Building a successful SaaS is no easy feat—especially without outside funding. But Youssef El Kaddioui, CEO of Scalelist, has done just that. With a background in sales, agency leadership, and startup acceleration, Youssef took Scalelist from an idea to a thriving SaaS platform with 7,000 users, all while running an agency on the side.
In this interview, Youssef shares how he leveraged YouTube as a primary growth channel, the challenges of balancing bootstrapping with scaling, and his approach to finding product-market fit. Whether you’re a SaaS founder, sales leader, or growth strategist, his insights on lean operations, user acquisition, and retention will provide actionable takeaways to fuel your own journey.
Interview with Youssef El Kaddioui, CEO of Scalelist
Who are you? Please tell us a bit about your personal journey.
My name is Youssef, and my friends call me Youss. Although autocorrect loves to call me “yourself.” I’m an agency founder turned SaaS founder who’s always been in sales (from my first jobs in sales at Google and Amazon in Europe to working with a Hong Kong-based Startup Accelerator to then founding an outbound agency in Hong Kong and Singapore).
What is your SaaS and its mission?
The mission of Scalelist is to make it easy for any salesperson to map out all the individuals and companies who would be interested in the product/service they sell.
Salespeople now use Scalelist to map their total addressable market (in non-sales terms, this is basically all potential prospects a salesperson should engage with) and monitor any movement in this market—i.e., new leads coming in or leads going out.
For instance, Scalelist is used by salespeople to extract LinkedIn Sales Navigator lead searches and individual leads into a centralized dashboard. Users can combine multiple exports to create larger prospecting lists and, if needed, find work emails and mobile numbers for these leads. They can be notified as soon as someone changes role, company, location, and other signals.
Are you able to share some success metrics? (non-confidential ones)
We’ve currently got 7,000 users who are using our Chrome Extension and a 4.9-star rating. Financials are kept confidential 🙂
How big is your team? What are your hiring and management recommendations? Do you have specific challenges?
We’re super lean:
- 3 full-time employees
- 2 contractors (for video content)
- 2 agencies (for SEO and Ads)
When we hire people, we look for:
- Cultural fit
- Expertise in what we hire for
- Someone who can teach us something
Lately, we started asking about their prompt engineering expertise. We want to work with individuals who understand the value of leverage that AI provides.
How was the process of finding product-market fit? Did you need pivots?
While we have a MoM growth rate of 17.6%, we’re not entirely at product-market fit and are still working towards it.
Initially, we focused on solving the pain point of extracting and managing leads from LinkedIn Sales Navigator. We didn’t need to pivot significantly, but we did iterate on the product based on user feedback. For example, we introduced the ability to find work emails and mobile numbers, which added significant value for our users. However, we are still exploring ways to solve recurring problems our users face, which suggests we may need to pivot slightly.
What was the main challenge you experienced along the way?
The first and main challenge was actually that we had an agency to run and no capital to sustain working full-time on the SaaS. For the first 12+ months, I was the only founder involved in growing Scalelist while at the same time being involved 95% (to not say 150%…) on the agency.
But we committed in May 2024 to both progressively transition to 100% on the SaaS, as it was picking up and requiring our attention.
It was painful, but that’s how things work when you’re bootstrapped.
What was the aha moment that made you unlock growth?
Back in November 2023, I started posting screenshare videos on YouTube to show use cases of how to export leads from Sales Navigator and find work emails. A simple but specific BOFU (Bottom of Funnel) use case I knew people were searching for on YouTube.
YouTube started picking up after a few months, and we saw a sustained increase in users from this channel. It now brings 50% of our paid users.
What are your main acquisition channels and why those?
Our main acquisition channels are:
- YouTube (50% of acquisitions): Organic videos have been highly effective in reaching our target audience of SDRs.
- SEO (15%): Drives consistent, long-term traffic.
- Chrome Web Store, Referrals, LinkedIn Posts: These channels complement our organic efforts and help us reach a broader audience.
- Google Ads: We are also starting Google Ads to further scale our paid acquisition efforts.
What are your current challenges? What keeps you awake at night?
Churn. Obviously, we want users to use our SaaS eternally and hit negative churn. But that’s a work in progress.
What do you do to remain ahead of or different from the competition?
