Dirk Sahlmer

Acquiring SaaS companies @ saas.group | saas.wtf Newsletter

Engineer turned M&A professional. After 20+ transactions on the buy-side, I'm now helping tech founders run a structured exit process.

Posting regularly here on LI and in my saas.wtf newsletter on SaaS and  M&A topics.

Head of Origination

SaaS Company? I’ll rewrite your vague landing page into a clear, conversion-focused page in 7 business days.

There’s only one reason your page is not converting as well as it should…

Visitors only get to the “aha moment” AFTER they sign up or book a demo

They DON’T understand how your product can make or save them $$$

They DON’T understand why is 10x better than what they are using right now

They DON’T understand it’s actually super easy to get started and set up

So if all of this is unclear, why would they convert?

They won’t.

All of this needs to be clearly explained on your landing pages.

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👉 WHAT I DO:

We will rewrite your ENTIRE page from scratch into a clear, conversion-focused page.

We will do the research for you.

We will advise you on the positioning problems you’re having.

We will provide clear suggestions for the layout and images to ensure the best result.

All of this within 7 business days.

The best part? You pay per page (no-commitment).

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👉 WHY ME?

✅ Worked with 140+ SaaS companies over the last 6-7 years

✅ Only work with B2B SaaS - never changed niche

✅ High capacity - I have a team to help me fulfill the work you need

✅ Pay per page - Unlike any other agency you can test things one page at a time.

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👉 NEXT STEPS:

DM me for examples, pricing, or any other detail you’d like to know.

Or email me: pedro@cortes.design

Pedro Cortés

If you used AI to “improve your hero”…

You probably lowered your conversion rate.

Smoother copy isn’t the same as stronger positioning.

Hot take:

AI copywriting is making SaaS landing pages convert worse.

Not because AI is “bad”.

Because everyone is using it the same way.

They ask it for:

“Rewrite my hero.”

“Improve my benefits.”

“Make it more persuasive.”

So AI does what it’s best at:

It makes the copy sound smoother.

Cleaner.

More confident.

And more generic.

Which is the fastest way to look like every other SaaS tool.

Here’s the part people twist:

I do use AI for copywriting.

All the time.

But only for things AI is actually good at:

- Editing messy drafts
- Shortening headlines
- Pulling industry terms from call transcripts
- Expanding details I already know are true
- Generating variations once the direction is clear

What I never use it for:

Deciding WHAT to write.

Because AI is great at how to write.

But it has no clue what to write…

Unless you feed it the raw ingredients:

✅ your real differentiators

✅ your buyers’ objections

✅ your proof (numbers, examples, screenshots)

If your inputs are vague…

Your output will be vague.

Just with better grammar.

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Want to use AI the right way on your homepage?

Do this instead 👇

1⃣ Write a list of your top 10 objections

2⃣ Pick the 3 that stop people from signing up

3⃣ Put them in the hero + first 2 sections

4⃣ Add proof next to each one (not “trust me bro” copy)

5⃣ THEN use AI to generate variations

That’s how you get conversion lifts.

Not by “polishing” fluff.

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If you want me to rewrite your landing page copy (and tell you exactly what to say)…

💬 DM me.

This Base44 ad is AI

And it embarrasses most SaaS explainer videos.

Not because AI is “creative”.

Because it does what most teams avoid:

It picks one clear story.

And commits to it.

Most explainer videos are “well produced”…

But they’re not well decided.

They try to:

- explain everything
- please everyone
- mention every feature
- avoid being too specific

So you get 90 seconds of:

“all-in-one platform”

“built for modern teams”

“streamline your workflow”

Nice words.

Zero conviction.

This AI ad works because it’s the opposite:

- One clear promise
- One clear angle
- Tight pacing
- No filler
- It *shows* the product instead of narrating buzzwords

That’s the uncomfortable part:

AI is already better than most teams at execution.

But it’s still not better at the hard stuff:

- choosing the angle
- deciding what to cut
- saying one thing clearly
- taking a position

So if your explainer video (or landing page) underperforms…

It’s rarely a tooling problem.

It’s a clarity problem.

And AI just makes that obvious.

If you want messaging/copywriting help so your homepage hits like this…

Send me a DM.

This landing page breaks all the rules.

And it works. But ONLY for them…

Today’s teardown: PostHog 👇

If you judge this page by “conversion best practices”…

You’d say it’s bad.

The copy isn’t amazing.

The layout is chaotic.

It looks like a literal computer window. 🖥️

But here’s why it works.

PostHog sells to developers.

And developers don’t discover tools through polished marketing funnels.

They discover them in forums.

On GitHub.

Through other developers.

Word of mouth does the heavy lifting. 🔁

So the homepage doesn’t need to aggressively convert cold traffic.

