My goal in life (as of right now at least) is to start my own SaaS business so that I can eventually quit my 40 hour work week and have more time for things I enjoy doing. To reach that goal I am first compiling practical advice from people who have already been through that process and are now sharing that advice around ideation and idea validation, marketing, pricing, etc.
I've been looking for book recommendations on this topic both here on HN and also on Indiehackers and while there are many books that are most certainly relevant in some ways and generally just good reads, I would like to start out by asking you if there are any books you've read that specifically give this type of advice. I say books to keep it simple but am of course also open to other types of high-quality resources like blog series or conference talks.
Looking forward to hearing about all the great things you guys have read!
Fellow aspiring solo founder here! Here are a few books/resources I've found helpful:
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The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
This book stresses the idea of starting with customer interviews before you build anything and how to ask questions of prospective customers to get meaningful information when people's bias is to just tell you, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," even though they'd never pay money for it. I spent a long time trying to apply it, and the struggle was that in my experience, customers who don't mind diving deep into their unsolved problems for an aspiring founder are a disjoint group from customers who have serious money to spend.
My notes: https://mtlynch.io/book-reports/the-mom-test/
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Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling
This is a bit dated, but I think it has valuable takeaways. The most important for me was the value in marketing to small niche customers. Big competitors are less interested in catering to niche groups, and the more specialized, the easier they are to find and market to (e.g., they all read the same magazine or attend the same convention).
My notes: https://mtlynch.io/book-reports/start-small-stay-small/
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"Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business: Jason Cohen, Founder, WP Engine" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otbnC2zE2rw)
A good recording of a MicroConf talk about useful things to consider when building a new Saas business.
I'm stuck on your opening statement rather than your question. I did the 40hr week and now do what you aspire to do.
Your life will be more challenging if you start a SAAS business. It will not be easier. The only people in SAAS I know with an easy life poured their life into their company and things came good. Investors are starting to see SAAS as a 10yr investment, to give you a sense of time. Ironically those I know who have done well are some of the busiest people I know. I guess they are driven and love their work.
I think what you are describing is working part time. Maybe this is a valid option if you want to have more time doing your own thing?
The startup world likes the approach of make a plan and work backwards which is what you are currently doing. I would just suggest you re-frame your expectations. Read Peter Thiel's books but talk to the average SAAS Joe as well as we are not all SAAS rock stars :-)
Having done this a few times, the biggest advise I can give is that time is your most valuable resource. So look to maximize this resource with each decision you make. For example, in buy vs build situations you should err on the side of buy. You can find affordable services that will handle close to 100% of your generic SaaS needs. So don't reinvent the wheel, and go with as much off-the-shelf as possible.
As others have mentioned, the important thing is to start. Build something and get it in front of potential customers, figure out what is wrong about it and revise. But these helped me as I built a SaaS startup over the last few years:
Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PPW5V9C/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_...
The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SLDD5YV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_...
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0189PVAWY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_...
Who: The A Method for Hiring https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001H97LVO/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_...
The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don't) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0149NJXMO/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_...
I have more recommendations as well but they might just be distractions until you get started.
If your motivation for starting a business is to have more time, then I would recommend Financial Independence Retire Early(FIRE) instead.
A good place to start: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
I used to be just like you. I wanted to start a business so that I wouldn't have to work for anyone! I'm going to be my own boss!
The reality is that instead of working for one boss, you are going to be working for 1000 bosses. Unless you like sales and customer support, you are going to be miserable.
The odds of having a successful business are low. And even if you do succeed, you are going to have to keep working anyway. It's not like you build it once and forget it.
On the other hand, if you have a six-figure job, you can retire in 5 to 15 years depending on your lifestyle. There is no uncertainty. No emotional roller coaster. This fail-proof path will give you a peace of mind.
As someone who recently launched a SaaS business, I'd say your rate of learning increases dramatically after you launch a business, however successful it is. It's certainly helpful to learn about other's experiences, but nothing beats launching the business on your own. Even reading books after you launch feels different: you tend to appreciate the advice more, and start noticing all the nuances you were glossing over before.
The E-myth / E-myth Revisited.
I’d argue anyone in business - as either an employee, entrepreneur, manager, etc - should read it because the basic lessons are universally applicable to every business, regardless of size or industry. Especially as a solo practitioner, there’s value in understanding the dangers of doing everything yourself.
What do you need to learn? Product? Design? Sales? There is a lot that can be found in books, sure. But no one book or even series of books will give you a map that's even remotely on point for the journey you want to understake.
My advice would be to build something and get a customer. Then get another. By the time you have 10 customers you'll know as much as the books could teach you...and you'll have 10 customers.
Before you earn the success that affords more free time, prepare for 100+ hour work weeks.
It's a paradox that in order to obtain more free time you'll likely have to spend years handing over hour upon hour to your business.
If you pull it off, however, the business will give you back that time with freedom as interest.
