Creating a B2B SaaS Platform
On this episode:
Ireland Carter, founder of innovative management platform Bricleir, joins the show to discuss the process of creating a B2B SaaS business. Specifically, Ireland highlights her experience with convincing different stakeholders to join her platform, facilitating corporate and startup partnerships, and pursuing a career in tech with a liberal arts background.
Interview Recap:
5 Quick Bites
Reading list: Robert Green books, The Daily Stoic
Skill or topic you’re interested in developing? Context switching & time blocking
How do you stay up to date with the latest developments in your industry? Morning brew, Techmeme, reading through initiatives on Bricleir
Favorite CEO? Erika Nardini of Barstool Sports
What industry would you be interested in starting a company in? Construction
What is Bricleir?
Software as a service for venture capital firms, founders, and enterprise clients. The platform connects large companies who want to meet an unmet need with innovative startups in a private community network.
TLDR: A platform for large fortune 500 companies to invest in startups.
How does it work?
Unmet needs identified by enterprises are posted on Briclier as different initiatives. VC’s and founders sign up for these, and Briclier plays matchmaker between the 3 sides!
During the project, Briclier receives real-time feedback from all 3 channels and checks in with them multiple times a day.
I would love to get into the tech/entrepreneurship space but I don’t have a background in STEM! Where should I start?
If you’re interning/working at a startup, raise your hand for everything to get exposure
Find a way to work with the engineering team to identify customer needs and transform those into a product
Effectively and successfully communicating unmet needs into a product is key!
At Bricleir, Ireland originally outsourced a contractor to help her with all the tech stuff. She also leveraged her network to get amazing people onto the team!
Future goals for Bricleir?
Expanding globally
10K active users
500+ active groups
Any pieces of advice for college students?
Find the right people! Having an amazing network of people will be helpful down the road
Enjoy the entrepreneurial journey of building your product, because once you get venture funding, you’ll have to focus on lots of administrative and accounting stuff.
Second Thoughts
Contracting an external partner during the formation of MVP (minimum viable product) development: It’s important to find a good balance between using an external source and building things within your own organization (for more: see episode 5 with Tom White). You might outsource a contractor or decide to bring in your own CTO so you get full ownership of the process.
Setting milestones: Be sure that you’re actually able to achieve the things you want with the money you raise. Here are some helpful tips:
Analyze the future steps you have to take and see if they align with your proposed budget
Always set goals!
Hold yourself accountable in reaching your goals
Product-focused mindset: While administrative and accounting stuff can be overwhelming once you enter the venture funding stage, Alex and Conor agree that focusing on the product first is one of the most important things to do as an entrepreneur.
Fun fact: The name “Bricleir” was inspired by Ireland’s dad, who started his own construction business out of high school and conveys the idea of building something brick by brick.
Takeaway Quote “Once you’re building with the right people, you can get a lot done.” (20:35)
To learn more about Ireland and her work, visit https://bricleir.com/.