It just needs to:

- Show the features fast

• Confirm it’s legit

• Not feel salesy

And that last one is everything.

Developers HATE marketing. 🚫📣

So what did they do?

They made the entire homepage look like a computer UI.

You can resize it.

Minimize it.

Click around like it’s an app.

Is it harder to read? Yes.

Would this work for 90% of SaaS? Absolutely not. ❌

But for a dev-first product with community-driven growth?

It’s smart. 🎯

Lesson:

Stop copying landing page “best practices” blindly.

The best page isn’t the prettiest.

It’s the one that matches how your buyers think. 🧠

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Know any other SaaS doing something like this?

Drop them below. I’ll review them.

—-

And if you want help rewriting your SaaS landing page to actually convert

DM me. 💬

This landing page didn’t get Lovable to $100M ARR.

And it’s going to cost VERY SOON.

Lovable grew because of virality.

Videos. Demos. Things people built.

Not because of this website.

And that’s dangerous.

Here’s what’s missing 👇

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1️⃣ The hero says “build with Lovable”.

But it doesn’t show what you can build.

Apps.

Backends.

Integrations.

Compliance.

All of that could be shown immediately.

Instead, it’s vague.

—

2️⃣ The page attracts churny users.

The positioning leans hard toward “new websites”.

That means:

Side projects.

Experiments.

Businesses that disappear.

I’d mix apps + websites + internal tools.

Higher intent. Lower churn.

—

3️⃣ Templates don’t sell the ceiling.

They’re not impressive.

They’re not aspirational.

They’re not easy to replicate.

Templates should answer one question:

“How far can I take this?”

Right now, they don’t.

—

4️⃣ There are zero concrete examples.

No users.

No numbers.

No outcomes.

Not:

“This app has 10k users.”

“This team saved $X.”

“This is used daily.”

So Lovable lets everyone else define the story.

That’s a mistake.

—-

5️⃣ Pricing looks clear — until you think.

Credits are listed.

Plans are compared.

But nothing explains:

What can I build with 100 credits?

Is 5 free credits enough to get anywhere?

Unclear pricing = comparison.

Comparison = lost conversions.

—

6️⃣ Solution pages are thin.

No real use cases.

No examples.

No “Figma → real product” stories.

For a $100M+ ARR company, this isn’t acceptable.

Why this matters:

The page didn’t slow early growth.

But it will increase churn.

And as more tools enter the market,

whoever explains capability better will win.

Even if the product is worse.

—-

Let me know what you think in the comments.

And if you want help rewriting or writing your SaaS landing page to convert better — DM me.

Most SaaS pages try to explain the product.

This page doesn’t. It sells results.

(and it does it well!)

It uses proof to compensate for everything else.

Here’s what Founderpath does insanely well 👇

1. They know their big promise.
   
  “Get capital without selling equity.”
   
  Non-dilutive capital.
   
  They say it immediately.
   
2. They put the proof in the hero.
   
  Not a fluffy quote.
   
  A founder. On camera.
   
  Saying what they raised.
   
  And you see the amount without even watching the video.
   

That’s real proof.

1. They lead with outcomes, then segment.
   
  They have 3 different products.
   
  So they segment people based on what they want.
   
  But the selling is already done by the numbers.
   

Now the only question is:

“Cool… how do I get this?”

1. They show the process (but it’s a little too clean).
   
  Application steps are good.
   
  But they oversimplify it.
   
  They should add: how long does each stage take?
   
2. They drown the page in scale.
   
  Tons and tons and tons of results.
   
  Events. Users. Activity. Momentum.
   

Because again…

They’re not selling features.

They’re selling trust.

And that’s more powerful than any “copywriting trick” you can do.

Let me know what you think about this page in the comments.

If your homepage is “taking a long time.”

You should watch out for this 👇

(Shouldn’t take more than a week!)

If it takes 3 months to redo your homepage, you lack the clarity and decisions are too slow.

Because when your positioning is clear…

A homepage should not take more than 1 week.

(Not because you rush it.

Because the decisions are already made.)

Teams treat the homepage like a blank canvas.

Infinite options.

Infinite directions.

Infinite revisions.

High-converting pages don’t come from creativity.

They come from constraints.

Here are the only 5 decisions you need to ship a strong homepage fast:

1. Who is this for? (one ICP)
2. What do they want right now? (one job)
3. Why you? (one differentiator)
4. What’s the biggest objection? (one fear)
5. What proof removes that fear? (one proof type)

If you can’t answer those…

The page will take forever.

And even worse…

You’ll finally launch it…

And it still won’t convert.

Because the problem wasn’t writing.

It was missing clarity.

DM me if your homepage has been “almost done” for weeks but still doesn’t communicate well.

I’ll help you find the one decision that unlocks the rest.

