SaaS Startup Thread, 2nd Time Entrepeneur

[Young-Gun]

Did it. 100 new SaaS Prospects added today during an 11-hour Tutoring Biz workday, without compromising my work ethic towards my first business.

Got about 2 hours of work left to do tonight, then I'm going to get dinner and rest.

I should be able to add a few more Prospects in the next hour to pass the time, but just wanted to commemorate hitting my target for the day

-------------------------------

EDIT: I've been getting too Introverted with this whole project, like I knew I would. So..
Instead of studying Coding tomorrow -
I've decided to focus on using my new Prospect Lists to get Interviews.
So starting tomorrow (Monday) through Wednesday, everything will be focused on getting more Customer Interviews.

Updates tomorrow!

 

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[Argue]

I also wanted to take a moment to think more about SaaS from a Fastlane perspective.

I'd like to expose my thinking, so if there are weak points, ya'll can point them out *NOW* before I invest all the blood, sweat and tears.

Does a good SaaS business fulfill the CENTS commandment of MJ's book, The Millionaire Fastlane ?
With careful setup and customer research, I believe Business-to-Business SaaS *absolutely* is the essence of a Fastlane business model.

-------

**NEED: This is the 'clutch' commandment for a SaaS Fastlane startup.
Get this wrong and you will waste time.
Get this right and you can literally make billions.

As we will see below, the SaaS business model checks off most of the CENTS commandments automatically, simply by virtue of how a SaaS business works. NEED is the only commandment that is *not* auto-satisfied by the SaaS model.

Essentially, the level of *NEED* behind your SaaS business determines about 90% of your chance at ultimate success.
Small need, small market = no success.
Huge need, huge market = big success.

Therefore, extensive Customer Development into the NEEDS of your potential customers is the single most important step in getting your Fastlane SaaS startup correct.

-------

ENTRY: Three major obstacles to a SaaS business prevent the field from being saturated:
1) The time + quality of Customer Research and Pain-Point Development.
2) The challenges + time of Software Development and creating a good solution to the common customer problem.
3) The time, challenges, and costs of Marketing and Advertising your Software Solution to get Sales.

-------

CONTROL: Pretty simple. If you own the SaaS software and control the payments, you control the company.

Even better if you also own:
A) a simple Website + Blog for organic search traffic.
B) a simple Mailing List Subscription + Subscription Freebie Reward and simple Auto-Responder Sequence to promote your product.
C) a documented Customer-Development Process to expand into new niches and SaaS products.
D) a proven and profitable Sales System that operates completely in-house.

-------

SCALE: This comes down entirely to the NEED commandment.

Because, if you're running a SaaS company, you already are:
- Online
- Global
- 24/7/365
- Product delivery NOT based on human time / effort
- Minimum of Customer Service, if well-designed product (see below):

To help make scale easier, make sure to KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID. Don't add a gajillion bells and whistles to your SaaS product.
Always keep it simple and focusing on developing a full "SELF-SERVICE SYSTEM" for customers.

If your SaaS solves a widespread NEED in a simple way, it should be easier to scale than nearly any other business model on the planet.

-------

TIME: Similar to scale.
Once the SaaS product is designed and built, there will be some time required to troubleshoot, add key features, bug-fix, etc.
But, once you have a stable product, solving a real NEED that businesses all have, it shouldn't take much time to keep things running.

As soon as possible, hire someone to do:
- Customer Service and Inbound Sales (phones and emails).
- Outbound Sales (once you know your business metrics, set up a commissioned sales force).
- Technical Solutions (disaster prevention: you need someone to monitor the uptime / repair broken service while you relax).

-----

The SaaS business model requires minimum upkeep, with low expenses and high profit margins.
You are exposed to a global market, online, 24/7/365.
Recurring Revenue is baked-in to the model.

It's all about that Customer Development stage.

Find the real problems that other businesses face.
Identify the simple challenges that could be overcome by software.
Develop that software as SaaS.
START SELLING!

What's up young-gun,

First and foremost, thank you for posting your journey. I agree 100% that SaaS right now is the place to be. Lately, I've been considering entering the SaaS space but not quite sure where to start. I have an idea, just not sure what code to learn etc.

Like you, I wanna learn the fundamentals so that I can make a stage 1 product and thereafter, I can communicate to my team of devs what I want done to improve the software.

If you don't mind, can you list what books you read pertaining to software development? Did you take a video course? If so, which one? You can PM if you'd like.

I've been searching on google key words etc but I'm falling short to finding useful information. Just coming across blogs. They're okay but provide no resources to learn (books, courses, etc)

PS. I haven't read the whole thread yet because I have to go to bed so I apologize in advance if you already answered the questions I asked.

 

[Young-Gun]

What's up young-gun,

First and foremost, thank you for posting your journey. I agree 100% that SaaS right now is the place to be. Lately, I've been considering entering the SaaS space but not quite sure where to start. I have an idea, just not sure what code to learn etc.

Like you, I wanna learn the fundamentals so that I can make a stage 1 product and thereafter, I can communicate to my team of devs what I want done to improve the software.

If you don't mind, can you list what books you read pertaining to software development? Did you take a video course? If so, which one? You can PM if you'd like.

I've been searching on google key words etc but I'm falling short to finding useful information. Just coming across blogs. They're okay but provide no resources to learn (books, courses, etc)

PS. I haven't read the whole thread yet because I have to go to bed so I apologize in advance if you already answered the questions I asked.

