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

[eliquid]

Thank you for this, I'm almost through the thread but I do have a question about your dev process.

When you have an idea, do you just use a whiteboard or a drawing app to figure out your UI? Or do you use something like Balsamiq or Moqups?

Or do you just layout and code based on raw experience?

I've been searching for something that makes certain UI layouts a bit less wild on the workflow. I did some UIs but spent what I think to be way too much time on them with hard coding.

I draw it on paper first, even if it's a napkin or the back of the electric bill.

I then take that and transfer it to something more official like Balsamiq to show devs and partners.

Past that, its up to someone else to create.

 

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[LeoistheSun]

Hey @eliquid I'd like to ask some more questions on price- based on your previous answer Pricing can never be a USP- because its super easy to change. So I've run into a unique situation.

Ill keep the story short (since I dont know if you read my SaaSify thread or not):

So I'm looking into using an API for a certain SaaS product of mine. Subsequently, I learned that the company that owns this API also offers a "reseller" account (that you can re-sell their product instead of building software) that lo-and-behold my competition uses.

According to the Company that sells the Re-seller accounts and the API, they charge ~$35 per re-seller account per month. Now these re-sellers (my future competition) take that $35 and charge double (~$70/mo.) to customers. A double increase.

However if I were to use the API and build my own product (more freedom etc.) the approx cost would be ~$10-$15/per mo. per account (I estimate). Much cheaper than using the re-seller accounts. I also retain (partially) the commandment of CONTROL.

Since my margin is ~$20, would you price your offering below ($59), same ($69) or above ($79-$99) to get more clients, differentiate yourself and potentially grab the competitions business?

Take this also into consideration:

My competition (i've done some value-skewing research):

• Do not have professional websites (it looks clunky)
• All require you to "book a demo" (so no instant purchasing)
• Cannot add a feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo.
• Most do not have any video reviews
• No professional photos
• Charge approx ~$65-70

My desire is to make this product SUPER SIMPLE to use. Offer great customer service and even throw in some X freebies (not having X product can be an obstacle). If you were to fix all these things, would you charge less, equal or more?

One other thing: The "feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo" -should I include this as an upsell? Thanks!

 

[SoftStone]

Hey @eliquid thanks for providing so much value, really appreciate it!

I have another question on marketing. Earlier in the thread you talked about establishing yourself as an expert in the niche you work in. What do you think of the strategy of starting a blog/youtube channel, and producing free content before advertising a SaaS product to your customers? (I guess that would be inbound marketing)

The only downside (but quite a big one...) I would see with this is that it could take many years to build a good following you can sell to. Do you think it is worth it?

Appreciate your opinion

 

[BrooklynHustle]

I don't advertise it online at all.

What I meant by "people finding me online and asking" is, people find me on forums like this one ( I'm on several other forums, throughout the years ), or find my SaaS products, or find me through others that know me ( Slack/Skype/podcasts/interviews I've done, etc ) and then they reach out and just ask.

So it's not like they know me or know I do coaching and then seek me out for my coaching. It's more like they read my stuff on a forum, blog, interview I've done, podcast, Slack channel, or something else and thought, "this guy knows something I want to learn" and then they just ask me if I can coach them. They don't necessarily know I do coaching beforehand when they ask.

I like this approach better. I don't feel like I'm selling something or trying to convince someone to hire me. When people seek you out and ask you, it's a lot different dynamic that shows me they are ready to learn and will maybe put real effort into it.

It also keeps the amount of people I coach very low, which means more attention for the student so they get more value.

.

@eliquid - obviously you know your shit in this arena.

would love to interview you for my podcast about success in software entrepreneurship if interested (see my progress thread below)

Progress Thread - Want to Learn from WORLD CLASS App, SAAS & Software Entrepreneurs?

Betting a number of people here would be quite interested to listen

 

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[eliquid]

@eliquid - obviously you know your sh*t in this arena.

would love to interview you for my podcast about success in software entrepreneurship if interested (see my progress thread below)

Progress Thread - Want to Learn from WORLD CLASS App, SAAS & Software Entrepreneurs?

Betting a number of people here would be quite interested to listen

Im game.

Also @Andy Black , I think I'm mentally ready for yours as well!

 

[eliquid]

Hey @eliquid thanks for providing so much value, really appreciate it!

I have another question on marketing. Earlier in the thread you talked about establishing yourself as an expert in the niche you work in. What do you think of the strategy of starting a blog/youtube channel, and producing free content before advertising a SaaS product to your customers? (I guess that would be inbound marketing)

The only downside (but quite a big one...) I would see with this is that it could take many years to build a good following you can sell to. Do you think it is worth it?

