How and when to acquire SaaS users

236 点作者 timjones超过 4 年前

25 条评论

dvt超过 4 年前

> Distribution before productI don't like this new startup trend[1][2], nor do I think it actually works.Literally all of those examples are the opposite of what the blog post is claiming. They did have a product: Hotmail had the service built out, Eventbrite had the service built out, and there was a Dropbox before you could refer your friends to it. There are examples of what the author is claiming, but most are gimmicky Kickstarter-style (and often derivative) products.I mean, think about Dropbox or Slack or Instagram: how could you possibly sell (or even validate the idea of) those products without actually giving some sort of demo? Without people actually using that thing? It might work for something like the product in the post (people understand what "video chat" is), but I don't really see it working for any kind of particularly novel or value-generating product.Followup: grabbed a coffee, and this post got a bit of attention. To be clear, I think that an MVP should be just that: a minimum viable product. By definition, you shouldn't be able to go leaner. I also think that sometimes people conflate "fake it 'til you make it" with PG's "do things that don't scale" -- these two are not the same.[1] <a href="https://tommorkes.com/lean-launch-how-to-sell-an-idea-before-you-build-it/" rel="nofollow">https://tommorkes.com/lean-launch-how-to-sell-an-idea-before...</a>[2] <a href="https://hbr.org/2013/12/sell-your-product-before-it-exists" rel="nofollow">https://hbr.org/2013/12/sell-your-product-before-it-exists</a>

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b20000超过 4 年前

I applaud your success. To me it seems that by putting distribution first, or focusing on problems to solve, that you typically end up with markets or problems you are personally not really excited about. I've done this exercise many times. I can either work on something I think is cool and there is a niche market for, but does not really "solve" a problem but addresses a "want", or I can work on something I have zero interest in but for which there probably is a market and clear distribution model. If I like adventure games, and want to make one, those don't solve a problem, and it's a niche market with a lot of competition (gaming in general). Or I can work on some online tax prep software for expats. Niche market, addresses a problem, zero personal interest, probably a big market.

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awillen超过 4 年前

Good on you for breaking out of a cycle that wasn't working. I think you're really speaking to something that's becoming increasingly true - distribution is at least as important as, if not more important than, products themselves. We've moved past "if you build it they will come" to something more akin to "if enough people are already coming to you, you can build something, and they'll try it."

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justiceforsaas超过 4 年前

I think you've gone from one extreme to the other. Yes, building a product with no distribution sucks. So does doing distribution without having anything to show for it.Take this from a guy who spent 2 years studying distribution channels [1]. There's nothing wrong about spending a week or two developing a MVP before focusing on distribution.I think the key is to start with 1) The minimum thing you can do and call a 'product' 2) Try to promote/distribute it to see the response. So far you've done:a) A web page explaining what your product is aboutSome steps to (progressively) get to a "better" MVP may be:b) Make a video showcasing your product (which can be a simple Figma design with static screens that show once you click on them)c) Build a feature that's high on the ICE Scoring model [2], and distribute thatd) Build a meaningfully different feature than c) and promote it as a SEPARATE product. Let your features be like split tests you promote on the same/different distribution channels and see how they perform.[1] <a href="https://firstpayingusers.com" rel="nofollow">https://firstpayingusers.com</a>[2] <a href="https://university.hygger.io/en/articles/2288376-ice-scoring" rel="nofollow">https://university.hygger.io/en/articles/2288376-ice-scoring</a>

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dmarlow超过 4 年前

Sorry to nitpick, but some of your examples illustrate that they certainly had an MVP and THEN did the distribution. How could hotmail perform distribution without first having an MVP?I agree with the premise of validation, then building. While this is a good rule of thumb, it's not always possible. I like the focus and thinking behind getting users. It can't be "built it and they will come". Having a good, sound plan and sticking with it is the key.

