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Can you give some info on your SaaS? Any tips/hints/tricks? I'm always looking to hear stories from people who have shipped a product. Keen to make this year th

Can you give some info on your SaaS? Any tips/hints/tricks? I'm always looking to hear stories from people who have shipped a product. Keen to make this year the year I create something small.

jgable 9y ago
I'm taking 30x500 from Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman. They are in patio11's orbit. It's an expensive class and would only be worth it if you are really willing to commit. They have some other less expensive products (Year of Hustle, Just F$&*% Ship) that you can use to dip your toe into their methodology. Look up their blog "Stacking the Bricks". Not affiliated in any way, just a fan and appreciative customer.
- alex_hitchins 9y ago
  As someone who has looked at the course also, I'd be really interested in hearing your thoughts on the class. I'm quite sure it's all good stuff, but like all things only really hear about the success stories. A genuine appraisal of the coaching, course materials and time involvement would be really, really interesting.
  - jgable 9y ago
    I’m keeping a journal as I go thru the class that I plan to publish at some point. I’ve just gotten to some meaty parts and I can say I’m impressed, but you’re right, I’m not a success story (yet). We will see!
    - alex_hitchins 9y ago
      I'd be very eager to read whatever you post. My contact details are in my bio if I can be cheeky enough to be remembered when you do publish!
      - jgable 9y ago
        Just made a reminder note to do so! As it turns out, you’re squarely in my target audience, as “a software person with hardware ambitions.” :D Will keep you posted.
        alex_hitchins 9y ago
        Hey Hey! intriguing... Feel free to get in touch if you want a sounding board. As I get older I'm more concerned with being useful, so I'd be happy to be a sounding board/alpha tester.
csytan 9y ago
Here's a great community for just that: https://www.indiehackers.com/ https://www.indiehackers.com/ Coincidentally, Indie Hackers was acquired by Stripe via patio11.
- patio11 9y ago
  I work with Courtland and Channing at Stripe, and am privileged to do so since we share substantial confluence of interests, but I don't believe I deserve any credit for that acquisition.
bitL 9y ago
Try to take "The Build a SaaS app with Flask" course on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/the-build-a-saas-app-with-flask-course/?couponCode=NJ_1099 https://www.udemy.com/the-build-a-saas-app-with-flask-course... I found it very well made and you might ship a simple SaaS within a week, including Stripe subscription. You'd also learn about Docker deployment there. Themeable using Twitter's Bootstrap as well. Now just get an idea for a profitable offering and you are golden! ;-)
- samstave 9y ago
  Given that it was only $11.99 (from $99) today - I just bought the course for the heck of it. Great suggestion - thanks!
  - redindian 9y ago
    It's always $10. It's a trick udemy uses (always on sale)
  - kidfiji 9y ago
    Keep in mind, most Udemy courses are just like that. They "cost" around $100-$200 dollars, but are all basically permanently priced somewhere between $10 - $15. The price usually changes every couple weeks or so too.
    - braywill 9y ago
      There must be laws against this sort of practice, right? Maybe there are clear loop-holes.
      - bitL 9y ago
        The author of the SaaS course I mentioned ran away from Udemy because of this.
        nickjj 9y ago
        Indeed. Btw, would you mind updating your Udemy link to use the one I linked in my previous reply? I'd really appreciate it. Edit: I see you updated it. Thanks!
ci5er 9y ago
Can I ask what you are looking for in terms of stories? Sector? I'm a B2B guy - so I never build anything until I have ~1M~2M/year in soft commitments. Then as I build it, I try to get the soft commitments to sign-off on early purchases (at a discount). Usually - where it gets hard - is customer support if the "B"s you are selling into have a lot of employees that need a lot of handholding. That is a 24x7 hell that you don't want to deal with (but that I don't know how to avoid).
- alex_hitchins 9y ago
  At the moment I'm leaving myself open to any good oportuity that comes along. I have a feeling B2B would be easier however this is only based on my assumptions. I'll not be in the position of getting anywhere near those figures you shoot for and considering this will be my first, I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground. I've just spent all my career to date (15 years +) building products for other people that I feel I know enough to do my own. Again, it all comes down to finding that need. This is where physical networking and schmoozing pay off, sadly not my forte!
  - ci5er 9y ago
    I hear you. I had a pretty amazing job at Motorola (remember them? :-) ) when I moved back to the US from Japan. They wanted me to run around the world (on their credit card) to figure out what business they needed to be next. I found one. They didn't get it. I ended up quitting: "Fine - I will do it myself". I remember the first meetings I had a 6.30am or 7.00am at breakfast places with VCs... They would listen and then (essentially) pat me on my head and say: "You're a nice boy. Go back to being an engineering cube-monkey". It was so frustrating. I did not know what I was doing. I was a fairly competent engineer - but I did not know the code-words for the VC-world or the business-world (and there is definitely a tribal language). Finally - mostly by luck - I found a guy to partner with. We ended up raising $100M, before we got caught in the back-wash of the dot-com implosion (we weren't a dot-com, but it didn't matter). Now - I know how to speak their language to them. But I will say: It's hard. The only way to learn is to get into it. Go try to sell. Fail. Get dirty. You'll figure it out. I believe in you! :-) EDIT: I do remember this. This was the 90s, but I remember that I pitched customer-types and investor-types about 2000 times in about 350 days (a year). I am an engineer, not a sales-type, so this was uncomfortable. But I updated my/our pitch deck after every meeting. You do get better with practice. It sounds cold, but I would say: "Hit The Road".

