Incoherent notes on vertical SaaS growth - Lessons from FleetPanda

Vertical SaaS has been a sleepy part of the SaaS town for far too long. There have been some breakthrough success (Veeva, ServiceTitan, Procore, Toast, and a few more). However, it always had an intrigue. The intrigue of unknown challenging terrain that would tantalize my explorer mind a lot.

Post ZIRP, the mindless valuations went down the drain and value-based SaaS was at the center-stage again. That is when I decided to join FleetPanda — a vertical SaaS solution, built for petroleum distributors in the US to track and manage their dispatch operations.

The Case for Vertical SaaS: Lessons from FleetPanda’s Playbook

Vertical SaaS isn’t just software—it’s a lifeline tailored to industries that with complex, specific needs. Unlike horizontal SaaS that tries to do it all for everyone, vertical SaaS is designed to be the perfect fit for an industry’s workflow. 

That deep integration? It’s what transforms software from a “nice-to-have” to an essential part of the business.

Why Vertical SaaS Keeps Customers Hooked

Capital Efficiency Done Right: Vertical SaaS has an advantage that’s often overlooked: capital efficiency. By focusing on a specific audience, we at FleetPanda could develop products that were lean, precise, and directly impactful. We didn’t have to blow through budgets to reach our market. Every marketing dollar we spent was targeted, every demo was relevant. Compare that to horizontal SaaS, where the approach is more scattergun than sniper. Vertical SaaS is about smarter growth, not just more spending.

Domain Knowledge Matters: Here’s something I’ll say loud and clear: knowing your audience inside out is a non-negotiable. FleetPanda was FuelPanda before — a fuel distributor. Even the first few design-partners were some of the biggest fuel distributors. That industry insight made all the difference. They knew we got it. And that understanding builds a trust that generic, broad-scope software can’t touch.

The goal isn’t just to make software that clients use; it’s to make software they can’t imagine working without. We did that by staying tuned into their needs, showing up at industry events, and actually listening to what they told us. The result? Clients who don’t just see us as a vendor but as part of their team.

A More Efficient GTM Playbook: At FleetPanda, we learned early on that to win in vertical SaaS, your go-to-market strategy has to be razor-focused and deeply personal. It’s not about shouting into the void; it’s about speaking directly to the people who live and breathe in your industry. 

For us, that meant getting into the weeds with petroleum distributors—showing up at their conferences, understanding their pain points from tank monitoring to dispatch, and building trust as more than just another tech vendor.

Here’s where the magic lies: targeted marketing. 

At FleetPanda, we learned early that trying to be everything to everyone was a fast track to nowhere. We had to be deliberate, precise, and embedded in our approach. So, we ditched the generic playbook. No shotgun-style advertising. Instead, we zeroed in on where our audience really lived: the trusted industry newsletters they actually read, niche forums where fleet managers swap stories late into the night, and partner events that feel more like family reunions than conferences.

We didn’t just show up and toss around brochures. We brought value. Our webinars were co-branded with industry stalwarts, tackling real challenges like multi-stop delivery logistics and fuel price fluctuations. These weren’t sales pitches disguised as webinars; they were genuine deep-dives into the gritty realities of running a fuel operation. And when we dropped customer stories, they weren’t your cookie-cutter “how-to” guides. They were filled with stories of real companies and real people, who leveled up their entire dispatch system using FleetPanda’s tech. People saw themselves in those stories, and that’s where the connection started.

Content wasn’t an afterthought; it was everything. We spoke their language fluently—“LCR meters,” “bobtail routes,” the stuff that only insiders know. We didn’t need to spend the first half of a conversation proving we understood their world. Our marketing did that for us. Whether it was a targeted email series or a white paper, it screamed, These guys get it.

The first webinar I did with a partner, in the first quarter I joined had 15 registrations and 4 people showed up. The last webinar I did this month, with the same partner, had 147 registrations and about 50 attendees.

