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Curious tangent question: what constitutes drowning in demand? I mean numbers. The obviously it varies by sector and type of product but say for a typical SaaS

by api 5y ago

Curious tangent question: what constitutes drowning in demand? I mean numbers. The obviously it varies by sector and type of product but say for a typical SaaS. I’ve seen a lot, just curious about what people here think.

malshe 5y ago
I have the same question. Additionally, to me the term "drowning in demand" is relative to the current size of the business. Drowning in demand for Walmart is different from downing in demand for a convenience store.
tomcooks 5y ago
i would say that drowning in demand could be intended as: signups you get per day > signups you can process per day
- api 5y ago
  If you have very inefficient code that makes all your systems crawl, a much smaller amount of demand could result in “drowning.”
agustif 5y ago
Getting more demand that you can handle with your current team/systems/resources?
burlesona 5y ago
I think you know it when you experience it, but on the engineering side it feels like an uncomfortable level of demand that you know your product can’t really handle yet. So for example, you’re turning entire categories of people away - or ignoring their bug reports / feature requests - because you literally don’t have time to write the 500 lines of code needed to support their use case yet (and you’re busy doing the same thing for another cohort with higher willingness to pay). The “drowning” description is apt because living through that is stressful and uncomfortable, even though it can also be exciting and have fun moments. Especially great are the moments you discover a 1-hour hack that can unblock something you and your team thought was going to take 2-3 weeks to accomplish, and what a relief that is to “fast forward” in time.
satvikpendem 5y ago
If you have to ask, you aren't drowning in demand. Sounds trite, but it's true, you'll know it when you experience it, hard to give numbers around such an increase in demand.
jollybean 5y ago
Any measurable consistent demand that can be seen on a monthly basis - assuming net lifetime value >0 is really, really good. The problem with SaaS growth is that it's a function of customer acquisition, marketing etc.. But once you account for that, if customers are sticking around (low churn) and the acquisition/revenue works out, then if you contemplate what 'compound interest' means - and the necessity of a 'large market' - then it's probably a good investment, it just depends on the terms.

by api 5y ago

malshe 5y ago

I have the same question. Additionally, to me the term "drowning in demand" is relative to the current size of the business. Drowning in demand for Walmart is different from downing in demand for a convenience store.

tomcooks 5y ago

i would say that drowning in demand could be intended as: signups you get per day > signups you can process per day

api 5y ago
If you have very inefficient code that makes all your systems crawl, a much smaller amount of demand could result in “drowning.”

agustif 5y ago

Getting more demand that you can handle with your current team/systems/resources?

burlesona 5y ago

I think you know it when you experience it, but on the engineering side it feels like an uncomfortable level of demand that you know your product can’t really handle yet. So for example, you’re turning entire categories of people away - or ignoring their bug reports / feature requests - because you literally don’t have time to write the 500 lines of code needed to support their use case yet (and you’re busy doing the same thing for another cohort with higher willingness to pay). The “drowning” description is apt because living through that is stressful and uncomfortable, even though it can also be exciting and have fun moments. Especially great are the moments you discover a 1-hour hack that can unblock something you and your team thought was going to take 2-3 weeks to accomplish, and what a relief that is to “fast forward” in time.

satvikpendem 5y ago

If you have to ask, you aren't drowning in demand. Sounds trite, but it's true, you'll know it when you experience it, hard to give numbers around such an increase in demand.

jollybean 5y ago

Any measurable consistent demand that can be seen on a monthly basis - assuming net lifetime value >0 is really, really good. The problem with SaaS growth is that it's a function of customer acquisition, marketing etc.. But once you account for that, if customers are sticking around (low churn) and the acquisition/revenue works out, then if you contemplate what 'compound interest' means - and the necessity of a 'large market' - then it's probably a good investment, it just depends on the terms.