… And growth channels we relied on the most
Ibrahim Aissam · Ecourtdate
Published September 1, 2022Ibrahim Aissam, CEO and Founder of eCourtDate.com shares how he’s bootstrapping a GovTech SaaS:
- Finding and competing on public bids
- Expanding contracts and referral programs
- Pricing and features to win bids
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Ibrahim Aissam describes turning government-agency work into a GovTech SaaS product, building software around court workflows, and finding a viable service model. He covers customer support, desktop SEO, and referral constraints in a public-sector market.
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“types of similar case loads very very it's not just risk averses risk management and so they have these built in into their procurement and uh procurement procedures so it's not something that's just dependent on each individual uh County or or government customer and the other problem so to speak is uh or opportunity startups are a bad word you know when we were first doing demos”
“um they were you know they had whatever case may be um they weren't even aware but now they have a criminal record they get arrested and all over some hundred dollar traffic ticket um so secondly our payments uh feature our payments usage or use case um this is for you know sending you uh you had the court date reminder now you have a hundred dollar uh reminder or you have a message to that you have a hundred dollar”
“in Austin wanting us to you know talk to them about doing a Statewide implementation um absolutely of course there should be enough for everything uh one of the if you are going to work with government which I don't recommend uh the terms of service the jurisdiction like anything that really is related to”
“about this ticket via text message most people say no I would say no I'm not giving an officer my phone number um so that was I don't wanna I'll be disrespectful um that was not the smartest idea but now they've amended the bill and that's one of the things when you're working with government you're out you have these build tracking software that you use and they just approved it the governor just approved”
“we're not you know eight thousand dollars like it's just an option we just want another option in the drop down now sorry it's it's uh it's uh out of life or some other term like that like it's manufacturing life of software apparently is expired um so really we do see the we do see the Partnerships with case management companies as being a a nice growth Channel we are in negotiations that can't talk about it too much but we're in”
“Government Buyers High Risk and No Reward for Change - IT Jane may lose her job for choosing the wrong vendor. IT Jane won’t get promoted just because she bought better software. Cost Savings are a Deal Breaker - Administrator Bob doesn’t want to hear how much his county will save from using your product. Otherwise, he’ll lose his hard-fought budget to next year’s reallocation by the State. Start-ups Are a Bad Word - Judge Sharp shudders at the idea of an inexperienced vendor handling his Court’s docket. Localized Preferences - Procurement Suzy requires at least 5 referrals from existing customers in her state and similar in population size before she’ll even unseal your bid.”
“Top Organic SEO Positions We rank first in organic results for our target keywords based on “court reminders” . We use both short and long tail keywords to drive traffic in both research and procurement phases. We Use SEO to Educate the Market SEO RANKING NICHE KEYWORDS TECHNICAL SEO We use niche keywords with smaller volumes but higher intent buyers. We target government users such as business analysts, administrative clerks, and IT personnel. We ensure our website performance is fast, domain is authoritative, and follow technical best practices for each website page. We make all of our content accessible and original.”
“8 Items You Must Have To Dominate Keywords Fast page speed Authoritative domain Original content Accessible design Reputable backlinks Defined target keywords Enriched content Press and LinkedIn presence Tool Used”
“How We Land and Expand Low entry price points that are low risk / high reward for government buyers. Customers typically refer 2 - 3 nearby agencies. Natural contract expansion with zero churn. Expansion from Existing Customers Drives Growth REFERRAL DEALS RFP DEALS REGIONAL AND STATE Ensure responsive to all bid requirements Focus only on target market Provide documented results for comparison. Compatible with legacy systems without changes. Offer free integration support to enable automated data transfer. Provide a multi-tenant architecture to match government jurisdictional structures. Provide the same pricing and terms for each entity.”
“Sales cycles for government buyers take 6 - 12+ months. Helping customers create press releases after Go-Live builds trust faster with future customers. Starting with low price points minimizes procurement steps “red tape”. Accepting purchase orders allows customers to quickly approve new contracts (gov buyers may not have credit cards). Existing customers will naturally expand over time as they add more use cases, integrate automated data, and get more value. Pre-registering as a vendor and ensuring that all requirements are met speeds up onboarding. We require a minimum one year commitment for our subscription plans. RFPs and grant contracts can extend to 2 - 5 years. Accelerating Long Sales Cycles”
Video
How I grew my GovTech SaaS $50k to $350k - Slide Deck
Ibrahim initiated eCourtDate with the vision of making the justice system more friendly, equitable, and efficient. Leading a dedicated team of go-getters who share in his mission, he is committed to transforming the landscape of our legal processes for the better.
Adam Baker · Dealpad
Andre Cvijovic · Referrizer
Ari Salafia · Taxtaker
Armando Biondi · Breadcrumbs
Becca Kay · Dingus and Zazzy
Ben Carpel · Galleon
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20 passages
Ibrahim Aissam CEO, Founder of eCourtDate.com Founder500, Sept 2022 How I grew my GovTech SaaS $50k to $350k … And growth channels we relied on the most
Quick Intro Ibrahim Aissam Self-taught technical founder. Ran web development agency from 2009 - 2018. Specialized in compliance and GIS software for clients such as Lockheed Martin, the USAF, and the UN. Wrote first line of code for eCourtDate MVP on 08/19. Launched first automated integration on 01/20.
