1. FOUNDERS’
RULE
BOOK
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2023

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Index
-Pg 3
Introduction
Pg 4
Solving A Problem
- Is Your SaaS Startup Solving A Problem?
- Problems that some of the most popular global
companies are solving
- Look at how your competitors are solving a
problem
- Top competitor analysis tools
Pg 8
Understanding the
Total Addressable Market
Pg 10
Product Demos, Feature
Comparison & Product
- Gap Analysis
- Why Product Demos are important
- How to deliver a great Product Demo
- Tips to deliver a Great Product Demo
- Top examples of great product demos
- Top tools to deliver great product demos
Pg 15
Product Gap Analysis
- The top-down approach
- The bottom-up approach
- Tips on conducting a successful Product
Gap Analysis
Pg 18
Integrations - The Holy Grail
- Tips to evaluate potential integration providers
- Examples of Integration tools
Pg 20
Product Roadmap
- What is a Product Roadmap
- Why create a Product Roadmap
- When should you create a Product Roadmap?
- How to create a Product Roadmap
- Tips for creating a Product Roadmap
- Building a Product Roadmap
for Your SaaS Product
- GitHub’s Product Roadmap
Pg 24
Minimum Viable Product
- What is a Minimum Viable Product?
- Minimum viable product examples
- What is the process of developing an MVP?
- Building the Perfect MVP for Your SaaS Product
- Technical nuances to consider while
developing your SaaS MVP
Pg 28
Build vs Buy
- The Build vs Buy debate for SaaS startups
Pg 30
Wireframes
- What are wireframes
- Tips to create a wireframes for your
SaaS applications
- Types of product wireframes
- When to use each type of wireframe
- Tools to build wireframes
Pg 32
Top Business Models You Can
Adopt for Your SaaS Company
- Freemium
- Flat Pricing
- Usage-Based Pricing
- User-Based Pricing
- Tiered Pricing
- Hybrid Pricing
Pg 34
Timeless SaaS Marketing
Strategies that Guarantee
Massive ROI
- What is SaaS Marketing?
Strategy #1 Conduct thorough customer
research and re-examine your buyer personas
Strategy #2 Content Marketing
- Top tools that can help you nail your content
marketing strategy
- Examples of top SaaS companies that have
nailed their content strategy
Strategy #3 Product Trials
- Product trial best practices to gain new
customers for your startup
Strategy #4 Search Engine Optimization
- Off-Page SEO
- On-Page SEO
- SEO Tips
Strategy #5 Referral Marketing
- Top SaaS referral program examples
Strategy #6 Google Adwords
Establishing Metrics for Success

3. Creating a successful product startup is
not for the faint of heart. Behind every
celebrated company lies countless hours filled
with grit, determination and overcoming
difficulties along the way - an often
treacherous journey that only those on its
inside can truly understand.
From difficult financial decisions to
managing team dynamics, pioneering a new
product requires constant adaptation and
problem-solving and those who persevere are
rewarded with the opportunity to revolutionize
an industry and make a lasting impact on
society. Despite the madness that comes with
it, building a product startup is ultimately an
exciting and rewarding experience.
Over the last decade, we have built our own
and helped build a dozen companies. The
journey was brutal, and the experience was
priceless. We understand that launching a
business is no easy feat – it requires extensive
planning, preparation and the right knowledge.
With this comprehensive guide, designed
specifically for product startup owners and
Saas startups, you'll have everything you need
at your fingertips! Take advantage of all its
resources so that there's nothing standing
between you and your long-term goals.
Introduction
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4. FOR a startup founder to really succeed,
they must identify problems that are close and
familiar to them; issues not just affecting
themselves, but also those around them. By
recognizing the magnitude of this problem
and its real-life implications on others, it
provides an opportunity for founders to
channel their passion into developing creative
solutions with far reaching consequences -
truly becoming crazy successful!
If there is no problem to solve, there is no
company to build. Don't fall prey to a problem
that exists in your head. It is important for
startup owners to validate how big of a
problem they are solving. Is it faced by 1000
companies, a million professionals, a billion
online shoppers. Picking a problem large
enough is the first step.
Is your SaaS startup solving
a problem?
Solving a problem is essential for any business
to be successful, particularly for software as a
service (SaaS) startups. As SaaS is an
expanding sector of the IT market that offers
software on a subscription basis, it's critical to
make sure there is an issue that SaaS startup
companies can address. Especially in today's
world with the increasing proliferation of
applications and services, solving an existing
problem for customers provides value above
those offerings already available. Therefore,
SaaS startups must focus their energy on
developing solutions which solve these issues
in order to thrive in their chosen business
model.
“The number one rule for any SaaS business
should be to solve your own, real problems
and not someone else’s problems. Only by
solving a problem, you have struggled with
yourself will you fully appreciate how to solve
the problem in the best possible way.” — Uwe
Dreissigacker, founder and CEO of InvoiceBerry.
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SOLVING
A PROBLEM
Solving a problem

