Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years • Hacker News Board

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#21

Post by matt1 » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:07 PM UTC

sasha_fishter wrote: post #14

Great to see success stories from SaaS. Can you just share how did you attract first visitors, and subscribers when you first launched the web?

I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask about this as I was very naive at that point in my journey. Launching Preceden was literally posting on HackerNews and hoping for the best.

I would encourage you to join Microconf Connect, a Slack community of software entrepreneurs, where topics like this are discussed often: https://microconf.com/connect. Many of the old Microconf conference presentations are also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MicroConf

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#22

Post by jacquesm » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:07 PM UTC

matt1 wrote: post #20

jacquesm wrote: post #13

That's absolutely amazing to see you stick with it for such a long time to get to the point of being self supporting. Very nice, and heartfelt congratulations. It would be great to see a write-up of the lessons learned over the years, especially those early ones that limited your growth and also of interest would be your views around the long term effect of eco-system and language choices.

> see a write-up of the lessons learned over the years It would make for a long blog post and no doubt one I'd have to continue updating, hah. I will write it at some point though, thanks for suggesting it. And thank you for all your thoughtful comments on HackerNews over its history as well as the posts on your blog. You're brilliant and this community is a better place because of your participation in it.

Blush.

Looking forward to seeing that blog post and if you want a proofreader count me in, email in profile. For every fifty fly-by-night and gone again operations there is one of yours and those are much more valuable lessons than most.

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#23

Post by wdewind » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:08 PM UTC

Hey Matt,

Not sure if you remember me but we talked about Lean Designs many years back (back then it was called jMockups). Excited to this next step for you! Congrats and good luck!

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#24

Post by yrgulation » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:10 PM UTC

Congratulations to sticking to it for such a long time. Given sufficient time any startup can work. The more you know the more competitive you are the better the product.

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#25

Post by matt1 » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:11 PM UTC

wdewind wrote: post #23

Hey Matt, Not sure if you remember me but we talked about Lean Designs many years back (back then it was called jMockups). Excited to this next step for you! Congrats and good luck!

jMockups... now that's a name I haven't heard in a while! And one of those lesson learned: don't name products like that :).

More about that tool and other lessons learned for anyone interested: https://mattmazur.com/2016/07/08/a-long-overdue-lean-designs...

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#26

Post by princevegeta89 » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:11 PM UTC

Love it when I hear stories like this one. Love Microstartups at the same time as well. No mess no fuss, no funding drama. Good luck OP!

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#27

Post by tjkrusinski » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:12 PM UTC

You love to see it. Matt is a great example of someone who has bootstrapped and built a strong business while mitigating risk for his personal life. Much of the start up dogma tells you this isn't possible, but it is.

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#28

Post by jerryu » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:13 PM UTC

Congratulations Matt. Would love to learn more about the lessons/tips you learned in the past 8 years.

Is your primary reason to go full-time based on reaching a financial target or is it because you have more ideas for future now?

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#29

Post by PentelicoMarble » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:16 PM UTC

A product built by an ex-soldier who was part of an occupying force that committed countless war crimes? No thank you.

Question for other HN users - would you use a product built by an officer of the Russian army who was part of the war in Ukraine?

Edit: Those downvoting me, did I say anything that is not true?

Re: Going full time on my SaaS after 13 years

#30

Post by stevoski » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 5:17 PM UTC

Matt, this is simply an awesome story. It’s surprisingly common that people take years to get to the point where they can go full-time.

I find your story far more relatable than the “I started a SaaS and reached tons of revenue in one year - and you can too!” stories we are plagued with.