Wrap Up

If you've been wondering whether you missed the SaaS window, this one's for you.

New episodes of Sounds Good every week.

Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

Mike Hill — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mymatemike/

Smile — https://smiile.co/

Curator — https://curator.io/

Juuno — https://juuno.co/

#SaaS #Bootstrapping #IndieHackers

sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com anna@soundsgoodpod.com

Ken Weary, COO at Hostaway, believes that's not a missed opportunity—it's discipline. Instead of buying competitors, the company has spent the last decade building a single platform, staying profitable, and resisting the temptation to chase every shiny new thing.

We talked about what AI is actually changing inside SaaS companies (and what it isn't), why "SaaSpocalypse" is mostly a story about adaptation rather than extinction, how to think about third-party platform risk when your business depends on Airbnb and Booking.com, and why founder-led companies often win by acting like they still have no money.

In this episode:

Why Hostaway has never made an acquisition despite evaluating hundreds of companies

What a $500M-funded company can teach bootstrappers about spending money

The real relationship between AI and layoffs

Why AI should augment people, not replace them

Building software on top of platforms like Airbnb without becoming dependent on them

What SaaSpocalypse gets right—and what it completely misses

Why customer events matter even more in a fully remote company

How Hostaway uses AI to improve customer support and guest experience

"Be frugal, not cheap"—the mindset behind sustainable growth

The marathon lesson that applies surprisingly well to building SaaS

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to Hostaway

03:45 - The Importance of Property Management

06:59 - Navigating Guest Reviews

07:37 - Handling Third-Party Dependencies

10:54 - Mergers and Acquisitions Strategy

16:47 - AI Integration in Property Management

24:28 - AI as Augmented Intelligence

28:00 - The Impact of AI on Employment

31:54 - The Importance of Real-Life Events

38:49 - SaaS Evolution and the 'SaaSpocalypse'

43:25 - Playbooks for Success in Business

Ken - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenweary/

Hostaway - https://www.hostaway.com

─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com

sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

In this episode we cover:

- Why Antoine rebuilt Fernand's AI layer (and what his power users are doing instead)

- The 3,000-email cold outreach experiment that looked genius and flopped

- Bootstrap vs. VC-funded SaaS in 2025 — who actually wins

- Why product-market fit is harder to find when everyone has the same AI stack

- The case for done-for-you services as SaaS's next pivot

- Why "sounds good" and "works well" are two completely different things

Timestamps:

00:00:01 - Fernand, a customer support tool.

00:02:23 - Rebuilding with an AI layer.

00:03:07 - Thoughts on rebuilding and innovation.

00:05:17 - Customers not asking for current developments.

00:06:28 - AI can do 90% of the work.

00:08:04 - Not using the interface anymore.

00:09:29 - Uncertainty about UI needs.

00:11:11 - Two hypotheses in the world.

00:13:29 - Brutal market for SMBs.

00:18:42 - Distribution is the main thing.

00:19:51 - Hypothesis about bootstrapping challenges.

00:23:34 - Cold email automation experiment.

00:32:09 - Pricing strategies.

00:51:48 - Final thoughts on adaptability and innovation.

If you're a founder who's ever thought "this idea is so smart" and then watched it land with a thud — this one's for you.

Antoine Minoux - https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoineminoux/

Fernand - https://getfernand.com/

─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com anna@soundsgoodpod.com

sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses.

If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

Sai Dhanak is the founder of Deduction, an AI tax firm that pairs licensed CPAs with AI agents to deliver tax advice, planning, and filing for US consumers — at a fraction of traditional accountant prices. We talked about what happens when accountability is actually on the line, why services that were "unscalable" are suddenly the hottest pitch in VC rooms, and what the SaaSpocalypse gets completely wrong about junior talent.

In this episode:

- Why "own the customer outcome" might be the only real moat right now

- The CPA shortage nobody's building fast enough for

- AI agents with names and phone numbers (meet Taylor at deduction.com)

- Why predictable workflows scale and litigation doesn't

- The Deduction partner program — a franchise model for the AI era

- Whether Google I/O just quietly ate vibe coding for the masses

- The real reason companies are laying people off (hint: it's not productivity)

- Senior engineers saying they need zero engineers on their team — and whether that ends in burnout

Sai is one of those founders who thinks clearly about messy questions.

Timestamps: 00:00 - Navigating the AI Landscape

11:06 - The Role of Human Touch in AI Services

21:59 - Building Trust in AI-Driven Tax Services

30:28 - The Need for AI Guidance

31:50 - Integrating AI into Daily Life

32:26 - The Reality of AI Implementation

36:24 - Balancing AI and Human Interaction

37:03 - Data Infrastructure Challenges

40:46 - The Cost of Building vs. Buying Software

44:19 - The Future of Vibe Coding

50:29 - Building Trust in AI Solutions

Sai - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saayuj/

Deduction - https://deduction.com/

─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com

anna@soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/

Joe Lee, founder of Super (200,000+ users, growing without a sales team), joins Sounds Good to dismantle the idea that technical complexity is a moat.

We get into why distribution and brand eminence are what's left, why "we're just watching AI" stance might have been the smartest move of the year, and why "ever-boarding" beats onboarding every single time.

In this episode:

→ Why tech defensibility has collapsed — and what actually replaces it

→ Is waiting on AI a power move or a mistake?

→ "Ever-boarding" — Joe's framing for why switching cost beats features

→ Why ARR can mask structural problems (and what to look at instead)

→ Buyer personas are converging — enterprise buyers now self-qualify like PLG users

→ AI is becoming invisible — and why sophisticated buyers stopped caring about the label

→ The "build with Claude on the weekend" family activity rant

→ Would you trade shoes with Warren Buffett for $5 billion?

Timestamps:

00:00 - Defensibility Is Dead

01:00 - Meet Joe From Supademo

01:11 - SaaS Whiplash Era

03:57 - Escaping The AI Echo Chamber

10:06 - Hype Versus Outcomes

11:53 - Freshline Versus Supademo

15:39 - Founder Market Fit

18:01 - Build In Public For Brand

22:48 - Midmarket Buyer Reality

26:35 - Not Becoming A Feature

28:41 - Moats Brand Distribution Habits

34:05 - Everboarding For Retention

36:52 - IRL Is Back

40:52 - Work Life Balance As ROI

43:32 - Closing Thoughts On AI Anxiety

For founders who are tired of being told they're behind, and want a clearer view of what actually compounds.

New episodes of Sounds Good every week.

Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

🎙️ Joseph Lee -

Supademo -

─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com

anna@soundsgoodpod.com

sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses.

If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/