Every SaaS company hits market headwinds and internal challenges that slow its growth.
Really hard stuff that needs to be figured out for the company get back to growth and momentum.
All startups have growth plateaus. Most get stuck at some point.
Here’s what helps: patience and persistence.
Here’s what doesn’t help: impatient VC investors and a dwindling cash runway.
Josh Ho is the Founder and CEO of Referral Rock, a bootstrapped referral marketing platform serving SMBs that rely on multi-step, relationship-driven sales.
Starting in 2015 as a solo developer consulting on the side, Josh built the first version himself, validated demand quickly, and landed early customers by doing demos and hands-on support.
Referral Rock has grown to roughly 500 customers, 20 team members, and about $3M in annual revenue.
The company scaled through strong inbound SEO, founder-led sales, and a high-touch onboarding model for B2B businesses that value referrals.
Over the years, the product expanded too broadly, creating UX and complexity challenges that later required a deliberate refocusing on core use cases.
Today, Referral Rock is profitable, founder-owned, and steady at its current revenue plateau as Josh rethinks pricing, packaging, product simplicity, and ICP focus.
“For me, a plateau or a pivot is a puzzle to be solved. Any time you try to build something, you hope to keep hitting accelerators and serendipitously find those things. But I’ve learned through my life, for the most part, that some things work only for a certain duration.
“For me, it comes back to how I think about the business and my innate goals for the business, which are different from most founders. When I’m talking to another founder is they’ll ask me what my exit strategy is. And my answer is usually, Well, I don’t really have one. That’s not how I think about the business. It’s very clear.
“I enjoy my work and that’s my North Star. Am I having fun? Do I enjoy this work? And I also continuously reinvent myself and my role to fit those changes. There might be a job I have to do that I don’t enjoy, but then I’ll do that until it’s no longer like the limiting step and then hire someone to backfill for me.”
Patience and perseverance are required to try multiple things until you find what works.
We all know the hard stuff takes longer to figure out than we expected. And that money doesn’t solve all puzzles.
Check out this episode with Josh Ho on the Practical Founders Podcast.
