SaaS Startup Thread, 2nd Time Entrepeneur

[Young-Gun]

1) Try cold emailing your prospects - check out Alex Berman's channel on YouTube for some great advice on how to cold email
2) You're in Austin... go to some local networking and meetup events and start talking to people. It's much easier to get them to talk about pain and suffering when it's not a sales call
3) check out some online communities. Read their message boards and look for clues of pain points. Reach out to those individuals.

These are great ideas, by the way. I will watch those videos on Cold Emailing. I feel *much* better about emailing than phone calling, but the flip side (obviously) is it's much easier to ignore emails, and this can be used as an excuse or "fake" for action.

Idea #2 is fantastic - I'm sure it would be much easier to get a conversation started in person.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated

 

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[Tiago Ladeia]

First – great thread. It takes a lot of guts to be held accountable online regarding your evolution. I must say that I almost never talk about my plans since I don't want to look like stupid if I fail or change my mind. But, as far as I know, this is the kind of slowlane line of thought because it allows you to fail.

So congratulations, I wish you all the best in your SaaS biz and keep us informed.

By the way, did you left your private tutoring business entirely?

 

[Young-Gun]

First – great thread. It takes a lot of guts to be held accountable online regarding your evolution. I must say that I almost never talk about my plans since I don't want to look like stupid if I fail or change my mind. But, as far as I know, this is the kind of slowlane line of thought because it allows you to fail.

So congratulations, I wish you all the best in your SaaS biz and keep us informed.

By the way, did you left your private tutoring business entirely?

Thanks for the kind words sir~! I think there's a time to share ideas and time to keep them to yourself!
For example, it can be good to keep your idea a secret until it's ready to share!
Sometimes other people can bring you down with negativity and bad ideas, so it can be good to keep to yourself.

However, in this forum I feel comfortable sharing my ideas and I would say DON'T WORRY about changing your mind, it's incredibly important for startups and entrepreneurs to shift focus or "pivot" as they learn and evolve!

Thanks again for joining in and I would love to share this whole journey on the Fastlane Forum so I'll keep pushing forward!
Ya'll give me so much encouragement!

 

[Young-Gun]

First – great thread. It takes a lot of guts to be held accountable online regarding your evolution. I must say that I almost never talk about my plans since I don't want to look like stupid if I fail or change my mind. But, as far as I know, this is the kind of slowlane line of thought because it allows you to fail.

So congratulations, I wish you all the best in your SaaS biz and keep us informed.

By the way, did you left your private tutoring business entirely?

Oh and I did *not* leave my tutoring business! It still pays my bills

 

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[Young-Gun]

1) Try cold emailing your prospects - check out Alex Berman's channel on YouTube for some great advice on how to cold email
2) You're in Austin... go to some local networking and meetup events and start talking to people. It's much easier to get them to talk about pain and suffering when it's not a sales call
3) check out some online communities. Read their message boards and look for clues of pain points. Reach out to those individuals.

This Alex Berman guy is *GOLD* for me right now.

I'm shifting tactics back to email.
I'm GOOD with email.
I kinda suck with Cold Calls.
I'm decent with "warm" Phone Calls.

So - playing to my strengths.
I'm going to use my Email and Research skills to set up some "warm" Phone Calls with my prospect list.
This will help me get Customer Development rolling... I'm sure I'll get *some* email responses for interviews.
I only need a few calls (around 10 would be ideal) to make major progress on validating my ideas, or coming up with new ones.

Gonna get started emailing after I'm done with tutoring stuff for tonight.

Again thank you

EDIT: This one has been my favorite so far but there are many more to watch: Cold Emails: How Many Emails Should I Send Per Day?

 

[Locomote]

Thanks so much for the feedback and encouragement, especially from someone doing a similar thing!
I'm glad it sounds at least mildly like I know what I'm talking about

So, I appreciate your concerns, and I guess here's how I'd respond:

I agree that I should build a SaaS based around *what I know*.
Still, market size / available dollars for my solution *really matters*.

To be clear, I'm no "education expert." I do have extremely high domain knowledge within a small sub-niche of high school education.
Trust me when I say this is very specialized, which minimizes the potential to scale.

The MAX market size in my education niche is just not that big... it is missing a '0' or two (or three) at the end.

What I'm thinking instead:
It's not just this specific Academic Tutoring knowledge I have...
Also have a lot of domain experience in Small Business.