Micro-targeting was a game-changer. We split our audience into specific sub-groups—those battling compliance issues got content focused on regulatory updates and how FleetPanda could keep them audit-proof, while others, obsessed with optimizing fuel routes, received strategies and tools tailored for efficiency. Each interaction felt personal, like we were speaking directly to the challenges on their whiteboards.

And here’s the thing: this wasn’t just cost-effective. It was relational. When you’re a trusted presence in the spaces your clients value, you’re not just selling software. You’re building partnerships. You’re becoming part of their ecosystem. At FleetPanda, that approach didn’t just open doors—it kept them wide open, building long-term relationships that started with trust and ended in shared success.

Sales at FleetPanda

But good marketing is only one side of the coin. The other is sales—Sales at FleetPanda isn’t a game of cold calls and generic demos. It is personal. Our sales reps became consultants, building relationships that went beyond just selling software. We offered value from the get-go, sharing insights we learned from working with their peers, creating an instant credibility loop. This meant shorter sales cycles and faster decision-making.

We didn’t stop once the deal was closed. We aligned our roadmap with what they needed next—things we knew from being immersed in their daily challenges. They saw us not just as a provider but as a partner, which meant fewer cancellations and a whole lot of word-of-mouth referrals.

Veeva may have shown the SaaS world how to carve out a niche in life sciences, embedding themselves so deeply that leaving wasn’t an option. At FleetPanda, we did the same in our corner of the world. We didn’t just sell software; we became essential, keeping our GTM playbook focused, intimate, and relentlessly relevant. And that’s the kind of edge that makes vertical SaaS unbeatable.

FleetPanda’s success isn’t just built on code—it’s built on relationships. 

Our partnership with customers. Our partnerships with leading fuel distributors, who know their challenges better than anyone, were pivotal. We worked side-by-side with them, learning about everything from the headaches of multi-stop scheduling to how slight delays snowballed into bigger issues. And it wasn’t just talk; their insights shaped the FleetPanda platform. 

We tailored our dispatch system to solve these specific pain points, building features that streamlined processes and boosted their operational efficiency. The result? Our early custoemrs didn’t just adopt FleetPanda—they became advocates. That’s the power of collaboration.

Integration was another piece of the puzzle, and our partnership with iRely proved it. iRely’s back-office software was already a staple for many petroleum distributors. So, we made it our mission to ensure FleetPanda fit seamlessly with their systems. The integration we built wasn’t just a “nice-to-have”; it was a game-changer. 

Distributors could move data effortlessly between dispatch and their back office, cutting down on manual entries and reducing errors. This wasn’t just innovation for innovation’s sake. It was a targeted move that added tangible value and made our clients’ lives easier.

How Integration Becomes Essential: At FleetPanda, we’ve seen firsthand how vertical SaaS can become a game-changer. We started with one goal: to be the backbone for petroleum distributors. We didn’t just slap on a dispatch system and call it a day. We listened. We partnered with key industry players, turned their feedback into features, and ensured every update was in sync with their day-to-day operations. The result? Our software didn’t just get used; it became ingrained in how they ran their business. Just like Procore in construction or Toast in restaurants, FleetPanda became more than a tool—it became the pulse of our clients’ operations.

Loyalty Rooted in Customization: One of the biggest wins for vertical SaaS is loyalty. Once a client embeds the software into their process, the idea of switching becomes daunting. We saw this play out when a key client, Moffitt Services, started using FleetPanda. Our platform wasn’t just a tool for dispatching—it managed their fleet logistics, integrated billing, and became a key piece of their operational puzzle. And with every update that added more industry-specific capabilities, their reliance on us only deepened. That’s where loyalty lives: in the details that make your software indispensable.

Parting Thoughts

Vertical SaaS isn’t just about creating software; it’s about forging partnerships and co-developing solutions that become the backbone of our clients’ day-to-day operations. 

It’s not about being everything to everyone—it’s about being everything to someone. It’s about integrating so seamlessly into an industry that switching isn’t just inconvenient; it’s unimaginable. FleetPanda didn’t just break into the market; we became a cornerstone of it. And that’s what makes vertical SaaS more than just software; it makes it a partner in progress.