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.
22
votes
9answers
885 views
Selling my SaaS: been offered $500k plus 3-year management contract. How should I respond?
My husband and I built a niche SaaS over the past 12 years...it was an idea way ahead of its time that is now catching on and attracting attention. For school districts, so our addressable market is ...
21
votes
5answers
973 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 ...
16
votes
11answers
715 views
Founding a startup while at school
I'm a Software Engineering student, have lots of ideas and read technology/startup blogs like a maniac. I've been developing web applications and websites for many years and was looking forward to ...
15
votes
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 ...
13
votes
6answers
447 views
Should we hire a sales or invest more time in our online presence?
We are a small software company with a process automation product. To do more sales, we would like to compare following options for next year:
Hire a sales guy. Someone capable of doing cold ...
13
votes
9answers
1k views
Should SAAS have tiered pricing for different countries?
For a start-up providing a web-app to customers on a subscription basis, do you think that the benefits of different geographic pricing outweigh the downside?
My rationale is that while North America ...
12
votes
6answers
510 views
As a SaaS vendor, should you provide data export?
Some people tend to avoid Software as a Service due to the fear of vendor lock in. Therefore, you are losing customers by not offering a data export option.
However, you don't want to be "helping" ...
12
votes
9answers
1k views
Subscription revenue: $40 a year or $3-5 a month?
Hey there, I'm the founder of a site that helps families keep in touch. We're going to be buying our cash register soon, so we're figuring out our revenue model.
We're deciding between two types of ...
10
votes
2answers
183 views
B2B SAAS business. Enterprise customers keep asking to accept their terms agreements
My business is a B2B SaaS business that I've been running for the last two years. It is self-provisioning, self-service, subscription-based service charged to customers credit cards. Monthly ...
9
votes
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 ...
9
votes
8answers
1k views
New startup - how to handle billing?
My subscription-based application is going to be written in Ruby on Rails; I have two routes I can go as far as billing is concerned:
I can use a hosted service that takes care of managing 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 ...
9
votes
6answers
967 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??
9
votes
2answers
246 views
How should I say no to customer?
I have startup software company (SaaS model) that is just me. All funding comes in from my main customer(Customer A). Product still in development and I have specific roadmap for next versions.
At ...
9
votes
3answers
173 views
When is it too early to measure conversion rate?
My bootstrapped saas startup launched only a few months ago. My traffic is growing steadily but still fairly low (~200 hits/day). Although I do consider the product validated (we have a growing ...
9
votes
3answers
157 views
UK Startup dealing with US Software Patents
As the owner of a UK software company, I'd like to finish a SaaS application I've had in development for a while and sell it as a monthly subscription service. The software could be sold worldwide.
I ...
8
votes
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 ...
8
votes
7answers
816 views
How Much Can I Sell My SaaS Product Currently Earning Me $2,000/month?
I have a web service targeted at web designers that currently earns about $2,000 per month in revenue. It is a SaaS business and my customers have been with me for years and we are growing (albeit ...
8
votes
10answers
583 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 ...
8
votes
2answers
453 views
Offering bulk discounts on SaaS user subscription fees
Please note that I am specifically referring to SaaS providers that have adopted the traditional pricing model of charging per user per month, and have at some point considered offering pricing tiers ...
8
votes
2answers
362 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 ...
7
votes
7answers
407 views
Is 'free' a bad idea in business applications?
In the case of business SaaS, specifically in a market where this type of software is never free what are the arguments regarding launching your product for free?
More specifically the idea would be ...
7
votes
2answers
202 views
Has anyone sold a “fork” version of their software?
I created a SaaS that became quite popular over the weekend. I had a steady stream of users sign up and many are actually still using it (lots of folks who signed up out of curiosity).
Anyway, I ...
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 ...
6
votes
5answers
508 views
How to do a trial offer?
We'd like to offer 30 day trial for a subscription service.
Has anyone experimented with that?
We will probably do a bunch of testing with it but I'd really like to hear your experiences on:
1) ...
6
votes
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 ...
6
votes
4answers
397 views
Is yearly subscription for a new SaaS a bad idea?