And, I think solving a common Small Business problem through SaaS would add the $0's I'm looking for in terms of market size.

There's a saying I agree with:
It's just as much work to build a company in a small market, as a company in big market.

*Pre-acknowledging that "Small Business" is not a market, it's too broad.
But, I do have some ideas for general pain points that *almost ANY* small business could benefit from.

Hope this makes sense and thanks again for the feedback

All very good points, I can see you have this well thought out!

Yes, I had thought that they market was possibly too small, I had not seen written earlier in the thread but I wanted to push you for that answer just to ensure you had looked at all options and with an answer like that its clear you have.

As a business owner looking to produce a SaaS for business owners I don't believe you're steeping outside you area of expertise, which is good and the title of business owner is something you can lean on to get an audience with other owners.

Hopefully we can have some yacht races in the future

 

[Young-Gun]

All very good points, I can see you have this well thought out!

Yes, I had thought that they market was possibly too small, I had not seen written earlier in the thread but I wanted to push you for that answer just to ensure you had looked at all options and with an answer like that its clear you have.

As a business owner looking to produce a SaaS for business owners I don't believe you're steeping outside you area of expertise, which is good and the title of business owner is something you can lean on to get an audience with other owners.

Hopefully we can have some yacht races in the future

Heck yea I love it. I will definitely have a boat race with you
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I've got a good feeling that I'm on the right path.

More updates soon!

 

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[Young-Gun]

All very good points, I can see you have this well thought out!

Yes, I had thought that they market was possibly too small, I had not seen written earlier in the thread but I wanted to push you for that answer just to ensure you had looked at all options and with an answer like that its clear you have.

As a business owner looking to produce a SaaS for business owners I don't believe you're steeping outside you area of expertise, which is good and the title of business owner is something you can lean on to get an audience with other owners.

Hopefully we can have some yacht races in the future

BTW @Locomote do you have a progress thread? I'd love to learn more about what you're doing!

 

[Locomote]

BTW @Locomote do you have a progress thread? I'd love to learn more about what you're doing!

Honestly, I only joined Friday at the recommendation of my buddy @Fox . The plan was to meet like minded individuals and document the journey exactly like you're doing. I was waiting to get a feel for the Forum before kicking off a thread.

If you think its something that would be of value, I can kick one off..

 

[Young-Gun]

Honestly, I only joined Friday at the recommendation of my buddy @Fox . The plan was to meet like minded individuals and document the journey exactly like you're doing. I was waiting to get a feel for the Forum before kicking off a thread.

If you think its something that would be of value, I can kick one off..

Heck yeah, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested.
As long as it doesn't take you away from ACTION on your business, I'd definitely say please write about it on the forum!

In my case, I feel the time it's taken to write my posts has been MORE than repaid already by the ideas and encouragement that other folks have shared, and I plan to continue.

Plus, it helps hold myself to account

 

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[Young-Gun]

SIDE NOTE: Business Idea...

Holy crap, going through all these websites as I look for "Decision-Maker" names, emails and phone numbers ... they are so many BAD small-business websites. Wow.

Of the last 40 small businesses I've searched on Google:

• 12 don't have their own websites at all.
• 21 have unacceptably crappy websites.
• 5 have passable websites.
• About 2 have "good" websites.
• Not a single site has been memorable to me in any way.

Some of these are 10-30 year old, established local businesses.

And, I'm not even gonna touch on all the problems with:

• Broken pages and 404 errors
• Slow loading times
• Missing contact info
• Terrible appearance on Mobile Phone
• Ugly stock photographs

See, I don't want to build a web design company, but DAMN if there aren't about a million small businesses that need a face lift service for their website.

Wowowowowow.

This is pretty much the definition of opportunity.

If nothing else turns up, maybe I'll pivot to that. (I'd rather not though, web design is MUCH harder to scale than SaaS, since site-building is "sell it many times, build it many times" but SaaS is "build it once, sell it many times.")

 

[QueueQueue]

With some decent sales skills you can probably sell local businesses on improved websites quite easily. It is easy to pitch them on the value:

• Since all their competition also sucks, having a good website makes them really stand out.
• Nearly everyone today looks up businesses online, and their website is the first impression people have of them. They wouldn't make their store look awful, and neither should their website.
• Having a functional, usable website allows their customers to find them, learn about their open times, and their services/products
• People look up business' websites a lot when they are out on their phone and a lot of people simply leave the site if it isn't responsive design for mobile.
• They are losing customers to competition who have a better web presence

These are just some of the many blatantly obvious points that could be presented.

