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Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

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Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#71

Post by zippergz »

jasonswett wrote: post #24

I'll add something I wish I had realized several years ago: build a SaaS is not the only path to a product business, and for a solo founder, it's (in my opinion) probably not a very good path. I spent 5 years trying to get a micro ISV off the ground which made scheduling software for hair salons. It was a terrible idea for a large number of reasons (described in detail here: https://www.jasonswett.net/im-shutting-dow…

Thanks for this. It's some really good insight for me. I've had a few ideas bouncing around in my head for SaaS products to serve a few different small business niches where the existing software sucks badly. I think all of those markets would have similar difficulties to the ones you found in salons. On the one hand, it's really frustrating to know that I can build a product which would make peoples' lives and businesses better, but that I'm unlikely to be able to make it financially viable. But on the other hand, I'm grateful to realize this before pouring months or years of my life into it.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#72

Post by 6DM »

cschmidt wrote: post #23

You might be interested in http://www.microconf.com/ I went to the conferences when I was a one man startup, and it was helpful.

Generally conferences are expensive for someone paying on their own dime. Do they have prices listed anywhere? It looks interesting.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#73

Post by 20years »

xsegfault wrote: post #69
20years wrote: post #65

Yes, it is absolutely possible. I have been doing this for years focusing on niche SaaS products that are too small for VC funded or big companies to go after. I am currently bringing in $20k/mo from my SaaS stuff (3 different niche products) and additional revenue on top of that with adsense/affiliate stuff. I ran an advertising agency with employees at one point and grew it to $50k/mo but hated it so stopped and we…

Have you sold any of your businesses before? If so, how did you seek out businesses to buy yours?

I haven't but am considering selling one of the products next year. I plan to go through a Broker.

I had a soft offer in the $3 mil range from a big company for that real estate product I mentioned. They reached out to me. I pretty much blew it off because it was in a growth phase and I felt I could grow it more. 6 months later, the real estate market crashed and that product lost 50% of its revenue within a year. In hindsight, I wish I took that offer a little more serious.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#74

Post by msbroadf »

Yes its definitely viable. I started my micro ISV 6 years ago, its been quite successful about $200k/yr. Its very niche. I do no marketing but get regular sales through mainly word of mouth and internet searches. Now some bigger companies have picked up my software and use it in house and OEM it. Took a lot of work to get started and a lot of learning Its difficult for competitors to make something similar in a reasonable amount of time so its got a nice moat around it at the moment. I have no employees and almost no overheads so all revenue is profit. The most useful thing is when other companies build around your product, they provide valuable test / customer feedback which greatly reduces the work load.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#75

Post by tajen »

codazoda wrote: post #26
tajen wrote: post #8

I do. As advised by others comments, I sell a plugin on a platform that takes 20-30%. It's great because they handle the invoicing to big companies, which removes the hassle of being a referenced provider. I'm ok on the sysadmin side (backups, Ansible, etc) and uptime. I'm subpaar on the support side, because I can't develop features fast enough and I have a problems prioritizing things that my various customers need…

You might want to try something like Pivotal Tracker if you aren't already. Estimating each "task" and then prioritizing them seems to help me see how long it will actually be before I will get to a specific feature. Pivotal is pretty good at estimating your future tasks based on your past tasks.

It's not about estimates, it's that my output isn't enough to be ahead of my customers' requests, so that they wouldn't have to ask for them, or I wouldn't have to provide a workaround until I develop the specific feature.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#76

Post by cschmidt »

6DM wrote: post #72
cschmidt wrote: post #23

You might be interested in http://www.microconf.com/ I went to the conferences when I was a one man startup, and it was helpful.

Generally conferences are expensive for someone paying on their own dime. Do they have prices listed anywhere? It looks interesting.

I went in 2012, and it was $500. The tickets sell out, so just sign up for their email list.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#77

Post by joshontheweb »

nerdy wrote: post #66
joshontheweb wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Word. I started my current SaaS with the goal of working 10hrs a week and making 15k a month. I'm getting close to my monthly revenue goal but if I'm not sleeping, I'm working. I don't regret it. I'm enjoying the challenge now but it wasn't what I had thought I was getting myself into. I truly underestimated the gravity of emails and support requests. As a one man shop, it can grind entire days to a halt. Passive inf…

Have you considered the cause of the e-mails/support requests and tried to streamline your process or at least provide additional instruction in order to quell the high volume? My experience has been that support requests can be near zero if you actively work on some kind of automated solution for the highest frequency problems.

I'm trying to work towards this. There are just a ton of problems that can occur since I'm dealing with recording/uploading audio in the browser. Network dropouts, OS audio settings, varied browser capabilities / versions, microphone selection issues, limited hard disk space, browser storage quotas, etc.

My new goal is to have every single error or notification have a built-in link that takes them to a solution article. This seems to be effective so far.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#78

Post by 6DM »

cschmidt wrote: post #76
6DM wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally conferences are expensive for someone paying on their own dime. Do they have prices listed anywhere? It looks interesting.

I went in 2012, and it was $500. The tickets sell out, so just sign up for their email list.

Thanks for the info. I just figured out that you have to start "registration" to get the prices which they currently have pegged at $699 plus $59 for a significant other to tag along.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/microconf-starter-edition-2017-...

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#79

Post by seibelj »

kkoomi wrote: post #34
seibelj wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely about the recurring revenue. Make it monthly or annual with a steep discount, but auto-renew. When I make mobile apps with advertisements, removing the ads is a yearly fee, not a one-time payment. Otherwise, they get lifetime benefits which does not accurately compensate me for my time, and I need to keep making new sales in perpetuity.

This sounds great, but it doesn't seem easy to pull off. Does it sit well with them and are they willing to pay for something like this? EDIT: wording

I would rather get die-hard users who would pay yearly, than constantly have to game the rankings to be high enough to get more sales. Even if the rankings change, you can get longterm value out of those who do pay, even if annual payments make less total customers.

Re: Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?

#80

Post by joshontheweb »

Cyph0n wrote: post #68
joshontheweb wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Word. I started my current SaaS with the goal of working 10hrs a week and making 15k a month. I'm getting close to my monthly revenue goal but if I'm not sleeping, I'm working. I don't regret it. I'm enjoying the challenge now but it wasn't what I had thought I was getting myself into. I truly underestimated the gravity of emails and support requests. As a one man shop, it can grind entire days to a halt. Passive inf…

That's pretty impressive actually! Have you considering hiring one or two people (e.g., freelancers) to remotely help with support? Also, a virtual secretary would be immensely helpful I'd imagine. I have a couple of ideas I've been wanting to work on, but time is quite scarce as a grad student. I guess it's partly because I tend to overthink (and over-design) my ideas, and end up getting overwhelmed before even touc…

Thanks! I'm trying to hire right now. (web audio and/or webrtc devs call me) :)

I've thought about a virtual secretary but I'm not so sure how helpful it would be. They would need pretty specialized knowledge to be able to help much with support requests. I don't have so many meetings that I can't schedule my own.

As far as Uber for your country. Does Uber not exist where you are yet? There was another one in Malaysia called GoTaxi or GrabTaxi that I thought was interesting. It connected you with 'real' taxi drivers for a pre-arranged flat fee for the ride. One guy told me he used it just so he had a record of what taxi he was in incase he got robbed by the driver.

Edit: latent thoughts

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