Appreciate your opinion

You've phrased this in a way it seems like you can only do one thing...

1. start blog/youtube/free content
2. hit famous or authoritive level
3. build product to sell to customers

Maybe you didn't mean it that way, but it kinda seemed like it.

Why not do both at same time?

1. build MVP of product while starting a blog/youtube/free content
2. sell yourself as a consultant in that niche, in which your product relates to, while you code and write the rest of the product and free content
3. start making some of the content paid
4. all the while you are signing up Beta users to your SaaS, getting consulting gigs that show you more areas you can improve in your SaaS, making you money, gaining you authority, etc

 

[eliquid]

Hey @eliquid I'd like to ask some more questions on price- based on your previous answer Pricing can never be a USP- because its super easy to change. So I've run into a unique situation.

Ill keep the story short (since I dont know if you read my SaaSify thread or not):

So I'm looking into using an API for a certain SaaS product of mine. Subsequently, I learned that the company that owns this API also offers a "reseller" account (that you can re-sell their product instead of building software) that lo-and-behold my competition uses.

According to the Company that sells the Re-seller accounts and the API, they charge ~$35 per re-seller account per month. Now these re-sellers (my future competition) take that $35 and charge double (~$70/mo.) to customers. A double increase.

However if I were to use the API and build my own product (more freedom etc.) the approx cost would be ~$10-$15/per mo. per account (I estimate). Much cheaper than using the re-seller accounts. I also retain (partially) the commandment of CONTROL.

Since my margin is ~$20, would you price your offering below ($59), same ($69) or above ($79-$99) to get more clients, differentiate yourself and potentially grab the competitions business?

Take this also into consideration:

My competition (i've done some value-skewing research):

• Do not have professional websites (it looks clunky)
• All require you to "book a demo" (so no instant purchasing)
• Cannot add a feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo.
• Most do not have any video reviews
• No professional photos
• Charge approx ~$65-70

My desire is to make this product SUPER SIMPLE to use. Offer great customer service and even throw in some X freebies (not having X product can be an obstacle). If you were to fix all these things, would you charge less, equal or more?

One other thing: The "feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo" -should I include this as an upsell? Thanks!

will get to this after I eat some tacos... brb

 

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[Andy Black]

Earlier in the thread you talked about establishing yourself as an expert in the niche you work in. What do you think of the strategy of starting a blog/youtube channel, and producing free content before advertising a SaaS product to your customers? (I guess that would be inbound marketing)

1. build MVP of product while starting a blog/youtube/free content
2. sell yourself as a consultant in that niche, in which your product relates to, while you code and write the rest of the product and free content
3. start making some of the content paid
4. all the while you are signing up Beta users to your SaaS, getting consulting gigs that show you more areas you can improve in your SaaS, making you money, gaining you authority, etc

Even though I'm not building a SaaS (yet?)... I am building a subscription business.

My process was similar to @eliquid 's above, albeit more accidental than designed:

1. Go help people.
2. Gradually work out what people will pay you to help them with (ideally something they'll pay monthly for).
3. Go help people in forums. Find out the common issues and problems. Answer them there and then. Create content to answer repeated questions.
4. Create a paid course to help people with the most common problem (how to get started).
5. Create a private Facebook group to help people who bought the course.
6. Realise Facebook groups are cr@p and start migrating people to a paid forum.
7. Realise that a paid forum with ongoing support and training will help members better than a one-off course. Plan to move course into the forum and close down course.
8. All while still serving done-for-you clients who are still paying monthly.
9. All while getting paid by the clients to learn how to solve problems those very clients have.
10. All while getting paid by the clients to build the people, processes, technology, and IP to solve their problems at scale.

@SoftStone ... this thread might help you:

• How to use forums (and Facebook groups)

 

[Andy Black]

Also @Andy Black , I think I'm mentally ready for yours as well!

Hmmm... how come people seem to have to steel themselves before talking to me? (@Almantas ? What's the Price Tag of Fear?)

Looking forward to it @eliquid ... it's long overdue!

 

[eliquid]

Hmmm... how come people seem to have to steel themselves before talking to me? (@Almantas ? What's the Price Tag of Fear?)

Looking forward to it @eliquid ... it's long overdue!

For me it's kinda like Tetris.

I had this wall ( recently 2 other people asked me for podcast ) and I kept delaying them like I kinda did yours. No real reason, I just get busy and super procrastinate until the Tetris wall gets too big and I feel like finally I need to start breaking it down.

So when this podcast request came in too, it was kinda like the L shape fitting in perfect to bust down the Tetris wall of other requests finally. If I said later, I'd prob lose the game.