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Disruptive Innovations:
Companies Tackling Everyday
Challenges, From Well-known to
Lesser-Known
Solving a problem
Amazon’s problem was the difficulty of ordering books online. Before
Amazon, it was hard to find a book that wasn’t already sold out or passed its
prime (Amazon solved this by not only having books in stock but also offering
them at discounted prices).
Instagram’s problem was that there were no easy ways
to share photos online. Before Instagram, people had to
send photos through text messages or email them one by
one (Instagram solved this by making it easy for users to
take, upload and share multiple photos in one place).
Netflix’s problem was the difficulty of renting DVDs by mail. Before Netflix,
people had to go to a store and physically rent movies. Netflix solved this by
making it easy for anyone to watch as many movies as they wanted online
(and in addition, they made it easy for users to discover new movies).
Salesforce’s problem was the difficulty of managing sales teams. Before
Salesforce, companies had to hire expensive consultants and spend a lot of
time on paperwork. Salesforce solved this by making it easy for anyone to
manage their sales force online (and in addition, they made it easy for users
to track performance metrics).
Air Protein is solving the problem of sustainable and ethical food
production. The company is developing a sustainable protein source
that does not require land, water, or fertilizer. Air Protein's technology
uses elements found in the air, such as carbon dioxide, to create a
high-protein food source that can be produced with minimal
impact on the environment.
Chargebee is solving the problem of subscription billing and revenue
management for businesses. Chargebee's platform allows businesses to
set up and manage complex subscription plans, handle multiple payment
methods and currencies, and provide customerswith a seamless
billing experience.
Zendesk is a customer service software company that solves the problem
of managing customer support inquiries and interactions efficiently and
effectively. The company provides a range of tools that enable businesses to
communicate with their customers through various channels. Zendesk's
software also includes features like ticket tracking, analytics, and automation,
which help businesses to streamline their customer support processes and
provide better service to their customers.

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SOMEof the best ways to go ahead and
understand the problem are to get hands-on
with the research and interview industry
experts, end users, and other players in the
ecosystem.
Here are a few tools that can be used to do the
research:
Google Forms: This is a great way to start
your research. You can create a form that asks
questions, and you can use Google Forms as a
survey tool to collect responses from your
users or customers. The best part is that it’s
easy to use and free!
SurveyMonkey: This is another popular
option for doing market research. You can
create surveys using their templates or
starting from scratch, then distribute them
online or on paper.
Calendly: This tool is great for scheduling
meetings with people, but it can also be used
as a way to get feedback from your users. You
can use Calendly to create a meeting request
form that asks questions about what they
need, their pain points and so on.
Typeform: An online form builder that
allows users to create custom forms and
surveys. Typeform is easy to use and offers a
wide range of features, making it a great tool
for collecting customer feedback or
conducting market research.
Every problem statement has multiple sides to
it, and getting a deeper understanding of how
deep is the problem is critical.
Do not ignore the reason why this problem is
happening; maybe the solution is practically
impossible because of the lack of
technological advancement (like building a
human cloning machine or time travel).
Look at
how your
competitors
are solving a
problem
Building an e-commerce platform without
properly researching the competition can spell
disaster for a startup. In the case of attempting
to build a platform similar to Amazon, not
realizing that the retail giant already exists
could lead to significant financial loss. Not only
would resources be wasted on creating a
smaller version of what already exists, but
trying to compete with Amazon's established
infrastructure and customer base would likely
prove impossible.
This highlights the importance of conducting
thorough market research before launching a
new business venture. By understanding the
existing players in the industry, startups can
focus their energy on finding unique solutions
and carving out a niche in the market, rather
than blindly trying to overtake established
companies. In short, neglecting competitive
analysis can be a costly mistake for any new
business.
While any startup has its work cut out for it,
SaaS startups in particular need to be aware of
the competition. Doing a thorough competition
analysis is a key step in assessing the
competitive landscape and in developing
strategies and products that will help your
venture succeed. Understanding what your
competitors offer can help you identify
valuable opportunities, as well as potential
threats. Knowing how customers perceive the
competitive product offering can provide
invaluable insights into how best to approach
the market. Properly engaging with
competition analysis gives you an informed
perspective of the opportunities available and
empowers you to make informed, strategic
decisions that can best position your SaaS
startup for success.
Solving a problem