You are correct though, that this isn't as scalable as a SaaS application could be. You are trading time for money. The best way to fast lane this approach would be to get clients that are willing to pay higher prices, and hire developers that can complete the project for you as you continue to make sales.

 

[Young-Gun]

Tonight's Progress:
Stayed up a bit late working on my Customer Database (compiling more emails and phone numbers of local small-business Decision Makers).
Then I sent 28 semi-customized Cold Emails to get the ball rolling before I fall asleep tonight.

I hope for a 10% email response rate in the next few days. That would be 2-3 Customer Development interviews scheduled as a result of sending these 28 emails. In the meantime, I'll keep sending more Emails in the coming days, as work permits.

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

The Cold Email Script:
I've been drafting and refining the Cold Email script for almost a week now... researching how the Pros do it and applying my own experience as well.
Been editing and re-editing to make a really elegant, simple email focused on *their* needs, that also gets their attention in a crowded Inbox.
Again, goal is simply to get a response to confirm a 15-minute phone call, focused on listening to their small-business problems.

Each Cold Email is 95% "pre-scripted" with 5% "customization" - the way you fill the blanks on those old "Mad-Libs" games.
I left blanks for [DECISION-MAKER NAME] and [BUSINESS NAME] and [INDUSTRY] throughout the brief email script.

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

Re Scheduling:
I also suggested to each Decision Maker a specific Day / Date / Time for me to call.
I did NOT want to leave my prospects with the need to consult their calendar and come up with a meeting time simply to respond to me.
Instead it's "yes that works" or "no but another time could work" (or they'll just ignore me).

I've "quadruple booked" everything because I'm sure most people won't respond. Basically I scheduled 28 people into a 3-hour block of time on Monday, which is completely unrealistic.

If "too many" people respond by email (a good problem to have) I will figure out a way to deal with the scheduling.
The important thing is to get the ball rolling.

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

System-itizing for Speed: How Fast Can I Go?

So, I was able to quickly pump out these first 28 emails by using a system. But they are still relatively customized and attention-getting.

It probably takes me 4 minutes to find and add the Decision-Maker contact info to my spreadsheet.
And, another 2 minutes to customize and send the email.
So I'm doing outreach at the rate of about 1 Prospect per 6 minutes, or about 10 Prospects per Hour.

If I put in 4 hours a day, that's about 40-50 prospects I can outreach for Customer Development per day (keep in mind I'm still running my other tutoring business and also teaching during the week).

Hopefully the emails should have a decent open rate, unless something weird happens.
Anyway, I think I could easily keep this up for a while, so I should probably send several hundred of these emails.

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

Only Way to Know Is to Try:

It's time to test and see what happens.
I'll send about 300 emails this way in the coming 5-10 days.
If it doesn't get results, I'll refine or change my approach and try again.

Building that 'why' (below)....

Nautor's Swan 115 "Shamanna"

See ya'll on the water...

 

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[Young-Gun]

With some decent sales skills you can probably sell local businesses on improved websites quite easily. It is easy to pitch them on the value:

• Since all their competition also sucks, having a good website makes them really stand out.
• Nearly everyone today looks up businesses online, and their website is the first impression people have of them. They wouldn't make their store look awful, and neither should their website.
• Having a functional, usable website allows their customers to find them, learn about their open times, and their services/products
• People look up business' websites a lot when they are out on their phone and a lot of people simply leave the site if it isn't responsive design for mobile.
• They are losing customers to competition who have a better web presence

These are just some of the many blatantly obvious points that could be presented.

You are correct though, that this isn't as scalable as a SaaS application could be. You are trading time for money. The best way to fast lane this approach would be to get clients that are willing to pay higher prices, and hire developers that can complete the project for you as you continue to make sales.

Excellent analysis, and spoken like a true boss. Rep transferred

Website Design is a business model I'd rather avoid, since I'm going for "ultimate" scalability with every fiber of my brain.
I've learned the lessons from my 1st business, and want to avoid that trap of trading human hours for money (even if I'm not the human trading the hours i.e. hire employees).
It just makes it so much harder to scale when someone has to do MORE work each time your company gets a sale.
I'm smitten by the "build one time, sell many times" model that Software offers.

