Ask Me Anything About SaaS ( I'm building my 7th )

[SoftStone]

@eliquid

Sorry if the question has already been asked somewhere in the thread (At least I haven't seen it), but what tips can you give on coming up with good niches where you can improve a product?

You said earlier in the thread to stay in your area of competence helps a lot. However, I find that a bit difficult being mainly a developer myself (personally, I haven't had to use SaaS products up to this date for my development, as the tools are mainly open source as you probably know).

What can I do to identify a good niche to start building software products for?

Thanks.

 

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[eliquid]

@eliquid

Sorry if the question has already been asked somewhere in the thread (At least I haven't seen it), but what tips can you give on coming up with good niches where you can improve a product?

You said earlier in the thread to stay in your area of competence helps a lot. However, I find that a bit difficult being mainly a developer myself (personally, I haven't had to use SaaS products up to this date for my development, as the tools are mainly open source as you probably know).

What can I do to identify a good niche to start building software products for?

Thanks.

I understand.

It's important to know that I also came from that background.

Here is how my career projected:

1. Pre 1996: odd jobs anyone can do, like working at Target or Sears
2. 1996-1999: developing web sites
3. 1999 - today: programming in Perl and PHP ( called FI back then )
4. 2000 - today: PPC with GoTo
5. 2001 - today: Ranking on Yahoo Directory, Dmoz, Google

So I understand where you are coming from.

If you have no other domain authority or competence, the next best thing to look at it is what interests you a lot?

I hate telling people to follow their passion, and this is not that advice.

However, you will need something to keep you going since you do not have another area of competence. That something will have to be interest, because once you get 6 months into this and get burnt out.. interest will keep you going when drive and motivation go down.

You learn a ton about a subject when you have to teach it. Your SaaS is like the teaching part. With that in mind, what's something you would like to learn a lot about and are interested in that could fit into a SaaS model?

Start with writing down everything you are interested in and would like to learn. Everything

Then go down the list and see which ones could be modeled for SaaS

Then go online to Reddit, forums, and other areas and see what people's needs and complaints are about that smaller list you made ( things you have interest in and would want to learn, that could also be SaaS ).

Example list of things I am interested in and want to learn more about:
1. Maching Learning/AI
2. Crypto Trading
3. Marketing Automation
4. How to train for the IronMan
5. Beaches and traveling

What of those above could be realistically a SaaS product?
1. Machine Learing
2. Crypto
3. Marketing Automation

I can't see training for an IronMan or traveling a SaaS, yet.. so lets run with #1-#3

Now I would go online and see who is having problems with AI, and Crypto trading, and Marketing Automation and I would see what their issues are and how big that space is and where the gaps could be.

Past that, it's up to you which one you pick.

But that would be my process if I did not have authority or competence in a subject/topic.

Sometimes drive and motivation ween. Sometimes you get shiny object syndrome. Sometimes you just feel burnt out. When that happens, you are going to have to rely on something that interest you that you really want to learn for yourself.

Hope that helps

.

 

[SoftStone]

I understand.

It's important to know that I also came from that background.

Here is how my career projected:

1. Pre 1996: odd jobs anyone can do, like working at Target or Sears
2. 1996-1999: developing web sites
3. 1999 - today: programming in Perl and PHP ( called FI back then )
4. 2000 - today: PPC with GoTo
5. 2001 - today: Ranking on Yahoo Directory, Dmoz, Google

So I understand where you are coming from.

If you have no other domain authority or competence, the next best thing to look at it is what interests you a lot?

I hate telling people to follow their passion, and this is not that advice.

However, you will need something to keep you going since you do not have another area of competence. That something will have to be interest, because once you get 6 months into this and get burnt out.. interest will keep you going when drive and motivation go down.

You learn a ton about a subject when you have to teach it. Your SaaS is like the teaching part. With that in mind, what's something you would like to learn a lot about and are interested in that could fit into a SaaS model?

Start with writing down everything you are interested in and would like to learn. Everything

Then go down the list and see which ones could be modeled for SaaS

Then go online to Reddit, forums, and other areas and see what people's needs and complaints are about that smaller list you made ( things you have interest in and would want to learn, that could also be SaaS ).

Example list of things I am interested in and want to learn more about:
1. Maching Learning/AI
2. Crypto Trading
3. Marketing Automation
4. How to train for the IronMan
5. Beaches and traveling

What of those above could be realistically a SaaS product?
1. Machine Learing
2. Crypto
3. Marketing Automation

I can't see training for an IronMan or traveling a SaaS, yet.. so lets run with #1-#3

Now I would go online and see who is having problems with AI, and Crypto trading, and Marketing Automation and I would see what their issues are and how big that space is and where the gaps could be.

Past that, it's up to you which one you pick.

But that would be my process if I did not have authority or competence in a subject/topic.

