How to start building SaaS without developers?

Which goes first: product or market?

To achieve success in the market today you need to build a great product (#saas in our case) and get customers without busting your marketing budget. It‘s like walking on two legs step by step: building a product is one leg and finding the market fit is another one.

The old-school approach tells you to build a great product first and then try to sell it. It’s like jumping on one leg because you invest in product development without true validation from the market.

#leanstartup methodology starts by jumping on another leg first. It suggests finding the market fit first and is famous for “fake it until you make it”. You do much activity (“jumping”, if you allow) on the marketing and sales side but there is no movement in your SaaS development at that time.

With the Double Sprint method, you work in two directions that support each other at the same time. You take short sprints in two parallel directions: business development and SaaS development. You "use both of your legs" at the same time. And as you’ll see (in the next edition of this newsletter), it is?a step-by-step system?that eliminates guesswork and brings you to a clear?GO?or?NO GO?decision with your SaaS idea.

I'll cover all steps of the Double Sprint method in the next article but now let's review the key principles that make this method so effective.

How this method is different and why it is so effective?

With the Double Sprint Method, you ?????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ?????????????? ????????????????????. ?Yes, it might sound counterintuitive ??, but…

?? only 6% of SaaS startups fail because of tech issues,

?? 56% – fail because of marketing and sales.

That’s why with the Double Sprint Method you first validate your idea with potential customers and get clear on what you want to build.

?????? ??????’?? ???????? ???????????????????? ???? ???????? ??????????! ?You can jump-start right now without any expenses on development.

With the Double Sprint Method, you ?????? ?????????????????????? ?????????? because you prepare market-proven product specifications?? which means:

1. You build only what customers are willing to pay for. If customers aren’t willing to pay, why should you waste your money and time building it?
2. You prepare detailed tasks for developers so they can suggest more efficient technology, and save you from redoing in the future.
3. With a detailed specification, you can get quotations from multiple tech development teams, compare their price and time estimations and pick the most cost-effective one.
4. You are launching your product in stages, not everything at once. Therefore, you don’t need so much funding to build it.
5. You might even generate revenue through the pre-sale of your product to self-fund part of development costs. It means less money goes out of your pocket.

With the Double Sprint Method, you ?????? ???? ?????? ???????????? ???????????? because developers?? will need fewer hours to build it.

Yes, you build the MVP (a functional prototype) but contrary to common opinion, you get to the market faster because once you have validated features and detailed specifications for developers, they can build your SaaS much faster.

You don’t waste time clarifying your needs or discussing all these nitty-gritty details?? that in most cases don’t make sense for you if you don’t have a developer’s background.

With the Double Sprint Method, you develop an ?????????????????? ?????? ???? ???????? because you test marketing while designing and building your product ??

So when you are ready for go-to-market you already know who are your early adopters, how to sell your SaaS, what works in marketing communication, and what doesn’t.

With the Double Sprint Method, you ??????’?? ???????? ???????? ??????????. The biggest problem?? for most startups by far is the lack of product-market fit. You should not invest a lot of time and resources before you are certain people want what you are offering.

With Double Sprint Method you validate your assumptions quickly and cheaply, and if needed - pivot. You don’t chase dead-end ideas?? and simply don’t burn your money.

With the Double Sprint Method, you ??????’?? ???????? ???????? ???????????????????? because you are not selling anything fake. Some founders think:

?????“???? ???????? ???? ?????????? ?? ?????????????? ?????????????? ???????????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ????????????. ??????????????????, ???? ??????’?? ???? ???????????????????? ?????? ???? ???????? ?????? ?? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????????.”

?????“???? ??????’?? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ?????? ?????????????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ??????. ???? ?????? ???????? ???????? ????????????????. ?????? ???????? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ?????????? ?????”

With the Double Sprint Method, you create the wireframe of your SaaS and start building a micro-community of early adopters who are interested in what you are building. And if nobody gets interested, well… it’s a red flag and you don’t waste your time and money on the dead-end idea.

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We will cover all steps of the Double Sprint Method in the next edition. Stay tuned! ??