#392 – How Georgi Petrov built four companies on profit, not fundraising

A story about choosing margins over momentum—and letting investors call you wrong. This episode is for SaaS CEOs stuck around 20% EBITDA and wondering what it actually takes to double it without cutting their way there.Most SaaS companies treat 20% EBITDA as a healthy number. Georgi Petrov targets 50.Georgi, CEO of Uxify, has founded four companies in 15 years with two exits—including one to WP Engine. He doesn't get there by cutting. He gets there by building differently from day one: small teams with high ownership, self-service at premium prices, and a refusal to add cost before it earns its place.And this inspired me to invite Georgi to my podcast. We explore why targeting 50% EBITDA changes every hiring decision, every pricing decision, and every partnership decision a founder makes. Georgi shares hard-won lessons on why small teams outperform large ones, why focus beats optionality, and why selling business outcomes—not product features—makes premium self-service pricing work.We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – Acknowledge you cannot please everyone – Focus on the essenceGeorgi's journey proves that starting from profit forces every decision to earn its place.Here's one of Georgi's quotes that captures how he actually gets to 50% EBITDA:"Most of the high-leverage decisions that we made turn out to be not so good decisions. We find the good somewhere in the middle. Not having a support team sounds like a high-leverage decision, but that's ultimately bad, because customers need 24/7 support. So, ultimately, expand the support team, but do it in a smarter way, and that's how we end up. If we're super able to leverage a lot, very likely we can achieve much more than 50%, but I think you end up somewhere about 50% ultimately."By listening to this episode, you'll learn:Why profitability shapes better decisions than fundraising ever willWhat self-service at premium prices requires to actually workWhy the biggest partners rarely deliver the biggest resultsWhen adding people stops creating productivity and starts destroying itFor more information about the guest from this week:Guest: Georgi Petrov, CEO of UxifyWebsite: uxify.com