Sometimes drive and motivation ween. Sometimes you get shiny object syndrome. Sometimes you just feel burnt out. When that happens, you are going to have to rely on something that interest you that you really want to learn for yourself.

Hope that helps

.

Wow, thanks for providing such actionable steps! I‘ll definitely follow up on them. Had no idea that PHP was once called Fl, either...

It‘s interesting to hear about different backgrounds. How did you get into marketing? Was it also an interest of yours?

I am also working on building my reputation as a developer through teaching in a specific niche, so I guess the practise which comes from building real products helps in that as well.

But there has been this diversity I have seen a lot concerning multiple income streams. It seems as if many successful people think it‘s good, while others encourage you to go for one thing only.

Seeing at what you have done with 7 different businesses, I guess you would belong to the first group, wouldn‘t you? As far as I can tell, there are no problems with many income streams, as long as you tackle them one by one, I guess.

 

[splok]

Way to narrow it down...

Wtf? Why be a dick to someone who's trying to help? Way to make sure that doesn't happen again...

Having said that, I'll still try to help explain some of the problems in pricing software development so my post isn't equally useless.

The short answer is:

You're basically asking how much it would cost to build a custom Udemy and complaining about not getting a specific number? Software development isn't like a universal menu/price list. Different developers will charge dramatically different prices, and seemingly small differences in what you ask for can also cause dramatic shifts in price. The difference between going with a freelance dev versus a more corporate-oriented company is probably an order of magnitude or more by itself, as would be using off the shelf software versus something built from scratch.

If you want a better number, spec out your design and start contacting developers to ask what they would actually charge.


But to explain those differences:

Imagine that you just need a blog set up, and nothing more specific. Lets say I'm a friendly freelance dev who isn't trying to inflate the cost. If you come and ask me to do it, I can find a hosting account that has 1-click Wordpress installs, then I can sign up and click. Great, you have a blog, and it took me maybe 10 minutes.

If you have a couple of additional feature requests and want it to look a certain way, I can see if there are plugins and themes that would suffice and install them if so. Maybe 100 minutes? Fast, but still 10x the time, even though the 1 click install literally had 99% of what you needed. That 1% just 10x'd your cost...

Then imagine that plugins and themes don't get you where you want to be. Now you're having to pay for actual development instead of just paying me to install stuff for you. Probably a minimum of 10x again... and then multiples of that depending on how many changes/additions you want.

You may even want enough changes that it makes sense to just start from scratch, which would be EXPENSIVE but after a certain point, it can be cheaper than continuing to try and shove a square peg in a round hole.

Now, if I wasn't a friendly freelance dev, I might not even look for an off the shelf solution and jump right to pricing all of your required features from scratch, and depending on how wide your eyes get at the price, I might (or might not) back it up a step or two until I get to something that sort of approaches your budget. But by then, you're primed with the outrageous price point, and you're probably already thinking through which features you can dump to reduce costs.

Also consider that a dev starting at step 1 with the lowest price can also be devious (or possibly incompetent, depending on the situation), since that's a low-barrier way to get someone locked in for all the future steps that the dev knows you're going to need.

Everyone is naturally weary of someone that pushes the hard sell, but be just as weary of someone who's happy to execute exactly on the specs you give them without a thorough discussion of your needs. Unless you've carried multiple similar projects through to completion, there are absolutely things that you're going to need that you don't know you need yet. (This is why, imo, some people have great success with outsourcing to low-cost countries, while others end up with the opposite experience.)

A high-quality, experienced dev will work to understand what you actually need instead of just relying on what you say you want, taking your experience level into account. And they'll never be the cheapest (at least initially), because they know that no one is ever happy with a default Wordpress install and will price in a lot of the stuff that they know you need but probably aren't asking for.

 

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[eliquid]

Wow, thanks for providing such actionable steps! I‘ll definitely follow up on them. Had no idea that PHP was once called Fl, either...

Yeah, it was actually called PHP/FI, but lots of us just called it FI for short.

It‘s interesting to hear about different backgrounds. How did you get into marketing? Was it also an interest of yours?

Need and greed. I built websites first, but they were not interactive.. so I got into Perl. Now these sites can interact and do things, but no one visited them.. so I got into marketing. That was all need based.

The fact I was broke and refused to pay anyone else, was the greed part.

I am also working on building my reputation as a developer through teaching in a specific niche, so I guess the practise which comes from building real products helps in that as well.

But there has been this diversity I have seen a lot concerning multiple income streams. It seems as if many successful people think it‘s good, while others encourage you to go for one thing only.

Ah yes, the whole millionaires have 7 streams of income.. or just the multiple streams from not having your eggs in one basket theory.

It depends on how you read it.

Wanna know why most millionaires have 7 streams of income?

