Our $8K/Month AI-Powered SaaS Helps Businesses Find New Opportunities
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?π
Hi, I'm Pedro Trillo, Founder, and CEO of Vizologi, a startup born with a mission: To inspire business models not yet written. We are located in Alicante, Spain, and we bring services to more than 220 countries.
From my background as a Telecommunications Engineer and after several years of experience in the management of technological change, I decided to stop the clock, stop talking about the innovations, and take action directly.
I am currently leading a new business project that was born to offer an Artificial Intelligence system based on neural business networks.
Within creating new business strategies, I intend to amplify all our senses and offer innovative, unique, original, and unprecedented solutions.
We have created a SaaS business that generates 50k visits per month and a gross income of around $8,000 MMR. We are excited about the community of innovators that follow us and build unique and creative startups with our AI tools.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?π
I have always worked in technological environments as a project manager, both in multinationals and public administration.
After a very turbulent work period, I made a stop in my life, and I thought it was what motivated me the most; I discovered my passion, which is innovation through business strategy. What was a problem with my previous contractors, today has become my power, my freedom, to do what I like, to create my own company, and I had the total freedom to create what I wanted.
Vizologi was born while reading a book called Disrupting Unemployment by Vint Cerf, among others. In this book, great minds discuss solutions to a future scenario with a high unemployment rate, where some voices point to technological developments as the first cause of substitution of people's jobs; in particular, AI is mentioned as the great disruptive element.
Then, the primitive idea of Vizologi was to create a combinatorial algorithm based on the mash-up innovation method, using data from business models of companies, and processing the information with Artificial Intelligence.
We crawled data from Internet public resources like Crunchbase, LinkedIn, Reuters, Annual Reports, company websites, and third-party publications.
Following this process, data collection, cleaning data and improving data quality, blending and reconciling data, analyzing data through human expertise, transforming, and instantly re-formatting data.
It was intended to create an "infinite" combinatorial system that generates at least one business model for each world citizen. In fact, the project began with the name Compass.
Its challenge was to develop a personalized business model for each inhabitant of the earth, that is, 7,5 billion different combinations, later the idea matured. The primary goal solved the unemployment problem defined in the book. We wanted to create a combinatory technology that will produce at least 7,5 billion combinations, so the goal was to create a unique business model per each citizen in the world.
So we developed an early version of our website without the premium SaaS. We launched 1,000 business model canvases to the Internet, and we got positive feedback and massive traffic from the global audience. So we decided to start seriously with product development.
Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.π
By nature, we used the AGILE methodology to first create a website with considerable traffic, publishing a lot of content on business models. Then, once we validated the website as MVP, we began to design the technological product, which is still an amplified version with features of the website.
Agile simplifies management processes extraordinarily. It is a flexible methodology in all its aspects. It allows you to adopt and generate changes in a fluid way. It is about adopting an incremental development strategy instead of the complete planning and execution of the product. Agile methodology brings us a change framework where we gain speed to create new features constantly.
It can be said that the only constant in AGILE is changing.
By definition, agile methodologies allow adapting the way of working to the conditions of the project, achieving flexibility and immediacy in response to adjust the project and its development to the specific circumstances of the environment.
Describe the process of launching the business.π
In the beginning, I wanted to do everything very manually; I put in a lot of love and care, I developed the first mockups by hand.
Vizologi is a tech-geek business strategy tool, we provide AI-generated answers to all your business questions about companies, strategic insights, and contextual business intelligence driving transformational change worldwide. We work in different industry sectors, startups, innovation, and marketing agencies, consulting, and education.
We have very specific client profiles, entrepreneurs, consultants, managers and directors, and students.
Our clients use our software to create brainsorting ideas, for market research, and to create unique, creative, and low-risk business plans.
Our clients use our software to create brainstorming ideas, market research, and create unique, creative, and low-risk business plans. They use the tool for their internal use, and in many cases, like marketing agencies, they use the tool for their end clients, offering them presentations of ideas and new business for their clients.
Here you will find a real case study called mamby.com, this startup is the first social network that pays users to post content, the business model behind the scene was created with our tool.
Here you will find the use cases videos.
I needed to do it by hand; the software is intangible; I could connect more with what I was doing by performing the manual task.
Luckily, my best friend David Mirete is an excellent designer with design awards worldwide; and when we put our heads together, an explosion of talent and magic was created to produce a unique and original product.
We took a trip to someplace in La Mancha, whose name I don't want to remember, where we found the ideal conditions to find creativity.
Vizologi was born without any pretense more than having a good time and enjoying life, on the way they thought how they could share those moments with all the people and then everything started!
Firstly, we dedicated it to launching the website, creating an SEO empire of 1,000 business model canvases. From the early days, we got good traction. We also launched in ProductHunt, HackerNews,, etc., but we did not have so many expectations.
My advice is that if you don't have a way to create helpful content for your business, you don't have anything.
After that, we created the premium SaaS product that was launched 1,5 years later. In the meantime, we developed more content and content to attract more visitors that will convert to paid users in the final instance.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?π
We work on three main channels, our main channel is SEO, the second one is direct sales in B2B mainly through LinkedIn, and the third one is the AppSumo marketplace.
Regarding SEO, do we have more than 50,000 monthly visits and more than 1,500 pieces of published content about how company X works.
We develop direct sales activity with companies in B2B, mainly innovation agencies with consultants.
Basically, we use LinkedIn as a lead prospecting tool; in the early days, we would send a private invitation along with a message, it was cold door sales, that didn't work, then we thought the best idea would be to create good content, have people follow us on LinkedIn, and have customers contact us instead of us contacting them.