I don't have a book to recommend but this guy's comments are usually gold: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=jasonkester. He offers good advice and seems to live the life that you aspire to. Note the ten years of work though:
> The entire goal of building a business, in my mind, is to get the point where you can lounge on a beach or travel the world and not need to actively engage in anything except the pursuit of happiness. I personally averaged out at a little less than four hours of work per week in 2017, running the sort of low maintenance, feature complete, Software-as-a-Service business that the author spends a paragraph explaining is not in fact a "serious company".
> But look at the product and you'll see craftsmanship. Ten years of work, in fact as of roughly today. But never at the author's pace. Always at mine. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. That's the great thing about building a business. You can do it any way you like.
> My goal in life (as of right now at least) is to start my own SaaS business so that I can eventually quit my 40 hour work week and have more time for things I enjoy doing.
How does it feel knowing you are going to die and get buried and probably never accomplish that goal? Because it’s time for you to open yourself to that grim reality.
A one man SaaS will take a lot more of your time than your 40 hour a week job. Do you plan to have a wife and kid(s)? Those will also take more of your time. Your time is going to get eaten up between your one man SaaS, your family, maintaining yourself (food, sleep, exercise). After all those things have been attended to, then maybe you will have some time to spend on things you actually enjoy.
Be straight with what you want man and don’t beat around the bush. Do you want a SaaS business, or do you just want a way to make great money with as little effort as possible so you can trade work time for fun time doing whatever you want?
Because there is plenty of advice that can be given for the latter, and none of it involves SaaS. The first step to living a life of productive leisure is to admit that you simply want a life of leisure, and go straight for it. Don’t come up with indirect paths like building a SaaS that you think will sound more acceptable or noble to the rest of society or your parents.
But if you’re hellbent on a SaaS because you just want a SaaS, good luck to you. Hopefully building a SaaS is how you want to spend the majority of your time.
Here's a curated list of free resources and e-books that I've found incredibly useful: https://blog.saasify.sh/indie-saas-resources/
Not a book, but Microconf has been posting all of their talks on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHoBKQDRkJcOY2BO47q5Ruw
I started my own SaaS business on the side and quit my 40 hour work week a couple years later to work full time on it (and have been loving doing so ever since).
You'll probably get a lot of practical suggestions on processes from others here, but I really enjoyed Peter Thiel's Zero to One book. It's not 100% relevant since he rambles pretty hard throughout and a lot of it needs a pinch of salt since he's so contrarian, but there's a lot of really good gems in there about how to build something legitimately new to create your own pie of income (including chapters on marketing, pricing, etc), instead of building something to get a small slice of an existing market.
"quit my 40 hour work week and have more time for things I enjoy doing"
Given that basically everyone would like to do this, I suggest it's a rather challenging thing to do in that it's highly competitive, and that the vast majority of Entrepreneurs, bootstrapped or otherwise, work longer hours than average.
If you calculate risk into the equation, it does not look good.
If your real objective is 'work-life balance' then there's probably an opportunity for you to contract and consult x-hours a week that has considerably lower risk dynamics.
But if your actual goal is really to start a business, then obviously that's what you want to do.
Make book from Pieter Levels.
From my point of view, he is very productive, successful, willing to give ton of advice.
He has few good websites (or call it startup or whatever).
I can strongly recommend https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/
There's also a Podcast, Newsletter and the creator is active on Twitter and responds to questions.
In short:
- packed with first-hand experience
- easy to follow
- instantly useful
- the best advice for making something with actually returns money: find and solve a "critical" problem. Learn how to look & find them.
Start small while listening to it.
Also, I've found "This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See" by Seth Godin to be really helpful. It changed my mind quite a bit around the topic of marketing (Ads != Marketing; love the concept of "find the Minimum Viable Audience").
“Start small, stay small” is good (but a bit old)
Definitely check out Indie Hackers though! The whole community and podcast is built around that idea.
Traction by Gabriel Weinberg.
This book is really amazing and filled with a lot of practical advice. Can't recommend this enough.
This is the playbook.
1. make a landing page. 2. maybe run google ads. 3 check for traction. 4. build it. 5. profit.
Start From Zero by Dane Maxwell. Written by a guy with a proven track record of creating SaaS business that have stood the test of time. Written by a guy that's paved the way for many others to create wildly successful SaaS businesses. It's a concise, easy-to-read, straight-to-the-point "treasure map"--the only book you need.
It feels like you're saying, "I want to make some sort of widget... who cares what... But something that gets me monthly revenue so I can quit my job.
I'm curious how often this succeeds vs. someone who starts with an idea or passion and the financial success is a side effect.
A less charitable interpretation is that you're asking people how to get rich quick.
The San Francisco Fallacy by Jonathan Siegel
He’s an investor of mine who’s sold multiple SaaS businesses for double digit millions
Am I the only one here that finds it odd that not a single response so far has included a book on the nuts and bolts of how to start and operate a business? How and where to register the company, how to keep payroll, how to hire/fire, how to pay taxes, how to generate and read P&L sheets, etc.
