Episode 538 Neeto With Neeraj Singh

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Show Summary

The provided text is an excerpt from The SDM Show, a podcast hosted by Rob Cairns, featuring an interview with Neeraj Singh about his company, Neeto, and its suite of business productivity tools. Singh explains the origins and motivations behind creating Neeto Cal, a Calendly competitor, and Neeto Record, a Loom alternative, highlighting their focus on user needs and affordability. The discussion touches upon the features, pricing models (including a unique free tier for Neeto Cal), and the future roadmap for these and other upcoming Neeto products like a CRM and invoicing system. Singh emphasizes Neeto’s approach of offering a comprehensive ecosystem of tools while prioritizing user-friendliness and value over extensive marketing spending.

Show Notes

Host: Rob Cairns

Guest: Neeraj, Founder of Neeto

Episode Summary:

Rob Cairns chats with Neeraj, the founder of Neeto, about the inspiration behind their suite of productivity tools. They dive deep into Neeto Cal (a Calendly alternative) and Neeto Record (a Loom alternative), discussing their origins, use cases, features, roadmap, and unique pricing philosophy. Neeraj shares how his own company’s needs sparked product development and discusses the challenges and opportunities in the crowded productivity software space.

Key Topics Discussed:

1. Introduction & Neeto’s Origin:
   1. Guest introduction: Neeraj from Neeto.
   1. Neeto operates in a crowded space of productivity tools.
   1. Driving Force: Neeto Cal was driven by personal need, while Neeto Record originated from Neeraj’s remote consulting company (BigBinary) needing a simpler, cost-effective alternative to Loom for asynchronous communication as their team grew and Loom’s costs increased. An engineer built a basic version over a weekend, which evolved into Neeto Record.
2. The Productivity & Scheduling Market:
   1. The scheduling tool space is getting crowded (e.g., Notion launching a calendar).
   1. Neeraj believes scheduling tools are crucial for knowledge workers as time is precious and will become standard in CRMs and other systems.
   1. The market is vast, especially globally (referencing India), suggesting enough room for competitors offering value, particularly at accessible price points.
   1. Productivity tools are vital for entrepreneurs and small businesses (Rob’s jewelry store client example needing scheduling).
3. Deep Dive: Neeto Record (Loom Alternative):
   1. Rob’s Use Case: Using Neeto Record for screen recordings in his new podcasting course due to its ease of use.
   1. Competing with Email: Neeraj sees Neeto Record as competing with email for clearer, more expressive communication (voice, tone, screen sharing).
   1. Customer Support: Neeto uses Neeto Record for ~80% of their customer support responses, receiving positive feedback.
   1. Client Communication: Ideal for quick “show-and-tell” videos for clients instead of long emails or screenshots.
   1. Cold Outreach: Effective for sending personalized video messages.
   1. Content Length: Emphasis on keeping videos short and concise (1-2 minutes).
   1. Platform Agnosticism: Unlike platform-specific tools (like Slack Huddle), Neeto Record generates a shareable URL that works anywhere.
   1. Meeting Users Where They Are: Importance of providing tools that work for the recipient, not just the sender.
   1. Roadmap Features:
      1. Call-to-Action (CTA): In-video email capture gate, end-of-video forms.
      1. Analytics: Tracking views, drop-off rates.
      1. Commenting Feature: (Requires consumer login, currently in development).
      1. Picture-in-Picture Options: Square format, ability to resize/move the speaker view.
      1. Potential Future Integrations: Uploading directly to YouTube/Vimeo (maybe Q3).
   1. Usage: Most users prefer the Chrome extension for cross-platform ease.
4. Deep Dive: Neeto Cal (Calendly Alternative):
   1. Rob’s Experience: Essential for managing booking requests efficiently.
   1. New Features (Just Launched):
      1. Group Scheduling: Allows setting capacity limits for events (e.g., 20 people for a yoga class).
      1. Package Deals: Sell bundles of sessions at a discount (e.g., 6 yoga classes for $500 instead of $600). * **Payment Integration:** * Currently integrated with Stripe. * Razorpay & UPI integrated for India. * PayPal integration is planned for the current quarter. 5. **Neeto’s Product Suite & Philosophy:** * **Other Products:** Neeto Form (Typeform alternative), Neeto Chat (Intercom alt.), Neeto Desk (Zendesk alt.), Neeto Play dash (testing), Neeto Invoice, Neto Planner (upcoming Asana alt.), Neeto CRM (upcoming PipeDrive/HubSpot alt.), Neeto Wireframe (upcoming Balsamiq alt.), Neeto Deploy (internal Heroku alt.). * **Simplicity Goal:** Aiming to avoid the complexity found in mature tools like HubSpot or Salesforce, though acknowledging the challenge of balancing enterprise features with SMB needs. * **Affordability:** Building tools they like but making them more affordable. 6. **Neeto’s Pricing Model:** * **No Tiering:** Generally avoids Basic/Pro/Enterprise tiers across the suite (currently). * **Neeto Cal:** Free plan includes *all* features but displays “Made with Neeto” branding. Pro plan ($) removes the branding – that’s the only difference.
   1. Neeto Record: Free plan allows 200 new videos per month, up to 15 minutes each. Pro plan ($) offers unlimited videos, up to 2 hours each.
5. Marketing Strategy:
   1. Currently spending $0 on marketing (no ads, no dedicated staff).
   1. Focusing on word-of-mouth and organic growth.
   1. Passing potential marketing spend savings to customers through lower prices and investing in building more products.

Find Out More:

• Website: neeto.com (Spelled N-E-E-T-O)

Host’s Closing Thoughts:

Rob thanks Neeraj, praising Neeto’s products for being easy to use, solid, and well-worth exploring. He encourages listeners to check them out.