For many SaaS founders, the key to success lies in building a product. But for Muntasir Rashid, Moin Uddin, and Mohiuddin Sarker Siam, the secret wasn’t just in the building — it was in listening.
This trio, working remotely from their homes in Bangladesh, developed Contentpace, an SEO content analysis software that eventually led to a 6-figure acquisition after just three years. But the road to success wasn’t just about coding and features — it was about truly understanding what their users needed.
How It all started
In 2020, during the pandemic, the founders set out to help content marketers figure out what makes search-optimized content successful and which keywords drive the most traffic. They launched their MVP (Minimum Viable Product), initially called Postpace, and then did something many startups overlook — they listened.
Every week, they collected hundreds of pieces of feedback from their users. But instead of simply acting on every suggestion, they dug deeper to uncover the real pain points behind those requests.
“It’s easy to get caught up building random features,” Rashid explained. “But we focused on identifying the actual problems behind user suggestions and then designing solutions that worked for everyone.”
For example, in the early days, many users requested a feature to analyze competitor headlines. But after some digging, Rashid and his team realized the true need was for content marketers to better structure their own content using inspiration from top-ranking articles. And from that insight, they created one of their most popular features: the content brief builder, which helped users outline their content based on research of highly-ranked competitors.
“Everyone loved it,” Rashid recalled. This feature helped them stand out in the crowded SEO software market and was a key factor in finding product-market fit.
Building a global SaaS
Rashid and Uddin’s entrepreneurial journey began long before Contentpace. The two met in 2008 through a mutual friend while studying at different universities in Dhaka. Rashid’s interest in SEO and digital marketing and Uddin’s passion for programming naturally brought them together.
Before Contentpace, they had their share of failures. One of their early products, a video editing software, didn’t take off — partly because they didn’t yet understand how to build a startup, and because services like PayPal weren’t available in Bangladesh at the time.
But in 2016, things took a positive turn when they won a French Tech Ticket, a grant from the French government designed to bring innovation to the country. This opportunity allowed them to spend a year in a French tech incubator, where they launched Hektor Technology, a Shopify app development agency. Several products from Hektor were eventually acquired.
Growing Contentpace by building in public
Fast forward to 2020, when the team returned to Bangladesh and started working on their SEO content analysis software during the pandemic. This time, they decided to do things differently. They embraced the concept of building in public, sharing their journey and lessons learned openly on platforms like Facebook and Product Hunt.
They posted regular updates, sharing everything from milestones to failures, and built a small but engaged following (1,500 followers by April 2024). Rashid even shared key insights on their revenue growth — $146,000 in the first 188 days as a bootstrapped business, and $255,000 after the first year, with over 2,100 customers.
Part of their strategy was to launch repeatedly — more than 50 times, according to Rashid. Each launch helped them refine their product, attract new users, and build momentum.
“There’s this misconception that you can only launch once,” Rashid wrote on Product Hunt. “But you don’t need to be a genius growth hacker. Just keep doing, keep telling. Document your failures and wins, and people will follow.”
The road to acquisition
In 2022, the founders returned to Paris, earning a spot in the prestigious Station F tech incubator. While there, they rebranded from Postpace to Contentpace after realizing the name was already trademarked in Europe.
By then, the company had hit $1.5 million in lifetime revenue and was serving over 4,000 teams worldwide. They even earned runner-up in HackerNoon’s “Startup of the Year” competition.
However, as AI began to rapidly disrupt the content marketing space, Rashid and his team decided it was time to sell. “My goal was to help users create the best SEO content for their target keywords. But as AI grew, I felt less inspired,” Rashid admitted.
In 2023, they listed Contentpace on Acquire.com, an online marketplace for acquisitions. Within days, they had multiple inquiries, and by June 2023, they closed the deal with Content at Scale, an AI-powered SEO tool that shared a similar vision but had more resources to take the product to the next level. Here’s what they shared on X:
What’s next for the founders?
After the acquisition, Rashid and his team didn’t slow down. They transitioned to the AI space, launching Wit Works, an AI product studio, along with AI tools Promptmatic and Liveware AI.
“I believe AI is the new electricity,” Rashid said. “It’s not here to replace us but to make us better at what we do.”
Conclusion
The story of Contentpace isn’t just about building a software product — it’s about listening to users, digging deep into their needs, and building features that solve real problems. By sharing their journey openly and repeatedly launching, the founders not only grew a successful SaaS but also created a community around their product.
