Research is one of the most valuable tools for unlocking growth in SaaS, but too often, research projects fail to create impact.

In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim explore why research projects fail from the consultant’s side and the client’s side. They unpack the most common failure modes, like treating research as an end in itself, failing to get buy-in, or conducting great studies that never translate into action.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make your customer research matter, or how to keep it from collecting dust, this episode will help you turn insights into progress.

Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here.

• (00:02:40) - The difference between delivery failure and impact failure.
• (00:04:00) - Clients do not hire research for the sake of research, they hire it to achieve outcomes.
• (00:10:00) - Why project success often depends on who hires you within a company and their level of influence.
• (00:18:20) - The consultant’s job as educator and guide, not just researcher.
• (00:22:40) - How to get buy-in for research work and why buy-in must extend beyond your main project contact.
• (00:26:10) - How to involve clients in interviews without biasing results.
• (00:32:45) - Why watching recordings isn't enough and how live debriefs after calls are where the magic happens.
• (00:39:30) - The client perspective and building internal research and insights habits.
• (00:49:00) - Known knowns, known unknowns, unknown unknowns and why good research reveals both.
• (00:53:00) - Thinking like a journalist to gather insights without resources.
• (00:55:00) - When should you do research? Anytime you face a high-impact decision.

Pricing is one of the most powerful yet least understood growth levers in SaaS. Most founders either ignore it for years or treat it like a guessing game.

In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim share their guide to pricing for busy founders. They cover the three phases of pricing, how to tell if it’s time to revisit your pricing, and how to run data-driven pricing experiments without wasting months or hiring a six-figure consultant.

If you’ve ever felt unsure about what to charge, how to test new prices, or when to hire expert help, this episode breaks it all down step by step.

Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here.

Links:

• DemandMaven
• The Motivation Code Assessment
• Irrational Labs Guide to Willingness to Pay
• Street Pricing by Marcos Rivera
• Pace Pricing

• (00:00:35) - Catching up on hobbies, motivation, and the “Motivation Code” assessment
• (00:13:50) - The Busy Founder’s Guide to Pricing
• (00:15:20) - The three phases of pricing maturity
• (00:18:30) - When and how to move from guessing to testing
• (00:21:40) - Pricing that drives net revenue retention and expansion
• (00:25:00) - Real examples: Intercom and Zendesk pricing overhauls
• (00:28:00) - Why pricing can be a hidden growth bottleneck
• (00:31:00) - Signs your pricing is broken and how to identify them
• (00:34:50) - The process for pricing research once you identify that pricing could be a problem
• (00:37:30) - Step 1: Pricing interviews and qualitative insights
• (00:39:00) - Step 2: Willingness-to-pay surveys and Van Westendorp questions
• (00:48:25) - Step 3: Product analytics and finding signal in usage data
• (00:53:00) - Turning insights into pricing hypotheses and running pricing experiments the right way
• (00:57:30) - DIY vs. hiring a pricing consultant
• (01:08:15) - Who should own pricing internally and how often to revisit it
• (01:17:10) - Closing thoughts: pricing as the easiest lever most founders ignore

Early-stage founders often claim they’ve reached product market fit, but when you look closer, it’s usually built on vibes, not data.

In this episode of In Demand, Asia and Kim unpack what real product market fit looks like, how to measure it quantitatively, and why most early-stage SaaS companies are too quick to assume they’ve found it.

If you’ve ever wondered how to know when you’ve actually hit product market fit, or if you might be fooling yourself, this episode gives you the frameworks and numbers to tell the difference.

Got a question you’d like Asia to unpack on the podcast? Record a voicemail here.

Links:

• DemandMaven
• Previous In Demand Episodes that discuss NRR: episode 46 and episode 37
• Superhuman Product Market Fit Survey
• ProfitWell
• Chart Mogul

• (00:02:20) - What is product market fit, and how was it historically measured?
• (00:07:00) - The product market fit survey and its limitations.
• (00:11:30) - Gross customer retention (GCR) as an underrated metric for measuring product market fit.
• (00:16:00) - Net Revenue Retention (NRR) as a deeper sign of product-market alignment.
• (00:20:10) - How GCR and NRR tell different parts of the story.
• (00:26:05) - Secondary indicators: churn rate, close rate, and trial-to-paid conversions.
• (00:28:05) - Why cohorting/segmenting reveals where PMF actually exists.
• (00:34:50) - You might have PMF for one segment but not another.
• (00:36:45) - The cautionary tale of assuming PMF too soon and how DemandMaven sets expectations with new clients.
• (00:44:30) - The reality check: if you’ve never charged customers, you don’t have PMF.