But yes, Small-Biz Website Design would be a *GREAT* first business model and has a huge potential market.
And, I think service businesses are easier "first businesses" than product businesses.
Especially if you're "just" looking for a low 6-figure income as a freelancer, freedom from a boss, location-independent income etc.

So yea, anyone reading this thread - looking for a specific business idea that could probably go huge? I'd start sifting through local business websites in your area. You'll see that the bar is incredibly low and you could easily offer huge value by building or improving biz websites.

 

[Young-Gun]

HOLY*****

It's only been about 45 minutes since I sent the Cold Emails and I already have 2 responses out of 28!!!!!
With strong interest in talking about their business problems at the times I suggested on Monday!!!!

Wow, I'm actually a bit overcome by emotion right now
This is really exciting!!!! :O

 

[rpeck90]

Well done!!!!!!!! You got a suit???

Some more inspiration for you... Gianluca Vacchi is an Italian multi millionaire, who also happens to own a massive yacht:

 

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[QueueQueue]

HOLY*****

It's only been about 45 minutes since I sent the Cold Emails and I already have 2 responses out of 28!!!!!
With strong interest in talking about their business problems at the times I suggested on Monday!!!!

Wow, I'm actually a bit overcome by emotion right now
This is really exciting!!!! :O

Well done! I am curious to see what your cold e-mails looked like (if you don't mind).

 

[Young-Gun]

Hehe, lest anyone think "Process" can be cheated...

I woke up this morning quite early, hoping there would be more responses!
But alas, not yet, haha

Luckily, the 2 respondents have double-confirmed the interview time, so those folks seem enthusiastic!

I will definitely need to follow the PROCESS and keep:

• Adding to my lead database by the hundreds.
• Sending Interview Request Emails by the dozens.
• Conducting Customer Development Interviews (minimum of 10, now thinking 20 may be better)

Can't just sit still and hope for results! I'm a bit sleepy from last night, and I'd like to see what happens with the other 26 emails.

So, I will most likely keep building the Lead Database today, while I'm not working on the tutoring business.

This is a nice, low-key but productive use of my current energy state.

There are hundreds and hundreds of local small businesses that I have NOT added to the list yet, so, easy pickins.

Endgame:

Bill Prince "POSH" Concept

 

[Young-Gun]

Felt great all day and made more progress.

(I gotta say, it really helps me focus to know I'll be sharing my progress with you all! I'm really excited to share the journey and I *KNOW* we're going somewhere with this).

Unfortunately, I didn't see any more responses today to last night's 28 cold emails. But, that's still a 2 response / 28 sent or 7% response rate, which isn't awful by any means.

We'll see if that 7% response rate holds steady over the next few hundred emails.
Once we get some baseline numbers, we could start split-testing the email and see what happens.

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

I needed about half the day for tutoring business. But here's what I got done for the SaaS startup:

- Added 60 more Prospects to my database / spreadsheet.
I deliberately chose to focus the next step of prospecting on the same Industries that the first 2 Interview Respondents came from.
So, I stocked my Prospect database with another 60 prospects from the same industries that have already given me a bit of attention.
Hopefully this will produce more good results; if not, I'll simply broaden the Industry list again in a few days.

It's amazing how much Decision-Maker info you can find with just a few minutes of detective work!
Using Yelp! and Google alone, I was often able to find the Business Owner's Name and Primary Email and/or phone number.

(The local business websites continue to be HORRIFICALLY UGLY and/or broken or non-existent. I think I saw about 5 good business websites out of 60 today, and 4 of those good sites came from massive national franchises. Definitely huge opportunities here if you want them.)

When Cold-Emailing, the difference in Subject Line between "For Owner: Please Read" and "For Dave at CarBiz: Please Read" is massive.
So, I consider this name / email research a worthy use of time (only takes a couple minutes per business, anyway).
As long as I don't get "caught up" in adding more and more names to my database, since that doesn't necessarily get me closer to my boat (see below).

Other times I got creative in my attempts to get direct contact info for Decision Makers. If the main listed contact is "Sandra@Xcompany.com" but I know through my research that the owner of the company's name is Jacob, I'd try adding "Jacob@Xcompany.com". I figure it can't hurt to try.

- Cold-Emailed 24 more Prospects for Customer Development interviews.

