How to Sell Your SaaS Company: The Exit Playbook From a CEO Who Did It 3 Times

How do you validate product market fit in B2B SaaS when AI hype drowns out real customer signal? John has been building and exiting software companies since the 1990s — across semiconductors, digital twins, and AI — and his framework cuts through the noise. In this episode, he breaks down why most founders confuse a cool demo with actual demand, and what it takes to find genuine product-market fit before burning runway. You'll learn why SaaS is a delivery mechanism, not a product category, and why that distinction changes how you approach early GTM. John explains why direct sales and LinkedIn outreach outperform broad marketing when your ACV is $50K–$100K+, how to sequence partnerships so they generate compounding lead flow instead of distraction, and how to avoid the AI-washing trap while still building products investors and buyers take seriously. ABOUT THE GUEST John is a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful exits spanning semiconductor, software, digital twins, and AI startups dating back to the 1990s. His current work sits at the intersection of SaaS and AI, giving him a grounded perspective on what separates durable product-market fit from hype-driven false positives. Get the complete show notes, frameworks, and playbooks: https://podcast.rapidproductgrowth.com/validate-product-market-fit-b2b-saas/ Subscribe for more tactical B2B growth strategy: https://www.youtube.com/@productgrowthstories?sub_confirmation=1 #ProductMarketFit #B2BSaaS #SaaSGTM #AIStartups #SaaSFounders