7. There are a variety of competitor analysis tools
available on the market, but not all of them are
created equal. No matter what industry you’re
in, these tools will help you keep an eye on your
competition and ensure that you’re always
ahead of the game. Here are our top picks:
SIMPLY Measured:
SIMPLY Measured is an analytics platform that
provides insights into your competitors’ social
media, digital marketing, and website
performance.
BuzzSumo:
BuzzSumo is a content research tool that helps
you understand what content is performing
well for your competitors. It also allows you to
see who is sharing their content.
Spyfu:
Spyfu is a competitive intelligence tool that
allows you to research your competitors’
keywords, ad spend, and organic and paid
search results.
SEMrush:
SEMrush is an all-in-one marketing toolkit that
provides insights into your competitors’ SEO,
paid search, social media, and content
marketing.
Siteliner:
Siteliner is a website analysis tool that
helps you understand your competitors’
website structure, content, and traffic.No
matter what industry you’re in, it’s important to
keep an eye on your competition. These
competitor analysis tools will help you do
just that.
Alexa:
Alexa is a website traffic analysis tool that also
provides insights into your competitors’
website traffic and engagement.
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Top competitor analysis tools
Solving a problem

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Total Addressable Market
WHENyou launch a new product, it’s
important to have a clear understanding of
your total addressable market (TAM). Your TAM
is the total market demand for your product or
service. To calculate your TAM, you need to
understand three things:
1. The size of your target market
2. The growth rate of your target market
3. Your share of the target market
Once you have a clear understanding of your
TAM, you can start to develop strategies for
marketing and selling your product.
UNDERSTANDING
THE TOTAL
ADDRESSABLE
MARKET (TAM)
Estimate the size of your
target market:
This is the number of potential customers who
could use your product or service. To estimate
the size of your target market, you can use
data from market research reports, surveys,
and other sources.
Estimate the growth rate of
your target market:
This is the rate at which your target market is
growing. To estimate the growth rate of your
target market, you can look at data from
industry reports, surveys, and other sources.
Estimate your share of the
target market:
This is the percentage of potential customers
who will actually buy your product or service.
To estimate your share of the target market,
you can look at data from surveys, customer
interviews, and other sources.
Once you have a clear understanding of
your TAM, you can start to develop strategies
for marketing and selling your product.
If you’re not sure
how to calculate
your TAM, here’s
a quick guide

9. Let’s say you’re launching a new fitness app. To
calculate your TAM, you need to understand
the size of the fitness app market, the growth
rate of the fitness app market, and your share
of the fitness app market.
The size of the fitness app
market: There are approximately 2.2 billion
people worldwide who own a smartphone, and
many of them use fitness apps. Let’s say 20%
of smartphone users use fitness apps, which
means there are approximately 440 million
potential customers for your fitness app.
The growth rate of the fitness
app market: The fitness app market is
growing quickly, with a compound annual
growth rate of 25%.
Your share of the fitness app
market: Let’s say you think you can capture
5% of the fitness app market. This means that
your TAM is 22 million people.
Once you have a clear understanding of your
TAM, you can start to develop strategies for
marketing and selling your product.
Reaching
your TAM
Once you have a clear understanding of your
TAM, you need to develop strategies for
reaching your target market. There are many
ways to reach your target market, including
paid advertising, social media marketing,
content marketing, and PR. It’s important to
experiment with different marketing channels
to see what works best for your product.
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Total Addressable Market (TAM)
TAM
calculation
example
Total Addressable Market

