SaaS That Sells Itself: Growth Without Ads or Cold Outreach
September 2, 2025
Tom Hunt has built and failed his way through 17 startups, but each time, he’s gotten smarter about what not to build. In this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications, the founder of Fame joins Aaron Marchbanks and Justin Edwards to share insights on his product-led philosophy, how smart product design can replace ad spend, cold emails, and bloated sales teams, along with his internal flywheel for sustainable agency growth, why he prioritizes retention over acquisition, and what he’s learned about client fit, team loyalty, and long-term brand trust.
This podcast is brought to you by Delta Systems, your one-stop shop for front-end, back-end, and full-stack software development. At Delta, Justin and Aaron share the same philosophy when it comes to clients: they treat people like colleagues, not just customers. Maybe that’s why Delta typically spends years working with the same companies: how many software engineering firms can you say that about? So, if you’ve got a SaaS project in mind but have no idea where to start, come and get a free scope and estimate from Delta Systems on their website.
Got a burning idea for an episode, or a SaaS question you absolutely must know the answer to? Leave us a voice memo at SaasThatApp
In this episode, we chat about B2B SaaS growth, product-led growth, viral loops, customer retention & scaling startups without paid ads.
Tom Hunt has built and failed his way through 17 startups, but each time, he’s gotten smarter about what not to build. In this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications, the founder of Fame joins Aaron Marchbanks and Justin Edwards to share insights on his product-led philosophy, how smart product design can replace ad spend, cold emails, and bloated sales teams, along with his internal flywheel for sustainable agency growth, why he prioritizes retention over acquisition, and what he’s learned about client fit, team loyalty, and long-term brand trust.
What You’ll Learn:
- What product-led growth looks like in real SaaS tools and how to design for it
- Why outbound and ads are “leaking energy” from your system
- How to build viral loops into your product, without being annoying
- What the Fame Flywheel is and why it works
- How Fame qualifies ideal customers (and when they fire them)
- Why employee retention fuels customer retention
- Why content marketing and podcasts pay off, but only if you play the long game
Tom Hunt is the founder and CEO of Fame, a fully-remote podcast marketing agency helping B2B brands create and scale shows that drive real business value. With 17 startup attempts under his belt and a deep background in content marketing, Tom has built Fame around a product-led philosophy: software and services that market themselves. He also hosts Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur and is a strong advocate for building brands through trust, retention, and insanely good content.
This podcast is brought to you by Delta Systems, your one-stop shop for front-end, back-end, and full-stack software development. At Delta, Justin and Aaron share the same philosophy when it comes to clients: they treat people like colleagues, not just customers. Maybe that’s why Delta typically spends years working with the same companies: how many software engineering firms can you say that about? So, if you’ve got a big SaaS project in mind but have no idea where to start, come and get a free scope and estimate from Delta Systems on their website.
Got a burning idea for an episode, or a SaaS question you absolutely must know the answer to? Leave us a voice memo at SaasThatApp
Highlights:
- [00:00] Introduction
- [01:15] From Chemistry to SaaS
- [04:52] Building a Global Remote Team
- [06:46] Product-Led Growth vs Paid Ads
- [10:16] Tom’s Non-Negotiable for SaaS Products
- [13:40] Inside the Fame Flywheel
- [18:37] Why Referrals Beat Acquisition
- [22:10] Firing Clients to Protect Culture
- [30:40] The ROI of Podcasting
- [33:46] Lessons in Values-Based Leadership
Episode Resources:
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