Our AI writing assistant, WriteUp, can assist you in easily writing any text. Click here to experience its capabilities.

The First 90 days of Building a SaaS Startup

View Original View Raw

Summary

Luc Chaissac recently left his job as VP of Marketing at Lattice to start his own company, Dock, and has written a post about the experiences of creating an early stage company from scratch. His main focus has been customer feedback and product execution (65%), customer onboarding (20%), operational foundation (5%), relationships with investors (5%) and early marketing (5%). He has had many conversations with customers and used the insights from these conversations to inform what and how they should build. He has had to think about every screen and detail in order to execute the product and has been surprised by the amount of detail needed. He has also been setting up the back office for the company, taking meetings with VCs to start building relationships and prepping for the beta launch with a blog post and website. He has had a few key advantages such as previous startup experience, personal audience, and product prototyping which have helped to shortcut the company building process.

Q&As

What has been the main focus for the first 90 days of building a SaaS startup?
The main focus for the first 90 days of building a SaaS startup has been talking to customers and building product.

What has been the most surprising experience while creating the product?
The most surprising experience while creating the product has been the level of detail needed to actually execute building the product.

What advantages has the founder had in order to shorten the company building process?
The founder has had previous startup experience, a personal audience, and product prototyping in order to shorten the company building process.

What have the founders been doing to start building relationships with investors?
The founders have been taking meetings with VCs to start to build relationships.

What are the company's plans for the future?
The company's plans for the future include talking about Dock more publicly, investing in high-quality processes, and continuing to build relationships with investors.

AI Comments

👍 This article provides a great insight into the difficulties and successes of building a SaaS startup and the importance of customer feedback.

👎 There is not enough detail on the marketing and growth aspects of building a SaaS startup.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about the first 90 days of building a SaaS startup. It talks about how the founders divided their time between customer feedback and product execution, customer onboarding, operational foundation, relationships with investors, early marketing, and shower thoughts.

Friend: Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! What do you think are the implications of this article?

Me: Well, I think it speaks to the importance of having a pre-built network of contacts and resources. The article mentions that the founders had already invested in developing the right skills and building relationships in order to successfully start the company. It also highlights the importance of customer feedback and product execution, as well as the need to invest in operational foundation and relationships with investors. Additionally, it shows that it's important to look ahead and plan for the future by focusing on early marketing. I think it's a great reminder that starting a successful business takes a lot of hard work and dedication.

Action items

Research and set up software for core processes (payroll, credit cards, etc.)
Reach out to potential customers and investors to build relationships.
Create a help center and email templates to assist with customer onboarding.

Technical terms

SaaS: Software as a Service.
Posts: Articles or blog posts.
Newsletter: An email list of subscribers who receive updates from a company or individual.
Work: Tasks or activities that need to be completed.
Twitter: A social media platform.
Luc Chaissac: A co-founder of Dock.
Dock: A software company.
North Star: A guiding principle or goal.
ICP: Ideal Customer Profile.
Airtable: A cloud-based database platform.
Legal Center: A platform for managing legal documents.
Metabase: A data visualization and analytics platform.
Positioning: The process of defining how a product or service is different from its competitors.
Logo: A graphic symbol or emblem used to represent a company or product.
Marketing Website: A website used to promote a product or service.
Beta Launch: The release of a product or service to a limited group of users for testing.
Shower Thoughts: Reflections or ideas that come to mind while in the shower.