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

[Andy Black]

I prob will to LinkedIn at some point.

In the past, I would jump on all the social media channels at once and try to fill them all with content every day all the time.

I got super burnt out and bored real quick.

I decided this time around, I was going to post to 1 channel... learn it inside and out even if it kills me... and once mastered move to the next channel.

So, started with Twitter/X and then once I get the engagement and followers I want and the funnel I want, then move to LinkedIn.

Will come, but just doing it differently this time around.

Oh yes, I've been there too.

I spent a while on Twitter trying to figure it out but didn’t enjoy it. I didn't like the restrictions on post size, and that tweets sink beneath the waves so fast.

I like the different post types on LinkedIn, that people use their real names, and that talking business isn't frowned upon (like it probably bores the family and friends connected with me on Facebook).

I don't mind posting the same content to Facebook and LinkedIn, although I use both more as blogging platforms than a way to generate leads. Although doing so still generates business.

You can see what I've been posting recently here:

https://linkedin.com/in/andyblackjnr/

 

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[Arrowmember3]

Hello everyone.

A lot of you know me for my digital marketing Gold Thread here on the FLF ( see sig ), as well as other posts in the forum.

What you might not know is that I've successfully built 6 profitable SaaS programs either solely by myself, or with a single partner ( and with no other employees other than VA's ), and that I am working on building my 7th SaaS

I've learned a few things in SaaS over the last 7 years that span:

• Handling competitors
• Reducing churn
• Fraud reduction
• Technology for SaaS needs
• Big Data ( billions of new data points daily over years )
• Increasing LTV
• APIs
• Pricing
• Onboarding
• Project management
• Marketing
• Customer service
• Partnerships
• Customer demos/profiles, MVPs, UVP's, ahHa moments, etc
• many many more things

I've focused all my SaaS programs in the digital marketing space, but I have some ideas for new SaaS programs expanding outside of that for the future.

I can't answer questions related to:

• Legal - please seek an attorney
• Specific finance questions about my current or past SaaS programs - I'm not going to divulge other than generalities to the public. I can verify for a mod though if needed.
• Info on verticals outside of digital marketing - meaning if you have a SaaS for doctors and you ask me a specific medical question, I won't know it if it pertains to doctors or medical
• LLC vs Scorp Vs etc - This is legal
• How long is a piece of string type questions

And before anyone asks.. NO, not all 6 SaaS are currently running right now. I closed down the first 5 over the years at different times due to either partner problems or interest died off for me and I rolled into the next SaaS combining ideas to make something new.

For clarification, I am running 1 active SaaS right now and building another ( the 7th ) that is not public atm since it is not finished.

Ask away!


P.S. - Listen, I'm a different type of person. I have very unique views that don't always fit the norm you might have heard elsewhere. What I tell you is what has worked for me and the way I see things from my own personal experience. There are many ways to skin a cat. If you don't agree, that's cool but always think things over for yourself and what will work for you.

.

Hey @eliquid,

Inspiring!

Wondering, are the SaaS's youve built mainly around digital marketing, either being analysis of data or even automating ad campaign launching ?

Additionally, are these SaaS's mainly built with PHP, or have you explored any other languages ?

Did you learn the coding needed from self study or did you work for a tech company and gain experience prior to launching.

 

[eliquid]

Hey @eliquid,

Inspiring!

Wondering, are the SaaS's youve built mainly around digital marketing, either being analysis of data or even automating ad campaign launching ?

Additionally, are these SaaS's mainly built with PHP, or have you explored any other languages ?

Did you learn the coding needed from self study or did you work for a tech company and gain experience prior to launching.

1. Analysis yes, but not campaign launching ( for ads )

2. Yes, PHP. I've explored Perl and Go on my own. Some of the SaaS's had C, C++, Exilir and other stuff. Backends of SQL, SQLite, Redis, and other things

3. Self study

 

[Ludachris]

Question about how to tackle a particular SaaS idea @eliquid... imagine you have a printable design that you want to sell as a downloadable PDF, but you want your customers to be able to customize the design before placing an order.

For simplicity sake, let's use the example of a license plate graphic, where the customer can choose up to 7 characters to make the license plate say whatever they want. The rest of the license place graphic remains static. The only thing that changes are the license plate letters. The font is predetermined by the software. Once the customer chooses the wording, they submit it, place an order, and a PDF gets generated that they can then download immediately. They can then take that PDF and use it to get it printed on whatever medium they want - of course, I would provide some suggestions on what that design would work well on (t-shirts, metal signs, coffee mugs, etc, with links to those services).