It’s 2026 and the biggest competitor for a SaaS…

It’s a spreadsheet (or manual work)

Not another SaaS.

Not “enterprise legacy tools.”

It’s crazy to think that in a world full of AI this is still the case…

A messy Google Sheet that someone is terrified to touch.

And it changes how your landing page should be written.

Because you’re not convincing buyers to “switch platforms.”

You’re convincing them to stop tolerating:

- copy/paste workflows
- human reminders
- “did you update the sheet?”
- broken handoffs
- tribal knowledge

So stop positioning like you’re fighting other companies.

Position like you’re replacing the current behavior.

Here are 5 lines that usually convert better than “all-in-one platform” fluff:

- “Stop tracking this in a spreadsheet.”
- “Replace copy/paste with one workflow.”
- “No more chasing updates.”
- “Get the report without building the sheet.”
- “One source of truth your team actually uses.”

And here’s the real unlock:

If you can’t beat spreadsheets…

Your product isn’t losing on features.

It’s losing on friction.

Onboarding takes too long.

Setup feels risky.

The “first win” takes weeks.

Spreadsheets win because they’re instant.

Your job is to make your product feel just as immediate.

If you want messaging/copywriting help that positions you against manual work (the real competitor)…

Send me a DM.

“Save time” is too vague to convert.

Steal these 7 formulas to make it tangible 👇

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Nobody buys “time savings.”

They buy a specific task getting faster.

On a specific day.

For a specific person.

If you want to sell time savings on your landing page, you need to make time visible.

Here are the formulas I use (with examples you can copy).

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1) Time saved → Specific task → Frequency

Formula: “Save [X time] on [task] every [frequency]”

Examples:

- “Save 3 hours every Monday on weekly reporting.”
- “Save 45 minutes per deal on proposal creation.”
- “Save 10 minutes per ticket on triage, every day.”

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2) Before → After (time) → Without [pain]

Formula: “Go from [before] to [after] without [pain]”

Examples:

- “Go from 2-hour month-end reconciliation to 15 minutes without spreadsheets.”
- “Go from 6-step onboarding to 2 steps without engineering help.”
- “Go from ‘follow up twice’ to ‘paid on time’ without chasing.”

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3) Time to first win → Outcome

Formula: “Get [first outcome] in [time]”

Examples:

- “Get a client-ready report in 10 minutes.”
- “Get your first automated invoice run in 30 minutes.”
- “Get an AI answer live in 1 hour.”

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4) Time reclaimed → Who gets it back

Formula: “Give [role] back [time] each [period]”

Examples:

- “Give finance back 6 hours every month-end.”
- “Give support leads back 2 hours per day on triage.”
- “Give founders back their Fridays.”

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5) Work eliminated → Not time saved

Formula: “Stop doing [work]”

Examples:

- “Stop chasing updates for weekly reporting.”
- “Stop copy/pasting data between tools.”
- “Stop rebuilding the same spreadsheet every month.”

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6) Cycle time reduced → Business result

Formula: “Shorten [cycle] from [before] to [after]”

Examples:

- “Shorten onboarding from 14 days to 2.”
- “Shorten approvals from 3 days to same-day.”
- “Shorten review cycles from 12 comments to 2.”

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7) Throughput gained → Same team size

Formula: “Do [more output] with the same team”

Examples:

- “Ship 2x more client reports with the same headcount.”
- “Handle 30% more tickets without hiring.”
- “Process 3x more invoices with the same ops team.”

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The rule

If your time-saving claim can’t answer:

Saved doing what, how often, for who, and what replaces it?

It’ll read like generic SaaS soup.

If you want messaging/copywriting help making your “save time” promise specific…

Send me a DM.

How to sell time savings

I use AI for copywriting all the time.

But NEVER to write copy for me?

AI is great at execution.

And terrible at judgment.

It can help you say it cleaner.

But it can’t decide what matters.

Here’s exactly how I use ChatGPT on SaaS landing pages:

- Double check industry terms (so I don’t sound like an outsider)
- Tighten sentences
- Shorten headlines without losing meaning
- Pull onboarding language from transcripts (the words buyers actually use)
- Expand details I already know are true
- Generate variations once the message is locked

Here’s what I *don’t* use it for:

- Choosing the angle
- Deciding the promise
- Picking the objection to lead with
- Inventing proof
- Writing “positioning”

That part is still human.

Because the highest-converting copy isn’t “well written”.

It’s super well edited.

If you want, DM me.

I’ll show you how to use AI to move faster…

without turning your homepage into generic SaaS soup.

taplio

The Battle

Dirk Sahlmer

Pedro Cortés

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The Battle

Dirk Sahlmer

Pedro Cortés

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);}Pedro Cortés's LinkedIn Performance

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