Ask HN: What's the hardest part of building a SaaS that users keep paying for?
I'm Afrid, 14 years old, building SpecWise AI solo from Bangladesh. Struggling to get my first paying customer. Would love to hear what actually made users stick around for you.
23 comments
Hi Afrid!
The answer depends on where you currently at with your userbase. Do you have any customers yet? Here are a few ideas that came to my mind:
0. Build your brand (not your product brand, but your as a person) - imo having your own followers helps tremendously! Articles, interviews, anything helps!
1. I`d start by finding a few people interested in the idea already and talking to them directly. What problem you are solving for them in their opinion, where in this solution they find most value and what they are willing to pay for (and how much).
2. Market analysis can be a good hint - what is already there, what is missing in their product that yours have and how it is monetized.
3. If any expo or social events, - join if you can and pitch your idea.
4. Check open door days / any social events at local companies that might benefit from your idea. Also pitch!
Hope this can help. THe best of luck to you :)
Hope this can help. THe best of luck to you :)
[deleted]
[deleted]
Congratulations on asking such questions so early in your life!
If you start with questioning "What do I pay for?" and "How did I hear about it?", it should be easier to start building that empathy muscle that will make it clearer (with time) where to find your customers and what to build, exactly.
This is all easier said than done. I've been able to find that with Uruky and bewCloud, but I've had many failed products over the last 20+ years.
If you start with questioning "What do I pay for?" and "How did I hear about it?", it should be easier to start building that empathy muscle that will make it clearer (with time) where to find your customers and what to build, exactly.
This is all easier said than done. I've been able to find that with Uruky and bewCloud, but I've had many failed products over the last 20+ years.
Congratulations on starting so early. It’s impressive.
I think getting the users is a hard part now because users are overloaded with different kinds of services and apps so you have to double down and decide who you are targeting and marketing for and only reach out to them.
My app MacroCodex.app has 10K+ active users.
My tip for you is, let users use it for free and figure out how they are using it.
After that build things to solve their problems and eventually they'll pay for things.
My tip for you is, let users use it for free and figure out how they are using it.
After that build things to solve their problems and eventually they'll pay for things.
Making a feature so useful that once users have the habit to use it, they would miss something if they don’t have access anymore (e.g precise analytics data).
I wish I knew and could help! Good luck! Well done for the early ambition.
Thanks, I appreciate it! I'm still learning.
Providing a useful service.
Totally agree but the hard part is making sure users feel that value every time they open it. What's your take on how to make that obvious from day one?
I think you are thinking about this wrong. Don't approach a business from a UI and code first attitude. You need to focus on solving a problem well. The other stuff will come once you have paying users.
Take OpenAI as an extreme example. The UI was basically a POS and it was difficult to even navigate to ChatGPT when they launched. It was just such an awesome service that people paid for it and used it. Focus on the business you are creating not the software you are using to deliver the service. Honing a UI can come later.
In a world where code is a disposable commodity, it is the business that matters. What specific problem/service are you trying to provide?
Some things I have paid for: -ChatGPT -Amazon Prime -Genscape/Wood Mckenzie crude oil tracking -Netflix -Bloomberg Terminal -LSEG -Disney+ -a finance substack -Cell phone data
Many of these have atrocious interfaces. I pay because they solve real problems in the real world for me.
A common issue among (particularly young entrepreneurs) is thinking, "I want to get into SAAS.", then focusing on some website or UI first.
In a modern world, that is the last thing that matters. What matters is solving a real problem for people.
What is the business you want to create? What is the market? What is the problem you are solving for them. What are you providing people to save them time or money or entertainment etc? That is what matters.
Take OpenAI as an extreme example. The UI was basically a POS and it was difficult to even navigate to ChatGPT when they launched. It was just such an awesome service that people paid for it and used it. Focus on the business you are creating not the software you are using to deliver the service. Honing a UI can come later.
In a world where code is a disposable commodity, it is the business that matters. What specific problem/service are you trying to provide?
Some things I have paid for: -ChatGPT -Amazon Prime -Genscape/Wood Mckenzie crude oil tracking -Netflix -Bloomberg Terminal -LSEG -Disney+ -a finance substack -Cell phone data
Many of these have atrocious interfaces. I pay because they solve real problems in the real world for me.
A common issue among (particularly young entrepreneurs) is thinking, "I want to get into SAAS.", then focusing on some website or UI first.
In a modern world, that is the last thing that matters. What matters is solving a real problem for people.
What is the business you want to create? What is the market? What is the problem you are solving for them. What are you providing people to save them time or money or entertainment etc? That is what matters.
You’ve hit on something that I think deserves to be called out more directly — all of the things you pay for have significant non-software aspects. It is pretty hard to make something people will pay for without tackling some hard problem outside of the software itself, unless your software is very niche.
Looking at your examples - ChatGPT, you need some way to get an otherworldly sized dataset before you can train a model, and the fact that you also happen to have to write a web interface for the chat looks like a footnote in comparison - Amazon Prime, have to create a distribution empire - Crude Oil Tracking, have to get raw data from somewhere, I don’t know the space well but I’d be shocked if they didn’t have some moat around the data source, or they even have a hand in collecting it - Netflix, you can solve all the hard problems of video streaming and still have nothing people want to watch - Bloomberg Terminal, this one is maybe the closest to being replicable with just good software? I’m sure building the data sourcing for it would still be the “hard part”
If you broaden your scope from SaaS to “software that makes money” the most obvious are social networks, but then your problem becomes how to actually monetize it, since you more than likely can’t charge the users for it.
Looking at your examples - ChatGPT, you need some way to get an otherworldly sized dataset before you can train a model, and the fact that you also happen to have to write a web interface for the chat looks like a footnote in comparison - Amazon Prime, have to create a distribution empire - Crude Oil Tracking, have to get raw data from somewhere, I don’t know the space well but I’d be shocked if they didn’t have some moat around the data source, or they even have a hand in collecting it - Netflix, you can solve all the hard problems of video streaming and still have nothing people want to watch - Bloomberg Terminal, this one is maybe the closest to being replicable with just good software? I’m sure building the data sourcing for it would still be the “hard part”
If you broaden your scope from SaaS to “software that makes money” the most obvious are social networks, but then your problem becomes how to actually monetize it, since you more than likely can’t charge the users for it.
Exactly. Wood Mackenzie has insane amounts of data sources: infrared cameras pointed at most storage tanks in North America, cameras counting the movement of rail cars, drones have been flying over tanks measuring roof levels on tanks for years, thermal tracking of crude oil pumping stations, production by field for years, hoards of data they've accumulated over decades and the list goes on. The website/apps are pretty to deliver the service but that isn't what really matters to solving my problem and providing value.
Most people never even start at age of 14, impressive ngl
Appreciate it! Honestly the hardest part isn't the age, it's getting people to actually pay. Building is the easy part lol.