1. Most of them owned a business and got their first million ( or close to it ) that way - weekly paycheck
2. They had self directed IRA or self funded retirement they contributed to - 2nd stream of income
3. They got into Real Estate, this is pretty popular. If not, they got into storage sheds or car washes or something else that is semi-passive business - 3rd stream of income
4. Social Security - 4th stream of income
5. Their spouse works, or they get benefits from the spouse in some ways - 5th
6. Maybe they sit on a board or have an investment in a few companies as a Seed/Angel and now get royalties or some income -6th
7. Possibly receive military pension -7th

They won't all be like that. However the point is several of them would be impossible if #1 never happened.

Also notice, not all 7 are great income streams. Some prob amount to nothing like #4.

Seeing at what you have done with 7 different businesses, I guess you would belong to the first group, wouldn‘t you? As far as I can tell, there are no problems with many income streams, as long as you tackle them one by one, I guess.

Yes you must tackle each one, 1x1.

However, not all of mine bring income at the same time. I actually sold, abandoned, or rolled over some of them into what I have now. I am working on my 7th, but not all 7 are active.

.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Yeah, it was actually called PHP/FI, but lots of us just called it FI for short.



Need and greed. I built websites first, but they were not interactive.. so I got into Perl. Now these sites can interact and do things, but no one visited them.. so I got into marketing. That was all need based.

The fact I was broke and refused to pay anyone else, was the greed part.




Ah yes, the whole millionaires have 7 streams of income.. or just the multiple streams from not having your eggs in one basket theory.

It depends on how you read it.

Wanna know why most millionaires have 7 streams of income?

1. Most of them owned a business and got their first million ( or close to it ) that way - weekly paycheck
2. They had self directed IRA or self funded retirement they contributed to - 2nd stream of income
3. They got into Real Estate, this is pretty popular. If not, they got into storage sheds or car washes or something else that is semi-passive business - 3rd stream of income
4. Social Security - 4th stream of income
5. Their spouse works, or they get benefits from the spouse in some ways - 5th
6. Maybe they sit on a board or have an investment in a few companies as a Seed/Angel and now get royalties or some income -6th
7. Possibly receive military pension -7th

They won't all be like that. However the point is several of them would be impossible if #1 never happened.

Also notice, not all 7 are great income streams. Some prob amount to nothing like #4.




Yes you must tackle each one, 1x1.

However, not all of mine bring income at the same time. I actually sold, abandoned, or rolled over some of them into what I have now. I am working on my 7th, but not all 7 are active.

.

@eliquid I found some great resources for machine learning from Microsoft.
Google, MS and Amazon are the main contenders.

 

[Pete3]

I understand.

It's important to know that I also came from that background.

Here is how my career projected:

1. Pre 1996: odd jobs anyone can do, like working at Target or Sears
2. 1996-1999: developing web sites
3. 1999 - today: programming in Perl and PHP ( called FI back then )
4. 2000 - today: PPC with GoTo
5. 2001 - today: Ranking on Yahoo Directory, Dmoz, Google

So I understand where you are coming from.

If you have no other domain authority or competence, the next best thing to look at it is what interests you a lot?

I hate telling people to follow their passion, and this is not that advice.

However, you will need something to keep you going since you do not have another area of competence. That something will have to be interest, because once you get 6 months into this and get burnt out.. interest will keep you going when drive and motivation go down.

You learn a ton about a subject when you have to teach it. Your SaaS is like the teaching part. With that in mind, what's something you would like to learn a lot about and are interested in that could fit into a SaaS model?

Start with writing down everything you are interested in and would like to learn. Everything

Then go down the list and see which ones could be modeled for SaaS

Then go online to Reddit, forums, and other areas and see what people's needs and complaints are about that smaller list you made ( things you have interest in and would want to learn, that could also be SaaS ).

Example list of things I am interested in and want to learn more about:
1. Maching Learning/AI
2. Crypto Trading
3. Marketing Automation
4. How to train for the IronMan
5. Beaches and traveling

What of those above could be realistically a SaaS product?
1. Machine Learing
2. Crypto
3. Marketing Automation

I can't see training for an IronMan or traveling a SaaS, yet.. so lets run with #1-#3

Now I would go online and see who is having problems with AI, and Crypto trading, and Marketing Automation and I would see what their issues are and how big that space is and where the gaps could be.

Past that, it's up to you which one you pick.

But that would be my process if I did not have authority or competence in a subject/topic.

Sometimes drive and motivation ween. Sometimes you get shiny object syndrome. Sometimes you just feel burnt out. When that happens, you are going to have to rely on something that interest you that you really want to learn for yourself.

Hope that helps

.

@eliquid I found some great resources for machine learning from Microsoft.
Google, MS and Amazon are the main contenders.

To continue with your AI/Machine Learning example... what type of SaaS product would you consider building since Google, MS, AMZ, already offer the tools and platforms for AI/ML? Would it be an information style product, or a unique implementation of AI/ML for a niche market?