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Closi超过 4 年前

Well written blog post! A few observations from an outsiders perspective:* One interesting thing I have noticed from being on HN is that lots of start-ups that focus on the tech industry / IT / helping developers. I think it makes sense to pick a niche you understand, but possibly not if it is a 'niche' which is filled with developers.* Workplace collaboration in a 'knowledge work' environment = red ocean. Application of workplace collaboration tools to new/unexplored industry segments I suspect has lots of blue ocean areas however. I think you have picked something in the red ocean.* As a small note, you started with a solution (always on video room, inspired by a twitter post) and worked backwards to a problem to solve (teammates not being fully engaged). The usual process would be to start with a problem and then work out how you are going to solve it. I know it sounds like semantics, but there are lots of potential solutions to "teammates feel disconnected" and an always on video room is just one of them! (e.g. coffee roulette, remote pizza parties).

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mac_was超过 4 年前

Great post mate.I followed a similar pattern and created <a href="https://sayoname.com" rel="nofollow">https://sayoname.com</a>, an app for remotely located workers so they can record names and call each other directly from the browser. A tool so people can easily find how to say someone's name, sneak on what someone does in the company etc.I almost got a big school hooked up to start paying subscription (it is an international school) but they decided on creating their own solution due to privacy concerns. Extremely disappointing and lowers morale straight away.I have few hundred profiles but the growth is stale atm. I don't really have time to actively look for new users and would love a co-founder as what they say on y-combinator it is REALLY a lot easier if you have someone you can share thought and can both motivate each other. So my advice is add a step and get a co-founder.

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throwawaytemp27超过 4 年前

Cool article, love the insight into the thought process and best of luck. But that name HelloHailey seems like literally an insane choice. I would never use it. As far as I know I’m the target market so may want to look at changing it if others agree!

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legerdemain超过 4 年前

From the blog post:<pre><code> > Twitter is full of interesting and influential people sharing > thoughts and having public conversations. And they’re all > accessible - just 280 characters away. </code></pre> Yes! Yes! Marketing has changed 1000% since the Dark ages! People forget that you can now marketing your product effortlessly and completely for free to everyone in the world. No more complaining that "my awesome product failed because no one knows about it" -- just press that Tweet button and you're on!

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kevsim超过 4 年前

I've got to applaud you for thinking about distribution first. Many tech folks turned entrepreneurs (myself included) think that if they build a great product, they'll get usage. Doesn't work that way.But I will also say that I suspect your strategy is possibly a little naive. I hope it's as easy as you've laid out, and I'm envious of the viral aspects of your proposed product. However, I suspect the "top of funnel" portion (hypothesis 1) won't be enough to drive your "land and expand" portion (hypothesis 2). At least in my own experience currently trying to build a B2B SaaS tool [0], it's an absolute grind. And while some of these communities you're mentioning will engage, it's hard to convert that to people entering your funnel in a reliable fashion. You've got to combine it with 19 others things like content marketing, speaking at events, etc.That being said, we're not engaging in as transparent way as you are so YMMV. I wish you the best of luck!0: <a href="https://kitemaker.co" rel="nofollow">https://kitemaker.co</a> - a crazy fast issue tracker that connects all of your other tools (GitHub, Figma, Slack, Discord) better than anything else out there

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bird_monster超过 4 年前

I've found that my side projects are very rarely about completing anything. Usually a side project is about chasing a curiosity in a piece of tech or a workflow change or something. "Could I build a faster CI pipe in Terraform?" "Could I write this Kafka consumer in Java?" "Can I containerize this?". Things that aren't really about "completing" or "shipping."I think that people like me often forget that one of the biggest drivers for working on projects past when they become interesting is the money I receive for working on them. If I'm not being paid, it becomes difficult to fathom struggling for 10 hours on building something past when it's particularly interesting. Once any personal project would require basically any UI work, that's about when I bail (as I have no interest and actively dislike pretty much every UI-based technology I've ever encountered).Getting paid to work is important to me.

corytheboyd超过 4 年前

I don’t really agree with a lot of what’s being said here.If you have something that solves real problems, you should be able to fight for users. Yeah sure, just because you built a great thing doesn’t mean people will flock to it, you need to do SOME marketing.It might take two years to get ten users, because turns out it’s very hard to run every aspect of a business by yourself. But it’s progress, and if you maintain a high bar of connection with your user base and product quality, as long as you continue to market and improve it will grow.There are no “get rich quick” schemes here, I don’t believe in that nonsense. There is hard work and there is giving up, that’s it.