Hi @Argue , very glad it could be of some use to you and maybe sometime you'll have time to browse the whole thread, it's gonna be epic hehe.

Consider this the first 10% of the journey (or less). There's a looong way I'm gonna take this..

Anyway, the only book I've seriously used so far is Learn Python the Hard Way. It's kept me more than busy for the past 3 weeks since I really got started, and I'm about 2/3 of the way through. Going in-depth on every assignment until I feel I've learned all it has to teach me.

After that? Well, I read an interesting article that the "intermediate" stage of coding can be very tough.
A lot of would-be Coders feel lost. Less resources, and they're written in a more "professional" style.
I'm not really looking forward to that part very much, but I think knowing it's coming will lessen the blow.

My main goal is to "stay stupid" for now and ONLY learn the basics and from there do Customer Development.
Python + its web framework can probably do everything I can dream of.
So I'll just focus on ONE language.

I'll be spending next 6-8 weeks doing intensive Customer Development... interviews, etc.
Then testing final product concept with 10x mini-Ideas and online traffic.
Taking the 3x winners, doing more Customer Development with them. Find out what resonates.

Then test 3x again with more traffic.
Take the winner, build it as fast as possible, and start selling.
Then improve.
Then expand.

Or, better yet (I haven't focused this far ahead much):
- Take the tested winner Idea, PRESELL it, then build as fast as possible, and sell more.
- Then improve.
- Then expand.

Where I'm going with this...
I'm not in this game to "learn coding."
I don't ever want to "be a coder."
This study is a means to an end, so I'm striving to keep it minimal and project-focused.

I want to build a single-product-based software company.
I will only learn as much knowledge as my single idea requires.

So since I'm still doing research on my proven Market Need, I don't quite know what I need to learn yet.
Keeping it flexible and just working on understanding the grammar, using the professional tools of the trade, etc

Any recommendations for learning materials? Python, specifically? Or associated Web framework, Django?

-----

EDIT - sorry I ramble so much .. it's late at night and I like to hear myself think I guess

 

[Young-Gun]

Quick check-in for today (Monday):

- Tutoring Biz has needed a ton of attention today.
- Good news, though - some GREAT $$$$ sales for the tutoring business over the weekend.
- I have a bunch of "life stuff" that needs to be taken care of today and tomorrow.
- Pretty physically tired from working so hard over weekend - don't want to make myself sick.
- Need to see my GF, it's been several days b/c we've both been very busy.

It doesn't look like it will be possible to get much done for SaaS today... but maybe a little bit.
At the very least, I can do some SaaS prospecting in the last part of my Tutoring Biz workday.

This is also making me realize - I should NOT expect "too much" from my Mondays for SaaS.
After crazy-busy Tutoring weekends, I need some recovery time.
Also, there's almost always a bunch of "catchup work" to do on Mondays for Life and Tutoring.

So, my main progress today (Monday) will just be clearing out the To-Do list, so the rest of the week Tues-Fri can be MUCH more focused on SaaS.

-------------

The other cool thing I noticed today: I feel like my mind has almost completely transitioned from "Tutoring Company" to "Software Company."

I now see the Tutoring Biz profits as a way to temporarily fund my life and studies while I make progress on the SaaS.
For example, I can use some Tutoring Biz money to fund Facebook Ad research on the SaaS Ideas.

It's real nice - because now the tutoring income is just "living money" while I build my Software company.
It's less frustrating... because now I'm not trying to "get rich" from a tutoring biz, which has been such a struggle (since it's hard to scale, has lowish profit margins, needs high customer service time, etc)

Instead, I'm working directly towards a fast-scaling Software biz.

Feels good!

 

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[Young-Gun]

End-of-day-update:

Life and Tutoring Business took ALL my time.

Did manage to add 12 prospects to the database today... mostly to make sure I didn't let the day go by without any SaaS action.

----------

Did make some "mental game" progress though:

One thing I had to do today was review some expenses and bills for Life and Tutoring Business.
And, I noticed a new and profound observation from the "Software Company" state of mind:
A vast percentage of my biggest Tutoring Business Expenses will simply VANISH with my SaaS company, leaving me with a much higher net income each month compared to Tutoring.

It's not my imagination. It makes perfect sense.
With lower expenses and higher profit margins plus massively-easier distribution, Software Business can scale 10-100x harder than Tutoring.

Just compare typical Profit Margins in the industries:
Software Business = normal to keep 80% of Sales as Profit.
Service Business = pretty decent to keep 20% of Sales as Profit.

Global vs Local.
Online Distribution vs. Face-to-Face service.

There's no comparison in the scaling potential.

Once you see it, you can NEVER un-see it.

I'm a Software Entrepreneur now... Tutoring Entrepreneur is a distant memory... a learning tool, to reach the point where I currently stand.

----------

Tomorrow I still have a lot of Life and Tutoring Biz that can't wait...
So SaaS may have to wait another 12-24 hours.

It's not always like this, just a busy week with a lot of small details to take care of.

Onwards!

 

[Young-Gun]

One more bit of progress tonight:

Did a late-night Customer Development interview (my 3rd one) with a friend of mine who's also a small-business owner.

Although we didn't really land on any good NEEDS that my Software could help her with, it was still great Interview practice.
We did identify a couple huge NEEDS and PAINS she has right now.. but I don't think Software is the answer to them.

