SaaStock Paris - Insights from Waalaxy, €10m ARR in 4 years with a PLG strategy

Inside Waalaxy — How Toinon Scaled a PLG SaaS from €0 to €10M ARR in 4 Years

Toinon, founder of Waalaxy (formerly ProspectIn), shared at SaaStock Paris how his team bootstrapped their SaaS from zero to €10M ARR in just four years — with no fundraising, no sales team, and a 100% product-led model.
His story offers a rare, pragmatic look at how to drive B2B SaaS growth through simplicity, iteration, and user obsession.

1. From Failure to the Right Idea (2018–2019)

“We started with an app for campsites. Two years of dev, zero clients.”

The founding team, mostly engineers, first built a B2C app that no one wanted. While trying to prospect on LinkedIn to sell it, they developed a small automation tool — which other startups immediately wanted.

“That’s when we realized we had something people actually wanted to buy.”

That tool became ProspectIn, a LinkedIn automation product launched in 2019. Within three months, it had paying users; within nine months, it was profitable; within a year, MRR had grown tenfold.

2. Finding Product-Market Fit Through Simplicity

“We didn’t know why it worked, until we realized: simplicity.”

ProspectIn stood out because of its ease of use. Unlike other “growth hacker” tools, it targeted non-technical SMEs and freelancers.
The simplicity of the interface — only two features, clear UX, and instant results — became the company’s unfair advantage.

“When we tried to serve everyone, we lost the 80% who loved us for being simple.”

When they launched the more complex version, Waalaxy, they temporarily lost their product-market fit — until they stripped the product back to its core.

3. Product Design and User Experience Lessons

• Every new feature adds friction.
• Self-service requires a minimal learning curve.
• Value must be visible within minutes.

“The speed at which a user understands your product is the speed of your conversion.”

Customer support was a key differentiator:

“We answered within 30 seconds on chat — never on the phone, to stay scalable.”

4. International Expansion Through Content and Translation

Instead of targeting the U.S., Waalaxy grew across Europe.

“We realized our persona didn’t speak English. So we went after markets where English wasn’t widely used — Spain, Italy, Poland.”

In 18 months, the team:

• Translated the blog, app, and support into 10 languages,
• Localized SEO content automatically with DeepL,
• Focused on local keywords with high intent and low competition.

“Even if translations aren’t perfect, good original content still performs.”

The result: rapid international traction driven purely by SEO and organic virality.

5. Pricing and Positioning — Continuous Experimentation

“In the morning we decide to raise prices. In the evening it’s live. Next day: +20% revenue.”

Waalaxy constantly tests its pricing — no market studies, just real-time iteration.
But Toinon admits they’ve learned the hard way:

“We moved too fast. A 40% price increase overnight hurts. Better to go step by step.”

Other key lessons:

• Sunset old plans gradually instead of forcing migration.
• Offer annual plans at the same price to improve retention.
• Adapt pricing by country to reflect purchasing power.

6. From Virality to Structured Sales

Word-of-mouth was the main growth engine:

“95% of our users came without any outreach.”

But at €10M ARR, the limits of pure PLG became visible:

“Without sales, your churn explodes. You have to reinvent yourself to keep users longer.”

Waalaxy introduced:

• A light inbound sales motion for high-value accounts,
• CRM integrations (like HubSpot) that boosted retention by 30%,
• Short 30-minute onboarding calls that doubled customer lifetime on some cohorts.

7. Affiliate Marketing as a Growth Engine

“Our affiliate program gives 50% lifetime commission.”

This bold move turned into Waalaxy’s #1 acquisition channel.
Local coaches and marketers promote the product in their own language, driving qualified and loyal users.

“It’s our top growth driver — ahead of ads.”

8. Costly Mistakes

Toinon is transparent about his missteps:

• Rebranding from ProspectIn to Waalaxy: temporary loss of SEO and customers.
• AppSumo launch:

“6,500 licenses sold, €35 earned per customer, lifetime support tickets — worst move ever.”

• Too many side projects: technical debt and team dispersion.

9. Current Challenges

• Retention: adding depth without breaking simplicity.
• Diversification: reducing dependency on LinkedIn.
• Data-driven growth: connecting product usage to financial performance (with tools like Fincome).

“We can measure MRR, but not always why it moves.”

10. Key Takeaways

• PLG works when it simplifies a complex behavior.
• Simplicity is a strategy, not a compromise.
• Localized content can be a massive growth lever.
• Pricing is meant to be tested, not theorized.
• And above all: “Speed doesn’t come from urgency — it comes from clarity.”