Practical Pivot and Relaunch Created Profitable 200% Growth

In this episode, Greg Head talks with Natalie Barbu, CEO and co-founder of Rella, an all-in-one project management tool for social media teams. After Rella 1.0 failed to gain traction, Natalie and her three co-founders had just $25K left and were preparing to shut down. Then a viral video, a sharper focus, and smarter pricing turned everything around. Within a year of relaunching, they hit $2M ARR with a four-person team—a true practical founder success story.

Key Takeaways
Charge Early: They learned the hard way that free users don’t convert — monetization early was non-negotiable.
Lean Teams Win: A small, focused team aligned tightly with mission beats trying to scale prematurely.
Community Is Fuel: Natalie shared behind-the-scenes of the product with early users — built trust + word-of-mouth.
Pivot Smart: They went from creator workflow tools to a full SaaS platform once they validated demand.

This episode is perfect for:
SaaS founders pivoting after a stalled product
Founders learning how to find product-market fit
Teams deciding when to hire or stay lean
Builders designing tools for marketing and content teams

⏱️ Chapters:
0:00 – Intro and Welcome
1:45 – What Rella Does Today
6:05 – From Creator to Software Founder
9:50 – The Near Shutdown and Pivot
12:40 – Viral Video That Saved Rella
17:15 – Lessons from Rella 1.0’s Failure
22:30 – Focusing on Paying Customers
26:05 – Building for Agencies, Not Creators
31:00 – Launching Ella, the AI Strategist
36:40 – Lean Team and Smart Hiring
42:55 – Founder Advice: Listen to Users

🔗 Links
Natalie Barbu on LinkedIn -   / nataliebarbu  
Rella on LinkedIn -   / rellasocial  
Rella website - https://getrella.com/
Use this 10% Discount Code for Rella - practical

About Practical Founders and Greg Head

Practical Founders build valuable software companies without big VC funding. This growing community of practical founders are winning the startup game with successful exits of $20 million to $100 million for founders, if they ever choose to sell. There has never been a better time to be a practical founder.

Greg Head is the founder in chief of Practical Founders. He is a 30-year software industry veteran who was part of the startup-to-scale journeys of three different CRM software companies, including one IPO. He is now an active advisor, community builder, and speaker who helps founders of SaaS software startups worldwide.

Greg is a paid strategic advisor to 40 early-stage SaaS company CEOs with his Practical Founders Peer Groups and his 1-1 CEO advisory programs. He hosts the weekly Practical Founders Podcast where he interviews successful founders who grew valuable software companies without big funding.

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