This also supports my theory that certain Industries will be much better for my Software ideas than others.
Her Industry is probably NOT the kind of Industry I'm looking for... and I would have guessed that from the start. So, it's still according to plan.

She also gave me good feedback on my Interviewing technique. In her words, I did a great job of being attentive and going out of my way to offer my ideas and suggestions, even if it was outside my personal Business Experience. I asked for negatives, but she didn't really have any - so it sounds like these Interviews are a positive experience for BOTH people, which is incredibly important.

Side Note - she did hint that I could come close to being TOO forward with my suggestions, some dogmatic business owners might be offended. The big lesson from that is LISTEN, don't talk.

Bottom line - it's fine if some of the Interviews don't turn up any great ideas.
The point is the Customer Development PROCESS.
If I keep interviewing, again and again, I will discover certain NEEDS and PAIN POINTS.

Remember, this info is GOLD and gold doesn't just lie sitting around in the open.
It's the process of consistently panning for gold every day that eventually yields incredible results.

Looking forward to future Customer Development Interviews #4 through #50!!

 

[Young-Gun]

I'm up at 2:30 AM because something big (something good) might have just happened with the Tutoring Biz.

I don't want to get too excited or specific yet, because it's just the first hint of something good.

Can't reveal the details tonight.
But one way or another, it's put me into SERIOUS thought-mode.... business scheming, so much that I haven't been able to sleep for hours.

All good things...

 

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[Argue]

Hi @Argue , very glad it could be of some use to you and maybe sometime you'll have time to browse the whole thread, it's gonna be epic hehe.

Consider this the first 10% of the journey (or less). There's a looong way I'm gonna take this..

Anyway, the only book I've seriously used so far is Learn Python the Hard Way. It's kept me more than busy for the past 3 weeks since I really got started, and I'm about 2/3 of the way through. Going in-depth on every assignment until I feel I've learned all it has to teach me.

After that? Well, I read an interesting article that the "intermediate" stage of coding can be very tough.
A lot of would-be Coders feel lost. Less resources, and they're written in a more "professional" style.
I'm not really looking forward to that part very much, but I think knowing it's coming will lessen the blow.

My main goal is to "stay stupid" for now and ONLY learn the basics and from there do Customer Development.
Python + its web framework can probably do everything I can dream of.
So I'll just focus on ONE language.

I'll be spending next 6-8 weeks doing intensive Customer Development... interviews, etc.
Then testing final product concept with 10x mini-Ideas and online traffic.
Taking the 3x winners, doing more Customer Development with them. Find out what resonates.

Then test 3x again with more traffic.
Take the winner, build it as fast as possible, and start selling.
Then improve.
Then expand.

Or, better yet (I haven't focused this far ahead much):
- Take the tested winner Idea, PRESELL it, then build as fast as possible, and sell more.
- Then improve.
- Then expand.

Where I'm going with this...
I'm not in this game to "learn coding."
I don't ever want to "be a coder."
This study is a means to an end, so I'm striving to keep it minimal and project-focused.

I want to build a single-product-based software company.
I will only learn as much knowledge as my single idea requires.

So since I'm still doing research on my proven Market Need, I don't quite know what I need to learn yet.
Keeping it flexible and just working on understanding the grammar, using the professional tools of the trade, etc

Any recommendations for learning materials? Python, specifically? Or associated Web framework, Django?

-----

EDIT - sorry I ramble so much .. it's late at night and I like to hear myself think I guess

Thank you for sharing. Very interesting stuff here, and great attitude. I'm gonna check the book out. Started reading the thread too.

 

[Young-Gun]

Thank you for sharing. Very interesting stuff here, and great attitude. I'm gonna check the book out. Started reading the thread too.

Yeah man!! Glad I could show some interesting stuff I'm working on
Learn Python the Hard Way is definitely a great book to learn from!
And yes please, read through the thread at your leisure and let me know any specific questions you have; I'll do my best to answer them!

 

[Young-Gun]

Hoo boy there's a lot to say about the past 2 days.

It seemed like I had a Private Buyer for my Tutoring Business, out of the blue.
But it was a mirage, and he suggested "another year or two of working" before attempting to make an exit.

Thing is, the money STILL won't be that good.
3x EBITA? That sale price won't motivate me to bust my a$$ for another two years.

---------------------------

This experience made me realize a few things:

- Buyers will EMERGE from nowhere, if you have a successful / growing company.
This happened in MJ's book, too!
So, this will apply to my Software Company (probably even more so!)

- I do NOT think I want to give another 2-3 years to Tutoring Biz for a Minor Exit (it would be Life-Impacting, but not Life-Changing)

- In 12 months, I'd rather be a year into my Software Company than ANOTHER year deep into the Tutoring Biz.

-------------------------------

All of this led me to profoundly reconsider - do I want to refocus my efforts on Tutoring? Grow the business, for some kind of exit?

NO - I do not.

Not even some "blend" of working on the Tutoring Biz + SaaS at the same time.

My Expected Value is higher on starting my SaaS company from Scratch!

The conversation with this investor made conclude (again): From now on, I should use the Tutoring Biz *only* for living expenses and my backup plan.
From now on, every spare bit of energy should absolutely be poured into the MUCH better option, which is Software Company.

------------------------------

So, I've gone over my SaaS timeline with a microscope and optimized it.