I think it's time now I say yes, instead of "later". Make those pieces start fitting in.

Odd analogy, right?

.

 

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[LeoistheSun]

For me it's kinda like Tetris.

I had this wall ( recently 2 other people asked me for podcast ) and I kept delaying them like I kinda did yours. No real reason, I just get busy and super procrastinate until the Tetris wall gets too big and I feel like finally I need to start breaking it down.

So when this podcast request came in too, it was kinda like the L shape fitting in perfect to bust down the Tetris wall of other requests finally. If I said later, I'd prob lose the game.

I think it's time now I say yes, instead of "later". Make those pieces start fitting in.

Odd analogy, right?

.

Is taco Time over? Lol

 

[eliquid]

Hey @eliquid I'd like to ask some more questions on price- based on your previous answer Pricing can never be a USP- because its super easy to change. So I've run into a unique situation.

Ill keep the story short (since I dont know if you read my SaaSify thread or not):

So I'm looking into using an API for a certain SaaS product of mine. Subsequently, I learned that the company that owns this API also offers a "reseller" account (that you can re-sell their product instead of building software) that lo-and-behold my competition uses.

According to the Company that sells the Re-seller accounts and the API, they charge ~$35 per re-seller account per month. Now these re-sellers (my future competition) take that $35 and charge double (~$70/mo.) to customers. A double increase.

However if I were to use the API and build my own product (more freedom etc.) the approx cost would be ~$10-$15/per mo. per account (I estimate). Much cheaper than using the re-seller accounts. I also retain (partially) the commandment of CONTROL.

Since my margin is ~$20, would you price your offering below ($59), same ($69) or above ($79-$99) to get more clients, differentiate yourself and potentially grab the competitions business?

Take this also into consideration:

My competition (i've done some value-skewing research):

• Do not have professional websites (it looks clunky)
• All require you to "book a demo" (so no instant purchasing)
• Cannot add a feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo.
• Most do not have any video reviews
• No professional photos
• Charge approx ~$65-70

My desire is to make this product SUPER SIMPLE to use. Offer great customer service and even throw in some X freebies (not having X product can be an obstacle). If you were to fix all these things, would you charge less, equal or more?

One other thing: The "feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo" -should I include this as an upsell? Thanks!

So these are my thoughts. Other people might disagree, but there is a reason I suggest these in this order...

The thing about price is, in GENERAL focusing on price can lead to a long term struggle that ends up the "race to the bottom", which is why I hate focusing on it for SOME things.

The other thought is, at some point you will have new competition, or your old competitor will get so butt-hurt over what you are doing, they wise up and upgrade and then lower their price from $70 to $59 and add in more features and now you are MAYBE at the same price but they out have featured you. Rinse and repeat and you get a tiresome game of back and forth until they strike a deal with their "wholesaler" where they only pay $10 now and they offer a new price level for their product ( minus some features they have in other plans ) for less than your entry price now.

This shit does happen. I've witnessed it personally in my SaaS's and I have watched it on the sidelines with companies I buy SaaS services from.

According to the Company that sells the Re-seller accounts and the API, they charge ~$35 per re-seller account per month. Now these re-sellers (my future competition) take that $35 and charge double (~$70/mo.) to customers. A double increase.

First to market, or market leader can enjoy pricing like this. If you're the only ( known ) game in town, o the market leader/first to market... you can charge what you want. That is until someone like you comes in.

It's OK to be #2 or even #3. Lots of money in those positions.

My concern is this... What happens when to this company ( the wholesaler ) if their API is down for 3 days or they close up shop due to bad management. My number 1 concern for you at this point is finding a way off their API in the future.

You're only as strong as your weakest link. Your weakest links is 3rd parties. I can't tell you how many times 3rd parties screw me over monthly because I depend on them. Get your MVP up and running, but #1 priority after that is finding a way to "live without them" if they crash or burn, or have their servers hacked and are down for 4 days, because you will be down too....

Since my margin is ~$20, would you price your offering below ($59), same ($69) or above ($79-$99) to get more clients, differentiate yourself and potentially grab the competitions business?

I'd charge same as them.

Why? You know there is a market at $69/$75 already. People pay that already in your market. BOOM, easy right?

You could go less at $59 or $49, but that will cause your competitors to notice you and start to upgrade their services, maybe offer a lower end plan, maybe extend their free trial ( if any ), etc.

From the way it sounds in the rest of your post, you will match and exceed them in features.

So from the customers mind, for the same price they get more. You already won.

That's for a regular plan.

