soon-to-be founders, stop looking for problems that don’t exist

I’m frustrated and saddened to see tons of entrepreneurs delve into the world of entrepreneurship from the totally opposite starting point. The hype and fraudulent concept of a “software as a subscription” has stolen the opportunity that they might’ve had.

I see too many posts on Reddit as well as get DM’d too many times asking what SaaS they can make, without an ounce of a clue of a problem they’re trying to solve. It’s totally the wrong way around.

SaaS, software as a subscription, is a business model, not a business. The attributes of the SaaS model are super fucking attractive.

Everyone that has once thought of creating a SaaS product has done the bro math:

• $10 per month for my SaaS.
• If I get 1,000 customers, that's $10,000 per month!
• And if I can scale to 10,000 customers, that's $100,000 monthly revenue!

It's a tempting proposition, no doubt; scalable, highly iterative, low up-front resource requirements, predictable revenue, the list goes on (the tradeoffs aren’t to be forgotten)

I’m not writing here to throw shade at the SaaS model (although I personally am getting tired of it) but instead the approach that new entrepreneurs are taking to enter their entrepreneurial journey.

A business’s primary purpose is to solve a problem in exchange for profit. This fundamental concept underscores the importance of identifying and addressing real-world problems.

The allure of the SaaS model can blind entrepreneurs to the fundamental question: What problem are you actually solving?

It should be a problem-first approach instead of a model-first approach. I mean imagine Google thinking "You know.. ad providers pay a lot of money to show their ads… let's create a search engine to display those ads!" That's not how it happened. They solved a problem first - organizing the world's information - and then found a business model to support it. The same principle applies to aspiring SaaS entrepreneurs.

The strongest way to enter this side of the money-making internet, in my opinion, is to eat your own dog food— solve your own problem. Don’t go looking for problems that don’t exist. This approach just solves too many problems to not be the best approach.

• Custom solution
  • taking your own garbage out is easier than taking out the neighbor’s across the country.
  • you have firsthand experience with the problem, giving you deep insights into user needs without the need to communicate the nuance of a problem-solution relationship.
  • Potential customers don’t even know what the heck they want/need themselves.
• Validation:
  • ∵ (because):
    • you are solving your own problems
    • there are other people that are also doing that exact same task as you
  • ∴ (therefore):
    • you know the solution solves the problem
    • other people have the same problem
    • Product is validated
• Grit:
  • you're passionate about solving it, since it’s already a thorn in your own ass.
  • you're invested in the problem long-term solution along improvements since you’ll always benefit from it even without other users.
• Marketing:
  • you are the product’s avatar, giving you an intimate understanding of who to target and how to phrase it.
  • you can authentically communicate the value proposition because you've experienced it firsthand. Authenticity (at least for me), is necessary for customers to buy.
  • your own story of solving the problem becomes a powerful tool as it resonates with people like you, customers.

Those were just off the top of my head, I’m sure there are more. The axiom behind this is that it is a problem that you’ve already tried solving with existing solutions, this means that you’ve found substitutions and/or competitors to your future product. You decide there’s something missing in the market’s current offer to your problem. That is the conclusion that must be true for the idea of “eating your own dog food” to also be correct.

Best of luck founders.

Two quick unshameful plugs:

If you’re a SaaS founder, and you struggle with the marketing and selling side of it, Reletino is for you. Reletino is an AI-powered tool that listens to live Reddit posts and filters out the noise. You don't have to deal with keywords that don't capture nuance anymore. Just tell Reletino in plain English what you're looking for, and it gives you posts that are actually relevant to your business.

If you’re a non-technical entrepreneur, then Startino is your technical partner. Startino helps industry experts with entrepreneurial spirits develop their SaaS product. Benefit from a partnership that offers the long-term dedication and passion of a co-founder, enhanced by the professional execution of a seasoned development agency.