Dear SaaStr: What does a day in the life of a SaaS startup CEO/founder look like post product-launch, especially when the founder is scaling up the business?
By post-Launch, I think you really mean post-Launch … but pre-Traction.
You. Must. Get. To. Traction.
My Top 5 Things You Should Be Doing Post-Launch and Pre-Traction … to Get to Traction:
- Hiring the Top Missing Pieces. You should spend 20% of your time finding, recruiting, begging the top missing pieces on your team. Not an hour here, an email there. One full day of the week, or 2 hours a day. Without these hire(s), you will fail. Yes, it is hard. Cry me a river.
- Getting Attention For Your App. Whatever you can possibly do. Go to every conference. Speak at any possible event you can, no matter how small. Win every award. Try to get every blog and pub to write about you. Get on ProductHunt. Reach out to anyone and everyone in your space. Be respectful, but totally, utterly, shameless here. Do whatever you can possibly think of here.
- Getting Out of the Office and Getting Early Customers and Partners. Some may find you on their own, but to get your customer base going, you’re going to have to hustle. Try to meet with any possible customer you can.
- Lavish Attention On Any Single Customer and Every Single Lead You Get. Not enough founders truly do this. Don’t dismiss any customers. Each one represents the exact needs and wants of 10-100 more, irrespective of your market size. Make each early customer a true success — and you will make another 100 customers a success.
- Carefully Plan Your Next Release – It May Be Your Last Best Chance. You don’t have infinite time. Take your time, but get the next release right. Make sure it expands upon whatever you’ve learned since your Launch. Invest time to make your first users/customers successful. And then make 1-2 bets on where you think it could go. A few key integrations. A feature that could change the game. Assume your next release is Your Last Best Chance. Make it count.