I'd open a lower end plan for those that can't afford $69. Make it match what your competitor has feature wise and charge $39. You know for the immediate future your competitor can't do jack shit about it.

However, you will watch people ( as they learn about you ) jump ship and maybe bail on your competitor and sign up with you since you match with them at a lower price point.

Since you have your higher end with more features, its an easy upsell process 30-45 days later to have them paying what they use to pay, but getting more.

My competition (i've done some value-skewing research):

• Do not have professional websites (it looks clunky)
• All require you to "book a demo" (so no instant purchasing)
• Cannot add a feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo.
• Most do not have any video reviews
• No professional photos
• Charge approx ~$65-70

My desire is to make this product SUPER SIMPLE to use. Offer great customer service and even throw in some X freebies (not having X product can be an obstacle). If you were to fix all these things, would you charge less, equal or more?

Sounds like you have a small moat. But a moat is still a moat ( advantage moat ). I like moats. Go forward and charge the same ( reg plan ) and lower price plan that matches them exactly. Your regular plan will be the one with the more features.

feature that could be really beneficial to my target demo

I wouldn't add it as a upsell/addon. Someone will come along and offer is as standard, causing you to adapt. If you just add this in, especially on the lower end package.. you almost make yourself a blue ocean ( maybe more like a blue river ) which will give you leverage in your advantage moat.

You could try upselling it to see the responses you get ( almost like split testing ), and then if someone copies you, you just enable it for free for everyone later. However, I like to keep things simple and just add value and steal the customers from competitors to cripple them now as best I can.

.

 

[LeoistheSun]

So these are my thoughts. Other people might disagree, but there is a reason I suggest these in this order...

The thing about price is, in GENERAL focusing on price can lead to a long term struggle that ends up the "race to the bottom", which is why I hate focusing on it for SOME things.

The other thought is, at some point you will have new competition, or your old competitor will get so butt-hurt over what you are doing, they wise up and upgrade and then lower their price from $70 to $59 and add in more features and now you are MAYBE at the same price but they out have featured you. Rinse and repeat and you get a tiresome game of back and forth until they strike a deal with their "wholesaler" where they only pay $10 now and they offer a new price level for their product ( minus some features they have in other plans ) for less than your entry price now.

This sh*t does happen. I've witnessed it personally in my SaaS's and I have watched it on the sidelines with companies I buy SaaS services from.



First to market, or market leader can enjoy pricing like this. If you're the only ( known ) game in town, o the market leader/first to market... you can charge what you want. That is until someone like you comes in.

It's OK to be #2 or even #3. Lots of money in those positions.

My concern is this... What happens when to this company ( the wholesaler ) if their API is down for 3 days or they close up shop due to bad management. My number 1 concern for you at this point is finding a way off their API in the future.

You're only as strong as your weakest link. Your weakest links is 3rd parties. I can't tell you how many times 3rd parties screw me over monthly because I depend on them. Get your MVP up and running, but #1 priority after that is finding a way to "live without them" if they crash or burn, or have their servers hacked and are down for 4 days, because you will be down too....



I'd charge same as them.

Why? You know there is a market at $69/$75 already. People pay that already in your market. BOOM, easy right?

You could go less at $59 or $49, but that will cause your competitors to notice you and start to upgrade their services, maybe offer a lower end plan, maybe extend their free trial ( if any ), etc.

From the way it sounds in the rest of your post, you will match and exceed them in features.

So from the customers mind, for the same price they get more. You already won.

That's for a regular plan.

I'd open a lower end plan for those that can't afford $69. Make it match what your competitor has feature wise and charge $39. You know for the immediate future your competitor can't do jack sh*t about it.

However, you will watch people ( as they learn about you ) jump ship and maybe bail on your competitor and sign up with you since you match with them at a lower price point.

Since you have your higher end with more features, its an easy upsell process 30-45 days later to have them paying what they use to pay, but getting more.



Sounds like you have a small moat. But a moat is still a moat ( advantage moat ). I like moats. Go forward and charge the same ( reg plan ) and lower price plan that matches them exactly. Your regular plan will be the one with the more features.



I wouldn't add it as a upsell/addon. Someone will come along and offer is as standard, causing you to adapt. If you just add this in, especially on the lower end package.. you almost make yourself a blue ocean ( maybe more like a blue river ) which will give you leverage in your advantage moat.

You could try upselling it to see the responses you get ( almost like split testing ), and then if someone copies you, you just enable it for free for everyone later. However, I like to keep things simple and just add value and steal the customers from competitors to cripple them now as best I can.

.

Interesting...

