FTE to launch to pivot

[Primer]

Hi I thought I’d post about where I’m at in the hope of some feedback and advice.

18 months ago (3 weeks before my first child was born) I had my true FTE.

Since then i have been working the stressful day job, spending as much quality time as possible with my family, and basically have become nocturnal in order to begin my business.

Before choosing my current master I had 2 entrepreneurial outings of varying successes.

Now, 3rd time round I’m building a SaaS for aspiring professional musicians. My domain knowledge in the music industry is very high, as I was IN the music industry for several years at a high level.

Anyway... it’s kind of hard to go into detail as i don’t want to appear like I’m trying to pitch my product, so without mentioning it here’s the lowdown.

I launched 4 months ago after about a year of building as my family slept.

I have a lot of signups from all over the world (validation) but very few are converting out of the free trial (bummer).

My product is designed for one to one private usage, so there’s not much virality or public sharing going on. Hence the pivot.

I’m launching public facing profiles, so that as well as the direct one to one private sharing, with real time notifications and analytics etc, I’m opening up a public front page for my users so that they can showcase their stuff to the world.

I’m hoping this will drive more widespread sharing. Also this part will be free and the one to one stuff with the clever notifications will be the paid part.

Well I’m sure that was clear as mud, but at least now I’m a little more accountable than I was ten mins ago.

Thanks.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Dig into the Saas threads here. You'll maybe find some info that will help you out.

Tagging a couple people that come to mind with experience in Saas development. Find their relative threads/posts.
@GIlman @eliquid

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I’m launching public facing profiles, so that as well as the direct one to one private sharing, with real time notifications and analytics etc, I’m opening up a public front page for my users so that they can showcase their stuff to the world.

I’m hoping this will drive more widespread sharing. Also this part will be free and the one to one stuff with the clever notifications will be the paid part.

I don't understand why you wouldn't have done this in the first place? Music is supposed to be shared and enjoyed, not boxed off in a private area where only the composer can hear it. No? Or am I just misunderstanding your service?

Thanks for sharing your journey/progress!

 

[Primer]

I don't understand why you wouldn't have done this in the first place? Music is supposed to be shared and enjoyed, not boxed off in a private area where only the composer can hear it. No? Or am I just misunderstanding your service?

Thanks for sharing your journey/progress!

Hi, I think because I didn’t want to go into the bits and bobs of my actual business for fear of coming over as a pitch / covert ad, I may not have conveyed the business model very well.

My product is aimed at aspiring professional musicians and songwriters. Having been one and operated a high level and still having friends in the industry (Grammy winners, multi platinum sellers) I can testify that something you need to do a LOT, is submit demos to specific people.

In the early days you are sending out a multitude of demos to labels, publishers, magazine journalists, bloggers etc etc.

In the latter days you still send demos Albeit to a much more focussed and tight network.

The common factor is that many times you send a demo and hear nothing back. This even happens with Grammy winning songwriters (sounds hard to believe but it’s true).

My service is aimed at those folk who are looking to send demos to specific individuals for a specific purpose. It’s not for sharing music publicly and getting likes and a bit of glory.

The scenario - I’m sending my new track to 3 label execs, a publisher, and a booking agent (for example). My software allows you to do that, and in real time, you get notified when those individuals listen. You also get data on how many times they listen, and to what tracks.

I remember wishing I had this and in the intervening years I’ve heard many people say the same (unsigned artists to established artists).

One of the things I accept about my product is that it’s not for everyone, but the size of the market who may want something like this is still absolutely gigantic.

I hope that sheds some light?

 

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