Like @SoftStone, I’m having a hard time coming up with a SaaS idea to get working on. A non-compete clause would preclude me working on anything related to my domain knowledge, and I’m having a hard time picking a topic/idea outside of my domain.

Things that interest me outside of my domain:
-Computer vision
-Health & fitness
-Hockey
-Video game design

 

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[eliquid]

To continue with your AI/Machine Learning example... what type of SaaS product would you consider building since Google, MS, AMZ, already offer the tools and platforms for AI/ML? Would it be an information style product, or a unique implementation of AI/ML for a niche market?

This is where having domain authority or interest really comes into play.

You say that Google, MS, and AMZ already offer the tools and platforms for AI/ML. But do you yourself have interest in ML/AI or have domain authority in it?

Let's assume no, since you did no mention it below.

If you did have domain authority or interest in it, you would have played around with those offerings. If you played around with those offerings, you would see how they cater to very high level academics mostly. In short, there is no "easy" ML/AI toolset for beginners unless you know Python or understand Neural Networks, Markov Chains, etc.....

That right there is a gap. A gap you would have found if you had domain authority or interest in it. other gaps exist like data cleansing/normalization and data set training. Something that would be difficult for people and companies starting in ML/AI.

Example of filling the gap:
Pre cleaned and trained data sets in specific verticals, like say Legal or Higher Education ready for you to use in a easy way where you just connect your Sales Force/Sugar data to our platform via a simple plugin. "Instant SaaS" and results filling a possible gap.

There is always an angle.

Be a master of angles.

Like @SoftStone, I’m having a hard time coming up with a SaaS idea to get working on. A non-compete clause would preclude me working on anything related to my domain knowledge, and I’m having a hard time picking a topic/idea outside of my domain.

Things that interest me outside of my domain:
-Computer vision
-Health & fitness
-Hockey
-Video game design

This is why I don't sign non-competes. They are hard to enforce anyways, see if you can find a loophole or a way to get out of it.

Past that, you are now having to work in areas you have no domain authority in.

I did say prior that people with no domain authority can work in areas they have an interest in. While this is still an option, it's not the favorite or preferred.

I don't know much about any of what you listed, but what have you learned about video game design that was difficult for you? That could be your gap.

.

 

[Torty Emmanuel]

What's extremely profitable?

Do you mean enough to live on yourself comfortably that you own your home ( no mortgage ), your cars, can raise your family, and not have to worry about bills, all debts paid and 6+ months savings in the bank? You can do that on your own.

Are you talking Yachts, supercars, 7 figures in the banks, vacations in the south of france for 6 months at a time and getting to the point you have an IPO? You more then likely won't get there alone.

If you have issues finding a partner ( equity ), you just haven't found the right partner. I will go over this next since it's actually next on my list anyways ( next posting I do ).



This is complete and utter bullshit. I had 2 partners like this before myself.

Sorry, I code to make money. Not beautiful code with lots of comments that doesn't do anything.

When you hire other programmers and you hire yourself "out of that job", they can do what they want at that point with pretty comments and structure, as long as they are hitting their other objectives and goals and the cash flow is increasing. Until then, don't worry about it.

.

What's extremely profitable?

Do you mean enough to live on yourself comfortably that you own your home ( no mortgage ), your cars, can raise your family, and not have to worry about bills, all debts paid and 6+ months savings in the bank? You can do that on your own.

Are you talking Yachts, supercars, 7 figures in the banks, vacations in the south of france for 6 months at a time and getting to the point you have an IPO? You more then likely won't get there alone.

If you have issues finding a partner ( equity ), you just haven't found the right partner. I will go over this next since it's actually next on my list anyways ( next posting I do ).



This is complete and utter bullshit. I had 2 partners like this before myself.

Sorry, I code to make money. Not beautiful code with lots of comments that doesn't do anything.

When you hire other programmers and you hire yourself "out of that job", they can do what they want at that point with pretty comments and structure, as long as they are hitting their other objectives and goals and the cash flow is increasing. Until then, don't worry about it.

.

Rep Transferred!!

@eliquid, Wow! You are simply awesome! I love the loaded value in this thread.
Really practical answers from the School of Hard Knocks.
Thank you

 

[Ernie McCracken]

For a new B2B offering, are you cold calling and cold emailing prospective customers to get the ball rolling?

I am brand new at this, believe I have value to offer, but am struggling with the marketing plan.

 

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[eliquid]

For a new B2B offering, are you cold calling and cold emailing prospective customers to get the ball rolling?

I am brand new at this, believe I have value to offer, but am struggling with the marketing plan.

No. Me and my partner had a following/reputation and that got the ball rolling.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Things that interest me outside of my domain

Can you use your domain XP in a different market? Europe for example?

