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Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?

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Re: Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?

#11

Post by odie88 »

mtlynch wrote: post #8

Fellow aspiring solo founder here! Here are a few books/resources I've found helpful: --- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick This book stresses the idea of starting with customer interviews before you build anything and how to ask questions of prospective customers to get meaningful information when people's bias is to just tell you, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," even though they'd never pay money for it. I spen…

Seconding The Mom Test. It's a fast read too, and the author was on a recent episode of the Indie Hackers podcast.

For more of the same, I got a lot out of Lean Customer Development by Cindy Alvarez. Here's a talk from Cindy if you'd like to get to learn more before committing to a book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5hc7sseHbE

Re: Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?

#13

Post by eropple »

jimmyvalmer wrote: post #12

With a mere 40-hour work week, you want more free time? We're clearly dealing with a serious customer. If more free time is your goal, starting your own business is the one thing you should not do.

It depends on what your business is. I know multiple folks who are comfortable with an $80K/year net business who work maybe twenty hours a week.

With managed expectations it's very doable.

Re: Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?

#14

Post by Dockson »

jimmyvalmer wrote: post #12

With a mere 40-hour work week, you want more free time? We're clearly dealing with a serious customer. If more free time is your goal, starting your own business is the one thing you should not do.

I do indeed have high aspirations for my life. Given my career of choice and what I've read so far regarding other people's experience starting a SaaS, I definitely feel it can be a viable way of achieving those aspirations.

Re: Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?

#15

Post by Dockson »

victor9000 wrote: post #10

Having done this a few times, the biggest advise I can give is that time is your most valuable resource. So look to maximize this resource with each decision you make. For example, in buy vs build situations you should err on the side of buy. You can find affordable services that will handle close to 100% of your generic SaaS needs. So don't reinvent the wheel, and go with as much off-the-shelf as possible.

Absolutely! This is something I've seen many people emphasize so it is something I will keep in mind for every decision I make.

Re: Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?

#16

Post by aloukissas »

mtlynch wrote: post #8

Fellow aspiring solo founder here! Here are a few books/resources I've found helpful: --- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick This book stresses the idea of starting with customer interviews before you build anything and how to ask questions of prospective customers to get meaningful information when people's bias is to just tell you, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," even though they'd never pay money for it. I spen…

++++ on The Mom Test. The #1 book any founder (solo or otherwise) should read before starting anything.

Re: Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?

#17

Post by Dockson »

mtlynch wrote: post #8

Fellow aspiring solo founder here! Here are a few books/resources I've found helpful: --- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick This book stresses the idea of starting with customer interviews before you build anything and how to ask questions of prospective customers to get meaningful information when people's bias is to just tell you, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," even though they'd never pay money for it. I spen…

Thank you! I've seen that youtube video previously and it was exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. I will put "The Mom Test" at the top of my list as I've seen many recommendations of it elsewhere too.
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