I have a few! One mildly churlish one -- I was at a SaaS event way back and got asked how you know you have traction. My (rather uncharitable) answer was "you s

I have a few! One mildly churlish one -- I was at a SaaS event way back and got asked how you know you have traction. My (rather uncharitable) answer was "you stop showing up at events like this". Traction is really when the business starts driving you rather than vice-versa. I suspect the reality is every SaaS startup out there will have a different metric or moment of realization. Could be a pulling in a big customer, or a piece of content marketing that really hits home. If I really had to hone in on just one, it's cash. If you've got a business that's getting by -- If you're charging monthly, I'd ask how many customers you can get to commit to annual payments. If people are paying $100 month, I'd ask how you double it. If your sales cycle averages to a month, I'd wonder if it can be a week. My dataset of successes is limited, but plenty of misses The meta-point is that it's really obvious when it hits. It's obvious when it misses. The tough calls are when it's just creeping along. Doesn't mean it is a bad idea, just that you need to keep iterating -- your marketing, features, onboarding, whatever you can. Good luck!