 

[Pete3]

Great thought. I’ll have to explore. My domain XP is a pretty niche side of software. Definitely not as “sexy” and widely talked about like AI/ML/DL or web apps, mobile apps, etc.

 

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[Pete3]

This is where having domain authority or interest really comes into play.

You say that Google, MS, and AMZ already offer the tools and platforms for AI/ML. But do you yourself have interest in ML/AI or have domain authority in it?

Let's assume no, since you did no mention it below.

If you did have domain authority or interest in it, you would have played around with those offerings. If you played around with those offerings, you would see how they cater to very high level academics mostly. In short, there is no "easy" ML/AI toolset for beginners unless you know Python or understand Neural Networks, Markov Chains, etc.....

That right there is a gap. A gap you would have found if you had domain authority or interest in it. other gaps exist like data cleansing/normalization and data set training. Something that would be difficult for people and companies starting in ML/AI.

Example of filling the gap:
Pre cleaned and trained data sets in specific verticals, like say Legal or Higher Education ready for you to use in a easy way where you just connect your Sales Force/Sugar data to our platform via a simple plugin. "Instant SaaS" and results filling a possible gap.

There is always an angle.

Be a master of angles.



This is why I don't sign non-competes. They are hard to enforce anyways, see if you can find a loophole or a way to get out of it.

Past that, you are now having to work in areas you have no domain authority in.

I did say prior that people with no domain authority can work in areas they have an interest in. While this is still an option, it's not the favorite or preferred.

I don't know much about any of what you listed, but what have you learned about video game design that was difficult for you? That could be your gap.

.

Great example. AI doesn’t interest me much as you noticed, I was just following the example.

Non-compete definitely is tough - I knew the consequence going into it but feel that I’m still gaining valuable experience despite that.

I find game design interesting but I’m far from an expert or even proficient in it - just something I’ve picked up in the past month.

 

[Torty Emmanuel]

Wtf? Why be a dick to someone who's trying to help? Way to make sure that doesn't happen again...

Having said that, I'll still try to help explain some of the problems in pricing software development so my post isn't equally useless.

The short answer is:

You're basically asking how much it would cost to build a custom Udemy and complaining about not getting a specific number? Software development isn't like a universal menu/price list. Different developers will charge dramatically different prices, and seemingly small differences in what you ask for can also cause dramatic shifts in price. The difference between going with a freelance dev versus a more corporate-oriented company is probably an order of magnitude or more by itself, as would be using off the shelf software versus something built from scratch.

If you want a better number, spec out your design and start contacting developers to ask what they would actually charge.


But to explain those differences:

Imagine that you just need a blog set up, and nothing more specific. Lets say I'm a friendly freelance dev who isn't trying to inflate the cost. If you come and ask me to do it, I can find a hosting account that has 1-click Wordpress installs, then I can sign up and click. Great, you have a blog, and it took me maybe 10 minutes.

If you have a couple of additional feature requests and want it to look a certain way, I can see if there are plugins and themes that would suffice and install them if so. Maybe 100 minutes? Fast, but still 10x the time, even though the 1 click install literally had 99% of what you needed. That 1% just 10x'd your cost...

Then imagine that plugins and themes don't get you where you want to be. Now you're having to pay for actual development instead of just paying me to install stuff for you. Probably a minimum of 10x again... and then multiples of that depending on how many changes/additions you want.

You may even want enough changes that it makes sense to just start from scratch, which would be EXPENSIVE but after a certain point, it can be cheaper than continuing to try and shove a square peg in a round hole.

Now, if I wasn't a friendly freelance dev, I might not even look for an off the shelf solution and jump right to pricing all of your required features from scratch, and depending on how wide your eyes get at the price, I might (or might not) back it up a step or two until I get to something that sort of approaches your budget. But by then, you're primed with the outrageous price point, and you're probably already thinking through which features you can dump to reduce costs.

Also consider that a dev starting at step 1 with the lowest price can also be devious (or possibly incompetent, depending on the situation), since that's a low-barrier way to get someone locked in for all the future steps that the dev knows you're going to need.

Everyone is naturally weary of someone that pushes the hard sell, but be just as weary of someone who's happy to execute exactly on the specs you give them without a thorough discussion of your needs. Unless you've carried multiple similar projects through to completion, there are absolutely things that you're going to need that you don't know you need yet. (This is why, imo, some people have great success with outsourcing to low-cost countries, while others end up with the opposite experience.)

A high-quality, experienced dev will work to understand what you actually need instead of just relying on what you say you want, taking your experience level into account. And they'll never be the cheapest (at least initially), because they know that no one is ever happy with a default Wordpress install and will price in a lot of the stuff that they know you need but probably aren't asking for.

Great one @splok
I thought I was the only one pissed off at that nasty attitude.

 

[SoftStone]

@eliquid

while doing your exercise, I've come across a question.