I didn't want to spend the whole day in "Introvert mode"... so after I added 60 names to my list and as much contact info as I could uncover, I called a stop and turned to Cold-Emailing some of the new Prospects.

It is almost midnight at this point, and this has been a good and a full day. So I'm not trying to force myself to work so hard I get sick... slow and steady wins the race.

Adding 60 prospects and sending 24 more "semi-custom" emails feels like a good accomplishment, so I'll wrap it up here.


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

I'd like to do more! But that's a good way to end the day.

Always enjoyed a bit of Wagner... (joke for the combined music / boat nerds among us):

Perini Navi "Parsifal III"

 

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[Young-Gun]

I have the day off from tutoring, so I should have a lot of time today to make progress.

It's Friday, so I'm not going to do Cold Email for the next few days (it might get buried over the weekend).
Also, Sat / Sun are going to be pretty busy.. I do a lot of tutoring stuff on most weekends.

Here's what I can do over the weekend for good SaaS progress:

• Keep building my Prospect List and Decision-Maker Contact Info.
• Study and Practice Coding.

This is cool because half the time is spent working on CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT (finding the problem / need I will solve).

The other half is spent on PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (learning to program and creating the software).

By the way, I just found a new favorite yacht-builder....

Wally "Esense"

Bit by bit I build my ship...

 

[Young-Gun]

Friday afternoon, got a somewhat annoyed email back from my latest batch of 24 cold emails

This was basically a business manager telling me:
A) Don't email the Owner directly again without permission.
B) If this is a Sales Call, they're not interested.
C) Contact Business Manager again if I need anything else.

OK - so I responded ASAP to her and clarified what I wanted. I'm glad to get even this "annoyed" response - much better than silence.

This feedback tells me I'm getting somewhere but I must:

• Edit the content of the Cold Email
• Make the message Simpler and More Direct.
• Make the tone Less Salesy and More Personal.

This is perfect example of why ACTION is so important.
I now have real-world feedback.
This lets me adjust accordingly.

I'm glad I haven't send 300x emails this way... just two rounds of 25x or so.
Now I can iterate and improve upon what I already have rolling.

If you aren't taking ACTION on your plan, it's like sitting in a beached sailboat.

 

[IvoN]

Young-Gun, not sure if I should piggyback on your thread or start my own, but I feel there is a bit of parallel here...You have definitely enticed me to join into this discussion. THANK YOU. (If you'd rather me start my own thread...no issue, just lemme know .

I have been consuming knowledge for the last few months, but as it has been said so many times over and over again, it won’t happen unless you actually do it. This is my entrance into entrepreneurship. SOOOO NEW of territory for me. Like a virgin!

However, just like @Young-Gun, I am looking at a SaaS startup.

I have the SCALE.
I have examined the business idea, it is scalable through different niches and geographically; although, I will start with one niche one territory, make it happen, then apply elsewhere.

I have the NEED
I am still in the process of evaluating the size of the NEED, and making sure I have enough backup before I start. I am in the process of “cold-warm” calling and e-mailing potential clients, with the idea to get them on board and even get some buy-in upfront. Still looking for ideas of good incentives for pre-sale (e.g. % off of yearly service if they pay up front, free upgrades, etc). Also, trying to teach myself how to do this well. Any ideas? (this is out of my territory).

I have SOME ENTRY
The entry that I have is the niche and the need within the niche. But no knowledge of programming is making me anxious. I am looking for developers. But what about trust, security, wasting time and resources, getting screwed….how do I protect myself.

AND then there is the BUSINESS side of it all…the whole new ball game for me. I’m a scientist! I’m not a business owner! Can I be an entrepreneur!? Do entrepreneurs poop their pants and run with it? Or will I be swallowed by the sharks and turned into poop myself!?

Sorry, I got sidetracked by my scary pants side of me.

Anyway, I am here now. That's a start too. Thank you for reading and commenting and writing!

 

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[Young-Gun]

As mentioned, today (Friday) was a day to step away from Customer-Need Development and Outreach.
We've gotten that ball rolling, and learned a few useful lessons that I've described in previous posts.

Mostly I had free time today.

So, today I focused on Product-Building... starting with Independent Study to learn how to code in Python so I can build my SaaS.

-----

You may have picked up on the fact that I'm starting a Software Company with no engineers, no experience, no investors, and without knowing how to code.

