Podcast Summary: SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

Episode: From $5K to $10M ARR: The ArcAds Founder's Playbook

Host: Nathan Latka
Guest: Romain (Co-founder, Arkads AI)
Date: December 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Romain, the co-founder of Arkads AI, who shares the step-by-step journey of bootstrapping Arkads from $5,000 in annual revenue to $10 million ARR in just 20 months. The discussion focuses on validating the product idea, scaling growth, turning viral moments into sustainable business, leveraging AI to power customer success, and building a highly efficient, profitable SaaS business with a small team. Romain offers deep insights into product-led growth, the transition to enterprise sales, using AI tools for marketing, and shares actionable advice for other SaaS founders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Arkads Growth Timeline (00:00–06:00)

• First Dollar to $10M ARR:
  • Started January 2024, manually generating AI ads for brands, validating the market before there was even a dashboard.
  • Quote: "We just reached $10 million in annual recurring revenue. $10 million, and it's growing super fast." — Romain (01:02)
  • Early validation involved creating UGC video ads using AI, with no self-serve product.
• Virality-driven Traction:
  • Major spike when a user’s video went viral on Twitter (March 2024).
  • “We got like hundreds of sales in one single night. Someone generated a video on ArkAds, published the video on Twitter, and this video went completely viral.” — Romain (03:33)
• Growing Pains:
  • Viral demand broke the product, leading to mass refunds and a rebuild.
  • Relaunched a month later with lessons learned.

2. Overcoming Product and Growth Plateaus (05:00–07:30)

• Flatline Period:
  • Explained as a shift in focus from marketing to building sales for enterprise deals.
  • “My co-founder leads product, I lead marketing, but nobody was leading sales. When you don't do marketing, it doesn't really grow as fast.” — Romain (05:22)
• Key Takeaway: Growth requires clear focus on either marketing, sales, or product—neglecting one shows quickly.

3. Current Team and Efficiency (06:45–07:00)

• Team is just 8 people, resulting in exceptionally high revenue per employee.

4. Top Three Growth Channels (07:00–09:50)

• 1. Direct Sales for Enterprise Deals:
  • Building a small sales team targeting major brands.
  • “Now we are closing much bigger deals... these people have much higher LTV and they are much better clients.” — Romain (07:25)
• 2. Paid Ads (Product-Led):
  • Dogfooding: Using Arkads' own AI video ads to advertise the platform.
  • Immediate product learnings and feedback loop from internal use.
• 3. Influencer Marketing:
  • Started with own posts, then scaled to paid influencers and viral user-generated content.

5. Marketing & Spend — Profitable at Scale (09:51–11:30; 15:10–15:40)

• Romain declines to give specifics on ad/influencer spending, but stresses high profitability.
• Quote: "We grow 100% profitably. We have super healthy margins. We also have API costs to generate videos..." (10:43)
• Strong focus on staying profitable while scaling, regardless of growth channel.

6. Product and Tech Stack Breakdown (11:32–14:55)

• How Arkads Sits in the AI Ecosystem:
  • Integrates and builds on foundational models (OpenAI, Google, Meta, etc).
  • Adds unique, tailored models for special use cases.
  • “We’ll offer the best user interface... and build sometimes custom models that are the best in the world at what we do.” — Romain (12:34)
• Enterprise Growth & Usage-Based Upselling:
  • Largest clients are six-figure ACV, mostly use-based pricing as customers scale ad output.

7. Scaling with Small Teams — How AI Multiplies Output (15:40–19:44)

• "You're running 210 ads on Meta with an eight-person team — how?"
• Leverages internal platforms to ideate, generate, and iterate on ads at scale.
• System: Notion file for ad ideas → AI-generated video variations → rapid AB testing.

8. AI-Driven Creativity Workflow Demo (19:09–23:05)

• Real-time demo: select AI actors, upload images, and script generation.
• Can customize avatars, use product images, generate custom video ads in seconds.
• Quote: “You'll be able to select the perfect AI avatar for your use case... or even create your own..." — Romain (18:03)

9. Ad Automation, Scriptwriting, and Conversion Optimization (23:42–25:08)

• AI helps generate scripts and hooks, soon aiming for end-to-end autonomous ad testing and iteration.
• Vision: Eventually, products will describe themselves and AI will handle scripts, content, targeting, and performance iteration automatically.

