SAAS Operators Podcast E08: Can money make you happy? ft. Cory Gill
In this episode of the SAAS Operators Podcast, the boys are joined by Cory Gill, founder of Alia. After a brief discussion on the pursuit of money and happiness and the stigma around being successful financially, they dive into the impact of fees on developer ecosystems. They talk about the long-term effects of market pressures and how to navigate cost pressures and efficiencies. The episode ends with a discussion about attribution challenges in customer acquisition and the importance of customer feedback.
From Banking to Bootstrapping: Why Profit Still Matters
This episode of the SAAS Operators features Cory, the founder of Alia, a bootstrapped ecom tool that went from 20 clients to 1,100 in under 2 years.
No outside capital.
No hype machine.
Just speed, clarity, and timing.
We covered a lot. Cory’s jump from banking to ecommerce. The grind of getting traction. And a deeper discussion on what actually drives founders.
Money, freedom, or something else entirely.
The Founder's Paradox
Founders like Cory (and frankly, most of us on the call) aren’t just chasing money.
We’re chasing motion.
Problem-solving.
Meaningful problems.
That itch doesn’t go away just because your bank account has more commas.
Cory said it best, “If we sold the company tomorrow, we wouldn’t know what to do next except build again.” That mindset is addicting.
The moment you unplug from building, you realize you don’t want the hammock, you want the next mountain.
Rishabh touched on another good point, “There’s a limit to how much time your family wants to spend with you too.”
Money gives you freedom. But freedom to do what? Sit around? Garden? That’s fine for a bit. But builders build.
Why Profit Isn’t a Dirty Word
We talked a lot about money.
Not just getting it, but what it represents. Zach argued that the pursuit of money is totally rational because everything has a price. And if you’re not paying in cash, you’re probably paying in time or stress or power games.
Rishabh, who’s been on both sides, from getting his PhD to Morgan Stanley to founder said it bluntly, “If you take money out of the system, you don’t get utopia. You get power. And that’s worse.”
Profit aligns incentives. It gives you signal. It keeps people honest. You can lie with politics and title and fake metrics. But you can’t lie about whether someone will pay you again.
So no, profit isn't evil. It’s proof.
Distribution Isn't Free
Jeremiah told a great story about building WooCommerce plugins back in the day, products used by thousands, with revenue that couldn’t pay rent. It died because there wasn’t enough financial incentive to keep building.
That’s what makes Shopify interesting.
They’ve created an ecosystem where developers can make real money. But that balance is fragile.
Cory admitted: the 15% Shopify fee made them consider moving platforms. But rebuilding for Salesforce or BigCommerce isn’t trivial. It’s not just dev work.
It’s go-to-market, attribution, onboarding, it’s a second company. So you weigh the cost. Sometimes, you just raise prices and keep going.
The platform tax becomes a margin tax. And if you’re not lean, it kills you.
The Channel that Still Works
You’d think with all this talk of paid growth and partner programs, the answer would be some complex ad arbitrage machine.
But Cory’s growth?
Mostly inbound. Mostly word of mouth. Mostly partnerships.
Zach swears by SEO, but not in the usual way. Not skyscraper content. Just small, specific posts about real features solving real problems.
Like, “how to customize a Shopify popup button” kind of content.
Low-volume keywords. High intent. Durable traffic. Written by the founder. That first blog post he wrote three years ago? Still bringing in more customers than anything else.
Final Thought: Optimizing for Density
Zach dropped a line that stuck with me, “Optimize for density.” Not hours. Not surface area. Density. High-output moments, high-quality interactions, high-leverage work. That's the game.
Everything else, money, growth, reputation, opportunity, flows from that.
So build fast. Talk straight. Charge money. And remember, the market is watching.
