How to actually build a SaaS, get early funds, and how to actually sell it!
Amine Salah Hachani
Co-Founder @ Scribfy | LLM, LangChain & Copywriting enthusiast
Probably you are tired of reading AI content that doesn't give you a real practical solution of what you are looking for, in this article I'll share with you what I've learnt so far, plus the strategies and tools i have used to gain potential clients before launching my SaaS.
Am Amine co-founder of Scribfy , when i first created my product i got overwhelmed with the content out there, most of the content didn't really work for me due to the lack of information or simply because they didn't provide practical steps (most likely because that content was generated by Ai -.- ).
in this article I'll discuss with you:
BEFORE WE START, make sure that those strategies or tips aren't rocket science or a must do things, things that worked for me doesn't mean it will 100% work for you, you have to try multiple ways to know for sure what suits your product most!
real difference between POC, MVP and RAT:
Alright, let's say you thought of an idea, first thing you should do is to search for competitors, you didn't find?
Start looking for validation:
okey what if you find a competitor?
Use brainstorming platforms like Miro , one of the great matrixes to evaluate your idea is the HOW-NOW-WOW matrix (read this article SessionLab)
Let's talk now about POC (Proof of concept), it is an evidence obtained from a pilot project, which is executed to demonstrate that a product idea, business plan, or project plan is feasible for example let's say your SaaS is AI-based, go to Replicate (a website that allows you to use some LLMs as well as integrating them in your platform) select the LLM you want to use, prompt it, then screenshot the result, look at this article, we won 3rd place on an online hackathon just by providing POC (How we created our AI based Startup just in two days)
Great! after getting feedback from your POC, now you can jump to the next step!
MVP or RAT?
Simply, MVP (Minimum viable product) is a simplified version of the product you should use to verify your concept and collect customer feedback. An MVP is far from the full version of your application or even a working prototype. It’s more of an investment in validated learning about your audience and its needs.
Practically MVP is building your webpage, a nice dashboard, and some features that you want to sell.
In the other hand RAT (Riskiest Assumption Test) is an approach that is used for testing ideas and hypotheses. The main goal is to gather the feedback of users as quickly as possible and check the idea’s feasibility before the product is launched.
The difference between MVP and RAT
For my SaaS, RAT is working better so far, it allows you to gain feedback faster!
Read this article (HackerNoon)
Targeting the right niche (audience):
One of the critical factors determining triumph lies in uncovering the perfect niche. This niche might not always align with your personal passions, so try to find a niche that is hungry for solutions. Put in mind those points:
enough complex words, if you want to target a niche, let's say you wanted to target e-commerce niche, fine go to reddit, Facebook or telegram, try asking questions like "as an expert in (niche) what pain you still facing?"
collect information, after you decide which niche you will target, go to lead generation platforms, buy some emails and start talking to them.
B2C or B2B:
simply, if you want to pick B2B focus on email and LinkedIn marketing, for B2C just use other social media.
How to get fund before you even start
Well, if you are going to launch your SaaS you need tech part right? let's say you decided to choose no-code approach you need at least 300$, let's say you wanted to use some LLM Api, you probably need around 500$, you also need a server, if you use a server with low-performance you need around 120$ you can avoid paying for these costs if you apply for Microsoft for founder's startup, it's simply an offer from Microsoft to give early fund for small startups, it has 4 levels:
Level 1: Ideate
Focused on refining your idea and prototyping your product.
Benefits: $1,000 in Azure credits, access to learning resources, community events, 3000$ on Bubble , 2500$ on OpenAI , 1500$ on Miro ,500$ credit on LinkedIn for Marketing , and basic one-on-one mentorship, and more!
Ideal for: Founders with early-stage ideas, still testing viability.
Level 2: Develop
Moving from idea to building a minimal viable product (MVP).
Benefits: $5,000 in Azure credits, technical consultations, marketing resources, and ongoing mentorship.
Ideal for: Startups actively developing their product with a clear value proposition.
Level 3: Grow
Launching your product and acquiring customers.
Benefits: $25,000 in Azure credits, sales and marketing support, partner connections, and investor readiness guidance.
Ideal for: Startups with established products actively seeking market traction and growth.
Level 4: Scale
Expanding your business and reaching new markets.
Benefits: Up to $150,000 in Azure credits, advanced technical support, executive-level mentorship, and potential equity-free investments.
Ideal for: Established startups with proven business models and significant scaling opportunities.
Key things to remember:
There's no funding in the traditional sense. Benefits are primarily focused on Azure credits, resources, and guidance. You'll need to apply and be accepted into the Founders Hub to access any level. Levels are assigned based on your startup's stage and progress. As your startup grows, you can level up and receive more benefits.
first you need to apply here:
somethings to keep in my while applying:
don't use gpt or any model to create description or anything because they have anti-Gpt, if detected they will refuse.
when talking about your idea, mention your vision or future plan.
when talking about yourself, add things like " I used to be a leader of a university club" or something like this,
There are other platforms that allows you to use their product for free if you are applying as a startup, like Notion and Intercom .
code or no-code?
If you want to create a simple app you can just use no-code especially if you don't have any coding knowledge, in the other hand if you want to build a more complex and customized app u probably need a low-code developer to high-code developer.
