Tell us about yourself
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I鈥檓 Furkat Kasimov, and it鈥檚 an honour to judge the 2025 91探花 SaaS 66. I鈥檝e spent 20+ years building and scaling software, including two large SaaS platforms鈥攁 data management product and a digital marketplace鈥攅ngineered to process billions of transactions annually. I鈥檝e led lean squads and larger, multi-disciplinary teams, working across the full lifecycle from discovery and architecture to GTM and scale-up.
As an angel investor in several SaaS companies鈥攕ome later becoming unicorns鈥擨鈥檝e seen the patterns behind durable growth as well as the pitfalls that stall it. I鈥檓 here to evaluate rigorously and spot the next breakout team.
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Tell us about your company
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I won鈥檛 pitch my companies. Instead, I鈥檒l point founders to my book, Don鈥檛 Do This: A Guide to Business Survival, which distils lessons from real mistakes鈥攎ine and others鈥�. Entrepreneurship is high-variance; even 鈥渇ailed鈥� attempts compound learning. If that perspective helps you avoid a costly error or reach product-market fit faster, it鈥檚 done its job. More at .
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What advice do you have for companies entering the SaaS60 2025?
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Anticipate change, don鈥檛 react to it. Build AI-native capabilities where they create clear customer value, not just headlines. Prioritise sustainable unit economics over vanity growth; embed customer success into product, pricing, and onboarding.
Consider a vertical or micro-SaaS focus where expertise and workflow depth win. Keep pricing flexible鈥攗sage- or outcome-based where appropriate鈥攁nd make expansion easy with clear upgrade paths. Finally, design for security, compliance, and data stewardship from day one.
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How do you suggest entrants should stand out from the crowd?
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Show proof, not promises. Bring concise case studies with quantified outcomes鈥攃ost saved, revenue lifted, cycle time reduced, risk mitigated. Highlight time-to-value, adoption/retention (NRR), and payback period. Demonstrate implementation simplicity (APIs, integrations), reliability at scale, and a thoughtful security posture. Let customers speak: short quotes, logos (if allowed), and before/after numbers beat glossy decks every time.
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Any final thoughts?
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Ask yourself: are you solving the problem in the best way it can be solved today鈥攁nd will that still be true in three years? Show your path from great product to great business, and make the evidence impossible to ignore.