Here is what I will do for the next 4 Weeks:
- Continue to run my Tutoring Biz day-to-day.
- Add 75 SaaS Prospects per day, every day of the week.
- Set up Automated Email System to send Interview Request emails efficiently.
- Use Email System to send 500 SaaS Interview Request Emails on Monday of each week.
- Set up an Online Interview Scheduler to reduce manual labor on Interview Scheduling.
- Study Coding extensively each Friday.

At the end of 4 Weeks I expect to have:
- 2000 total SaaS prospects in a single industry
- sent 2000 total Interview Request emails
- Conducted 60 Customer Development Interviews (a 2% response rate)

---------------------------------

At this point I should have at least 2-3 DEMONSTRATED NEEDS to add to my list of SaaS ideas.

And, I'll have 60 Industry Contacts to contact with further questions and Concept Development.

I could either test the response with Landing Pages and Ads, or I could move to the next big industry and repeat the process for 4 weeks to get another 60 interviews.

We'll just have to see if anything promising emerges from Customer Development in this first industry; hard to judge before we try.

 

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[Locomote]

Hoo boy there's a lot to say about the past 2 days.

It seemed like I had a Private Buyer for my Tutoring Business, out of the blue.
But it was a mirage, and he suggested "another year or two of working" before attempting to make an exit.

Thing is, the money STILL won't be that good.
3x EBITA? That sale price won't motivate me to bust my a$$ for another two years.

---------------------------

This experience made me realize a few things:

- Buyers will EMERGE from nowhere, if you have a successful / growing company.
This happened in MJ's book, too!
So, this will apply to my Software Company (probably even more so!)

- I do NOT think I want to give another 2-3 years to Tutoring Biz for a Minor Exit (it would be Life-Impacting, but not Life-Changing)

- In 12 months, I'd rather be a year into my Software Company than ANOTHER year deep into the Tutoring Biz.

-------------------------------

All of this led me to profoundly reconsider - do I want to refocus my efforts on Tutoring? Grow the business, for some kind of exit?

NO - I do not.

Not even some "blend" of working on the Tutoring Biz + SaaS at the same time.

My Expected Value is higher on starting my SaaS company from Scratch!

The conversation with this investor made conclude (again): From now on, I should use the Tutoring Biz *only* for living expenses and my backup plan.
From now on, every spare bit of energy should absolutely be poured into the MUCH better option, which is Software Company.

------------------------------

So, I've gone over my SaaS timeline with a microscope and optimized it.

Here is what I will do for the next 4 Weeks:
- Continue to run my Tutoring Biz day-to-day.
- Add 75 SaaS Prospects per day, every day of the week.
- Set up Automated Email System to send Interview Request emails efficiently.
- Use Email System to send 500 SaaS Interview Request Emails on Monday of each week.
- Set up an Online Interview Scheduler to reduce manual labor on Interview Scheduling.
- Study Coding extensively each Friday.

At the end of 4 Weeks I expect to have:
- 2000 total SaaS prospects in a single industry
- sent 2000 total Interview Request emails
- Conducted 60 Customer Development Interviews (a 2% response rate)

---------------------------------

At this point I should have at least 2-3 DEMONSTRATED NEEDS to add to my list of SaaS ideas.

And, I'll have 60 Industry Contacts to contact with further questions and Concept Development.

I could either test the response with Landing Pages and Ads, or I could move to the next big industry and repeat the process for 4 weeks to get another 60 interviews.

We'll just have to see if anything promising emerges from Customer Development in this first industry; hard to judge before we try.

Its always nice to know that what you have created is valued and in demand. Its a huge compliment to you and your tutoring business to be made an offer.

 

[Young-Gun]

Its always nice to know that what you have created is valued and in demand. Its a huge compliment to you and your tutoring business to be made an offer.

Thanks man. It was a bit of a downer since I immediately started building "castles in the sky" thinking what a miracle that this buyer contacted me at this exact moment... even though I wasn't surprised he wasn't going to buy me out, I still hoped deep-down he would give me millions.

But you're right, it's a good sign. And I'll take it that way

 

[Young-Gun]

I was starting to set my systems up today, but one other thing stands in the way of my progress:

My Software Company name.

I don't want to get hung up picking a name (Lord knows, my first Tutoring Biz was named in about an hour... using the first available Gmail address that I found).
But, I do want to start off on the right foot - with a memorable, unique, effective Company Name for my Software Business.

And, I'm at the point where it's necessary to CHOOSE a Company Name.
To solve the upcoming steps efficiently, I need a website.

I've delayed this step, just using a 'placeholder' company name to start contacting people.
Now I need the real company name.

Before I can set up my email and scheduling system online, I need to have a domain name.
That means, I need a good .com that isn't already taken.

And before I can buy the .com, I need my SOFTWARE COMPANY NAME.
But, I don't want to just go with whatever pops into my head.
And, I don't want to be an 'Introvert' about this - I want at least some Market Feedback before I commit.

So, I'd like to TEST (via Split-Test Landing Page + Facebook Ads).
Somewhere between 4-10 Business Names.

That means I have to come up with 4-10 GOOD names that I'd be happy with.
Each of the names MUST be a name I believe in...
I've put the criteria for my Name Brainstorm at the end of this post.

To get up to speed, I took notes on 10 articles about naming startups from major blogs and industry leaders. So, I think I'm armed to come up with 4 to 12 names in the next couple days.

This step takes time and brainpower!
But, it does need to be done, before I can move forward.