We're working hard on a new SaaS idea. We're bootstrapping as much as we can and are not looking for outside investment. Our goal was start charging for the service on a yearly basis, in our minds ...
6
votes
4answers
2k views
Sales commission for SAAS startups
We are a SAAS startup with an average MRR of $300. We are planning to have both in-house and outside sales agents (without salary but 20-30% commission). What is the sales commission model you ...
6
votes
3answers
2k views
What are the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for a SaaS Company
I was asked by a potential investor for Key Performance Metrics for our company. What do you think the KPIs are for a typical SaaS company? Here are the ones that I think we should give him:
CAC - ...
6
votes
5answers
427 views
Is telemarketing an effective sales technique for SaaS?
Has anyone here had success driving sales for their SaaS startup using telemarketing, or is it usually just a waste of money and a way to annoy potential customers?
6
votes
3answers
216 views
Should I be concerned with a low conversion rate?
I have a new bootstrapped SaaS app that targets small businesses. It has a 30 free trial offer. The visit to trial conversion is around 1%.
Currently I have 9 paying customers with 360 trial sign-ups ...
6
votes
2answers
86 views
Trial email schedule
The users of my saas app have a 14 day trial run to decide if they like it enough in order to stump up the cash for a monthly subscription.
I'm trying to work out a schedule of emails to send the ...
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 ...
5
votes
5answers
670 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 ...
5
votes
5answers
392 views
Monetization options - other than ads - for consumer SaaS
I started a consumer SaaS almost 2 months ago. It's a calories counter system. You log in, register your meals and the system tells you how many calories you ate and the type of those calories. You ...
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 ...
5
votes
3answers
213 views
Survey / Ballot / e-sign tool
I've noticed a trade-off in survey and e-sign tools.
Survey tool:
Low cost for large volumes
Manage Survey Workflow well
Excellent data collection / reporting
Does not offer signature
Does not ...
5
votes
2answers
621 views
Cloud-based accounting software [closed]
I am in the process of starting a business. The nature of the business is Photography (weddings, etc.). What would be a good accounting software solution (preferably cloud-based or SaaS)?
5
votes
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 ...
5
votes
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 ...
5
votes
6answers
470 views
How to compensate sales rep for (bootstrapped) SaaS startup?
My SaaS startup has gained some early traction (a slowly growing number of paying customers built up over our first few months after launch). It's now time to "step on the gas" and grow the ...
5
votes
4answers
139 views
Charging annually based on number of users. How to grant flexibility on the number of users?
We have a product that the customer pays based on the number of users. Suppose it costs 10$/mo/user and that the client has 10 users. That is, he pays 100$ per month for his 10 users. We want to offer ...
5
votes
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 ...
5
votes
2answers
161 views
Comparison of sites that force email activation vs. ones that accept any email
I'm looking for a comparison of SaaS websites that force email activation versus ones that do not. Similar to how some websites review a checkout process across multiple domains.
5
votes
1answer
346 views
UK based subscription web app - best payment provider for $5 per month payments
I am currently developing a SaaS product and am at an impasse in terms of how to charge.
The subscription is only going to be $5 per month. Although I'm in the UK, my main market is going to be the ...
4
votes
3answers
431 views
Is SaaS really a profitable market now (compared to 2005)?
When you consider the following:
20 USD monthly fee x 12 months = 240 USD per user / yr.
So, 1,000 paying customers would be needed to attain 240,000 USD revenue
At a conversion rate of 10% one ...
4
votes
4answers
173 views
Should I offer a site tour on my home page?
In the not so distant future, I will be launching a site that is mostly for businesses and is largely Software as a Service. I am wondering what you think about the pros and cons of having a pretty ...
4
votes
4answers
357 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Avoiding complicated EU VAT rules for SaaS company
I am in the UK and am in the process of setting up a SaaS product which people will be able to purchase online by monthly subscription.
I have been researching the VAT rules for supply of electronic ...
4
votes
2answers
167 views
Sale commission for someone who brings a big fish (SaaS model)
I was wondering what is a reasonable/fare commission for someone (call him an agent) who can introduce us to a potential big client. I estimate the client can generate at minimum 400K-600K a year for ...