10. Lessons Learned: Paid Ads and Rapid Experimentation (25:53–27:28)

• Biggest mistake: Not testing enough creative or giving ads enough time (lack of volume is limiting).
• Advice: "It's kind of like trying to learn how to swim for the first time at 40... You have to go to the pool every week... That's the same thing for paid ads." — Romain (26:36)

11. Customer Base & Metrics (27:28–27:38)

• Doubled paying user base since hitting $5M ARR, now over 6,000 paying customers.
• Some clients pay over $100,000 per year.

12. Upcoming Growth Channels and SEO Plans (28:21–29:31)

• SEO is the next big focus; Arkads has barely touched this channel.
• “We did nothing basically in terms of SEO... If you know about SEO, please reach out.” — Romain (28:44)
• Deeper push into enterprise sales expected as the biggest future lever.

13. Building Real Moats vs. Hype (30:00–32:13)

• Real Product > Loud Launches:
  • Romain’s take: loud launches don’t build sticky businesses; product excellence is what gives longevity.
  • Quote: “Making the best product is the true hack to grow your company. If I had to pick one, I’d focus on product.” — Romain (31:50)
  • Product-led growth is their top channel; virality stemmed naturally from user delight.

14. Partnership & Founder Dynamics (32:44–33:43)

• 50/50 split with co-founder Dylan; ten-year working relationship built on trust and shared learning.
• Memorable Moment: "The thing I'm most happy with is finding Dylan and working with him early on... That makes the journey 20 times better." — Romain (33:40)

15. Refusing a $150M Buyout (34:04–34:53)

• Would not sell for $150 million outright: their mission is to build foundational creative/AI tools.
• Quote: “There is nothing more exciting we could be building. So, no, we won't [sell].” — Romain (34:44)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Early Product Validation:
  "We did that for them as a service. We just wanted to validate the idea..." — Romain (01:55)

• On Viral Growth:
  "I was scrolling in the Slack channel... hundreds of sales in one night. Someone generated a video, posted on Twitter, and this video went completely viral." — Romain (03:33)

• On Product Breaking Under Demand:
  "I looked at the complaints, and actually the product was completely broken. So nothing was working anymore. We had to refund everyone and rebuild a significant part..." — Romain (04:23)

• On Being Profitable:
  "We grew 100% profitably. We have super healthy margins." — Romain (10:43)

• On Creating Ads with AI:
  "You type a script, select an actor... you'll be able to select the perfect AI avatar... or even create your own and go here and type a description." — Romain (18:03)

• Advice to Founders on Paid Ads:
  "People will put $100 and say it's not working... That's not how it works. You need to be iterating until you find what's ticking." — Romain (26:36)

• On Moats vs. Hype:
  "Making the best product is the true hack to grow your company... I will focus on product." — Romain (31:50)

• On Co-founder Dynamics:
  "The thing I'm most happy with is finding Dylan and working with him early on... That makes the journey 20 times better." — Romain (33:40)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• $10M ARR Announcement & Validation: 00:00–02:54
• Viral User Post Changes Trajectory: 02:54–04:18
• Product Break & Rebuild: 04:18–04:59
• Flatline Period from Lost Focus: 05:15–06:49
• Current Team Size & Efficiency: 06:49–07:00
• Top Growth Channels Deep Dive: 07:00–09:51
• Profitable Growth Philosophy: 09:51–11:30, 15:10–15:40
• How Arkads Uses Foundational AI Models: 11:32–14:55
• Ads & AI Workflow Demo: 15:40–23:32
• Scriptwriting & Content Creation with AI: 23:42–25:08
• Lessons: Paid Ads, Testing, and Iteration: 25:53–27:06
• 6,000 Paying Customers Update: 27:28–27:38
• SEO & Future Growth Focus: 28:21–29:31
• Building Moats vs. Hype Launches: 30:00–32:44
• Co-founder Dynamic / 50-50 Split: 32:44–33:43
• Refusing a $150M Buyout: 34:04–34:53

Conclusion

Romain’s story is a blueprint for high-velocity SaaS growth powered by AI, viral moments, and relentless product focus. Arkads AI scaled rapidly with a lean team by obsessively iterating on product, leveraging AI for both marketing and delivery, and focusing on both SMB self-serve and enterprise expansion. The conversation blends practical growth tactics with insights on building company moats, efficiency, and founder relationships. For SaaS founders and operators, this is a must-listen (or must-read) playbook for scaling with capital efficiency and real customer value.

Find Romain on X (Twitter) for more on their journey and insights.