Can you give some info on your SaaS? Any tips/hints/tricks? I'm always looking to hear stories from people who have shipped a product. Keen to make this year the year I create something small.

jgable 9y ago

I'm taking 30x500 from Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman. They are in patio11's orbit. It's an expensive class and would only be worth it if you are really willing to commit. They have some other less expensive products (Year of Hustle, Just F$&*% Ship) that you can use to dip your toe into their methodology. Look up their blog "Stacking the Bricks". Not affiliated in any way, just a fan and appreciative customer.

alex_hitchins 9y ago
As someone who has looked at the course also, I'd be really interested in hearing your thoughts on the class. I'm quite sure it's all good stuff, but like all things only really hear about the success stories. A genuine appraisal of the coaching, course materials and time involvement would be really, really interesting.
- jgable 9y ago
  I’m keeping a journal as I go thru the class that I plan to publish at some point. I’ve just gotten to some meaty parts and I can say I’m impressed, but you’re right, I’m not a success story (yet). We will see!
  - alex_hitchins 9y ago
    I'd be very eager to read whatever you post. My contact details are in my bio if I can be cheeky enough to be remembered when you do publish!
    - jgable 9y ago
      Just made a reminder note to do so! As it turns out, you’re squarely in my target audience, as “a software person with hardware ambitions.” :D Will keep you posted.
      - alex_hitchins 9y ago
        Hey Hey! intriguing... Feel free to get in touch if you want a sounding board. As I get older I'm more concerned with being useful, so I'd be happy to be a sounding board/alpha tester.

csytan 9y ago

Here's a great community for just that: https://www.indiehackers.com/ https://www.indiehackers.com/ Coincidentally, Indie Hackers was acquired by Stripe via patio11.

patio11 9y ago
I work with Courtland and Channing at Stripe, and am privileged to do so since we share substantial confluence of interests, but I don't believe I deserve any credit for that acquisition.

bitL 9y ago

Try to take "The Build a SaaS app with Flask" course on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/the-build-a-saas-app-with-flask-course/?couponCode=NJ_1099 https://www.udemy.com/the-build-a-saas-app-with-flask-course... I found it very well made and you might ship a simple SaaS within a week, including Stripe subscription. You'd also learn about Docker deployment there. Themeable using Twitter's Bootstrap as well. Now just get an idea for a profitable offering and you are golden! ;-)

samstave 9y ago
Given that it was only $11.99 (from $99) today - I just bought the course for the heck of it. Great suggestion - thanks!
- redindian 9y ago
  It's always $10. It's a trick udemy uses (always on sale)
- kidfiji 9y ago
  Keep in mind, most Udemy courses are just like that. They "cost" around $100-$200 dollars, but are all basically permanently priced somewhere between $10 - $15. The price usually changes every couple weeks or so too.
  - braywill 9y ago
    There must be laws against this sort of practice, right? Maybe there are clear loop-holes.
    - bitL 9y ago
      The author of the SaaS course I mentioned ran away from Udemy because of this.
      - nickjj 9y ago
        Indeed. Btw, would you mind updating your Udemy link to use the one I linked in my previous reply? I'd really appreciate it. Edit: I see you updated it. Thanks!

ci5er 9y ago

Can I ask what you are looking for in terms of stories? Sector? I'm a B2B guy - so I never build anything until I have ~1M~2M/year in soft commitments. Then as I build it, I try to get the soft commitments to sign-off on early purchases (at a discount). Usually - where it gets hard - is customer support if the "B"s you are selling into have a lot of employees that need a lot of handholding. That is a 24x7 hell that you don't want to deal with (but that I don't know how to avoid).

alex_hitchins 9y ago
At the moment I'm leaving myself open to any good oportuity that comes along. I have a feeling B2B would be easier however this is only based on my assumptions. I'll not be in the position of getting anywhere near those figures you shoot for and considering this will be my first, I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground. I've just spent all my career to date (15 years +) building products for other people that I feel I know enough to do my own. Again, it all comes down to finding that need. This is where physical networking and schmoozing pay off, sadly not my forte!
- ci5er 9y ago
  I hear you. I had a pretty amazing job at Motorola (remember them? :-) ) when I moved back to the US from Japan. They wanted me to run around the world (on their credit card) to figure out what business they needed to be next. I found one. They didn't get it. I ended up quitting: "Fine - I will do it myself". I remember the first meetings I had a 6.30am or 7.00am at breakfast places with VCs... They would listen and then (essentially) pat me on my head and say: "You're a nice boy. Go back to being an engineering cube-monkey". It was so frustrating. I did not know what I was doing. I was a fairly competent engineer - but I did not know the code-words for the VC-world or the business-world (and there is definitely a tribal language). Finally - mostly by luck - I found a guy to partner with. We ended up raising $100M, before we got caught in the back-wash of the dot-com implosion (we weren't a dot-com, but it didn't matter). Now - I know how to speak their language to them. But I will say: It's hard. The only way to learn is to get into it. Go try to sell. Fail. Get dirty. You'll figure it out. I believe in you! :-) EDIT: I do remember this. This was the 90s, but I remember that I pitched customer-types and investor-types about 2000 times in about 350 days (a year). I am an engineer, not a sales-type, so this was uncomfortable. But I updated my/our pitch deck after every meeting. You do get better with practice. It sounds cold, but I would say: "Hit The Road".