We aim to stand out in three ways:
- 5-star customer support. People choose us over competitors for how well we engage with them. Kudos to my co-founder Arnaud for this.
- We still have the agency, which is run by our MD and serves as the perfect testing ground for what we do. This allows us to iterate really quickly.
- We focus 20% of our time on learning and applying new things. Keeping our head (or forehead) above water.
What advice do you have for other SaaS leaders to grow their platform?
I think YouTube is an incredibly underrated channel for growth. It is organic, it shows up on Google searches and even ChatGPT, and it has long-term visibility.
But because the barrier to entry is perceivably high (we often think we need to have the perfect setup, be good on camera, have the perfect accent, etc.), many founders avoid it.
Starting from scratch is painful, but once you do, you build yourself a competitive edge. It’s easier (and more fun!) than it seems.
Key Lessons from Youssef El Kaddioui
Youssef El Kaddioui’s journey with Scalelist offers valuable insights for SaaS founders, sales leaders, and bootstrapped entrepreneurs. Here are the top takeaways from our conversation:
Bootstrapping & Growth Strategies
- Balancing an agency and a SaaS is tough – Youssef managed both for over a year before transitioning full-time to Scalelist.
- YouTube is a powerful acquisition channel – Organic screenshare videos helped drive 50% of Scalelist’s paid users.
- SEO, referrals, and LinkedIn posts complement organic efforts, while Google Ads is being tested for additional scale.
Finding Product-Market Fit & Iteration
- Scalelist started with a narrow focus on extracting and managing LinkedIn Sales Navigator leads.
- Listening to user feedback led to adding features like finding work emails and mobile numbers, increasing product value.
- A 17.6% MoM growth rate is promising, but the team is still working toward full product-market fit.
Team & Hiring Philosophy
- The team remains lean, with 3 full-time employees, 2 contractors, and 2 agencies handling SEO and ads.
- Key hiring factors: Cultural fit, expertise, and ability to teach something new.
- Prompt engineering skills are now valued, as leveraging AI is a competitive advantage.
Challenges & Competitive Edge
- Churn is the biggest challenge – The team is focused on improving retention and reducing user drop-off.
- Customer support is a major differentiator – Scalelist’s 5-star support keeps users engaged.
- Their agency serves as a testing ground – Allowing the team to iterate quickly and refine the product.
Advice for SaaS Founders
- YouTube is an underrated growth channel – It ranks on Google, builds authority, and provides long-term visibility.
- Start before you feel ready – The perceived barriers (setup, speaking skills, etc.) shouldn’t stop you from leveraging video content for growth.
Whether you’re launching a SaaS or looking for ways to scale without outside funding, Youssef’s experience proves that lean strategies, content marketing, and user-driven iteration can fuel sustainable growth.
Why Bootstrapping & YouTube Growth Matter for SaaS Founders
Bootstrapping a startup while achieving sustainable growth is a challenge many founders face. Without venture capital, every decision—from product development to marketing—must be lean, strategic, and ROI-driven. This is why Youssef El Kaddioui’s journey with Scalelist is so relevant.
His success highlights two critical trends:
- The power of organic growth channels – Traditional paid acquisition is expensive and often unsustainable for bootstrapped startups. Youssef’s use of YouTube as a primary growth engine proves that valuable, educational content can drive consistent, high-intent traffic—without burning cash.
- The importance of continuous iteration – Product-market fit isn’t a one-time achievement but an ongoing process. Scalelist’s ability to pivot based on user feedback ensures they remain relevant and valuable to their audience.
For SaaS founders, this interview reinforces a crucial takeaway: resource constraints don’t have to limit growth. With strategic content marketing, customer-focused iteration, and a lean but skilled team, it’s possible to scale efficiently—even without outside funding.
A huge thank you to Youssef El Kaddioui for sharing his insights on bootstrapping, SaaS growth, and the power of YouTube as an acquisition channel. His journey with Scalelist is proof that with the right strategies, founders can scale effectively—even without outside funding.
Now, we’d love to hear from you! What part of Youssef’s story resonated with you the most? Drop your thoughts in the comments, follow Youssef on LinkedIn for more insights, or check out Scalelist’s YouTube channel to see his growth strategies in action.
If you enjoyed this interview, don’t forget to share it with fellow SaaS founders and entrepreneurs who might find these insights valuable.
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