Has anybody here read Small Time Operator: How to Start Your Own Business, Keep Your Books, Pay Your Taxes, and Stay Out of Trouble? It's the only book I've seen that even claims to address this stuff, but I don't know if it's worth the time and money to buy and read.
don't think of the business as just a 'SAAS'. think of it, of as a factory, or mine. you wouldn't be a part time owner or manager of a factory would, you? hence quit your job, or take a break then dive in. if it becomes successful, you won't need to go back to your job again. 3 months is good enough time, to know whether you've a business that can support you or not. of course, you've to live like a cockroach ie. limited expenses
This is maybe a meta-suggestion, more focused on chunking down problems and the process of working and shipping, but Amy Hoy’s Just Fucking Ship is full of useful advice on how to actually get things out the door. (I’ve taken their 30x500 class too, which is also excellent)
This guy seems to know a great deal about starting a new IT business:
Might be worth it checking that out.
EDIT: As a software developer, I also second Basecamp books and their organizational culture (that is explicitly and publicly divulged on their materials - some of them are free).
Successful solo digital entrepreneur here. Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco is the most important book I've ever read.
I found my friend Jason Long’s book to be very useful:
The SaaS Build section focuses on building with a team, but other sections don't make assumptions about team vs one-person business setup.
Lots of specifics which certain other books lack. The book is not 100% finished.
(Disclaimer: I live off passive income from software projects and now run a VC-backed SaaS)
Repeating what others have said, starting a SaaS company broadly speaking does the opposite of what you hope. It gives you a job that you think about 24hrs a day, while maybe only actively working 6hrs a day, but realistically much more. That said I LOVE my job and super grateful I get to work on it everyday!
There are much better ways as a software engineer to take a lower risk approach to getting to financial freedom.
(These suggestions are not inclusive of coronavirus)
1. Save cash. Change jobs and increase your baseline income. If possible get to a FAANG and then also freelance on the side. It's very possible in the Bay Area after 5 years to save enough to retire without necessarily subscribing to the FIRE goals.
2. Work for enterprise companies or build them a micro-saas. There are plenty of high-value services that companies will pay $XXk monthly for. If your goal is to make money and maybe not love your job, this is a great place to be. Orchestrate Segment and a data warehouse, build out a robust Salesforce pipeline, take a spreadsheet and implement in Retool or Rails. Each of these examples can easily cost $300k for the right type of company. A micro-saas example is Sidekiq ([https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/how-charging-money-fo...). I would have probably 4x the enterprise rate to get to $4M/yr.
3. Explain something difficult, really well. Related to selling services to enterprise, you can also consult with companies by owning a very specific niche that is very high value. Explain security compliance (like SOC 2), orchestrate edge servers and CDNs, up-level sales teams with technical knowledge or off-the-shelf tools. A single dev can shepard folks through a process that costs $XM of dollars or enable a teams that also costs $XM of dollars.
4. Rebuild existing tools, much better. This is my personal expertise, but I believe all existing tools could use major improvements. You can make tools better in UX, better documentation and tutorials, faster code, easier onboarding, etc. The major benefit is that you know there are existing customers paying money and you can then develop much better tools along the way. In this model I believe free or enterprise is way to go as a single dev. With free tools, you need strong traffic to monetize with ads or sponsorship. At the enterprise you sell featured postings or (3) services / consultation.
Here are the things that lead to my startup's success:
Get a mentor who's already been there
Read Traction by Gino Wickman
Read Traction by Gabriel Weinberg
Identify and engage a big enough channel that will sell your product for you.
Build the product that they want. You build what they want, and they'll enthusiastically sell it for you.
I read _Go It Alone!_ in 2009, and was blown away. Try it? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19029346-go-it-alone
http://munchweb.com/the-entrepreneurs-manual-summary-pdf-cha...
As thought provoking today as the date published.
Starting and Sustaining by Garrett Dimon https://startingandsustaining.com/
This was invaluable to me when getting started with my SaaS.
Company of One by Paul Jarvis is a nice short read. Not SaaS-specific, though.
I would recommend Company of One by Paul Jarvis. Very quick to read and filled will strong advices from a successful solo contractor/counselor
Read - The Mom Test
And then build in the real world.
Getting Real
I'd suggest starting with The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank.
If you are reading a book instead of talking to and connecting with people to find out what they truly personally need, does it really matter what book you are reading?
Sounds rough, but I'd recommend weighing any recommendation against this.
With a mere 40-hour work week, you want more free time? We're clearly dealing with a serious customer. If more free time is your goal, starting your own business is the one thing you should not do.
Make something people love and try not to get sued
any recommendation on how to do sales?
Personally, I struggle finding decent advice by reading such books. What I do instead, is I am building my own product. This surfaced quite a few personal limitations - one being focus. There is no amount of times one can read Deep Work to cover for that moment when things click in your head. By all means read books but practical experience is what wins for me.
By all means, read the books mentioned in this thread.
And then drop it and just start working.
There is a large swath of self-branded Indie Hackers who cling to books, blogs, conferences etc. but are too paralyzed by all the advice and input to actually do the one thing they need to: get customers.
Disclaimer: I run my own SaaS and visit Indiehacker meetups and stuff. I’m not a nay sayer, just stay skeptical.