Alexander Theuma

Founder and Editor-in-chief

Helping SaaS Founders grow their businesses to $10M+ ARR

I started SaaStock in 2015 with a simple idea: give SaaS founders a real space to connect, learn, and scale faster–together.

Fast forward to today: SaaStock has become the global home for SaaS founders who are serious about growth.

We've hosted thousands of founders, VCs, and execs from Dublin to Austin, from seed stage to unicorn. We’ve built a community that doesn’t just celebrate scale, it shares the hard truths, the breakthroughs, and the lessons you only get by being in the room where it happens.

Before SaaStock, I spent 11 years in sales, getting my hands dirty, chasing targets, closing deals, and learning what real GTM pressure feels like. That experience taught me: there’s no shortcut to growth. You need the right people around you, the right mindset, and a willingness to evolve — especially now, in an AI First world.

Today, I'm focused on three things:

Growing SaaStock across Europe and the US as the leading platform for SaaS founders.

Building a new generation of founder-driven, AI-enabled companies.

Using the SaaS Revolution Show Podcast to tell the real stories — the wins and the war stories — from the frontlines of SaaS.

SaaS is changing fast.

I'm here for the builders who want to change with it and win.

If you're scaling a SaaS company, or investing in one, let's chat.

Founder

Our purpose is to make a real difference to the lives and companies of the SaaS community

Most SaaS companies fail within the first three years due to lack of runway, lack of product market fit and lack of founder experience in managing a business.
SaaStock helps B2B SaaS Founders on the journey to $10mill ARR supercharge their growth by connecting founders with VCs to help extend runway, learn from industry experts and build pipeline.
We do this through or Physical and virtual conferences, our founder membership program, SaaStock local community gatherings and media.
We are the only media and events business that focuses on SaaS founders scaling to $10mill ARR. This focus enables us to provide the highest quality events, content and connections
For founders in this stage of their journey.


December was our strongest month for sponsorship revenue in 2025 🚀

Not an easy feat in a month shortened by holidays — but a clear signal of where SaaStock is headed.

In December alone, we:

 • Welcomed 12 new sponsors
 • Closed 4 global partnerships spanning both events
 • Signed partners onto SaaStock USA & SaaStock Europe 2026
 • Closed the majority of deals before Dec 24, with two more signed between Christmas and New Year

New partners joining the SaaStock ecosystem include:

Accoil, Aleph, Atlassian, Consero Global, Deel, Empleyo, FullEnrich, GoCardless, IDA Ireland, NetSuite, Pylon and Trundl, Inc.

A major driver?

Our new meetings product, which was taken up by the majority of sponsors and continues to prove its value in delivering real, high-intent connections — not just logo placement.

We enter 2026 with:
 ✔️ A stronger pipeline than this time last year
 ✔️ A market that’s accelerating
 ✔️ A team and product built to scale
 ✔️ Clear momentum across AI & B2B software partnerships

We’re looking ahead to a banner year — and to further cementing SaaStock as the largest meeting-led event in AI & B2B Software.

If you’re planning your 2026 GTM strategy and want partnerships that actually drive outcomes, now’s the time to talk.

Running the largest 1:1 Meetings event in B2B Software

Riley Ghiles I.

Most early founders build the wrong thing. I help you fix that, and scale up to $12K MRR with my proven S.T.A.R.R method (95% success rate).My Mantra: Inspire & Empower People 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 l

Life’s too short to build a SaaS no one wants.

42% of startups fail because they build something the market doesn’t need.

You quit a good job, code nights & weekends, burn 6–18 months of savings…
Only to end up with zero paying customers.

Your problem isn’t skill.
It’s that no one taught you to validate and sell before you build.

I’ve been there I failed 5 startups before I figured it out.

───

I’m Riley Ghiles Ikni.
Software engineer turned startup advisor & angel investor.
15+ years in Engineering, Product, and Design from raw startups to seasoned billion-dollar tech giants.

I run the SaaS & Startup Kitchen:
a training ground for solo tech founders launching their first product.

My job? Help you validate and sell the 🥐 before you bake it.

In 2025, my bootstrapped clients are on track for $1.2M+ in combined revenue.
NPS 77.5 with video testimonials from every active client. (Ask me.)

───

🧑‍💻 WHO THIS IS FOR

→ First-time solo founders building SaaS or dev tools
→ Senior / Principal engineers (5–10+ years experience)
→ Based in North America, bootstrapped, not chasing VC

You know how to build.
You just can’t afford to guess anymore.

───

🔧 WHAT WE FIX TOGETHER

✴️ From a blurry idea → to real pain & a clear ICP
✴️ From feature soup → to a simple, sharp offer
✴️ From building in the dark → to VALIDATE & SELL with real humans
✴️ From chaos → to a mini OKR system focused on revenue

We run the interviews.
We sort the feedback.
We validate the opportunity.
We iterate — together — until you can fly solo.

───

📈 HOW IT WORKS

We start with a deep dive:
✴️ Your North Star Metric → the WHY
✴️ Your first revenue goal → the WHAT
✴️ The shortest path to paying customers → the HOW

Then we roll:
→ A simple GTM plan
→ Weekly execution & feedback
→ Clear decisions: Go / Pivot / Kill
(no zombie products lingering)

It’s part consulting, part mentoring, part hands-on help.
🚫 No motivational fluff
🚫 No “DIY video course”
🚫 No artificial flavours

───

You don’t need more features.
You need paying customers and a repeatable way to get them.