The API is pretty much only offered by billion dollar companies that deals with machine learning. They'd make more $$ charging for API usage than going into my market. But one of them (non billion dollar) does offer the reseller (that I mentioned). I had asked them about this: "would you ever make a SaaS like mine?" Or "do you think I'm competing with you?"

Their answer was no. "Creating a SaaS would put us in competition with our own resellers. That would be bad for business.

Interestingly enough, theirs a small research firm, that just...might...work with what they got.

But my goal would be (besides testing and checking to see if this fixes the problem for my clients), to make enough MRR to buy them or a stake.

Also I was thinking for doing a "pay as you go" model, that I'm eager to test as well.

Thoughts?


But in all honesty, bad customer service is very prevalent in this niche which could also give me the upper hand. (The resellers probably have good customer service, but they are limited since they don't own anything).

One other thing @eliquid, I found MS Azure can do what I need but I need to program the application first.

 

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[BrooklynHustle]

Im game.

@eliquid - Awesome. Best way to get in touch to schedule?

 

[Real Deal Denver]

Posting from another thread, for possible insight here...

I have an app I'd like built - I think. It may not be an app, I don't know. It may be a website linked to a database, and converted to mobile format to look like an app.

I want to create a collection of products, in groups. You pick a group, then see a list of products, from which you can choose one. After choosing one, a video screen pops up with a menu to choose from. In that menu, you can choose to play from the beginning, or jump to certain sections of the video, like specifications, price, etc. You can also choose to play the videos step by step - in other words, after each discussion of the the separate features is finished, the video pauses, until you hit the forward button. Or, you can hit the back button to repeat that section. These are complex products, so this is kind of a combination "how-to" video and a selling by feature video. This is for an informed audience, not an interest generating video aimed at creating interest from a sales perspective.

So, not knowing anything about apps, I am wondering how to approach creating this. I'd ideally like a small easy to use app that would be like a front door to open the full fledged program. I'd like the full program to exist as a standalone thing that someone could download and refer to it on their schedule. If it goes well, which I am expecting it to do so, I'd like to expand it and make it more educational, and have a renewal fee on an annual basis, based on the newest advances in the field. I don't want it linked through the internet for content feed because, after the initial download, not all my customers will have access to the internet whenever they will want to run it. To add pay-for options and renewals, an internet connection would be desirable. But it is important for it to be sold and used as a standalone product, independent of the internet. That would be sold as a DVD, for example, or a one time download.

This would kind of be like an on demand college course, but tied into proprietary information. I'd also like a "key word" pop up screen available for each video so it could be paused and any particular term or process can be better defined, as a side note. A built in index, if you will, but tailored to each video, while also having any and all terms searchable.

This is, as you see, kind of hard to describe while maintaining confidentiality of the product.

Being I am not an internet geek, but know more than the average consumer, I am hoping you can point me in the right direction of how to identify this, and how to build it. Then I can search out the details, once I am pointed in the right direction, at least.

I am expecting the video content to total maybe 1,000 hours or so. This will be quite a substantial collection of information.

Any idea of costs to put this in a data base format would be helpful. The videos already exist, but will need to be modified to overlay the key features screen, and video controls, such as playback speed, pause, restart, end, and step by step playback. Of course the table of contents feature needs to be developed as well.

This, of course, is in the early planning stages. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[eliquid]

Interesting...

The API is pretty much only offered by billion dollar companies that deals with machine learning. They'd make more $$ charging for API usage than going into my market. But one of them (non billion dollar) does offer the reseller (that I mentioned). I had asked them about this: "would you ever make a SaaS like mine?" Or "do you think I'm competing with you?"

Their answer was no. "Creating a SaaS would put us in competition with our own resellers. That would be bad for business.

Interestingly enough, theirs a small research firm, that just...might...work with what they got.

But my goal would be (besides testing and checking to see if this fixes the problem for my clients), to make enough MRR to buy them or a stake.

Also I was thinking for doing a "pay as you go" model, that I'm eager to test as well.

Thoughts?


But in all honesty, bad customer service is very prevalent in this niche which could also give me the upper hand. (The resellers probably have good customer service, but they are limited since they don't own anything).

One other thing @eliquid, I found MS Azure can do what I need but I need to program the application first.

Pay as you go could work, but then you start stepping outside the bounds of SaaS.

Not that this is a problem for making money, but just letting you know trying to predict based on MRR could get sticky in some ways, some ways it doesn't change bc if you have a good product, people would just pay as they go every month.. however it might be a different price depending on how much they use.

I say go forward and see where it leads

 

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[eliquid]

Posting from another thread, for possible insight here...