--------------------------------

Here are the criteria I've established for each of my Software Company Name ideas:

Absolutely Critical Naming Criteria:

• Total length is 9 characters or less.
• Memorable and Unique.
• No competitors (similar names, concepts, or sounds) in Google.
• No trademark infringement on anyone else.
• The exact .com domain for that name is available.
  
• Something I'm happy with & excited to say the name of.

Second-Level Naming Criteria:

• No misspellings because of weird / similar sounds.
  
• Nothing forced, keep looking for 'lightbulb' names.

---------------------------

For the record, it's definitely possible to be successful WITHOUT carefully considering your company name.

But, I want to put every element in my favor.

This might take several days to BRAINSTORM, then I'll need a few more days to SPLIT-TEST to get some Market Data.

I'll probably test traffic on "Small Business Owners" in Facebook, rather than pick a specific industry (since I'm still searching for my Ideal Customer).

It's not too hard though, just takes a little time.

ONWARD!!!

-------

EDIT: I just did some research on the top-25 Software Companies in the world.
To tell the truth, there's nothing special about their names.
For most, you can't really tell what they do just from the name:
- Microsoft
- Oracle
- SAP
- VMware
- Adobe Systems
- HCL Technologies
- Fiserv
- Salesforce
- Symantec
- Amadeus IT Holdings

Is it really necessary to spend another week testing Company names?
It might be better to get started.

It's the PRODUCT NAMES that really need to be tested.

Should I just take a day or two to Brainstorm and think it over, then pick my favorite Company Name and keep moving?

I'm starting to think that makes perfect sense.

After all, does the name "Adobe Acrobat" really make any sense?
No, but it's still HUGE software.

I want a GOOD Company Name...
and definitely not a BAD name..
but it doesn't have to be a PERFECT name.

My Company Name won't make-or-break my yacht, so I will brainstorm names periodically for the next 5 days and pick a Company Name by Monday to move forward with domain registration.

Once I have the domain registered, I can move forward on the Outward-Facing steps that WILL bring me my yacht.

 

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[Young-Gun]

Wrapping things up for the night.

Measurable SaaS progress for today (Wednesday):

• Added 75 Customer Development Prospects to Prospect List.
• Generated 2 solid Software Business Name Ideas.

Other progress today, not as measurable:

• Took a very educational call with the potential Tutoring Investor mentioned above.
• Recommitted to Software Company over Tutoring Business.
• Completed a lot of small Life / Tutoring tasks getting in the way of SaaS progress.

Tomorrow's Goals:

• Add 75 more Prospects.
• Generate and research 2 more solid Business Name ideas.
• Keep plowing through small Life / Tutoring tasks to reduce friction.

 

[Young-Gun]

Just put up a beast thread on naming your startup.
Since it's all part of the process I'm following now, thought it makes sense to link it for anyone following this thread.
Get my best tips for quickly coming up with awesome names that help your business!

 

[Martinv678]

I haven't read all this thread, so sorry if I repeat, but the only advice I can give is:

1. I would put up a landing page and test people actually want what you're providing. Rather than thinking about fancy yachts, I would focus more on how your SAAS product can really change people's lives. The yachts will come from the great product. As someone who chased money for the majority of my 20's, you end up in the endless loop of chasing the next shiny thing. It's nice to have dreams but sometimes they cloud vision.

2. Rather than spending what looks like hours on this thread, I would probably spend more time refining your skills for the SAAS build. I'm currently building a SAAS and you need to know your stuff if it's going to scale well.

3. It sounds like you're good at drumming up interest and enjoy finding out whether people would use it. I would potentially stick to that get someone to join you who loves to code.

This is just my two cents. From experience, it's good to partner with someone who can either code while you sell or vise-versa.

Good luck!

 

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[Young-Gun]

I haven't read all this thread, so sorry if I repeat, but the only advice I can give is:

1. I would put up a landing page and test people actually want what you're providing. Rather than thinking about fancy yachts, I would focus more on how your SAAS product can really change people's lives. The yachts will come from the great product. As someone who chased money for the majority of my 20's, you end up in the endless loop of chasing the next shiny thing. It's nice to have dreams but sometimes they cloud vision.

2. Rather than spending what looks like hours on this thread, I would probably spend more time refining your skills for the SAAS build. I'm currently building a SAAS and you need to know your stuff if it's going to scale well.

3. It sounds like you're good at drumming up interest and enjoy finding out whether people would use it. I would potentially stick to that get someone to join you who loves to code.

This is just my two cents. From experience, it's good to partner with someone who can either code while you sell or vise-versa.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice bro! I like to converse in this thread so hope you don't mind if I reply directly
Is that you in the Ferrari? Beautiful car.

1) Completely agree about focusing on NEEDS in the outside world, not what you want for yourself. Basically that's what the past 2 weeks, and future 4 weeks, are all about: customer research and hunting for NEEDS.

Agree, ultimately the yacht comes from helping people.
Also had the experience of chasing money rather than needs in my 20s. Not good!

In this case, definitely feel the 'yacht lifestyle' dream is empowering my vision.
It's something I want to earn for myself, my family, and my friends.

When I'm slogging through the NEED part of contacting 2,000 small business owners by phone and email, I need something that TRULY inspires me. Right now it's the yacht adventure, tomorrow it may be something new. I like to follow my energy.