d_burfoot超过 4 年前

Most startup ideation follows the following sequence:1. invent a bold new product2. figure out how to market itIn other words, the "Eureka" moment is in the product ideation step, while the marketing step is basically a schlep. But the inverse approach might actually be better:1. invent a bold new marketing strategy2. figure out a product to sell with itDon't assume that marketing is somehow a lower form of intellectual activity than engineering. It requires a strong aesthetic sense, a deep understanding of human psychology, mastery of technical tools, and the ability to be self-critical.

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satvikpendem超过 4 年前

Nice to see that you're transitioning from the developer mindset to the founder mindset, from building first to selling first. Many people don't understand that development is just one part of a successful company. They think that if you build it, they will come. I too have fallen into this trap multiple times until I had my latest startup idea (todo list + calendar for project management, <a href="https://getartemis.app" rel="nofollow">https://getartemis.app</a>). I simply made a landing page, used Figma and an animation tool called Principle to make a nice video, and put it on the landing page. Now I have over 1200 singups to the email list while I'm working on building the product.Doing this has allowed me to do so many things, such as figuring out that there is indeed demand for the product, and directly talking to these potential users by setting up a call with them. Having a distribution channel is a powerful thing. It would be even better if I cultivated my Twitter audience, but an email list is a start, and it has some distinct advantages such as owning your distribution channel.

hyperpallium2超过 4 年前

That's "marketing" not distribution. But maybe your term sounds cooler...Thinking of open source development, some of this is implied, by platforms like github, and ideas like "release early, release often". So developers are dependent on this promtion/distribution platform, without even realizing they have one.

polote超过 4 年前

One new guy trying to tell the world that there is a process to start a successful business, there is not. Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed.Some succeed more than others, but they never always succeed.I wish you good luck for your project but changing your approach is not going to ensure you not to fail.

preommr超过 4 年前

This won't work because programmers need to understand that the value they bring is in being able to build things. Marketing using shiny new features and a good product is simple, but an effective strategy as a developer.Marketing magic by marketing gurus is it's own thing. They can artificially prop up a product using efficient advertising, connections, or lots of cash.Ironically this is going to work because gathering a following for an interesting project is one way to do marketing. Lots of programmers succeed because they make tutorials, or they participate in a community where they build up a reputation.

meghido1超过 4 年前

There's this upcoming trend of "building in public". Founder/Developer sharing their journey to their audience while trying to get traction. I agree that launching your product to an engaged and consolidated audience give a boost but I also think that depends on which type of product you are building. For sure you need at least to have an MVP to show to your users.

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mifeng超过 4 年前

Unsolicited advice: your problem isn't great - sure engineering leaders want to increase personal connections between remote teammates, but is that one of their top problems and how much are they willing to pay to solve itI would iterate until you find a problem that people are willing to pay a lot of money to fix.

anoncow超过 4 年前

Fun ideas without any possibility of a viable business model is what I am struggling with too. Ideas take away a lot of your time when you are chasing them and only once the prototyping is done or sometimes when the initial product is out you realise that there is no chance of making any money.

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m0llusk超过 4 年前

An alternative approach to the who is going to buy the damn thing problem is to focus on the marketing to engineering ratio. If you build it customers will only come and buy if they know what it is and how it might work for them.

AHappyCamper超过 4 年前

I found the article confusing, but the infographic at the end made everything worth it. Probably one of the best I've ever seen, and I take my hat off to the author!

fourseventy超过 4 年前

4.) Give up and move on <-------- There's your problem

Sophistifunk超过 4 年前

This is not a "great startup process". In any other industry, this is called a bait-and-switch. It is a form of fraud, and in many jurisdictions indictable.

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markdown超过 4 年前

Honest question: If you're going to pick hello<randomName> as a name, why not pick one with a .com?