I have an app I'd like built - I think. It may not be an app, I don't know. It may be a website linked to a database, and converted to mobile format to look like an app.

I want to create a collection of products, in groups. You pick a group, then see a list of products, from which you can choose one. After choosing one, a video screen pops up with a menu to choose from. In that menu, you can choose to play from the beginning, or jump to certain sections of the video, like specifications, price, etc. You can also choose to play the videos step by step - in other words, after each discussion of the the separate features is finished, the video pauses, until you hit the forward button. Or, you can hit the back button to repeat that section. These are complex products, so this is kind of a combination "how-to" video and a selling by feature video. This is for an informed audience, not an interest generating video aimed at creating interest from a sales perspective.

So, not knowing anything about apps, I am wondering how to approach creating this. I'd ideally like a small easy to use app that would be like a front door to open the full fledged program. I'd like the full program to exist as a standalone thing that someone could download and refer to it on their schedule. If it goes well, which I am expecting it to do so, I'd like to expand it and make it more educational, and have a renewal fee on an annual basis, based on the newest advances in the field. I don't want it linked through the internet for content feed because, after the initial download, not all my customers will have access to the internet whenever they will want to run it. To add pay-for options and renewals, an internet connection would be desirable. But it is important for it to be sold and used as a standalone product, independent of the internet. That would be sold as a DVD, for example, or a one time download.

This would kind of be like an on demand college course, but tied into proprietary information. I'd also like a "key word" pop up screen available for each video so it could be paused and any particular term or process can be better defined, as a side note. A built in index, if you will, but tailored to each video, while also having any and all terms searchable.

This is, as you see, kind of hard to describe while maintaining confidentiality of the product.

Being I am not an internet geek, but know more than the average consumer, I am hoping you can point me in the right direction of how to identify this, and how to build it. Then I can search out the details, once I am pointed in the right direction, at least.

I am expecting the video content to total maybe 1,000 hours or so. This will be quite a substantial collection of information.

Any idea of costs to put this in a data base format would be helpful. The videos already exist, but will need to be modified to overlay the key features screen, and video controls, such as playback speed, pause, restart, end, and step by step playback. Of course the table of contents feature needs to be developed as well.

This, of course, is in the early planning stages. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.

This in no way sounds like a SaaS product

 

[eliquid]

@eliquid - Awesome. Best way to get in touch to schedule?

Id say just PM here with a list of times ( 3 to 4 ) that works with you and let me pick which ones of those 3-4 works for me.

My schedule is generally open, but fills up fast day to day.. so giving me 3-4 that are a bit forward ( today is the 21st, so say 3-4 times/days that are at least 4 days in the future would work best ).

Thanks

 

[LeoistheSun]

Pay as you go could work, but then you start stepping outside the bounds of SaaS.

Not that this is a problem for making money, but just letting you know trying to predict based on MRR could get sticky in some ways, some ways it doesn't change bc if you have a good product, people would just pay as they go every month.. however it might be a different price depending on how much they use.

I say go forward and see where it leads

Earlier you had mentioned to have a price tier that matches my competitors. Do you have any thoughts on going "pay as you go" and then capping-out at this particular price-point?

I heard that pay-as-you-go is becoming more popular in the SaaS realm. (Chargebee’s SaaS Dispatch - Growth insights on SaaS, subscription commerce and all things Startup.)

 

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[Real Deal Denver]

Posting from another thread, for possible insight here...

I have an app I'd like built - I think. It may not be an app, I don't know. It may be a website linked to a database, and converted to mobile format to look like an app.

I want to create a collection of products, in groups. You pick a group, then see a list of products, from which you can choose one. After choosing one, a video screen pops up with a menu to choose from. In that menu, you can choose to play from the beginning, or jump to certain sections of the video, like specifications, price, etc. You can also choose to play the videos step by step - in other words, after each discussion of the the separate features is finished, the video pauses, until you hit the forward button. Or, you can hit the back button to repeat that section. These are complex products, so this is kind of a combination "how-to" video and a selling by feature video. This is for an informed audience, not an interest generating video aimed at creating interest from a sales perspective.

So, not knowing anything about apps, I am wondering how to approach creating this. I'd ideally like a small easy to use app that would be like a front door to open the full fledged program. I'd like the full program to exist as a standalone thing that someone could download and refer to it on their schedule. If it goes well, which I am expecting it to do so, I'd like to expand it and make it more educational, and have a renewal fee on an annual basis, based on the newest advances in the field. I don't want it linked through the internet for content feed because, after the initial download, not all my customers will have access to the internet whenever they will want to run it. To add pay-for options and renewals, an internet connection would be desirable. But it is important for it to be sold and used as a standalone product, independent of the internet. That would be sold as a DVD, for example, or a one time download.

