PODCAST OUTLINE: "Sustainable SaaS" Solo Episode (45 min)

SEGMENT 1: COLD OPEN (0–2 min)
Hook: "I spent $180K building a SaaS nobody wanted to pay for. Here's what I should have known at day one."
Narrative seed: Quick 30-second personal failure story (builds credibility through vulnerability)
Transition to topic: "This episode is about how to avoid my mistakes"

SEGMENT 2: THE SETUP (2–8 min)
Three sustainability myths debunked
• Myth 1: "You need venture funding to grow" (False: sustainable bootstraps can scale slower but survive downturns)
• Myth 2: "SaaS only works at scale" (False: $50K/year recurring SaaS is sustainable, profitable)
• Myth 3: "Retention fixes everything" (Half-true: retention matters but only if LTV > CAC by 3x minimum)
Beat: Ask audience a question (poll via social after episode)

SEGMENT 3: FRAMEWORK (8–25 min)
Three levers to sustainability
Lever 1: Unit economics (math section, 5 min) — CAC payback window, why <12 months matters
Lever 2: Customer concentration risk (4 min) — No single customer > 10% ARR; why this matters
Lever 3: Runway math (3 min) — Burn rate vs growth rate crossover point
Transition: "Now let me show you how one founder got this right..."

SEGMENT 4: CASE STUDY (25–38 min)
Founded $2M/year SaaS on $30K bootstrap
Growth path: 0 → $600K ARR in 18 months (2% net monthly growth, conservative)
Key decision: Rejected $5M funding to stay independent (audience hears why)
Cost structure: 60% COGS, 30% people, 10% everything else
Beat: What they said no to (feature creep, hiring fast, expansion verticals)

SEGMENT 5: CLOSING (38–45 min)
Three actionable takeaways (numbered, sticky)
1. Calculate your CAC payback window before hiring salespeople
2. Keep customer concentration under 10% to stay resilient
3. Build for 24-month runway, not venture pace
Call to action: "Email me one SaaS you think is sustainable" (engagement, email capture)
Outro music: 30-second outro bed, thank sponsors/producers