The sale of Lifetime Plans was a great surprise for us. As a result, we have increased our revenue considerably. We are part of the AppSumo community; we are learning a lot with them, and we are preparing other products to launch in the marketplace.
The opportunity to have an audience already created and to be able to receive sales and feedback at the same time was unique for us. Technology entrepreneurs need more marketplaces like AppSumo to reach communities of users that are not reached through our official channels.
βYou can benefit from Lifetime Plans using different strategies, short term with explosive sales, or long term, in our case we use the long term approach, we don't have an explosive income, but step by step, month by month, we add new MRR every month.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?π
This technology startup is dedicated to market intelligence and business model design.
We develop technology based on "Data Science" through an online tool, in which, based on combinations of successful business models, we can generate a creative, unique, and differential service or product.
We have a year full of surprises. We are working hard to release a new product version this winter, literally migrating to a generative AI company that will position us at another level in the market.
Our vision is to inspire business models not yet written and our mission is to create a positive global impact through democratization and free access to business strategy knowledge for any citizen of the world.
Our clients have access to business strategy information to inspire them to create their own unique and creative business model for their startup idea or their established company.
Some metrics, we have a CAC of $50, LTV $100, 50,000 unique users per month visit our website, and we have served more than 1,500 users since the launch. From those, around 550 users use our product every month. In addition, our newsletter is followed by more than 3,000 users.
In October 2020, after the partnership with OpenAI, to use their GPT-3 generative text algorithm available from this winter, I have to admit that the startup was turned upside down, working as a 100% AI radically changes the operations of your company.
It impacts all areas. At the product level, we will multiply the value of data x1000. At the marketing level, we will automatically breed content generation, then grow the business organically. We will also create a future marketplace of ideas generated exclusively by AI that will increase sales. It's about creating 'superpowers' for your product.
We have a year full of surprises. We are working hard to release a new product version this winter, literally migrating to a generative AI company that will position us at another level in the market.
Next, in 2022 we will pivot, moving from a B2C startup to a B2B company, to eventually offer our service to larger companies finishing the traction and growth phase, to start with the scaling stage.
In between, we will plan a series A that will allow us to make the investment in digital marketing that we need to grow and become the international startup of reference in the business strategy markets and the categories of innovation and ideation software for companies
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?π
Be yourself, work with honesty, remove your ego from the equation, and don't use black hat strategies; trust in your clients like they are trusting in you.
Entrepreneurship is a business where the fruits are harvested at the end, not at the beginning
In addition to trying to implement an innovative idea, starting a company is still a gymkhana of mistakes and failures, a process of experimentation. It is still a value of continuous learning, a quasi-scientific exercise.
I would dare to say, mistakes will be your best allies. Live with them, learn from them and when you have it close to success, get rid of them all, forgive them but never forget them.
To get to the next success, you will be accompanied by more mistakes, do not worry. They will always be there, and if you come from a traditional business background, the error is paid at a very high price.
Think that in entrepreneurship, it will be the best ally, make mistakes, make a lot of mistakes, very soon and try to make them very cheaply.
We are no longer talking about using methodologies such as Design Thinking or Lean Startup. Instead, entrepreneurial activity is based on variable and volatile rules.
To understand them, the first step is to unlearn all the previous traditional rules on which you were based and understand that uncertainty and risk will accompany you at any point along the way.
If your work and personal foundations have always been based on security and certainty, forget about entrepreneurship. This is not for you; continue with your hobbies after work, but do not get into an entrepreneurial activity or have a bad time.
Entrepreneurship is a business where the fruits are harvested at the end, not at the beginning, your salary will not appear at the end of the month for a long time, and your goals will take part of your savings, understand that you are investing "in yourself."
You are not earning a monthly salary in your account; the prize is at the end, not at the beginning.
My last piece of advice I will sum it up for you in one word:
"ACTION"
What platform/tools do you use for your business?π
Try not to reinvent the wheel and use standard software that can be integrated and interconnected with each other.
At Vizologi we use popular platforms such as Google Analytics, Quancast, Cloudflare, Profitwell, Stripe, Jira, Freshdesk, Sendfox, Hubspot, and Hotjar.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?π
A book changed my life and made me more interested and passionate about innovation, entrepreneurship, disruption, startups, and business models; it's called Business Model Generation by Alex Osterwalder.
Tim Ferris has had a big influence on me. The 4 hours work-week was a revelation. I follow big lessons from Ferris about meditation and working out; this human pignea has a high intellectual coefficient. All advice is based on experimentation, and you get a better life following them.
I also have a weakness for Kevin Kelly; I consider him a true visionary, his book The Inevitable has significantly influenced me. How to create a mind by Ray Kurzweil taught me years ago how to create Artificial Intelligence products.
Last but not least, I follow the Noah Kagan Youtubechannel; I consider him a great entrepreneur who knew how to overcome many difficulties until he found the path to success.
I am very entertained by its content, and it helps me overcome the bad moments of entrepreneurship.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?π
It takes a lot of energy, effort, and passion to bring a startup forward, so believe in yourself, find what you are good at, differentiate yourself from others, and make yourself unique.
Sign a commitment with yourself to dedicate 5 or 10 years of your life to this project; there are no magic formulas; setting up a startup is very hard work, but the reward is infinite.
There is nothing better in life than having an idea, building it, and living from it; it is the greatest fulfillment in a person.
Don't focus on making money; think about generating value for your customers continuously; the money will come later; create a vision, a plan, and a team.
Kill your ego! What you are building is way above you.
Where can we go to learn more?π
Below you will find some useful links to keep you in touch:
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