10. Product Demos, Feature Comparison & Product Gap Analysis
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PRODUCT
DEMOS,
FEATURE
COMPARISON
& PRODUCT
GAP ANALYSIS
Why Product
Demos are
important
Product demos are an important part of a
startup founder's toolkit because they provide
valuable feedback about a product from
potential customers. By getting user feedback
early on, startups can save time and resources
by making changes to the product before it
goes to market. This is especially important for
products that are complex or have a lot of
features. Product demos also help to validate
a product idea and ensure that there is
customer demand for the product.
How to
deliver a great
Product Demo
Product demos are a key part of any startup's
go-to-market strategy. They are an
opportunity to show off your product, get
feedback from potential customers, and close
deals. But delivering a great product demo is
not easy. It takes careful planning, practice,
and execution.

11. Product Demos, Feature Comparison & Product Gap Analysis
Know your audience. Your demo should be tailored to your
audience. What kinds of questions will they be asking? What interests
them? What might trip them up? The more you know about your
audience, the better prepared you'll be to give them a demo that hits all
the right notes.
Plan your demo around a specific goal. What do you
want to accomplish with this demo? What do you want your audience to
walk away knowing or feeling? Keep your goal in mind as you plan and
structure your demo.
Keep it short and sweet. No one wants to sit through a
hour-long demo, no matter how awesome your product is. The key is to
focus on the features that will interest your particular audience and hit
those highlights in an engaging way.
Keep it engaging. To engage your audience and deliver a great
demo, tell a story. Use real-world examples and scenarios to illustrate how
your product works and the benefits it can provide. Be passionate about
what you're presenting, and make sure that comes across in your delivery.
And finally, don't be afraid to throw in a little humor – it can go a long way
towards making your demo more memorable and enjoyable for everyone
involved.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. The better prepared you are, the
smoother your demo will go. Know your product inside and out so you can
answer any questions that come up. And practice, practice, practice. Run
through your demo several times before you actually deliver it.
Be flexible. No matter how well you prepare, there's always the
potential for something to go wrong during a live demo. Be prepared to
think on your feet and make adjustments as needed.
TIPS TO DELIVER A
GREAT PRODUCT DEMO
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12. Product Demos, Feature Comparison & Product Gap Analysis
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THINGS
TO AVOID
When you're giving a product demo, it's
important to make sure that you don't do
anything that will turn off your audience. Here
are a few things to avoid:
Don't try to sell the
product right away.
Your demo should be about showing off the
features and benefits of the product, not
selling it. If you try to sell too early, you'll lose
your audience's attention.
Don't get too technical.
Unless your audience is made up of experts,
they probably won't appreciate a lot of
technical jargon. Keep your explanation of the
product simple and easy to understand.
Don't make it boring.
A good demo should be interesting and
engaging. If it's boring, your audience will tune
out and won't remember anything about the
product.
Don't forget to rehearse.
A well-rehearsed demo will run smoother and
look more polished than one that's winging it.
Take some time to practice before you give
your demo so that you can be sure to hit all
the key points.
Don't rely on slides or other
visuals too much.
Yes, they can be helpful in illustrating points,
but if you rely on them too much, people will
just tune out. It's important to keep people
engaged by talking directly to them and using
examples that they can relate to.
Don't go off on tangents.
Stick to the main points of your demo and
don't get sidetracked. If you start talking about
unrelated topics, you'll lose your audience's
attention.
Don't neglect the Q&A
session at the end.
This is often where people have their most
burning questions about the product and its
features. Be prepared to answer questions
thoroughly and patiently.
To ensure their success, product demos
remain an invaluable tool for SaaS startups.
These product demonstrations serve to show
potential customers the infrastructural
capabilities of the service in a live setting, as
well as its potential functionality within existing
business models. Product demos can also act
as a demonstration of how a company’s
support infrastructure works prior to purchase.
In this way, SaaS startups can greatly benefit
from taking part in product demos when
showcasing their services.