How do I know if something can or can't be modeled for SaaS?

Or better to say, if it's well suited in a SaaS model or would be better in a, let's say, content model? Do you have specific criteria or use your gut feeling/what you have seen in the past to judge?

Oh, and a bit off topic, is there a good book about SaaS you can recommend?

Thank you!

 

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[eliquid]

Great example. AI doesn’t interest me much as you noticed, I was just following the example.

Non-compete definitely is tough - I knew the consequence going into it but feel that I’m still gaining valuable experience despite that.

I find game design interesting but I’m far from an expert or even proficient in it - just something I’ve picked up in the past month.

The main thing is when you have domain experience OR interest, you will find a gap somewhere eventually.

Generally it comes to you when you ask yourself, "why is this...."

.

 

[eliquid]

@eliquid

while doing your exercise, I've come across a question.

How do I know if something can or can't be modeled for SaaS?

Or better to say, if it's well suited in a SaaS model or would be better in a, let's say, content model? Do you have specific criteria or use your gut feeling/what you have seen in the past to judge?

I think it comes down to how you feel about it, which will tell a lot about how comfortable you are in X subject area or solution.

For my SaaS, I could have just wrote content on the ideas, topics, and solutions. However, I hate writing. I hate content as a model ( personally ). Therefor, content models are the last pick in anything I do.

So with that in mind, do you see how any idea I have would almost never fit a content model, even though it might actually be great for it?

If you find something and your gut tells you do to a content model, do it. People will read and absorb it and people will pay for it, but here is what happens:

1. People read it
2. Some people ( maybe 10% ) actually go forth with what they read and do it
3. The others ( 90% ) will think its a great idea and do nothing past putting the content down and watching TV.

That 90% is what you end up building a SaaS for. You end up doing it for the 10% too BTW.

However, people want you to provide the answer to them. Not only the answer, but the end solution too. This is where your SaaS would fit in.

I could have wrote for days about SEO research and ORM, but at the end of the day only so many people would take action. I had to provide the action for them, and they pay well for it in my SaaS.

So what do you want the end result to be? Readers who take min action, or real solutions?

This should be your gauge.

My core values and mission statement reads as such:

• Solve problems with simplicity, creativity, and entrepreneurship
• Create Ah-Ha moments based on insight, enlightenment, and knowledge
• Live a full and stable life with complete and utter autonomy

I can achieve the above as content model or SaaS because both are simple to me and create Ah-Ha moments. That's me though.

Would a SaaS fit your core values and mission statement though?

Lots to think about.

What does your gut say, what end result do you want ( min action, or provide the action for customer ) and how does it align with your core values, mission statement, goals, and priorities ( if you have all these to begin with )?

If you follow the above direct statement I just made, it should help you find out if a SaaS model is good for your idea. That's just the first part though, once you can say "yes" to yourself about SaaS, then comes the tough part of if you can pull it off financially, if the market will take it, etc....

Oh, and a bit off topic, is there a good book about SaaS you can recommend?

Thank you!

For books, I don't really have one. Not because I've found no good SaaS ones, but because I haven't read A SaaS one.

Why?

Because really, at the heart of it all... SaaS is just a business model. If you have domain experience in something ( say Digital Marketing ), and you know how to run a business ( if not, read great business books ), all you are really doing is running a business where software gives a solution ( like quickbooks ).

Instead of finding a great SaaS book, you just need to find great business and marketing books, and possible great software books. Also great customer service books.

If for some reason you just need a SaaS solution, look at the conference put on by SaaStr and their videos at Youtube -> SaaStr

Really though, if you can build a good business.. you can build SaaS. You don't really have to master just SaaS by itself.

.

 

[Tom.V]

Example list of things I am interested in and want to learn more about:
1. Maching Learning/AI
2. Crypto Trading
3. Marketing Automation
4. How to train for the IronMan
5. Beaches and traveling

What of those above could be realistically a SaaS product?
1. Machine Learing
2. Crypto
3. Marketing Automation

I can't see training for an IronMan or traveling a SaaS, yet.. so lets run with #1-#3

Now I would go online and see who is having problems with AI, and Crypto trading, and Marketing Automation and I would see what their issues are and how big that space is and where the gaps could be.

First off, let me just say thanks so much for this thread. I just devoured it today, will definitely repeat a time or two more to ensure it sticks. Power packed with valuable information and helped me verify a lot of hunches I had in planning out a SaaS marketing plan/core features for a company that is well, not going anywhere with their product. The extremely detailed responses and thought flow makes it that much more powerful.

Second, you mention crypto. Being one of those hotshot internet marketing guys (SEO/PPC), I come from a similar background, but the crypto space is exploding right now. While my industry experience is certainly in IM, I feel like at this point in the game the most potential is in crypto due to the vast amount of inefficiencies in the budding market. I have isolated an area of particular interest and am moving on it.