This would essentially just be a PDF editing software using web form fields to collect the information to add to the PDF, then generate the PDF, maybe with the option to generate an SVG or PNG. It would similar to the QR code generators that are out there, or simplified versions of the on-demand printing solutions like Spreadshirt, CafePress, and various others out there. It would need the ability to store and use specified fonts and specified color codes. And the ability to edit multiple text locations in some situations.

With all of that said, where would you start? Could something like this be built with SaaS builder tools? If any come to mind that you think would work for this, point me in that direction and I'll start researching.

 

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[eliquid]

Question about how to tackle a particular SaaS idea @eliquid... imagine you have a printable design that you want to sell as a downloadable PDF, but you want your customers to be able to customize the design before placing an order.

For simplicity sake, let's use the example of a license plate graphic, where the customer can choose up to 7 characters to make the license plate say whatever they want. The rest of the license place graphic remains static. The only thing that changes are the license plate letters. The font is predetermined by the software. Once the customer chooses the wording, they submit it, place an order, and a PDF gets generated that they can then download immediately. They can then take that PDF and use it to get it printed on whatever medium they want - of course, I would provide some suggestions on what that design would work well on (t-shirts, metal signs, coffee mugs, etc, with links to those services).

This would essentially just be a PDF editing software using web form fields to collect the information to add to the PDF, then generate the PDF, maybe with the option to generate an SVG or PNG. It would similar to the QR code generators that are out there, or simplified versions of the on-demand printing solutions like Spreadshirt, CafePress, and various others out there. It would need the ability to store and use specified fonts and specified color codes. And the ability to edit multiple text locations in some situations.

With all of that said, where would you start? Could something like this be built with SaaS builder tools? If any come to mind that you think would work for this, point me in that direction and I'll start researching.

I dont know of any SaaS builder tools that do this.

But I do work with companies exactly like Spreadshirt and Cafepress that deal in custom printed goods.

All of them have largely built their own WYSIWYG editors for this.

I would suggest for something of this matter, something customized so the design experience is spot on.

 

[BlackLands]

@eliquid what do you think about saas boilerplate? In summary a boilerplate is a codebase with most of the basic things for a SaaS already implemented (Auth, stripe, etc.). I'm using one to build mine and I'd like to have your opinion.

 

[eliquid]

@eliquid what do you think about saas boilerplate? In summary a boilerplate is a codebase with most of the basic things for a SaaS already implemented (Auth, stripe, etc.). I'm using one to build mine and I'd like to have your opinion.

I mean if it works, that's great.

I don't use stuff like this because I like to have total control of something without re-learning how the orig dev MEANT for it to be.

But if it works for you, nothing wrong with using it.

 

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[alexkuzmov]

@eliquid what do you think about saas boilerplate? In summary a boilerplate is a codebase with most of the basic things for a SaaS already implemented (Auth, stripe, etc.). I'm using one to build mine and I'd like to have your opinion.

Is this open source, can you share some links?
I`m curious what does such a boilerplate look like, given that the software for saas can be so varied.

 

[yogesh_rasal_]

Hello everyone.

A lot of you know me for my digital marketing Gold Thread here on the FLF ( see sig ), as well as other posts in the forum.

What you might not know is that I've successfully built 6 profitable SaaS programs either solely by myself, or with a single partner ( and with no other employees other than VA's ), and that I am working on building my 7th SaaS

I've learned a few things in SaaS over the last 7 years that span:

• Handling competitors
• Reducing churn
• Fraud reduction
• Technology for SaaS needs
• Big Data ( billions of new data points daily over years )
• Increasing LTV
• APIs
• Pricing
• Onboarding
• Project management
• Marketing
• Customer service
• Partnerships
• Customer demos/profiles, MVPs, UVP's, ahHa moments, etc
• many many more things

I've focused all my SaaS programs in the digital marketing space, but I have some ideas for new SaaS programs expanding outside of that for the future.

