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How and when to acquire SaaS users

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Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#61

Post by satvikpendem »

dvt wrote: post #36

> Distribution before product I don't like this new startup trend[1][2], nor do I think it actually works. Literally all of those examples are the opposite of what the blog post is claiming. They did have a product: Hotmail had the service built out, Eventbrite had the service built out, and there was a Dropbox before you could refer your friends to it. There are examples of what the author is claiming, but most are…

Funny you mention Dropbox because they did exactly what you say not to do, provide a video demo that doesn't actually work, it just looks like it's working [0]. Their Show HN thread has more details [1].

In general though, you definitely should work on figuring out if customers want your product without building it if at all possible, and most times it is possible. I run a SaaS that's a project management tool (todo list + calendar, basically, at https://getartemis.app) and the main page is simply a video demo that I made with Figma and an animation tool called Principle. People signed up and it works great for showing users what they'd be getting in the future.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmCUDHpNzE

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#62

Post by corytheboyd »

I don’t really agree with a lot of what’s being said here.

If you have something that solves real problems, you should be able to fight for users. Yeah sure, just because you built a great thing doesn’t mean people will flock to it, you need to do SOME marketing.

It might take two years to get ten users, because turns out it’s very hard to run every aspect of a business by yourself. But it’s progress, and if you maintain a high bar of connection with your user base and product quality, as long as you continue to market and improve it will grow.

There are no “get rich quick” schemes here, I don’t believe in that nonsense. There is hard work and there is giving up, that’s it.

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#63

Post by justiceforsaas »

I think you've gone from one extreme to the other. Yes, building a product with no distribution sucks. So does doing distribution without having anything to show for it.

Take this from a guy who spent 2 years studying distribution channels [1]. There's nothing wrong about spending a week or two developing a MVP before focusing on distribution.

I think the key is to start with 1) The minimum thing you can do and call a 'product' 2) Try to promote/distribute it to see the response. So far you've done:

a) A web page explaining what your product is about

Some steps to (progressively) get to a "better" MVP may be:

b) Make a video showcasing your product (which can be a simple Figma design with static screens that show once you click on them)

c) Build a feature that's high on the ICE Scoring model [2], and distribute that

d) Build a meaningfully different feature than c) and promote it as a SEPARATE product. Let your features be like split tests you promote on the same/different distribution channels and see how they perform.

[1] https://firstpayingusers.com

[2] https://university.hygger.io/en/articles/2288376-ice-scoring

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#64

Post by polote »

One new guy trying to tell the world that there is a process to start a successful business, there is not. Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed.

Some succeed more than others, but they never always succeed.

I wish you good luck for your project but changing your approach is not going to ensure you not to fail.

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#65

Post by dvt »

satvikpendem wrote: post #61
dvt wrote: post #36

> Distribution before product I don't like this new startup trend[1][2], nor do I think it actually works. Literally all of those examples are the opposite of what the blog post is claiming. They did have a product: Hotmail had the service built out, Eventbrite had the service built out, and there was a Dropbox before you could refer your friends to it. There are examples of what the author is claiming, but most are…

Funny you mention Dropbox because they did exactly what you say not to do, provide a video demo that doesn't actually work, it just looks like it's working [0]. Their Show HN thread has more details [1]. In general though, you definitely should work on figuring out if customers want your product without building it if at all possible, and most times it is possible. I run a SaaS that's a project management tool (todo…

> ...provide a video demo that doesn't actually work, it just looks like it's working

This is not true, the video used a few clever techniques (cutting/editing) to make it seem snappier and more responsive, but Dropbox was very much a real (albeit beta and buggy) product when the video was made.

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#66

Post by anoncow »

Fun ideas without any possibility of a viable business model is what I am struggling with too. Ideas take away a lot of your time when you are chasing them and only once the prototyping is done or sometimes when the initial product is out you realise that there is no chance of making any money.

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#68

Post by satvikpendem »

dvt wrote: post #65
satvikpendem wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny you mention Dropbox because they did exactly what you say not to do, provide a video demo that doesn't actually work, it just looks like it's working [0]. Their Show HN thread has more details [1]. In general though, you definitely should work on figuring out if customers want your product without building it if at all possible, and most times it is possible. I run a SaaS that's a project management tool (todo…

> ...provide a video demo that doesn't actually work, it just looks like it's working This is not true, the video used a few clever techniques (cutting/editing) to make it seem snappier and more responsive, but Dropbox was very much a real (albeit beta and buggy) product when the video was made.

That is true, the founder did have an alpha version working by the time they did the Show HN, but still, if he had made the video without having anything technically made (but just by visual effects), would it still have been less effective? I doubt it, people know what they want and don't want when watching the video, and it would have been clear to the founder that people wanted it and he could've started building it after people expressed their demand. So in the end, even if he hadn't made the full product, Dropbox would still be where it is today.

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#69

Post by m0llusk »

An alternative approach to the who is going to buy the damn thing problem is to focus on the marketing to engineering ratio. If you build it customers will only come and buy if they know what it is and how it might work for them.

Re: How and when to acquire SaaS users

#70

Post by maxekman »

satvikpendem wrote: post #61
dvt wrote: post #36

> Distribution before product I don't like this new startup trend[1][2], nor do I think it actually works. Literally all of those examples are the opposite of what the blog post is claiming. They did have a product: Hotmail had the service built out, Eventbrite had the service built out, and there was a Dropbox before you could refer your friends to it. There are examples of what the author is claiming, but most are…

Funny you mention Dropbox because they did exactly what you say not to do, provide a video demo that doesn't actually work, it just looks like it's working [0]. Their Show HN thread has more details [1]. In general though, you definitely should work on figuring out if customers want your product without building it if at all possible, and most times it is possible. I run a SaaS that's a project management tool (todo…

It was really inspiring and grounding to see a “Show HN” thread with Dropbox, pre-fame. Thanks!
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