We spoke briefly in the Fastlane Crypto slack about some ideas, but I'll definitely want to have a chat in Scottsdale. There is just so much potential with SO much data, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

As my contribution, a few questions:
Do you ever work with strategic marketing partners to get exposure?

-I know a lot of your strategy on the marketing side stems from your moat, but so long as the target demographic is relevant, leveraging the moats of other high profile industry players should be just as valuable given the value add is there. WIIFT, could be a coupon code to keep track of signups with affiliate commission payouts to keep them incentivized to promote it over the long-haul.

Have you considered or looked into taking cryptocurrencies as payment?

Do you ever incorporate scraping into your data acquisition methods?
-This is the grey area IMO for some of my plans. While certain sites do have specific ToS prohibiting scraping of any kind, if the data from said scraping is behind a paywall and not actively advertised in marketing materials, is there a real risk here? Would the best bet in the case of this sometimes valuable data be to obfuscate the source in an effort to still utilize it?

Thanks again for everything! Rep++

 

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[eliquid]

First off, let me just say thanks so much for this thread. I just devoured it today, will definitely repeat a time or two more to ensure it sticks. Power packed with valuable information and helped me verify a lot of hunches I had in planning out a SaaS marketing plan/core features for a company that is well, not going anywhere with their product. The extremely detailed responses and thought flow makes it that much more powerful.

Thanks

Second, you mention crypto. Being one of those hotshot internet marketing guys (SEO/PPC), I come from a similar background, but the crypto space is exploding right now. While my industry experience is certainly in IM, I feel like at this point in the game the most potential is in crypto due to the vast amount of inefficiencies in the budding market. I have isolated an area of particular interest and am moving on it.

I have been programming scripts to automate bidding on my end with crypto. I'm not 100% there yet, but I have these scripts written in Pine ( TradingView ) and a few others and I am just "testing" my ideas atm.

Pretty much I try to master 2-3 coins tops at any 1 time and then trade the areas I see that need a correction.

We spoke briefly in the Fastlane Crypto slack about some ideas, but I'll definitely want to have a chat in Scottsdale. There is just so much potential with SO much data, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Sure, lets plan on it

As my contribution, a few questions:
Do you ever work with strategic marketing partners to get exposure?

Never have personally. Some of the companies I have consultant with have, but not me personally. It's something I will prob work on this year or next, but right now its all about getting some other foundational things all together.

-I know a lot of your strategy on the marketing side stems from your moat, but so long as the target demographic is relevant, leveraging the moats of other high profile industry players should be just as valuable given the value add is there. WIIFT, could be a coupon code to keep track of signups with affiliate commission payouts to keep them incentivized to promote it over the long-haul.

Yeah we have affiliates who are influencers in their own right promoting our SaaS in different areas of marketing like blackhat, ORM, local, international SEO, etc.

Have you considered or looked into taking cryptocurrencies as payment?

Thought about it briefly myself, but decided against it. With bitcoin at 20k one week, then 14k, then 10, then 8k ( and all the levels back up in between ), I just didn't want to deal with it getting it back into fiat, paying the extra high fees, wait times, etc.

I know things will get better, but right now just isn't the time for it.

Do you ever incorporate scraping into your data acquisition methods?
-This is the grey area IMO for some of my plans. While certain sites do have specific ToS prohibiting scraping of any kind, if the data from said scraping is behind a paywall and not actively advertised in marketing materials, is there a real risk here? Would the best bet in the case of this sometimes valuable data be to obfuscate the source in an effort to still utilize it?

Can't answer if we scrape..

But, I can tell you it's not very easy to prove you do it.

If you have several servers, and lets say these servers have no domain attached to them and are from different providers under different billing names and addresses.. and use diff user agents for scraping, etc... How would anyone trace that back to you and your site?

At worse the site your scraping could block your IP and user agent, then file a complaint with the owner of the IP and hosting provider/upstream. Having things located in another country helps too in some regards.

Only if things came to a lawsuit would someone be able to demand records to prove you were attached to the other rogue servers. Otherwise, at worse you might have accounts at different places shut down at different times. However, there is a ton of hosting providers...

However, I am not an attorney and my advice should not be taken as legal advice. Also I am not suggesting you scrape or go against ToS of a website. This is all for entertainment purposes only...

Thanks again for everything! Rep++

Thanks

 

[c4n]

If you have several servers, and lets say these servers have no domain attached to them and are from different providers under different billing names and addresses.. and use diff user agents for scraping, etc... How would anyone trace that back to you and your site?

Or, to simplify things, you could use a reliable (paid) VPN provider (one not from the US) and have the scraping bot use the VPN (your server > VPN > websites).

That would take care of different IPs in different countries while having no way of tracking the activity back to you, not even in a legal proceeding. It also removes the complications with different users/billings, you can have the VPN account registered to your name and still have no activity tracked back to you.

