Amir Salihefendić returned to the SaaStanak stage this year—and it was a right call to bring him back.
After his standout talk in 2024, it was clear that Amir’s story deeply resonated with SaaStanak’s community, especially among bootstrapped and early-stage founders. His ability to build a globally respected SaaS company like Doist—with no outside funding, no office, and a culture built around asynchronous work—makes him one of the most inspiring examples of what’s possible in SaaS today.
This year, Amir unpacked nearly 20 years of lessons into a fast-paced, heartfelt keynote titled “$0 to $10M+ ARR: Lessons Learned Scaling a SaaS Business.” And as he warned up front, it was raw, honest, and maybe a little chaotic—but packed with insight.
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A Life Without a “Real Job”
Amir kicked off with a simple but powerful line: he’s never had a traditional job. From the start, he’s been building, experimenting, and running his own companies—most notably Doist, the team behind Todoist and Twist. And he’s done it all without VC backing.
Doist recently passed $20M ARR, all while staying true to their values: remote-first, asynchronous-first, and fully bootstrapped. That alone would be impressive. But Amir’s transparency about the journey is what truly made his talk stand out.
Building Around First Principles
What makes Doist different? According to Amir, it’s their focus on first principles thinking. Instead of copying what others are doing, the company questions assumptions and rethinks processes from the ground up.
They went remote-first from day one—not because it was trendy, but because Amir was living in Chile and couldn’t hire locally. That necessity turned into one of Doist’s biggest strengths, with a globally distributed team and a strong, written communication culture.
Asynchronous Work Is Not Just a Buzzword
Amir emphasized that async work isn’t just a productivity hack—it’s a philosophy. It demands clarity, documentation, and a deep trust in your team. It also filters out a lot of unnecessary meetings and noise.
He shared that building a company on async foundations forced the team to think deliberately, write better, and build systems that scale—something many fast-growing SaaS startups struggle with.
Bootstrapping With Intention
Bootstrapping is often painted as a struggle, but Amir sees it differently. For him, it’s about freedom—freedom from chasing short-term growth, from investor pressures, and from building features just to raise the next round.
Instead, Doist invests in long-term thinking. They build for sustainability, not hype. And it shows in their calm growth and strong user base.
Hiring Globally, Managing Lightly
Without a centralized office, Doist built a hiring and management culture that rewards independence and alignment over control. Amir talked about trusting people to do deep, focused work and designing systems that don’t require constant supervision.
It was refreshing to hear how a team can scale while staying lean, and without micromanagement or hierarchical bloat.
Chaos, Realness, and Takeaways
Amir ended his session acknowledging the chaos in trying to fit 20 years of experience into a 30-minute slot. But that chaos was part of the charm. It felt real. It felt like sitting down with a founder who’s been through the trenches and wanted to give you the good, the bad, and the true.
He didn’t just share wins—he shared mistakes, mindset shifts, and personal reflections that every bootstrapped founder could relate to.
We’re incredibly grateful Amir joined us again. His presence reminds us why we do this—to create space for stories that don’t always get the spotlight, but absolutely deserve it.
To all the builders out there grinding away without funding, building on belief, and trusting your own compass—Amir’s story is a reminder: it can be done. And done well.
See you at SaaStanak 2026 – May 25-27th 2026. Secure your tickets at the absolutely lowest price with the Super early bird discount here.