That ain't gonna stop me.

I'm studying from the excellent book Learn Python the Hard Way. The entirety of this book can be read for free on the internet.
So, the process of learning to code in Python has been *completely free* for me so far.

Python itself is FREE open-source software.
This awesome training textbook is completely FREE.
It's amazing what you can learn for FREE if you just apply some elbow grease.

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

At the start of the morning today, I was on Exercise 21 out of 52 in the Python book.
I'm now finishing up Exercise 32 around 8:00 PM, so that's about 20% of the entire book completed in a single day off from work.

Also, I am respecting PROCESS by diving deep into each Coding Exercise.
I want to learn the maximum amount in the shortest period of time.
But, real learning is more important than speed.
NO rushing through lessons just to 'finish the book.'

The only goal is to truly learn how to code simple SaaS / Business Software.
Not just trying to "check off a checkbox" here.
I'm considering this a lifelong business skill, and taking it *very* seriously.

This study approach includes doing many of the techniques I teach to students in my tutoring business:

• Taking hand-written notes as I go.
• Making and drilling Flashcards for difficult vocabulary or concepts.
• Doing all "Extra Credit" assignments in the book.
• Sticking with each lesson until I grasp it, NOT skipping ahead when I feel frustrated by the current topic.
• Reviewing previous concepts periodically.
• Doing my own research into any side topics that interest me.

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

I don't know how good I'll be at programming by the time I finish this first book (still a complete beginner, probably). But, I'm confident that the next step (to building my SaaS) will become clear by that point.

It's also really nice to indulge the Introvert side of myself today, forget about "external" outreach and focus on developing the new skill of Coding.

I should say, that when I was in 6th - 8th grade, I used to program little games and math programs on my TI-83 Calculator.
So, I started off with a *tiny* bit of experience... long-buried in memory from years ago.

Overall, Coding is very challenging intellectually. Fun and exciting as well. I feel like I'm gaining new powers, like a wizard or something

Speaking of power... I give you the Wallypower 80....

Wally 80 Prototype "Checkmate"

Tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday will be pretty busy with tutoring business.

But, by Monday, I still should be able to find time to...

A) Add more Prospects to my Prospect Database
Goal: Add 50 more Prospects by Monday.

B) Finish more chapters of the Python book.
Goal: Finish 10 Python chapters by Monday.

C) Revise the Cold Email Script to be more clear, direct and less sales-y in tone.
Goal: Reduce email length by 20%, clarify my intention, and remove any trace of "sales" language.

D) Send more Cold Emails on Sunday night.
Goal: Send 25 Cold Emails on Sunday after revising the Email Script.

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

I feel that I'm making excellent use of my time to get closer to a Fast-Scaling SaaS business.

The current biggest challenges are still:
A) Finding and Reaching Potential Customers for Idea Extraction and Validation.
B) Learning the skills to Build the Software in the near future.

These aren't insurmountable. I'm making measurable progress each day.

Feels like full speed ahead

 

[johnwmintz]

This thread has been an amazing resource for me. I bought The Millionaire Fastlane a few weeks ago and have been slowly reading through it. As I progressed I thought about an idea for the fastlane. You are discussing SaaS. I have completed some IT Security training and earned a couple of Security certifications. I am looking at the idea of SecaaS. Security as a Service. It is similar to SaaS. Thank you for the wealth of information on this post.

 

[Young-Gun]

This thread has been an amazing resource for me. I bought The Millionaire Fastlane a few weeks ago and have been slowly reading through it. As I progressed I thought about an idea for the fastlane. You are discussing SaaS. I have completed some IT Security training and earned a couple of Security certifications. I am looking at the idea of SecaaS. Security as a Service. It is similar to SaaS. Thank you for the wealth of information on this post.

Extremely interesting idea, and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Just for you - here's a story of the smartest kid in my high school class (I was 'smart' but he made me feel stupid almost every day)...
- Graduated as class president of Duke University
- Gets a Fulbright scholarship for a research project in Mexico
- Starts a Computer Security company and sells it before he's 27 y.o.
- Meets Ashton Kutcher and lives at his house for a while
- Uses connection with Kutcher to get $20 mil of investments for his next tech business.