But you make a good point

2) Usually would agree that posting on a forum is nothing compared to actually working on skills / business, but for me - for this project - this thread is important to me as a record of what I've done, and a place to keep my thoughts in one place. Definitely though, typing is no substitute for actual business action. I happen to be an absurdly-fast typist, luckily... so I can get nothing done faster.

I love having a place to post my thoughts, and it also helps me hold myself ACCOUNTABLE since I want to post a bit of progress each day. Slow and steady.

Furthermore, lots of people share great ideas with me! So I find it's worth the investment of time.

Finally, I'm a teacher at heart. If this thread helps even ONE person re-trace my steps and find their own success, it will be worth it to me.

I'm confident in the ultimate success of the software company project, no matter how many twists and turns it takes - or how many years. To me this is a personal logbook of the voyage, which can also be shared with future 'students' - HI FUTURE READERS, if you are there!

I'll keep a special eye out for learning to scale my SaaS - definitely don't want to run into coding issues right when we're starting to grow.

3. Thanks man! That's definitely something I'm pretty good at. I do know people who could join me on the coding side; however, I'm personally interested in learning the skill of Coding for future business endeavors, for Futureproofing myself personally, and also just because I find it fun and interesting.

I'm going to try to get a lot of advice from my little brother and my two best friends, all of whom are very intelligent and professionally-trained coders.

I disagree on a few points but I appreciate having someone to talk it out with!
Thanks for stopping by the thread! Please come back soon!

 

[Young-Gun]

OK, done for the day.

In addition to running the tutoring business (easy/short day today), I feel like I made excellent (incremental) progress on the SaaS.

Here's what we accomplished today:

• Attended a local 50-person Business Networking meeting (was invited/sponsored by one of my Prospects). Learned a lot!
• Developed a fairly complete system for Naming New Companies and Future Products (here's the thread on that).
• Came up with 6 more possible Software Company Names *with available '.com' domains*, for a total of 11 ideas (remember, I'm deciding on Company Name by Monday at the latest).
• I also have 2 Company Name Ideas I'd be happy with and fill almost all of my naming criteria.
• Added 75 more Customer Development Prospects to my spreadsheet.

Thanks everyone for reading and contributing!
ONWARD!!!

 

[daru]

Thank you, very valuable information in this thread. Rep++

Guess Django Web Framework would be the next logical step after Learning Python the Hard Way.

 

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[Young-Gun]

Just got back from hanging out with a good old friend and old roommate!

Today was extremely productive and satisfying.
Not everything went into SaaS, but it was a balanced blend of Life / SaaS / Tutoring Biz.

Here's what I got done for the day:

• Added 75 new SaaS prospects to spreadsheet.
• Came up with 6 more Software Company Name Ideas (remember, deciding on Monday!). These ideas all have available exact '.com' domains.
• I have a #1 favorite Company Name so far... it's been sticking in my head for a couple weeks and satisfies about 98% of my naming criteria. I just want to give it a couple more days to settle before I proceed.
• Bunch of errands / work necessary for Tutoring Biz.
• Hung out with GF in morning and with my good friend in evening.

Great day! More to come tomorrow

 

[Young-Gun]

Today has been a great day, good progress.

Was busy with a lot of Tutoring Biz stuff (Saturday / Sun are always busy).

Still, here's what I got done today for the SaaS company:

• Decided on my Software Company name (notes below).
• Registered the URL / domain plus the only possible misspelling of it.
• Set up a redirect from the wrong-spelled domain.
• Installed Wordpress.
• Registered my company email address.
• Set up a complete Online Self-Scheduling System to save time & reduce my overhead on Customer Development Interviews.
• Added 55 new SaaS prospects to my database. Cheated a bit (75 daily is target) because I did a lot of extra website work, and I'm really tired now. Plus, I hit 500 prospects for the current industry!

Total cost of URL registration + email address is currently $35, so basically nothing.

-----------------------------------

Re: Choosing a Company name.

I know I said I was going to wait until Monday (2 more days) to decide.
Brainstorm for a few more days, then make the final choice.

But, I've already come up with twice as many name ideas as I thought I would.
Pushed pretty hard the past few days to generate ideas.
And, even after that work, it's rare to come up with names that satisfy all my naming criteria.

Luckily, one of my earliest ideas has stuck with me for weeks.
It fits 95% of my criteria.

I'd rather just get started. This name is MORE than "good enough."
As they say at Facebook, "Done is better than perfect."

I'm really happy with the name I've chosen for the company - got the exact 'com' URL, too - and I'm excited to move forward with my Customer Development system.

Tomorrow is SUPER busy for Tutoring Biz, so I don't expect much for SaaS.
But, I can at least add to my Prospect Database during the work day.

More updates tomorrow! Have a great night ya'll!

 

[Owner2Millions]

Today has been a great day, good progress.

Was busy with a lot of Tutoring Biz stuff (Saturday / Sun are always busy).

Still, here's what I got done today for the SaaS company:

• Decided on my Software Company name (notes below).
• Registered the URL / domain plus the only possible misspelling of it.
• Set up a redirect from the wrong-spelled domain.
• Installed Wordpress.
• Registered my company email address.
• Set up a complete Online Self-Scheduling System to save time & reduce my overhead on Customer Development Interviews.
• Added 55 new SaaS prospects to my database. Cheated a bit (75 daily is target) because I did a lot of extra website work, and I'm really tired now. Plus, I hit 500 prospects for the current industry!

Total cost of URL registration + email address is currently $35, so basically nothing.

