Paula Panagouleas Miller of Karmascore: 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Successful App or SaaS
Be cautious of scope creep during the development process.
As part of my series about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Successful App or SaaS”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Paula Panagouleas Miller.
Paula Panagouleas Miller is the CEO for Karmascore and a book author. She has many years of experience working in corporate finance at Fortune 500 companies. She has also founded several businesses.
Paula graduated from The University of Dayton on the Dean’s List with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration with a double major in Finance and International Business. She received her Master of Business Administration from Tiffin University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. She later earned a Master of Liberal Arts with a concentration in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University.
Paula spends her free time raising her beautiful daughter Amelia “Mia” with her loving and supportive husband Dr. Jason Miller
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I worked in corporate finance for a decade in addition to running my own small businesses. As the daughter of an immigrant, I saw the hard work and dedication that my parents put into everything. I remember when I was 5 years old my father bought a shirt that said, “Harvard” and said this is where I want you to go to school. My dad always made me think I could do anything. After I graduated from Harvard, I decided I wanted to do something that would have a positive impact on the world.
What was the “Aha Moment” that led you to think of the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?
I was on a walk with my husband talking about the events of the day. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned to him that a friend of mine was going through a bad break up. Given the financial and emotional costs of the breakup, I couldn’t help but think that there may have been red flags that could have alerted her to get out of the relationship sooner. I realized it would be beneficial if there was an app that would allow people to monitor the health of their interpersonal relationships, and with that, the idea for Karmascore was born.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
As the pandemic worsened there were increasing delays with the development of the app. Our team really felt this app could help people and that was the inspiration to keep going. I have received several message speaking to how Karmascore has helped people.
So, how are things going today? How did your grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?
Thankfully, we have launched on both the Google Play Store and Apple IOS Store. We were able to work through the disruptions created by COVID-19, which caused many development delays. We used that time to collect feedback on the idea, and we are so glad we are available for download today!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
When thinking of names for the company, Favors with Friends was a top contender. As you can imagine, I’m glad we opted for Karmascore. I understand that a rose would still smell the same if it was called a different name, but proper branding is important.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
We are unique in that we are the first app to allow users to create memories to document the quality of their interpersonal interactions and quantify these interactions to create an overall rating indicating the health of the relationship.
I personally use the app to document all the adorable things my daughter does. It allows me to have the memory, but not overshare online. If something is really adorable, I can share using Karmascore.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Find what you are passionate about. When you believe in what you are doing, work doesn’t feel like, well, work.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Absolutely, my husband. Without his love and support I would not be able to do Karmascore. He has been an absolutely amazing partner, from cooking incredible meals to helping watch Mia if I had a meeting. Also, my father, a hardworking immigrant showed me what work ethic and determination can do.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. Approximately how many users or subscribers does your app or software currently have? Can you share with our readers three of the main steps you’ve taken to build such a large community?
While we can’t reveal specific figures, our user count increases daily. In building our community we have focused on organic growth, primarily through word-of-mouth endorsement from our passionate user base. The three steps we have taken to build a large user base are (1) being authentic in our purpose to help people maintain healthy relationships, (2) leveraging user feedback, and (3) continually improving our outreach efforts.
What is your monetization model? How do you monetize your community of users? Have you considered other monetization options? Why did you not use those?
We use advertising for users opting for the free version of Karmascore, and have a paid subscription option that allows users to monitor a larger number of relationships.
Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to create a very successful app or a SaaS? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Development takes time.
- Get feedback from users early and often.
- Persistence.
- Building a network of supporter who see your vision.
- Be cautious of scope creep during the development process.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Making sure that everyone has happy fulfilled relationships.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
We are on all the social medias, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
Instagram: www.instagram.com/karmascore/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/karmascore/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Karmascoreapp/
Twitter: twitter.com/karmascoreapp
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@karmascore
Snapchat: www.snapchat.com/add/karmascore
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/Karmascoreapp/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
