Thread by @DsMatie

I started SaaS many years ago.

And I did a lot of mistakes before my "successful SaaS" 😅.

So here we go.

15 mistakes I made you can learn from 🧵

1/ I started SaaS based on an idea and not a problem

Someday I woke up, thought about a cool idea, and started to build it.

But never got any user doing that.

2/ I tried for years to find the next $1 billion idea

You won't find it.

Most successful businesses you know today didn't start as a $1 billion idea.

They became one.

3/ Being a great developer AND a great marketer.

Either you choose one or you'll be average in both.

You have so many things to learn.

4/ I ran a lifetime deal on a product that is hardly scalable

It means that the more users you have, the more you'll spend to run it.

So don't do a lifetime deal or one day it will break.

5/ I started a SaaS that was technically complicated.

And as a bad developer, it's hard to maintain.

Do what you can do, don't try to build something too complicated

6/ I waited to create SaaS because I thought I had to raise funds

You can start right away, alone, just build it!

7/ I developed another SaaS too soon.

Wait until you delegate completely the first one, or at least wait until it doesn't take you a lot of time.

8/ I stayed alone for too long.

Just hire people when you start to feel overwhelmed, you can't do everything

Even if it means you'll have fewer profits.

9/ I didn't write processes early enough

When you have to do something twice or explain it twice, write it!

It will allow you to hire and train people faster

And if you want to sell, it will also make the whole process faster.

10/ I spent too much time on building and not enough on marketing

Try to do 50/50

11/ I created "What if Problems"

You know the kind of ghost problems you create for yourself.

"What if I have 1000 users and my servers aren't enough?"

Like, these a problems for later.

12/ I didn't track my data

And if you don't do it, every decision you take is based on your guts not actual facts.

Use something like Mixpanel

13/ I didn't create my social profiles early enough

Linkedin, or Twitter. These are unfair advantages you can use for your business

14/ I wanted to build a company that does millions of $.

First, try to do something that works.

Build something enough so you can live just with your businesses.

15/ I didn't dare contact people

Never assume they will say "no". Just contact them

Some people told me no, others said yes!