Furkat Kasimov, SaaS66 Judge, Tells Us What He Wants To See From Entrants

Tell us about yourself

I’m Furkat Kasimov, and it’s an honour to judge the 2025 TechRound SaaS 66. I’ve spent 20+ years building and scaling software, including two large SaaS platforms—a data management product and a digital marketplace—engineered to process billions of transactions annually. I’ve 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—some later becoming unicorns—I’ve seen the patterns behind durable growth as well as the pitfalls that stall it. I’m here to evaluate rigorously and spot the next breakout team.

Tell us about your company

I won’t pitch my companies. Instead, I’ll point founders to my book, Don’t Do This: A Guide to Business Survival, which distils lessons from real mistakes—mine and others’. Entrepreneurship is high-variance; even “failed” attempts compound learning. If that perspective helps you avoid a costly error or reach product-market fit faster, it’s done its job. More at dontdothis.ai.

What advice do you have for companies entering the SaaS60 2025?

Anticipate change, don’t 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—usage- or outcome-based where appropriate—and make expansion easy with clear upgrade paths. Finally, design for security, compliance, and data stewardship from day one.

How do you suggest entrants should stand out from the crowd?

Show proof, not promises. Bring concise case studies with quantified outcomes—cost 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.

Any final thoughts?

Ask yourself: are you solving the problem in the best way it can be solved today—and will that still be true in three years? Show your path from great product to great business, and make the evidence impossible to ignore.