I can't answer questions related to:

• Legal - please seek an attorney
• Specific finance questions about my current or past SaaS programs - I'm not going to divulge other than generalities to the public. I can verify for a mod though if needed.
• Info on verticals outside of digital marketing - meaning if you have a SaaS for doctors and you ask me a specific medical question, I won't know it if it pertains to doctors or medical
• LLC vs Scorp Vs etc - This is legal
• How long is a piece of string type questions

And before anyone asks.. NO, not all 6 SaaS are currently running right now. I closed down the first 5 over the years at different times due to either partner problems or interest died off for me and I rolled into the next SaaS combining ideas to make something new.

For clarification, I am running 1 active SaaS right now and building another ( the 7th ) that is not public atm since it is not finished.

Ask away!


P.S. - Listen, I'm a different type of person. I have very unique views that don't always fit the norm you might have heard elsewhere. What I tell you is what has worked for me and the way I see things from my own personal experience. There are many ways to skin a cat. If you don't agree, that's cool but always think things over for yourself and what will work for you.

.

Hello Sir ,
I want learn how to build Saas products. I am a computer engineer student.
I would love to work with you as an intern. it will be great, if I get a chance to work with you
looking forward for positive feedback .
Thank you.

 

[Perads1]

Hello everyone.

A lot of you know me for my digital marketing Gold Thread here on the FLF ( see sig ), as well as other posts in the forum.

What you might not know is that I've successfully built 6 profitable SaaS programs either solely by myself, or with a single partner ( and with no other employees other than VA's ), and that I am working on building my 7th SaaS

I've learned a few things in SaaS over the last 7 years that span:

• Handling competitors
• Reducing churn
• Fraud reduction
• Technology for SaaS needs
• Big Data ( billions of new data points daily over years )
• Increasing LTV
• APIs
• Pricing
• Onboarding
• Project management
• Marketing
• Customer service
• Partnerships
• Customer demos/profiles, MVPs, UVP's, ahHa moments, etc
• many many more things

I've focused all my SaaS programs in the digital marketing space, but I have some ideas for new SaaS programs expanding outside of that for the future.

I can't answer questions related to:

• Legal - please seek an attorney
• Specific finance questions about my current or past SaaS programs - I'm not going to divulge other than generalities to the public. I can verify for a mod though if needed.
• Info on verticals outside of digital marketing - meaning if you have a SaaS for doctors and you ask me a specific medical question, I won't know it if it pertains to doctors or medical
• LLC vs Scorp Vs etc - This is legal
• How long is a piece of string type questions

And before anyone asks.. NO, not all 6 SaaS are currently running right now. I closed down the first 5 over the years at different times due to either partner problems or interest died off for me and I rolled into the next SaaS combining ideas to make something new.

For clarification, I am running 1 active SaaS right now and building another ( the 7th ) that is not public atm since it is not finished.

Ask away!


P.S. - Listen, I'm a different type of person. I have very unique views that don't always fit the norm you might have heard elsewhere. What I tell you is what has worked for me and the way I see things from my own personal experience. There are many ways to skin a cat. If you don't agree, that's cool but always think things over for yourself and what will work for you.

.

Hey. I want to know how lead generation works for b2b or b2c saas startups/businesses. And what type of saas businesses are there (meaning industries). How do I find these businesses and people? Thanks.

P.s. this is for my business btw, so I can service to saas startups with regards to their lead gen.

 

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[chazwazzer]

Hello Sir ,
I want learn how to build Saas products. I am a computer engineer student.
I would love to work with you as an intern. it will be great, if I get a chance to work with you
looking forward for positive feedback .
Thank you.

Are you a js programmer?

 

[eliquid]

Hello Sir ,
I want learn how to build Saas products. I am a computer engineer student.
I would love to work with you as an intern. it will be great, if I get a chance to work with you
looking forward for positive feedback .
Thank you.

Just read this thread

 

[eliquid]

Hey. I want to know how lead generation works for b2b or b2c saas startups/businesses. And what type of saas businesses are there (meaning industries). How do I find these businesses and people? Thanks.

P.s. this is for my business btw, so I can service to saas startups with regards to their lead gen.

You gotta be an authority first, from reading your comment you might want to rethink things a bit

 

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[Lou7]

Hello everyone.

A lot of you know me for my digital marketing Gold Thread here on the FLF ( see sig ), as well as other posts in the forum.