Not that I ever have or would do that or advise anyone to, but it seems like an option.

 

[offrs review]

Upward and downward scalability (along with 3rd party gateways - APIs and the like). This is often overlooked. So when you need to prune or branch off a component... if it doesn't work without the full weight of a custom engine you've created, it may limit your options business-wise (a buy-out, etc.). Folks will set up businesses that are agile, but their underlying tech can conflict the contracts later in the assets and IP review. Something to consider when architecting it (build it to sell it - in modules wherever possible).

 

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[ahartley]

However, I hate writing. I hate content as a model ( personally ).

Sorry @eliquid - this statement amused me, just because of the amount of writing you have done on this thread alone, and how much value you have provided in it.

Hate it all you want; you'd be damn good at it.

 

[offrs review]

Sorry @eliquid Hate it all you want; you'd be damn good at it.

lol, I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Guest92dX]

Thanks for this thread!

@eliquid

If I outsource the MVP how do I know if the developers are qualified? Is there a way to evaluate? I only have 1 year of experience with mobile development.

 

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[eliquid]

Thanks for this thread!

@eliquid

If I outsource the MVP how do I know if the developers are qualified? Is there a way to evaluate? I only have 1 year of experience with mobile development.

You'll have to:

1. Ask them some deep questions and see how detailed they answer them
2. Check out their prior work, and follow up with those owners and ask them detailed questions
3. Put in place milestones for payment of work, to protect yourself
4. Have they worked on similar ideas/saas before?
5. Do they really understand what you want built? Lots of people are "yes" men to get your first payment and then not even understand what you need. You need to probe them on this many times and maybe even quiz them during a phone call unexpectedly to make sure they know exactly what you want.
6. They should be able to provide you flowcharts and diagrams before you build to ensure it's completed correctly.
7. If they miss deadlines of their fault, they lose a % of payment for that milestone

If I think of more, I'll add here

.

 

[ajmassaro]

Seeking a sales position in the SaaS industry.

If you had to give 3 principals for the salesman to understand about the software that would simplify the sales pitch, what would they be?

 

[eliquid]

Seeking a sales position in the SaaS industry.

If you had to give 3 principals for the salesman to understand about the software that would simplify the sales pitch, what would they be?

1. Understand why the customer wants to buy. Do they want a hammer, or holes in the wall?

2. The solution makes their lives easier. That's value. Talk up value and how it will impact them

3. They need the Ah-Ha in their minds while you talk to them. Not you selling them, but them seeing the clear big picture on their own as if they came up with it ( although you guided them along ). This gets them excited and on board.

.

 

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[Guest24480]

Great thread and thanks for taking the time to drop all this knowledge.

The discussion here seems to be centered around B2B SaaS solutions, but what are your thoughts on the B2C model?

I don't have much in the realm of domain experience as I am more of a jack of all trades type and haven't been in the workforce for very long, but I have a variety of interests or problems that arise in my every day life that I know I can find solutions for in the B2C space.

How would you approach validating and getting early adopters for a B2C solution, and what challenges do you suspect may arise in the early stages of that process and beyond?

 

[offrs review]

Great thread and thanks for taking the time to drop all this knowledge.

The discussion here seems to be centered around B2B SaaS solutions, but what are your thoughts on the B2C model?

I don't have much in the realm of domain experience as I am more of a jack of all trades type and haven't been in the workforce for very long, but I have a variety of interests or problems that arise in my every day life that I know I can find solutions for in the B2C space.

How would you approach validating and getting early adopters for a B2C solution, and what challenges do you suspect may arise in the early stages of that process and beyond?

Well, first off, B2C is going to be more difficult to manage. For one thing a B2B allows for assigned account reps and dedicated/coordinated training. But, B2C can allow for rapid growth, bypassing the bureaucracy of B2B. For me, I've always leaned B2C with startups... hey, if you're going to fail, fail fast, learn, grow and move on with your new-found knowledge. Now, I look to crowd-source most of everything, including vetting of foundation users. Thinking of the Facebook model (and Google/Gmail for that matter), targeting ideal users would cost too much (beyond most start-ups' resources in both time and money). But by making it exclusive and targeting a few, ideal, Day 0 customers and having them choose who among their friends is ready for each successive wave of user tiers... that not only makes it manageable, but it allows for a more organic crystallization of the user base as a whole. So, I suppose I'd suggest... don't do it (try and find or gain your user base early on), instead, build the mechanism that encourages organic growth with self-vetting processes. It might take a bit longer to design the structure and certainly, it depends on your value to the community and the community itself, but nowadays, I try my hardest to step aside from the herd and let it organize itself. Ultimately, that's the best business plan anyway... to give them what they demonstrate they want and need to be their ideal selves.