SaaS stands for Software as a Service. That means a Software for which the business model is Subscription based with a recurring fees. The opposite would be on-Premise software which you buy once for an upfront fee but don't necessarily need to pay any recurring fee to keep using.
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2answers
638 views
Trial to paid conversion ratio
Are there any good reference points about trial-to-paid conversion in SAAS world? What factors impact this ratio.
I am looking at streaming rich media for B2C.
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3answers
702 views
tax implications of running SAAS
If I am running a SAAS businss and my users are paying me e.g. 10$ per month is there a sales tax liability on it? Who pays that tax and what are the different things to consider.
Does it matter ...
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8answers
536 views
Want to offer SaaS product via RDP, any recommendation on hosting
We already have a desktop product for Windows.
Unfortunately it is a win32/64 exe for Windows, and making a web version would take some years.
We want to join the SaaS party, so we want to introduce ...
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6answers
952 views
Anyone done A/B tests on SaaS plan names?
I am adding paid plans for my online service and would like to know what subscription plan names to use. Should I go with Gold, Silver, Bronze or Basic, Premium, Standard??
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3answers
1k views
Should I use online accounting software in Canada?
My part-time bookkeeper and I are currently reviewing Xero for accounting. I like the online aspect of being able to enter and view data online (my bookkeeper works from home). The cost seems ...
3
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6answers
427 views
Suggestions for a tool that is equal to LinkedIn + CRM + Email?
We use Google Apps and Highrise. Now, they are both decent tools, the problem is that they do not integrate. Most particularly, keeping GMail contacts in sync with Highrise is a huge problem. Now, add ...
8
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2answers
358 views
Using US Based SaaS as a European company?
As EU companies are aware, the personal data protection law doesn't allow EU companies to store data in servers located outside of the EU. The only way to do this is for the provider to join the Safe ...
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1answer
707 views
Can you act as a white-label payment service built on top of a payment processor?
Can a company who has a merchant account act as a white-label "middle-man" between another merchant and a payment processing company like Paypal? For example, a white-label company offers an API into ...
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5answers
376 views
Scaling sales in a SaaS software company
We are a small software company in the Virtual Data sharing and management space. We are looking to scale our buisness quickly and believe our next step would be into the software reseller channel. ...
4
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2answers
610 views
Startup equity and cash distribution for a SaaS
I have a SaaS concept that I came up with the idea for and have been developing a business plan and wireframes, user flows for the last 6 months. I'm not ready to shift this to design and development ...
0
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1answer
214 views
Ooma equivalent for business. No recurring fees
I currently use an Ooma VOIP converter box at my home office for phone service, and during preparation for a marketing campaign, noticed a previously-overlooked 'Terms of Service' clause prohibiting ...
2
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4answers
117 views
Is security a major concern with Enterprise grade cloud storage?
In your opinion or experience, is security the biggest concern when considering offsite cloud storage? I am curious if vendors like box.net offer their cloud solutions with the intention that ...
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2answers
318 views
Selling through VARs and Systems Integrators
We're developing an extension to a commercial open source enterprise software product. Most customers of the product we're extending buy it trough one of its system integration partners.
To reach ...
3
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6answers
448 views
How do I structure a payment plan for my website?
I plan on making my website a paid one and have a question about structuring the payment plan. Think of the website as an ecommerce site selling very low ticketed items (as low as $0.05). Since ...
2
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2answers
308 views
lead generation / conversion for freemium saas (howto, ideas)
We're looking for advice and opinions on economic, effective ways to convert existing users from free to paid subscriptions. Our SaaS product is a slight twist to the traditional freemium model: ...
5
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5answers
446 views
What to do next for my online startup?
Ok so I've left my job, I've got a business plan, I have a blue ocean idea, I've spoken to a few industry people about the idea and they think its a good idea. I have a designed and paid a programmer ...
0
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2answers
179 views
Any areas or software missing from the “freelancer” suite?
There are certain aspects of what I like to call the "Freelancer suite," basically tools that are designed specifically with the freelancer or small web team in mind. They basically are: time ...
3
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2answers
835 views
Pricing strategy for SAAS based products
I am looking for any references/case-studies/whitepapers on pricing strategies for SAAS based products. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Mohit
5
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5answers
669 views
Licensing. How to for a SaaS
We are currently developing a SaaS based software service and offer it to our customers as a monthly/yearly contract basis.
So in essence, they will pay us to host/maintain their stuff on our ...
3
votes
4answers
395 views
What's the best way to execute a provisional patent filing?
I'm working on getting a SaaS start-up off the ground. Right now I'm focusing on building a "launch-able" prototype to help me in conversations with potentials partners and investors.
Some of the ...
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3answers
294 views
How to sell to a salesman?
I admit, a little controversial title. But that is how I (as a more technical person) feel the task that is ahead of me for which I would appreciate the kind advice of the onstartup community.
I ...
15
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9answers
1k views
Have the ideas, found the niche…what to do first?
I have found two completely seaprate niches, and identified the target markets for them both. I have comprehensive ideas and details on how the applications should work. I have a developer that I ...
3
votes
6answers
317 views
How do you choose the base currency for online and mostly international sales?
We are about to launch a website offering products. My "gut" feeling is that a good proportion of our customers will be based in the US. We are currently based in the UK, though that is likely to ...
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2answers
301 views
Don't understand why simple-looking SaaS are getting so much funding
It's tough to believe something as simple as bit.ly can have large corporate clients.
It makes you wonder, after all those days developing games or web apps, is perceived simplicity of usage and ...
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3answers
246 views
Multiple Currency Management for SaaS Payments
We'll soon exit the beta stage and start charging for our SaaS solution.
We're based in Italy so we work in Euros. We think we should also offer the solution in US Dollars, however we find it hard to ...