Lol, it's pretty ludicrous how far he's come and makes me feel like an idiot.
On the other hand, his family is ULTRA wealthy and connected... so I don't beat myself up too hard.
My family is middle class and definitely NOT 'connected'.
And, I'm proud of how far I've taken myself since graduating college... even though there's a loooong way to go.
Also, he's had a really sad family tragedy, that makes me realize - with success, not everything is as it seems, on the surface.
Never compare yourself too hard, or wish for someone else's life.

Anyway, I'm getting off-topic.
Just wanted to say, I don't know the details of the business he started, but I know it was "Computer Security"
And in just a couple of years, he was able to scale and sell it for millions.
Wish I knew more, but he and I were never on the best of terms, and I haven't stayed in touch.

Again @johnwmintz welcome to the Forum and thanks for joining my thread! Please follow it and keep contributing if it interests you - I read every single word and highly value all the wisdom that people are sharing with me

 

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[thehighlander]

It's great that you're interested in coding! Learning the basics of code is always good. Coding projects can be pretty basic or incredibly complex. Assuming you've got a business that requires code that wouldn't be easy for a beginner to write, you may be better off hiring a professional or getting a partner.

I've done consulting and it's pretty common for people to request a piece of serious software and expect it to be done in a few days for $100 (or free). They just never knew what was involved and assumed software can be whipped up like writing an email.

If you believe you can get a minimum viable product to market with what you know, go for it! You might be able to save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you search for open source software that pretty much does what you need. You use open source software to see all the code and modify it to suit your needs.

 

[Young-Gun]

It's great that you're interested in coding! Learning the basics of code is always good. Coding projects can be pretty basic or incredibly complex. Assuming you've got a business that requires code that wouldn't be easy for a beginner to write, you may be better off hiring a professional or getting a partner.

I've done consulting and it's pretty common for people to request a piece of serious software and expect it to be done in a few days for $100 (or free). They just never knew what was involved and assumed software can be whipped up like writing an email.

If you believe you can get a minimum viable product to market with what you know, go for it! You might be able to save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you search for open source software that pretty much does what you need. You use open source software to see all the code and modify it to suit your needs.

Hi again @thehighlander (love that name heh) and thanks for the words of wisdom !!

I love your pragmatic but encouraging view. Definitely interested to know more of what you think about my programming project.

Ok so, I don't *think* I have the cash for serious development.
And, I definitely do NOT want a partner. I'm very much a lone wolf...
Plus it's just hard to find good partners (even if really I wanted one)
I think it's easier just to learn to code than to find a good partner


I'm serious about learning to code fluently in at least one language...
I imagine building a 'portfolio' of small-biz SaaS products.
Like maybe 3-5 products over the next 7-10 years.
The same way one might write books... but much more profitably (I hope).

So, this is both a Business and a Learning Project.
Still, I don't really know "how deep the rabbit hole goes" with coding.
I do respect the fact that it is a serious discipline.
People study this for years, and are still continually learning.
It's a cutting edge scientific field, they don't call it "Computer Science" for nothing!
Like a mix of math, logic, language, science, and the creative arts.
Very satisfying and difficult.

But, I also believe I have a good mind for Coding.
Plus, I really am enjoying it.
And, I believe in the SaaS vision as the route to my yacht...

Wally "Angel's Share"

Here's another cool thing - my little brother is a full-on Computer Scientist working in California.
He's very very busy with his own thing, but I can touch base with him for ideas and encouragement.

Software still seems the very best business model to me.
It's also completely location-independent, which is very important to me.
My current business (tutoring) is extremely tied to location, and difficult to scale.
Software is completely the opposite of tutoring -
So there's a lot of motivation, and I'm in it for the long haul.

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

Speaking to everyone reading - we should all believe in our ability to learn.
I feel very strongly about this.
2017 presents us with an absolute INFINITY of information.
Better yet, it's all organized, sorted, searchable...
The wisdom is there for us to stumble across, if we only search for it.

This is the age of knowledge.

I also taught myself to run a small business - I had zero business classes, experience, training, family connections, etc -
I love learning from books, YouTube, Google, forums.

and most of all.. HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE
(read this as "ACTION")
not being afraid to fail.
Trying BEFORE I judge.

That's why I believe I can teach myself to code.
I've "learned how to learn."

At the same time... it's not always best to do everything myself.
I should investigate low-cost options for having other people build my software.
Having high standards, though - I think most options will be too expensive for me.

There may also be a "hybrid approach" of me building the MVP (minimum viable product) and then using other professionals to flesh it out.