Over the next 20 minutes: Organic traffic I’m going to show you how I’m bootstrapping a GovTech SaaS SEARCH ENGINES PUBLIC BIDS LAND AND EXPAND Inbound Traffic Targeted landing pages Finding and competing on public bids Cust. Standards and Research support Pricing and features to win bids Lower entry prices Expanding contracts and referral programs Integrations with Legacy systems
Government Buyers High Risk and No Reward for Change - IT Jane may lose her job for choosing the wrong vendor. IT Jane won’t get promoted just because she bought better software. Cost Savings are a Deal Breaker - Administrator Bob doesn’t want to hear how much his county will save from using your product. Otherwise, he’ll lose his hard-fought budget to next year’s reallocation by the State. Start-ups Are a Bad Word - Judge Sharp shudders at the idea of an inexperienced vendor handling his Court’s docket. Localized Preferences - Procurement Suzy requires at least 5 referrals from existing customers in her state and similar in population size before she’ll even unseal your bid.
eCourtDate Revenue Growth
Usage-based Subscriptions Text messages are our primary usage-based product. One-off messages are growing at a faster rate than auto messages as we make the product more usable and capable. Probation Officers and Court Clerks are active all-day users. Over 80% of messages are automated and triggered from integrated court case data. Live in 12 states with 3 statewide integrations.
Payments Usage Courts send reminders for fines/fees that are linked to self-service payment portals. Currently, all payment portals redirect to the Court’s online payment options. Building an integrated payment gateway to support a future self-pay feature.
Top Organic SEO Positions We rank first in organic results for our target keywords based on “court reminders” . We use both short and long tail keywords to drive traffic in both research and procurement phases. We Use SEO to Educate the Market SEO RANKING NICHE KEYWORDS TECHNICAL SEO We use niche keywords with smaller volumes but higher intent buyers. We target government users such as business analysts, administrative clerks, and IT personnel. We ensure our website performance is fast, domain is authoritative, and follow technical best practices for each website page. We make all of our content accessible and original.
We Consistently Rank at Top for “Court Reminders” search term 2005, My Garage in Seattle
Top Organic Position for Target Keyword Consistently within the top three organic results in the USA
Fast Website Performance …not easy!
8 Items You Must Have To Dominate Keywords Fast page speed Authoritative domain Original content Accessible design Reputable backlinks Defined target keywords Enriched content Press and LinkedIn presence Tool Used
How We Land and Expand Low entry price points that are low risk / high reward for government buyers. Customers typically refer 2 - 3 nearby agencies. Natural contract expansion with zero churn. Expansion from Existing Customers Drives Growth REFERRAL DEALS RFP DEALS REGIONAL AND STATE Ensure responsive to all bid requirements Focus only on target market Provide documented results for comparison. Compatible with legacy systems without changes. Offer free integration support to enable automated data transfer. Provide a multi-tenant architecture to match government jurisdictional structures. Provide the same pricing and terms for each entity.
eCourtDate Revenue Growth Self-Service Plans and Trials Customers generate self-service plans compatible for their own jurisdiction. 2022
Enterprise Early You can sell $25k plans even when just starting Use upfront setup costs to recover CAC Set usage based limits (20 agencies, 250k texts)
Pricing Plans Friendly for Small Government Budgets
Sales cycles for government buyers take 6 - 12+ months. Helping customers create press releases after Go-Live builds trust faster with future customers. Starting with low price points minimizes procurement steps “red tape”. Accepting purchase orders allows customers to quickly approve new contracts (gov buyers may not have credit cards). Existing customers will naturally expand over time as they add more use cases, integrate automated data, and get more value. Pre-registering as a vendor and ensuring that all requirements are met speeds up onboarding. We require a minimum one year commitment for our subscription plans. RFPs and grant contracts can extend to 2 - 5 years. Accelerating Long Sales Cycles
Future Growth Channels Build partnerships with case management vendors. Expand relationships with statewide IT agencies. Monetize self-service and self-pay features directly to end-users. Launch automated referral program with free message credits as incentive. Expand on product features, use cases, and value for the justice system.
Over the last 20 minutes, I showed you: We’ve raised $0 from any investors and used $0 debt. How I’m bootstrapping a GovTech startup in the justice space. ZERO INVESTORS PRODUCT LED GROWTH CUSTOMER FOCUSED We’re cash flow positive and profitable. We’ve had zero negative churn and average 20% expansion with existing customers. We focus on delivering the best in-class product for our users. We monitor our message usage and delivery metrics as our primary KPIs. We are in close contact with our users to continually improve the product. We use chat and video recordings to streamline the support experience.
September 2022 Ibrahim Aissam CEO of eCourtDate.com