The Brutal Truth About Being a Startup CEO with Steve Benson
June 24, 2025
Building a successful SaaS company requires deep market understanding, relentless focus, and the willingness to sacrifice traditional work-life balance in pursuit of sustainable growth.
In this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications, Aaron Marchbanks is joined by Steve Benson, Founder and CEO of Badger Maps, to navigate his journey of bootstrapping a successful B2B mapping solution for field sales teams.
Building a successful SaaS company requires deep market understanding, relentless focus, and the willingness to sacrifice traditional work-life balance in pursuit of sustainable growth.
In this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications, Aaron Marchbanks is joined by Steve Benson, Founder and CEO of Badger Maps, to navigate his journey bootstrapping a successful B2B mapping solution for field sales teams.
In this episode of SaaS That App: Building B2B Web Applications, Aaron Marchbanks is joined by Steve Benson, Founder and CEO of Badger Maps, to navigate his journey bootstrapping a successful B2B mapping solution for field sales teams.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to validate product ideas by securing customer commitments before building features
- Why focusing on early-stage hires is crucial for long-term success in bootstrapped companies
- Why global talent acquisition is essential for competing with tech giants
- The framework for deciding when to spin off features into separate products versus keeping them integrated
- How to build resilient technology solutions when dependent on third-party platforms like Google Maps
Steve Benson is the Founder and CEO of Badger Maps, a pioneering platform that helps outside sales teams optimize their routes and increase productivity. With a vast background in sales leadership at companies like Google, IBM, and HP, Steve has spent over a decade developing software solutions that address real-world challenges faced by field sales professionals. Under his leadership, Badger Maps has grown to 92 employees and expanded its offerings to include Badger Sales University and Grid Squid.
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Highlights:
- [00:00] Introduction
- [01:32] From Sales to SaaS
- [02:55] Where the Idea for Badger Maps Came From
- [06:06] MVP to Must-Have
- [08:35] Lassoing Ideas from Users
- [13:33] Building on Google’s Backbone
- [15:39] The Hardest Part of Staying Relevant
- [21:11] The Global Talent Advantage
- [27:26] When to Spin Out a Product vs. Build Features
- [38:02] Brutally Honest Advice for Founders