👉 Unsure? Book a call.
Link’s in the profile.
(That’s my signature right here) 🥐🟧

No post today, am traveling and some of us don't have ghostwriters

PS: Talk to your customers
Life is too short to build something nobody wants to buy

- 
The Amazigh* (Startup) Advisor
*Not a typo 🟧 🥐

Solo 1st-time SaaS founder? Helping you stop coding for 0 customers & get you to $12k MRR even if you are still in ideation | Startup mentor, advisor & investor | 7 Clients Bootstrapped revenue 2025 $1.2M+ l NPS 77.5

🚨Lead Magnet Masterclass by a Young SaaS Founder
You want people to care about your product?
Stop selling features.
Show them their problem exactly how they experience it.

This post blew up not because it’s technical.
But because it talks about something everyone struggles with:
👉 “I can’t find fresh LinkedIn posts where my clients hang out.”

No AI buzzwords.
No fancy stack.

Just a mirror. 

📌 Golden rule: If your customer can repeat your promise out loud, you win.

Ask yourself:
Do I speak like them?
Or am I trying to sound smart?

🟧🥐
#StartupKitchen 

PS: Yes he is a member of the Startup Kitchen 
Am in tears, they grow up too fast

🟡 1 year of posting on LinkedIn: what worked, what flopped, what’s next
(Because you cannot improve what you don't measure)


In 2025, I showed up (almost) every week on LinkedIn.
Here’s what happened:

208,710 impressions (+39.3% vs last year)
5,594 followers (+299.9%)
47,678 people reached
93 saves, 44 shares
4,026 comments
7,231 reactions

Here are my Top 5 posts by reach:

📈 “I gained 22lbs in 6 months, same 2 reasons most founders don’t grow” (9,114)
🚀 Interview with a CEO who turned his idea into a product, fast (9,051)
🧱 “90% of founders will never know what product-market fit feels like” (5,309)
📣 “Same post. 48x more reach. What changed?” (3,589)
🕰️ “Some build McDonald’s at 52. KFC at 65…” (3,145)

And these were the Top 3 by engagement (reactions + comments):

“Why I do what I do” 💬 (187)
“Everything is about AI. I focus on real connection” (171)
“Here’s what you’ll get from me soon” (159)


What I learned:

Posts that hit emotionally > pure business content
“True story + tension + brutal truth” beats everything
Raw data works only if it tells a story
The posts I thought were “meh” sometimes blew up


✨ For 2026, I’m doubling down.
More depth. More 🥐. Let's Artificial Flavours 

Tell me about your linkedin year in the comments

- 
The Amazigh* (Startup) Advisor
*Not a typo 🟧 🥐

Riley Ghiles Ikni

“Once the product is better, I’ll market it.”
Said by 100% of founders making $0 with 0 users.

You tell yourself:
“it's not ready yet.”
“I need to add Apis first.”
(worse)" There is no dark mode"

Result:

0 calls
0 user feedback
0 Stripe notifications
6 months of coding for nothing

You have an invisible product.
Not an “unfinished product.”

The truth: you’re not improving your product.
You’re putting coco butter on your ego

You’d rather:

add one more feature than take a “no”
redo the UI instead of booking a call
optimize the stack instead of pitching your offer

And every line of code gives you the illusion of progress.
But you’re stuck in the same place: no market, no proof, no cash.

The day you finally open the door:

nobody understands it
or nobody wants it
or someone is already selling the same thing… just better marketed

Not because they’re “smarter.”
Because they were willing to get punched in the face by reality
while you were “getting ready”.

Stop “finishing the product.”
Start finishing your excuses.

🥫 No Artificial Flavour tip:

- talk to 20 people in your ICP this week
- sell a promise before you show a feature
- use a simple page, a Google Doc, a call
- get 3–5 people to pay for the imperfect version

If you can’t sell the promise,
no one will magically “discover” your perfect product later.

Life’s too short to ship v3 to 0 users.
Sell the croissant BEFORE you bake it. 🥐

Follow Riley me for more content about SaaS, Startups and food!

I tell my clients to “shadow their customers”…
and maybe I wasn’t clear enough.

You want to validate your idea?
Go talk to your ideal customer.
But not your shadow, ok?
(Not your dev friend. Not your ex-boss.)

🎯 Talk to someone who can actually pay for the problem.

Follow Riley the Amazigh** (Startup) Advisor
For more content about SaaS, Startup and food

“Be brutally honest. What did I do well? Where did I suck?”
What I asked ChatGPT at the end of the year. My mentors and clients agreed !

In 2025, I plugged it into every corner of my business:
→ Offers
→ Sales calls
→ Client wins
→ Content drafts
→ Marketing data
→ Even my own thoughts

So Dec 31 I asked it to summarize me.
It answered in one word: Catalyst.

I dived deeper to get the full retrospective

This carousel is the blunt feedback I got from ChatGPT.
No fluff. Pure butter 🥐🟧

Have you done your retrospective?

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The Battle

Alexander Theuma

Riley Ghiles I.

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taplio

The Battle

Alexander Theuma

Riley Ghiles I.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Alexander Theuma's LinkedIn Performance

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