This would kind of be like an on demand college course, but tied into proprietary information. I'd also like a "key word" pop up screen available for each video so it could be paused and any particular term or process can be better defined, as a side note. A built in index, if you will, but tailored to each video, while also having any and all terms searchable.

This is, as you see, kind of hard to describe while maintaining confidentiality of the product.

Being I am not an internet geek, but know more than the average consumer, I am hoping you can point me in the right direction of how to identify this, and how to build it. Then I can search out the details, once I am pointed in the right direction, at least.

I am expecting the video content to total maybe 1,000 hours or so. This will be quite a substantial collection of information.

Any idea of costs to put this in a data base format would be helpful. The videos already exist, but will need to be modified to overlay the key features screen, and video controls, such as playback speed, pause, restart, end, and step by step playback. Of course the table of contents feature needs to be developed as well.

This, of course, is in the early planning stages. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.

This in no way sounds like a SaaS product

What? Sure it does. Netflix is a SaaS product, and this is almost an exact clone. If I were to host it online, as Netflix does, it would be an exact copy, more or less. That may be a possibility, as this is in the fleshing out stage of development.

If you don't think this is a SaaS product, what would you call it then?

 

[LeoistheSun]

Posting from another thread, for possible insight here...

I have an app I'd like built - I think. It may not be an app, I don't know. It may be a website linked to a database, and converted to mobile format to look like an app.

I want to create a collection of products, in groups. You pick a group, then see a list of products, from which you can choose one. After choosing one, a video screen pops up with a menu to choose from. In that menu, you can choose to play from the beginning, or jump to certain sections of the video, like specifications, price, etc. You can also choose to play the videos step by step - in other words, after each discussion of the the separate features is finished, the video pauses, until you hit the forward button. Or, you can hit the back button to repeat that section. These are complex products, so this is kind of a combination "how-to" video and a selling by feature video. This is for an informed audience, not an interest generating video aimed at creating interest from a sales perspective.

So, not knowing anything about apps, I am wondering how to approach creating this. I'd ideally like a small easy to use app that would be like a front door to open the full fledged program. I'd like the full program to exist as a standalone thing that someone could download and refer to it on their schedule. If it goes well, which I am expecting it to do so, I'd like to expand it and make it more educational, and have a renewal fee on an annual basis, based on the newest advances in the field. I don't want it linked through the internet for content feed because, after the initial download, not all my customers will have access to the internet whenever they will want to run it. To add pay-for options and renewals, an internet connection would be desirable. But it is important for it to be sold and used as a standalone product, independent of the internet. That would be sold as a DVD, for example, or a one time download.

This would kind of be like an on demand college course, but tied into proprietary information. I'd also like a "key word" pop up screen available for each video so it could be paused and any particular term or process can be better defined, as a side note. A built in index, if you will, but tailored to each video, while also having any and all terms searchable.

This is, as you see, kind of hard to describe while maintaining confidentiality of the product.

Being I am not an internet geek, but know more than the average consumer, I am hoping you can point me in the right direction of how to identify this, and how to build it. Then I can search out the details, once I am pointed in the right direction, at least.

I am expecting the video content to total maybe 1,000 hours or so. This will be quite a substantial collection of information.

Any idea of costs to put this in a data base format would be helpful. The videos already exist, but will need to be modified to overlay the key features screen, and video controls, such as playback speed, pause, restart, end, and step by step playback. Of course the table of contents feature needs to be developed as well.

This, of course, is in the early planning stages. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.


What? Sure it does. Netflix is a SaaS product, and this is almost an exact clone. If I were to host it online, as Netflix does, it would be an exact copy, more or less. That may be a possibility, as this is in the fleshing out stage of development.

If you don't think this is a SaaS product, what would you call it then?

Its still a bit hard to understand what it does. Have you verified a need for it or just something you thought of?

 

[Real Deal Denver]

Its still a bit hard to understand what it does. Have you verified a need for it or just something you thought of?

It would look and function very much like Netflix, but have a more technical aspect to it - like a training course of sorts, but in an entertainment video format.

Is there a need? Absolutely.

I am not going to build this. I am here looking for direction on what to define this as, and possibly that might point me in the direction of how to go about getting it built. So many genius minds here -

 

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[eliquid]

Earlier you had mentioned to have a price tier that matches my competitors. Do you have any thoughts on going "pay as you go" and then capping-out at this particular price-point?

I heard that pay-as-you-go is becoming more popular in the SaaS realm. (Chargebee’s SaaS Dispatch - Growth insights on SaaS, subscription commerce and all things Startup.)

