Connex CEO Joseph Anderson talks about how Launchpad cuts down on precious developer time and speeds up innovation through AI.
As founders, we all know the grind of building software the traditional way. Hiring full stack developers, managing endless lines of code, troubleshooting late-night issues—it’s expensive, slow, and often pulls us away from what matters most: our customers.
That’s why I loved sitting down with Joseph Anderson, CEO and Founder of Connex. His story is a reminder of what perseverance, customer focus, and founder grit can achieve—and how shifting the way we build can unlock a whole new chapter of growth.
Joseph Anderson, CEO, Connex
From solopreneur to $20M SaaS company
Joseph started Connex the way many of us did—bootstrapped, scrappy, and obsessed with solving a painful problem for customers. Manual data entry was breaking businesses, so he built Connex to automate it.
No outside funding. Just a desk he assembled backwards, a black corded phone, and the relentless drive to solve problems for his customers.
I had no venture capital, no funding of any kind. Just grit and determination. Over 10 years, that turned into $20 million in sales.
-Joseph Anderson, CEO, Connex
Today, Connex delivers critical ecommerce and accounting automation for thousands of businesses, helping them eliminate inefficiencies and scale.
The cost of full stack development
But success came at a cost.
Connex’s core product ballooned to millions of lines of code. Maintaining it required a full stack team, six-month development cycles, and $250K–$300K a year in engineering spend.
“We were spending about a quarter million to $300,000 a year on development. It was our number one expense.”
Every tweak—like connecting a dropdown to a database—meant hours of developer time. Bigger initiatives, like building an analytics tool, could cost $150K and take more than a year.
The result? Too much energy spent on low-level coding and not enough on customer outcomes and growth opportunities.
Why Connex is expanding with Launchpad
Joseph knew his customers needed more. Order management. Inventory workflows. AI-driven insights. But building these with traditional methods wasn’t practical—it was too risky, too expensive, and too slow.
That’s where Launchpad came in.
With Launchpad, I created a product in about a month that would’ve taken six months to a year with a full stack team.
-Joseph Anderson, CEO, Connex
Instead of getting buried in infrastructure, Connex can now:
- Experiment quickly: Build, test, and roll back changes with a click
- Deliver faster: Spin up UIs in hours, not weeks
- Empower the team: Let non-technical staff make customer-facing tweaks
- Leverage AI: Use AI to generate formulas and accelerate development
“I thought it was cool—I could tell Launchpad what I wanted, and it wrote the formulas for me. It saved me days of work.”
What this means for SaaS founders
Joseph’s journey is inspiring. He built Connex into a trusted SaaS provider for ecommerce accounting automation—and instead of slowing down, he’s reinventing how Connex expands into new markets.
He’s showing what’s possible when founders embrace platforms that take away the heavy lifting of software development and let us focus on innovation, customers, and outcomes.
If I were starting a company today, I’d use a system like Launchpad first. It lets you try many ideas, see what sticks, and only double down once you know you’re onto something.
-Joseph Anderson, CEO, Connex
Closing thought
Connex has already proven its model. Now, with Launchpad, Joseph is building the next generation of products faster, cheaper, and with less risk than ever before—while staying true to what’s always made Connex successful: listening to customers and solving their most critical problems.
That’s a story every SaaS founder can learn from.
Looking to start a new chapter in your SaaS story? Sign up for Launchpad Explore and design a prototype for your future app in a matter of minutes.