-----------------------------------

Re: Choosing a Company name.

I know I said I was going to wait until Monday (2 more days) to decide.
Brainstorm for a few more days, then make the final choice.

But, I've already come up with twice as many name ideas as I thought I would.
Pushed pretty hard the past few days to generate ideas.
And, even after that work, it's rare to come up with names that satisfy all my naming criteria.

Luckily, one of my earliest ideas has stuck with me for weeks.
It fits 95% of my criteria.

I'd rather just get started. This name is MORE than "good enough."
As they say at Facebook, "Done is better than perfect."

I'm really happy with the name I've chosen for the company - got the exact 'com' URL, too - and I'm excited to move forward with my Customer Development system.

Tomorrow is SUPER busy for Tutoring Biz, so I don't expect much for SaaS.
But, I can at least add to my Prospect Database during the work day.

More updates tomorrow! Have a great night ya'll!

I read the whole thread and its funny....I was actually thinking about opening up a online company/blog based on tutoring but on a more focused audience. But I also had the thought of SAAS in the back of my mind, especially after reading the fastlane book. I want to thank you for providing some kind of insight on what I need to do to get my software company off the ground and what I would need to make a nice exit and the type of lifestyle I would like to have(mostly a nice watch and car collection along with a real estate business). Thanks a lot......by the way Im a fellow coder.....and as the saying goes the more you know, the more you realize how much you dont know....Stick with it, embrace the process/weather the storm! Keep coding and you will be surprise at the progress my fastlane brother.

 

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[Young-Gun]

Thank you, very valuable information in this thread. Rep++

Guess Django Web Framework would be the next logical step after Learning Python the Hard Way.

Excellent, glad it could help! More to come!

Thank you and I agree, Django is where to go as soon as I possibly can!

Please come back and comment more!!

 

[Young-Gun]

I read the whole thread and its funny....I was actually thinking about opening up a online company/blog based on tutoring but on a more focused audience. But I also had the thought of SAAS in the back of my mind, especially after reading the fastlane book. I want to thank you for providing some kind of insight on what I need to do to get my software company off the ground and what I would need to make a nice exit and the type of lifestyle I would like to have(mostly a nice watch and car collection along with a real estate business). Thanks a lot......by the way Im a fellow coder.....and as the saying goes the more you know, the more you realize how much you dont know....Stick with it, embrace the process/weather the storm! Keep coding and you will be surprise at the progress my fastlane brother.

Thank you sir, this inspired me all day. I am just brimming with excitement on this project, even a month in. (Really I've been thinking about it for years).

So much gold in your post, thanks again - Rep ++
Hope you go for and get everything you want in this short life.

Come back and comment more!!! Thanks for reading so much of this thread, more to come!!

 

[Young-Gun]

Today (Sunday) is my ultra-busy day for Tutoring Biz, so I had to focus on that.

I felt 'burnt out' on Prospecting so I didn't force myself to get 75 for today.
Plus, I already have 500 prospects in my first target industry for Customer Development.
What I need most now is A) to go to EXTROVERT MODE and B) to study much more coding.
So instead of adding more to my Prospect Database today, I took a new tack.

With my free time today I hunted down the best systems to help me with massive Cold-Emailing (in the thousands of emails per month).

This (to me) was fascinating, and I learned a ton about Cold-Emailing to get serious business results.
Now I'm down to my top 3 or 4 contenders for the SaaS I will use as my main hub for mass Cold-Emailing.
These range from $40-$125 per month and I think they will be well-worth the investment at any price in that range.
I expect this to save me (or future Sales employees) a minimum of 50 hours per month and improve the results I get for my efforts.
Since I value my time far more than $1-$2 per hour, it's a no-brainer to use one of these services.

I have the top contender in mind, but just want a little more time to think (I'll probably sleep on it).

This Cold Emailing system will be networked in to an online Interview Scheduling System.
It follows up with customized emails if the Prospect does NOT respond.
The best systems are smart enough to recognize if the Prospect does respond, and pause followup emails so you can take over manually.

So the MASS Customer Development process (once set up) looks like this:

• I manually scrape my chosen Industry for 500-1000 Prospects.
• Prospects manually entered into Cold Email Database.
• Customized Cold Emails automatically sent to Prospects.
• --- If Prospect says "YES", they can automatically self-schedule with Online Interview Calendar.
• --- If Prospect says "NO", automatically or manurally remove them from future mailings and prevent them from being re-added to Database.
• --- If Prospect does nothing, automatically follow up with a customized Prospect Email Sequence until they say YES or NO.
• I manually take the self-scheduled Customer Development Interviews over the phone.
• [Return to first step and add more Prospects to Database - new Industry or same Industry]
• [[Develop NEEDS LIST across multiple Customer Development Interviews]]

In the future, virtually any manual task could be scaled with A) more software or B) an hourly employee or freelancer.
The *only* task in this whole list that truly requires my personal attention is the actual Customer Development Interview.

The most important thing - the real target - is the high number of Customer Development Interviews. That is where the gold of NEED lies.

All of these systems are simply laying the foundation to Scalably, Quickly, Repeatably dig deep for REAL NEEDS in various industries.

Hope this is making sense. Let me know if you want additional details about anything!

Probably done for the night - still gotta make dinner and clean up - and lots of Life stuff to do tomorrow.
More updates soon!