What you might not know is that I've successfully built 6 profitable SaaS programs either solely by myself, or with a single partner ( and with no other employees other than VA's ), and that I am working on building my 7th SaaS

I've learned a few things in SaaS over the last 7 years that span:

• Handling competitors
• Reducing churn
• Fraud reduction
• Technology for SaaS needs
• Big Data ( billions of new data points daily over years )
• Increasing LTV
• APIs
• Pricing
• Onboarding
• Project management
• Marketing
• Customer service
• Partnerships
• Customer demos/profiles, MVPs, UVP's, ahHa moments, etc
• many many more things

I've focused all my SaaS programs in the digital marketing space, but I have some ideas for new SaaS programs expanding outside of that for the future.

I can't answer questions related to:

• Legal - please seek an attorney
• Specific finance questions about my current or past SaaS programs - I'm not going to divulge other than generalities to the public. I can verify for a mod though if needed.
• Info on verticals outside of digital marketing - meaning if you have a SaaS for doctors and you ask me a specific medical question, I won't know it if it pertains to doctors or medical
• LLC vs Scorp Vs etc - This is legal
• How long is a piece of string type questions

And before anyone asks.. NO, not all 6 SaaS are currently running right now. I closed down the first 5 over the years at different times due to either partner problems or interest died off for me and I rolled into the next SaaS combining ideas to make something new.

For clarification, I am running 1 active SaaS right now and building another ( the 7th ) that is not public atm since it is not finished.

Ask away!


P.S. - Listen, I'm a different type of person. I have very unique views that don't always fit the norm you might have heard elsewhere. What I tell you is what has worked for me and the way I see things from my own personal experience. There are many ways to skin a cat. If you don't agree, that's cool but always think things over for yourself and what will work for you.

.

what is your framework for churn reduction and customer success?

 

[eliquid]

what is your framework for churn reduction and customer success?

It's covered in this thread.

You might want to take a day and read through the thread/take notes and jot down.

Reading the different posts, as a whole, will shed more light overall on this process than a single post where I answered it.

In short, the only framework you need is getting your customer to their "Ah-ha" moment with you.

Once they understand what you really provide them, and what's provided is real value to them, you won't have an issue with churn or customer success as a whole.

 

[EL_00]

hi @eliquid,

do you have small problems in digital marketing that are too busy for you to solve currently?

i'm learning cloud right now with the goal to build a microservice. Not expect to solve a big problem that could generate big cash, but just aim to help at least 5 people in the industry.

Thank you!

 

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[Matt Sun]

Question about how to tackle a particular SaaS idea @eliquid... imagine you have a printable design that you want to sell as a downloadable PDF, but you want your customers to be able to customize the design before placing an order.

For simplicity sake, let's use the example of a license plate graphic, where the customer can choose up to 7 characters to make the license plate say whatever they want. The rest of the license place graphic remains static. The only thing that changes are the license plate letters. The font is predetermined by the software. Once the customer chooses the wording, they submit it, place an order, and a PDF gets generated that they can then download immediately. They can then take that PDF and use it to get it printed on whatever medium they want - of course, I would provide some suggestions on what that design would work well on (t-shirts, metal signs, coffee mugs, etc, with links to those services).

This would essentially just be a PDF editing software using web form fields to collect the information to add to the PDF, then generate the PDF, maybe with the option to generate an SVG or PNG. It would similar to the QR code generators that are out there, or simplified versions of the on-demand printing solutions like Spreadshirt, CafePress, and various others out there. It would need the ability to store and use specified fonts and specified color codes. And the ability to edit multiple text locations in some situations.

With all of that said, where would you start? Could something like this be built with SaaS builder tools? If any come to mind that you think would work for this, point me in that direction and I'll start researching.

Hi, this is totally doable. With React/Javascript I have done a similar functionality but for a Curriculum Vitae generator. It's like you said a web form, and another web component (be it a virtual CV or your T-shirt design) that gets edited with every user's keystroke.

 

[chazwazzer]

Question about how to tackle a particular SaaS idea @eliquid... imagine you have a printable design that you want to sell as a downloadable PDF, but you want your customers to be able to customize the design before placing an order.