领英推荐
if you wanted to choose no-code for some reason, check out Bubble .
The importance of your landing page + waitlist
After building your app, the landing page is the first page in your webpage that the costumer will see, you need some copywriting skill, or just copy what other business wrote in their landing page, it's important because if the customer understood and liked what you are saying there, they will turn into customers (conversion rate), things you should put in mind while creating your LP:
If you want to analyze your SEO as well as tracking trendy keywords that suits your platform, use Scribfy.
Also, if you are still in the MVP/RAT stage, include a waitlist or join-list to get early customers, I used it in my app, and it's really helpful to see if people really validate your idea or not.
Differences between LLMs and how to integrate them in your platform:
Large language model or LLM is a model like chat-GPT or Bard, if you want to use one of LLMs in your app you should first think of:
The most famous LLMs are:
but there is more (text generators, audio generators, image generators, and more)
There is also unfamous LLMs which can perform well, check Replicate.
Now, if you want to integrate them in your App you can use their API (they will charge you on how much tokens the Api used tokens/$), or u can choose LLM pre-deployed server (they will charge you on how much time you used that server Second/$), in case you wanted to choose the second approach, try Replicate.
Cold outreach techniques (LinkedIn vs Email) + some tools:
This marketing approach works better for B2B, cold outreach is simply reaching to people who had never heard of you before, sending via email works better so far, to be clear and honest with you, you will try a lot of templates before you find your own formula, but here is some of templates that worked for me:
[Personalized Intro]
Hey Jonny,
[Shocking Statement]
Did you know it takes 306 cold emails to generate one lead (B2B)?
[Build Curiosity (2–4 bullet points or sentences)]
Yep. It sucks. The main reason why it takes so long is because:
? Most sales reps are not trained copywriters
? Companies have no follow-up process in place
? Emails get flagged as spam (which can be avoided)
? The emails include the wrong information
[Solution]
The good news is there’s an easy fix (well, easy for you now we’ve spent a decade sending cold emails for B2B tech companies).
[Call-to-action (CTA)]
Click here and I’ll show your sales team how to convert cold data into customers.
[Friendly (& leading) sign off]
See you over there,
{signeture}
Hey there, {{First Name}}
How are you doing today? I am {{Name}} and I work at {{company name}}.
We work with companies like {{their company name}} to:
{{mention pain points and the solutions offered}}
I was wondering if you are the right person to have a conversation with about this? I would love to get in touch with you over the phone, as having an actual conversation could be beneficial.
If you are interested, you can reply to this email and let me know your availability.
Cheers,
{{Your Name}}
Hello {{First Name}},
Have your employees at {{insert company name}} been dealing with [email marketing problems] currently?
I’m from {{XYZ company}} and I’m working with dozens of companies from your field, like [Examples of companies] to make sure their [email marketing issue] is resolved on a daily basis because of our [email marketing services].
Trust me, I know you might not have an easy day as the {{Position of prospect}}, and your schedule might be as busy as it gets, but how about we settle for a quick call for later?
We might get to the bottom of this and eradicate the problem forever.
Cheers!
{{Your Name}}
If you really want to gain customers your email should be customized so they can feel that this isn't just a random spam, here is one of the emails i use:
Hey {name}
According to the latest statistics, SEO has a ROI (return of investment) of 1,600% compared to paid search.
wait! There is more, 47% of online shoppers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds.
Yep. making the perfect SEO for [company name] store Isn’t easy!
The main reason why it takes so long is because:
-SEO experts still using old techniques that takes time
-Most of the Copywriters don’t write SEO optimized product description
And by the way, 84.5% of US online consumers read product descriptions before buying.
The good news is there’s an easy way to do it (well, easy for you now, we’ve spent months building this AI based product that solves these problems).
Book a 15 mins slot at your convenience to discuss more. Here is a link to my calendar
See you over there,
signature
Before sending, your subject line should also catch their attention, I use those:
This SEO statistics will shock you!
How can you take advantage of this shocking stats {{first_name}}
{{first_name}}, say goodbye to the old product description! + ice cream location
You have to do A/B testing which is basically using multiple emails with multiple subject line and multiple CTA to choose wich one worked better, you evaluate your subject strength by the (opening rate), and you evaluate your email body as well as your CTA by the (replying rate), some helpful tools:
avoid sending links in the first email! and don't forget to always improve your copywriting techniques, Goodluck my friend ^^
The power of TikTok videos
This works better for B2C, but also works good for B2B, track the trendy videos on TikTok and create a video like them, you can use text-to-speech Ai in the video, you don't even have to talk! you can also pay some influencers that talks about the same content that your app provides (affiliate marketing), focus on:
Lose little to win more (How to sell your product)
Okey, this is the important part! first of all let's say you recieved an email saying "use our product with 90% disaccount" you clicked on the email you read it but you didn't find any social proofs about the founders of this app, you will probably think it's a scam, right? that also applies on your customers especially if they are business owners, so you need to:
There are three strategies (that i used) you can use if you want to gain your first customers:
Thats all i know so far, if you want any kind of help! please let me know
If you are interested to see our Scribfy journey, or more content like this, don't hesitate to follow me!
GOODLUCK MY FRIENDS ^^