He demoted his SaaS to sell a service and 4x'd revenue in 12 months

Respona co-founder Farzad Rashidi details how transitioning from a pure SaaS model to a "service-as-software" approach enabled his company to break a multi-year growth plateau and quadruple revenue in one year. By shifting focus from selling a DIY tool to delivering specific outcomes—specifically brand visibility in AI-generated answers—the company successfully aligned its business model with customer needs. This strategy involves reverse-engineering AI citation patterns and leveraging economies of scale to secure high-quality publisher relationships, which are then automated through a productized service layer. Rather than relying solely on traditional SEO, this approach prioritizes "AI visibility" by ensuring brands appear in the sources LLMs cite. This model transforms the business from a standard software provider into a scalable service-as-software firm, demonstrating that services can be productized to drive significant growth.