 

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[Young-Gun]

Always a little tired on Monday (after busy weekend of Tutoring Biz).
Still, today was very productive for the SaaS.

Here's what we got done for SaaS today:

• Read & took notes on the first 1/2 of an excellent Cold Emailing book.
• Narrowed in on the Cold Email service I'll use (based on advice in the book I'm reading)
• Outsourced basic Logo Design on Fiverr for $30.
• Started building basic Software Company Website.
• ----Researched and Selected a simple Website Theme to use (for now).
• ----Built basic About page.
• ----Built basic FAQ page.
• ----Built basic Blog page.
• ----Published a simple, short Blog Article.
• ----Build a basic Privacy Policy page (legal requirement)

The website has only existed for 48 hours - without even having any content on it - and it's already high on the 2nd page of Google Results if you search the name of the company. That's a good sign!

Tomorrow's goals:

• Complete the basic Homepage for Company Website.
• Complete the basic Contact page for Company Website.
• Select Company Logo from demo designs.
• Finish reading & taking notes on Cold Emailing book.
• Narrow down Cold Email services to my top-2 options.
• Coding Study: Continue adding Inventory and Keys to Text Adventure.

My GF is coming over soon, I haven't had dinner or cleaned up my house, and I don't think I should force more work out tonight... I feel pretty tired.
Better to start fresh tomorrow.

The website already looks awesome. I'm super freaking excited and inspired by today's progress.
Bit by bit, everything is coming together.
With a little consistent progress every day, I feel completely unstoppable.

ONWARDS!

------------------------------

EDIT: Stayed up a bit later and finished a (very) basic Contact Us page, and a (very) simple Home page.

This is more than "good enough." It looks great - I'd be proud to show this website off to prospects.

Feeling even.... awesomer? Glad I pushed through and finished tonight.

The entire website is basically ready for the next couple months of Customer Development interviews - it doesn't need to be any more complicated until I actually have a product to sell.

Two of tomorrow's "to-do" items already checked off!
I should really put the extra time tomorrow into CODING STUDIES!
That's the only area I feel "behind the curve" right now.

Goodnight for real this time!!

 

[TheDillon__]

You bastard - you're gonna make me start cold-emailing for Idea Extraction again.

PM me, I've got something interesting for you!

 

[Owner2Millions]

Wow.....your really moving ahead. How did you get your results on the second page of Google so quickly?

Your progress is really inspiring me.

 

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[daru]

Always a little tired on Monday (after busy weekend of Tutoring Biz).
Still, today was very productive for the SaaS.

Here's what we got done for SaaS today:

• Read & took notes on the first 1/2 of an excellent Cold Emailing book.
• Narrowed in on the Cold Email service I'll use (based on advice in the book I'm reading)
• Outsourced basic Logo Design on Fiverr for $30.
• Started building basic Software Company Website.
• ----Researched and Selected a simple Website Theme to use (for now).
• ----Built basic About page.
• ----Built basic FAQ page.
• ----Built basic Blog page.
• ----Published a simple, short Blog Article.
• ----Build a basic Privacy Policy page (legal requirement)

The website has only existed for 48 hours - without even having any content on it - and it's already high on the 2nd page of Google Results if you search the name of the company. That's a good sign!

Tomorrow's goals:

• Complete the basic Homepage for Company Website.
• Complete the basic Contact page for Company Website.
• Select Company Logo from demo designs.
• Finish reading & taking notes on Cold Emailing book.
• Narrow down Cold Email services to my top-2 options.
• Coding Study: Continue adding Inventory and Keys to Text Adventure.

My GF is coming over soon, I haven't had dinner or cleaned up my house, and I don't think I should force more work out tonight... I feel pretty tired.
Better to start fresh tomorrow.

The website already looks awesome. I'm super freaking excited and inspired by today's progress.
Bit by bit, everything is coming together.
With a little consistent progress every day, I feel completely unstoppable.

ONWARDS!

------------------------------

EDIT: Stayed up a bit later and finished a (very) basic Contact Us page, and a (very) simple Home page.

This is more than "good enough." It looks great - I'd be proud to show this website off to prospects.

Feeling even.... awesomer? Glad I pushed through and finished tonight.

The entire website is basically ready for the next couple months of Customer Development interviews - it doesn't need to be any more complicated until I actually have a product to sell.

Two of tomorrow's "to-do" items already checked off!
I should really put the extra time tomorrow into CODING STUDIES!
That's the only area I feel "behind the curve" right now.

Goodnight for real this time!!

Great work!

Care to let us know what cold emailing book that is?

 

[Young-Gun]

You bastard - you're gonna make me start cold-emailing for Idea Extraction again.

PM me, I've got something interesting for you!

For sure I will, thanks man! Give me a bit, just catching up with stuff today, but I'll be in touch by PM soon.

I agree, I'm definitely happy to find all the knowledge on Idea Extraction that other people have shared before me...

It's awesome that there's an entire Language and Vocabulary for Startups for us to learn from. Even the term "Idea Extraction" just tells you so much about how to be a good entrepreneur.

It's not about "Idea Creation" it's about "EXTRACTION!" Solve Real NEEDS, don't just mentally masturbate the product or service YOU want to build because you think it's a "Great Idea" but you've never Validated with a single Potential Customer!

I think we have Silicon Valley to thank for that, and how programmers "hack" solutions together has completely influenced how we can "hack" Fastlane solutions together faster than ever.

I'll be in touch again soon!