For simplicity sake, let's use the example of a license plate graphic, where the customer can choose up to 7 characters to make the license plate say whatever they want. The rest of the license place graphic remains static. The only thing that changes are the license plate letters. The font is predetermined by the software. Once the customer chooses the wording, they submit it, place an order, and a PDF gets generated that they can then download immediately. They can then take that PDF and use it to get it printed on whatever medium they want - of course, I would provide some suggestions on what that design would work well on (t-shirts, metal signs, coffee mugs, etc, with links to those services).

This would essentially just be a PDF editing software using web form fields to collect the information to add to the PDF, then generate the PDF, maybe with the option to generate an SVG or PNG. It would similar to the QR code generators that are out there, or simplified versions of the on-demand printing solutions like Spreadshirt, CafePress, and various others out there. It would need the ability to store and use specified fonts and specified color codes. And the ability to edit multiple text locations in some situations.

With all of that said, where would you start? Could something like this be built with SaaS builder tools? If any come to mind that you think would work for this, point me in that direction and I'll start researching.

I put your request into my Systems Design custom GPT and noodled with the code a little bit and landed on this as a really rough prototype for you. it uses tailwind, react, and jsPDF


```jsx
import React, { useState, useRef } from 'react';
import 'tailwindcss/tailwind.css';
import { jsPDF } from "jspdf";
import html2canvas from 'html2canvas';
function App() {
const [text, setText] = useState("");
const licensePlateRef = useRef(null);
const handleChange = (e) => {
setText(e.target.value.toUpperCase().slice(0, 7)); // Uppercase, max 7 chars
};
const handleSubmit = async () => {
// Generate PDF with license plate design
const pdf = new jsPDF();
if (licensePlateRef.current) {
const canvas = await html2canvas(licensePlateRef.current);
const imgData = canvas.toDataURL('image/png');
pdf.addImage(imgData, 'PNG', 10, 10);
}
pdf.save("license_plate_design.pdf");
};

const ph = "Enter up to 7 characters"
return (
<div className="flex flex-col items-center justify-center min-h-screen bg-gray-100">
<div className="p-4 bg-white rounded shadow-md w-64">
<h1 className="text-2xl mb-4">Customize Your License Plate</h1>
<input
type="text"
value={text}
onChange={handleChange}
placeholder={ph}
className="mb-4 p-2 w-full border border-gray-300 rounded"
/>
<button
onClick={handleSubmit}
className="w-full p-2 bg-blue-500 text-white rounded"
>
Generate Design
</button>
</div>
{/* license plate below */}
<div ref={licensePlateRef} className="mt-8 p-4 bg-gray-200 rounded shadow-md w-64 text-center text-xl font-bold flex items-center justify-center">
<div className="border-4 border-black rounded-lg w-full">
<div className="bg-yellow-500 text-black rounded-lg p-2">
{text ? text : "Your License Plate"}
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
);
}
export default App;
```

 

[Flain]

Question about how to tackle a particular SaaS idea @eliquid... imagine you have a printable design that you want to sell as a downloadable PDF, but you want your customers to be able to customize the design before placing an order.

For simplicity sake, let's use the example of a license plate graphic, where the customer can choose up to 7 characters to make the license plate say whatever they want. The rest of the license place graphic remains static. The only thing that changes are the license plate letters. The font is predetermined by the software. Once the customer chooses the wording, they submit it, place an order, and a PDF gets generated that they can then download immediately. They can then take that PDF and use it to get it printed on whatever medium they want - of course, I would provide some suggestions on what that design would work well on (t-shirts, metal signs, coffee mugs, etc, with links to those services).

This would essentially just be a PDF editing software using web form fields to collect the information to add to the PDF, then generate the PDF, maybe with the option to generate an SVG or PNG. It would similar to the QR code generators that are out there, or simplified versions of the on-demand printing solutions like Spreadshirt, CafePress, and various others out there. It would need the ability to store and use specified fonts and specified color codes. And the ability to edit multiple text locations in some situations.

With all of that said, where would you start? Could something like this be built with SaaS builder tools? If any come to mind that you think would work for this, point me in that direction and I'll start researching.

Would DocuSeal's HTML to PDF be any good? I remember seeing it on HackerNews a few weeks ago. This is the page I think will help Creating Fillable PDF Document Forms with HTML | DocuSeal

You'd need to use the Pro account for $20/month for the HTML to PDF feature.

 

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[Sterling729]

Hello. I was wondering if you would advise trying to get paying customers right away to test the demand for your product? Or is good feedback enough at the start?