How and when to acquire SaaS users
themvpsprint.com
How and when to acquire SaaS users
1–10 of 101 posts
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#2Cool article, love the insight into the thought process and best of luck.
But that name HelloHailey seems like literally an insane choice. I would never use it. As far as I know I’m the target market so may want to look at changing it if others agree!
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#3Cool article, love the insight into the thought process and best of luck. But that name HelloHailey seems like literally an insane choice. I would never use it. As far as I know I’m the target market so may want to look at changing it if others agree!
Thank you! Definitely interested in hearing others' thoughts on the name as well.
Here was my thinking: As a solo, bootstrapped founder, I think people are interested in the person behind the product, at least at first.
I've been using my personal story and the process of building in public to grow an email list and waitlist. The HelloHailey name gives me an opportunity to re-enforce that personal story in the product messaging.
That being said, I'm not ruling out a name change when it comes time for an official launch.
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#4Cool article, love the insight into the thought process and best of luck. But that name HelloHailey seems like literally an insane choice. I would never use it. As far as I know I’m the target market so may want to look at changing it if others agree!
Thank you! Definitely interested in hearing others' thoughts on the name as well. Here was my thinking: As a solo, bootstrapped founder, I think people are interested in the person behind the product, at least at first. I've been using my personal story and the process of building in public to grow an email list and waitlist. The HelloHailey name gives me an opportunity to re-enforce that personal story in the produc…
Sounds like you need to “kill your darling” as it were. The number of people who you will reach if you scale is exponentially more than those who have already connected with your story.
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#5Good on you for breaking out of a cycle that wasn't working. I think you're really speaking to something that's becoming increasingly true - distribution is at least as important as, if not more important than, products themselves. We've moved past "if you build it they will come" to something more akin to "if enough people are already coming to you, you can build something, and they'll try it."
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#6Good on you for breaking out of a cycle that wasn't working. I think you're really speaking to something that's becoming increasingly true - distribution is at least as important as, if not more important than, products themselves. We've moved past "if you build it they will come" to something more akin to "if enough people are already coming to you, you can build something, and they'll try it."
Agreed! I think this is becoming even more important as the barriers to building software products shrink.
Every day, there are dozens of products being launched on ProductHunt - many of them without code.
The "easy" distribution channels are being flooded.
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#7Well written blog post! A few observations from an outsiders perspective:
* One interesting thing I have noticed from being on HN is that lots of start-ups that focus on the tech industry / IT / helping developers. I think it makes sense to pick a niche you understand, but possibly not if it is a 'niche' which is filled with developers.
* Workplace collaboration in a 'knowledge work' environment = red ocean. Application of workplace collaboration tools to new/unexplored industry segments I suspect has lots of blue ocean areas however. I think you have picked something in the red ocean.
* As a small note, you started with a solution (always on video room, inspired by a twitter post) and worked backwards to a problem to solve (teammates not being fully engaged). The usual process would be to start with a problem and then work out how you are going to solve it. I know it sounds like semantics, but there are lots of potential solutions to "teammates feel disconnected" and an always on video room is just one of them! (e.g. coffee roulette, remote pizza parties).
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#8Well written blog post! A few observations from an outsiders perspective: * One interesting thing I have noticed from being on HN is that lots of start-ups that focus on the tech industry / IT / helping developers. I think it makes sense to pick a niche you understand, but possibly not if it is a 'niche' which is filled with developers. * Workplace collaboration in a 'knowledge work' environment = red ocean. Applicat…
Thanks for the thoughts!
I agree on your first point. This is the easier niche for me right now, but probably not the best niche.
I 100% agree with your second point too. My first step was supposed to be "Choose a problem" (https://www.themvpsprint.com/p/choose-a-problem). But I can spot the flaws in how I presented this - it looks like I was starting with a potential solution someone asked about on Twitter.
That being said, the solution I'll be building is actually quite different from an "always on zoom room" - more focused on teams that operate largely asynchronously.
I'll be formalizing and sharing my product vision over the next week or two :)
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#9Sorry to nitpick, but some of your examples illustrate that they certainly had an MVP and THEN did the distribution. How could hotmail perform distribution without first having an MVP?
I agree with the premise of validation, then building. While this is a good rule of thumb, it's not always possible. I like the focus and thinking behind getting users. It can't be "built it and they will come". Having a good, sound plan and sticking with it is the key.
Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users
#10Great post mate.
I followed a similar pattern and created https://sayoname.com, an app for remotely located workers so they can record names and call each other directly from the browser. A tool so people can easily find how to say someone's name, sneak on what someone does in the company etc.
I almost got a big school hooked up to start paying subscription (it is an international school) but they decided on creating their own solution due to privacy concerns. Extremely disappointing and lowers morale straight away.
I have few hundred profiles but the growth is stale atm. I don't really have time to actively look for new users and would love a co-founder as what they say on y-combinator it is REALLY a lot easier if you have someone you can share thought and can both motivate each other. So my advice is add a step and get a co-founder.