SAAS Operators Podcast E13: Richpanel Refused Over $10,000,000
In this episode of the SAAS Operators Podcast, we sat down with Amit RG, the founder of Richpanel, to unpack how he built a profitable, efficient SaaS business serving e-commerce brands. Amit shares why he turned down Y Combinator and a Series A after raising and the choice to stay lean. We talk about why advertising hasn't worked for Richpanel, and how their $2K Automation Success Kit drives adoption, and why 40% of their customers sign multi-year contracts without being pushed. Amit opened up about the tension between being seen as the “affordable” option and building a premium product, and how brand perception plays into defensibility. The episode ends with a candid discussion on churn, customer success at scale, and whether we’re all thinking too small in the age of AI.
How RichPanel Built a Profitable SaaS Without Burning Cash
In this episode, we sat down with Amit RG, founder of RichPanel, to talk about how he built a lean, profitable SaaS business serving e-commerce brands, without overrelying on venture funding, gimmicks, or growth hacks.
What started as a simple customer support tool turned into a category-defining platform for automating tickets, boosting revenue per support agent, and proving that great software doesn’t need bloated teams or massive burn to scale.
Profit-First, But Not Anti-Funding
Amit took a seed round from Sequoia but turned down Y Combinator and a follow-on Series A.
Why?
Because RichPanel didn’t need the cash. Revenue came in early, and the company became profitable in year one. Instead of chasing headcount or top-line numbers, Amit focused on delivering value and staying capital efficient.
That tension between building a high-margin business and being pushed to “think bigger” came up a lot. But for Amit, scale has to be earned, not bought. If he couldn’t profitably spend the first $2 million on growth, why raise $10 million more?
The Paid Ads Trap
Unlike most SaaS companies, paid ads weren’t a growth lever for RichPanel.
The problem?
Customer support is a broad category. And when 10,000 people Google "help desk software," only a fraction are e-comm brands the core audience RichPanel serves. High CAC, low precision.
Instead, Amit's team doubled down on high-touch onboarding and a product-led GTM. One offer, the $2K “Automation Success Kit”, turns cold leads into high-retention accounts by setting everything up before they even go live. It’s break-even financially but pays dividends in long-term stickiness.
40% Annual, By Default
Most SaaS companies beg customers to go annual. RichPanel gets it without pushing. 40% of their customers are on annual or multi-year contracts, many without ever being asked.
The secret?
High trust and high stakes. If you’re replacing a core workflow, people want to commit.
Even better: RichPanel offers a quiet 60-day opt-out on annuals. It’s not in the contract, but if a brand is unhappy, they shake hands and refund. That customer-first posture isn’t just feel-good fluff, it builds the kind of goodwill that converts tire-kickers into loyal users months later.
Don't Be the “Cheap Alternative”
One thing that stuck out: Amit doesn’t love that RichPanel is often seen as a cheaper Zendesk. “We’re not cheap,” he said. “We’re just priced fairly. Everyone else is overcharging.”
It’s a tension a lot of us feel, pricing low to compete while still building a high-quality product. But the long game is brand, not discounting. You want to be known for delivering results, not saving dollars. Because someone else can always come along and be even cheaper.
Staying Sticky with Fewer Features
The thing your customer finds you for is the thing they’ll love you for most. You can pile on features, but if you kill the original reason they came, they’ll churn. So keep improving, but never forget the core use case.
And churn? Most of it comes down to usage. RichPanel’s power users don’t churn. It’s the ones who never fully onboard that leave. Same across our businesses. If a customer isn’t logging in, they’re not sticking around. The challenge is scale, how do you re-engage 1,000 low-usage accounts without hopping on 1,000 calls?
No one has a perfect answer, but AI might help. Or it might just be another distraction from the real work, building great software that solves real problems.
AI, Ambition, and the “Are We Thinking Too Small?” Moment
Amit asked something near the end that stuck with me: Are we thinking too small with AI? If you can automate customer success with LLMs, why is that an internal tool and not a billion-dollar company?
It’s a good question. But we landed in a place that felt grounded. Most of us are building for impact, not just scale. Big ideas are great, but they need to fit your context. Otherwise, they just become a reason to feel like you’re not doing enough.
Sometimes building a profitable SaaS company with a small team, loyal customers, and steady growth is the boldest move of all.