It would be ideal to generate (a bit of) revenue from my self-built MVP, then outsource whatever else needs to be built.

Thanks again for stopping by the thread! Please share your thoughts more, they are very welcome here!!

 

[Young-Gun]

It's great that you're interested in coding! Learning the basics of code is always good. Coding projects can be pretty basic or incredibly complex. Assuming you've got a business that requires code that wouldn't be easy for a beginner to write, you may be better off hiring a professional or getting a partner.

I've done consulting and it's pretty common for people to request a piece of serious software and expect it to be done in a few days for $100 (or free). They just never knew what was involved and assumed software can be whipped up like writing an email.

If you believe you can get a minimum viable product to market with what you know, go for it! You might be able to save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you search for open source software that pretty much does what you need. You use open source software to see all the code and modify it to suit your needs.

Also I was wondering, did you have any specific stories about when people asked for "serious software" expecting it to be done in a few days?
I think I have a decent enough idea that I would get why it was funny

 

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[Young-Gun]

Young-Gun, not sure if I should piggyback on your thread or start my own, but I feel there is a bit of parallel here...You have definitely enticed me to join into this discussion. THANK YOU. (If you'd rather me start my own thread...no issue, just lemme know .

I have been consuming knowledge for the last few months, but as it has been said so many times over and over again, it won’t happen unless you actually do it. This is my entrance into entrepreneurship. SOOOO NEW of territory for me. Like a virgin!

However, just like @Young-Gun, I am looking at a SaaS startup.

I have the SCALE.
I have examined the business idea, it is scalable through different niches and geographically; although, I will start with one niche one territory, make it happen, then apply elsewhere.

I have the NEED
I am still in the process of evaluating the size of the NEED, and making sure I have enough backup before I start. I am in the process of “cold-warm” calling and e-mailing potential clients, with the idea to get them on board and even get some buy-in upfront. Still looking for ideas of good incentives for pre-sale (e.g. % off of yearly service if they pay up front, free upgrades, etc). Also, trying to teach myself how to do this well. Any ideas? (this is out of my territory).

I have SOME ENTRY
The entry that I have is the niche and the need within the niche. But no knowledge of programming is making me anxious. I am looking for developers. But what about trust, security, wasting time and resources, getting screwed….how do I protect myself.

AND then there is the BUSINESS side of it all…the whole new ball game for me. I’m a scientist! I’m not a business owner! Can I be an entrepreneur!? Do entrepreneurs poop their pants and run with it? Or will I be swallowed by the sharks and turned into poop myself!?

Sorry, I got sidetracked by my scary pants side of me.

Anyway, I am here now. That's a start too. Thank you for reading and commenting and writing!

Hey man, just wanted to be sure I responded to this @IvoN !

I do think if you're serious about your business project, absolutely start your own thread.

Just to be clear, I'm glad you're posting here!
It's more that I'm getting HUGE value from my own write-up of this process.
It holds me accountable and other people are contributing great ideas, experience, and encouragement.
Plus, it gives me a reason to find cooler and cooler yachts to gaze upon

The biggest tip I'd give, with what you've shared:
Make sure you "get outside the building" - you might watch Steve Blank's videos and blog on this Customer Development stuff.
(He's a billionaire entrepreneur, Stanford professor, early Silicon Valley guy)

Here's what I believe after multiple failures and a few successes:
Never assume you have a good idea.
Plan to interview potential customers and pivot until they DEMAND your idea.
Never be an introvert when it comes to business.
Force yourself to get out their and DISCOVER what people want.
Best of all if you can MEASURE and PROVE the demand before building.
It's an art and a science..

BTW a very standard SaaS business practice is "20% off for up-front yearly payment."
I wouldn't even think twice, just put that as part of your business.
(Sarcasm - definitely think twice, but it's usually a smart move).

Entrepreneurship is learning not to poop your pants.

There's an incredible, life-changing statement below:
"Today is the tomorrow that you were so afraid of."

There have been many days when that was my mantra.
I'm sure there will be many in the future.

Please keep coming to this thread! I'm grateful for your thoughts and contribution!

 

[thehighlander]

Also I was wondering, did you have any specific stories about when people asked for "serious software" expecting it to be done in a few days?
I think I have a decent enough idea that I would get why it was funny

Basically it was always I want Facebook/any bigname site with a twist.

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