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by Dockson 2274 days ago
Thank you for your insight, it is great to get to hear from someone in the trenches and an "average SAAS Joe" as you call it. The keyword in my opening statement is "eventually" as I do understand the need to hustle initially, potentially for a long time. When work is fun it is no longer work, as someone smart once said. What is hard to motivate for me is doing all that work for (mostly) someones else gain and for a product that I personally wouldn't work on on my own time, like I do now in my day to day. Thanks again!
1 comments
p0d 2274 days ago
I was part time for a few years working on my saas product before I gave in my notice. I hadn't planned to but got a place on an accelerator programme. You should maybe factor this into your thinking. I'm very glad I just didn't strike out on my own as I had planned. There is a lot to learn about doing business and accelerator programmes are great. You get to work alongside people in the same boat and get access to some of the biggest names in SAAS. My last thought is that sales is one of the toughest areas. As a founder you are the sales person. So read up on that if it's not your area. I think the days of build it and they will come is over. You will find yourself spamming people and maybe cold calling. Words from the trenches as you say.
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nojvek 2274 days ago
Sales is hard. It’s 10X harder than development as it’s a new skill we’ll be acquiring. At-least true for me. It’s also heartbreaking when you pitch your idea to potential customers but they don’t resonate. You think people will jump onto cold emails but very few reply. It’s really really brutal going day in and out and being lucky enough to find customers who are willing to take a chance and pay.

When you’re solo, you are the chief everything officer. You are the sales person, the account manager, the customer support, the product manager, the designer, the developer, the always on-duty SRE, and the business admin who keeps up with all the paper work and legalities.

Going solo is hard. But it’s also very rewarding. The learning curve is off the charts.

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