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2answers
111 views
what is platform as a service and how does it differ from SaaS development cycle?
i've heard platform as a service....all i know is things like Heroku, which hosts and deploys your apps.
how does PaaS development cycle differ from SaaS ?
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7answers
2k views
Use Spreedly or Chargify or neither?
I plan to add subscription plan(s) to my website (built using ASP.NET). I may be using Paypal as the payment gateway for now. I might consider adding credit card payments in the future. Although ...
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2answers
232 views
Cloud based email platform [closed]
What the the cloud based email platform available that provides message scheduling and queuing feature? Something similar to Sendgrid but also with message scheduling and queuing for transactional ...
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1answer
105 views
Training courses via email
We are going to have different training courses delivered via email with each session a day. A user can come to the site and select lets say Course A that can start either from the same day or next ...
6
votes
6answers
1k views
Best affiliate solution for freemium/free trial web apps? [closed]
Most affiliate solutions are not designed to work with freemium or free trial business models.
Have you seen an affiliate app that can:
Make it simple to manage affiliate relationships
Can ...
8
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10answers
581 views
Would a 1-man operation be better with downloadable or Saas model software?
If you are a 1-man show (to begin with, and want to stay small), would you be better suited to selling downloadable software or would a hosted version be more idea?
With hosted, you don't have to ...
2
votes
3answers
129 views
No-touch sign up security risk?
Hello Everyone:
My SaaS startup is considering implementing a new sign-up procedure, but we're worried about security and false accounts.
Current Method:
Prospect fills out free trial form
We get an ...
5
votes
6answers
1k views
How can I find a software developer who can build a SaaS product idea?
I have a great idea for a SaaS product but all my knowledge is in the subject matter not technology. If my social network doesn't have any good contacts how can I find someone trustworthy to work ...
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2answers
173 views
Hosted Quizzes and Polls Platform
I am looking for a hosted Quizzes and Polls platform that has following features
Create customized Quizzes and Polls
Be able to embed these Quizzes and Polls on my site
The platform should provide ...
4
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4answers
356 views
How do you make decisions in teams?
My [business] partner and I are constantly arguing about how we should do certain things for the SaaS we are creating and we reach a conclusion and a good decision (i think) after hours of aruging and ...
3
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2answers
401 views
SaaS for Handling Sales, Demo Requests, Leads, Follow up emails
I know similar questions have already asked but I think we need something slightly different:
Capturing user info from our website to the CRM directly via an API
Sending welcome, followup emails to ...
9
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10answers
1k views
To Freemium or not to Freemium?
There are numerous examples of SaaS products stuck with lots of users and few paying customers. The common advice is not to give away too much in the free plan and always be upselling. The best ...
2
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5answers
197 views
How can I find someone who is well versed and can consult on all of the technologies available today for building a SaaS project?
I am working with a User Experience/Information Architecture professional who is not a techie. We are at a point where we need to make some decisions that will be based on the specific programming ...
5
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1answer
287 views
Where is the Price Point of Indifference for SMBs with a Web Presence?
Internally at our startup, there's a lot of belief that at some price between $15-$35/month, small-medium businesses are both:
A) Much more likely to convert and try a SaaS product
B) Much less ...
6
votes
5answers
342 views
Can being too transparent about pricing, too early, actually hurt me?
I am creating a very high end B2B SaaS, subscription based, online product. The person doing my information architecture and I have very differing views on the subject of when pricing tiers should be ...
0
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5answers
830 views
Does SaaS Suck vs. traditional software development [closed]
Let's assume one thing. You have NOMNOM ready to be installed on thousands of your clients computers and used, but oh wait, you catch the SaaS bandwagon, and decide to prdocue NOMNOM.COM and make ...
3
votes
6answers
418 views
How to incorporate in the US without traveling there?
I live in Colombia and have a web service, I would like to create a company in the US so I can receive payments from there. Is there a way to create a company without traveling there like this website ...
3
votes
5answers
572 views
How long of a closed-beta is enough?
We have developed a product offered as SaaS, that helps businesses to manage their entire business online (details at www.trakeze.com). We have been running a nice long (more than 6 months) ...
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vote
3answers
484 views
Why is my php script & desktop software download store outdoing revenue of my SaaS startup?
SaaS startup took way longer time, money and effort to create than my old online store which sells 1 very small php script and desktop software that is in the same market niche as the Saas.
I spent ...
8
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8answers
2k views
What would be a fair equity distribution between me and my co-founder?
Me (software developer) and my co-founder (UI designer) are looking forward to build a SaaS startup. I would usually lean towards a 50/50 distribution, but in this particular scenario, the ...
9
votes
11answers
2k views
Build in-house or outsource?
I'm working with a SaaS business with a non-technical founder/CEO and am looking for pros and cons for (1) building the software in-house vs (2) outsourcing version 1.0 to a consulting firm.
From ...
21
votes
5answers
972 views
What's the best way to find/evaluate a Marketing co-founder?
As a follow-on to my last question What is the ideal mix of founders for a SaaS startup? it seems that a Marketeer is important to a SaaS startup. I think it's fairly easy to find and evaluate ...
6
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6answers
448 views
What is the ideal mix of founders for a SaaS startup?
I've been talking to some friends about ideas for a startup? There are plenty ideas and the common theme is that they're all SaaS webapps selling to small- or medium-sized businesses.
What do you ...
3
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2answers
169 views
Growing Successfully Using Strategic Business Alliances
Traditionally businesses have grown through hiring employees, building and acquiring assets, establishing branches and subsidiaries, etc. but with this comes high overhead, segregation of duties, and ...
3
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2answers
6k views
Where can I find a good example of a product roadmap?
I'm looking for a published roadmap for a web application that is still close to the minimum viable product. Ideally on a site that is also using uservoice