I havent done any pay as you go stuff ( other than the fact my SaaS products dont lock you into anything more than month to month ) so I couldn't really answer. I think it would be really hard to calculate ARR/MRR though at first.

 

[eliquid]

What? Sure it does. Netflix is a SaaS product, and this is almost an exact clone. If I were to host it online, as Netflix does, it would be an exact copy, more or less. That may be a possibility, as this is in the fleshing out stage of development.

If you don't think this is a SaaS product, what would you call it then?

Here are some of the things you said that I feel disqualify it from being a SaaS:

1. You mentioned not everyone will have internet, it would desirable if they did but most might not.
2. You mentioned a DVD, which is offline
3. You mentioned annual payment/renewal ( I know some SaaS have annual payments, but those that do also have monthly, you havent mentioned that )

The difference in Netflix and you is Netflix started out as just DVD rentals, it wasn't "SaaSy" until they went full blown online really. It was like Columbia House and BMG, but for video. They then went full blown online. It really isnt a SaaS still. Its more like Entertainment on Demand which is like Redbox or cable TV. Is your Telco a SaaS? No, but it is similar, Netflix is like that. Just because you pay monthly for a service or it's online doesn't means it's a SaaS, otherwise my electric company and Amazon Prime is a SaaS.

What's the difference with what you are doing ( with training and offline downloads ) than if I just ordered some Guru's consulting product online where they teach me how to sell on Amazon? I get videos on a specific subject, I can download them, maybe get a DVD, maybe watch them online or offline and choose different subject matter and experience and levels as I need and want.

People love to call things a SaaS all the time if it is online and a recurring fee attached, but this just isn't so.

Gary Halberts old newsletter list he used to charge monthly for would be considered a SaaS then.

If what you are providing is entertainment or training, it's not really "Software as a Service". It would only be that if you ended up being something like Wistia or Sproutvideo where you are the platform so to speak, not the ends.

.

 

[Real Deal Denver]

What's the difference with what you are doing ( with training and offline downloads ) than if I just ordered some Guru's consulting product online where they teach me how to sell on Amazon? I get videos on a specific subject, I can download them, maybe get a DVD, maybe watch them online or offline and choose different subject matter and experience and levels as I need and want.

Nobody has the content I do. I am not selling something like anyone else has.

Since this is still in the planning stages, it might not be released as a DVD. It might be totally cloud based.

What I am trying to get an idea about is how much it might cost to do a cloud based SaaS system - if it were to evolve that way. Of course, with the very few details we have here, that will be difficult to determine. So let's go with the earlier information I provided, which would be about 1,000 hours of video content, broken down in 15 to 30 minute segments. Just a ball park of what this would be in costs - nothing concrete. I am not a coder, so I am in the dark about how long this would take to implement, or the cost to do so.

If what you are providing is entertainment or training, it's not really "Software as a Service". It would only be that if you ended up being something like Wistia or Sproutvideo where you are the platform so to speak, not the ends.

This would be both the platform and the ends. It would be available only to a select audience, very similar to how Netflix operates. Maybe there is a better method to this? That is the point of my inquiry.

Is there a listing of different website type platforms somewhere? I guess I'll call a web development company and see what they might recommend. I don't want to get stuck in discussing what is or isn't a SaaS - I'm developing a project and trying to determine how the main objectives will be planned and integrated together. Not too hard, but since I am not a web developer or a coder, I don't speak the language fluently.

 

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[LeoistheSun]

@eliquid

PaaS?

Your website could be setup with WordPress and a membership plugin...

Unless you want to build your own player.

 

[eliquid]

@eliquid

PaaS?

Your website could be setup with WordPress and a membership plugin...

Unless you want to build your own player.

This is what I was thinking.

1. Wordpress with Wishlist Member, Optimize Press, Member Mouse, etc
2. Kajibi
3. You can even do this with a forum ( vbulletin )
4. Digital Access Pass
5. Amember
6. tons of others

Cost could be anywhere from $500 to $20k on the code alone without video costs.

.

 

[Real Deal Denver]

Cost could be anywhere from $500 to $20k on the code alone without video costs.

Way to narrow it down...

 

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[LeoistheSun]

Way to narrow it down...

500 for WordPress and wishlist member and more for custom. But seriously, test your idea with something cheap first.

Your MVP will be all of 150$ to test.

TEST!

 

[eliquid]

Way to narrow it down...

Well, there is no formula for pricing a website, app, or SaaS.

You get what you pay for. Similar to a car, house, boat, etc.

How long is a piece of string?

.