13. Product Demos, Feature Comparison & Product Gap Analysis
Top
examples of
great product
demos
Salesforce has done an amazing job at
making sure prospects get to experience all
their amazing products without ever having to
speak to a sales rep. Their demo center is full
of comprehensive product demo videos that
go through every single one of their products
so prospects can understand exactly how they
work and the benefits they offer. It's a great
way for them to save time, understand what
they're looking for, and make sure they're
getting a quality solution that perfectly fits
their needs. With a single click, prospects are
quickly taken to a page full of product demo
videos that showcase not only what each
product does, but how it can be leveraged to
best fit individual customer needs.
Headspace is a mindfulness meditation
app that offers guidance and support for
managing stress, and anxiety, and improving
overall well-being. The app's developers
created an excellent demo video that not only
showcases the app's key features but also
highlights its potential benefits for users. What
makes this demo so great? The Headspace
demo video does an excellent job of
introducing the concept of mindfulness and
how the app can help users to incorporate it
into their lives. It also does a great job of
highlighting the key features of the app and
how easy it is to use.
The demo uses the same characters as the
Headspace mobile app and website in order to
create consistency and familiarity for users.
This is an important consideration, as it helps
users feel comfortable with the brand and
increases the likelihood that they will continue
using the app. In just under two minutes,
viewers are given a clear understanding of
what Headspace is, how it can help them, and
why it is worth trying out.
Apple's "shot on iPhone" campaign is a
great example of how to showcase a product's
features and benefits in a way that is both
creative and informative. The campaign
features a series of short videos that show off
the iPhone's camera capabilities in a variety of
settings. What makes these videos so effective
is that they don't just focus on the technical
aspects of the camera but also on the
emotional impact that it can have on users. In
just a few seconds, viewers are given a
glimpse into how the iPhone can help them
capture and share special moments with
friends and family.
SurveyMonkey has a unique
approach to their product demos. Instead of
simply walking through the features of the
product, they put you in the position of an
end-user. This allows you to experience the
product first-hand and see if it is something
that would be valuable for you. The survey also
covers almost all of the features of
SurveyMonkey, so you can get a complete
picture of what the product has to offer. This
approach is both informative and interactive,
making it a great way to learn about the
product.
Ikea uses augmented reality to allow
customers to see how furniture would look in
their homes before they buy it. The company's
app, Ikea Place, allows users to point their
phone at a spot in their room and see how a
piece of furniture would look in that space.
What makes this demo so great is that it
allows viewers to immediately see the
potential benefits of using the app. In just a few
seconds, viewers are given a clear
understanding of how Ikea Place can save
them time and money by helping them to
make sure that they love their new furniture
before they buy it.
Duolingo is a free online language
learning platform. They offer a unique
approach to language learning, which has
been incredibly effective for many people.
What makes their product demo so great is
that they back up their claims with data. In the
demo, they show how their platform helps
people to learn faster and retain more
information than other methods.
This is incredibly valuable for potential
customers, as it gives them reassurance that
the product actually works. It's also a great
way to build trust with your audience.
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14. Product demos are a great way to show off your product's features and
benefits to potential customers. But delivering a great demo requires more
than just having a great product. You also need the right tools
to help you deliver your message effectively.
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Product Demos, Feature Comparison & Product Gap Analysis
TOP TOOLS
TO DELIVER GREAT
PRODUCT DEMOS
A cloud-based presentation tool that allows you to
create dynamic, engaging presentations. With Prezi, you
can zoom in and out of your slides, add multimedia
content, and create custom paths for your audience to
follow. This makes it ideal for product demos, as you can
highlight specific features and illustrate how your
product works in a visually compelling way.
Powerpoint is a tried-and-true presentation tool that’s been
around for decades. While it may not be as flashy as Prezi,
it’s still a powerful tools for creating engaging presentations.
Powerpoint allows you to add multimedia elements, animate
your slides, and create custom transitions between slides.
This makes it a great option for product demos, as you can
add visuals, and sound to help bring your product to life.
Keynote is a presentation tool by Apple. With Keynote
you can create beautiful presentations with animated
charts, images and transitions. You can also add audio
and video content to really showcase your product in
action. Keynote is a great option for product demos
because it’s easy to use and comes with a variety of
built-in templates to help you get started.
Snagit is a screenshot tool that allows you to quickly
capture images or videos of your screen. This is helpful
for creating step-by-step tutorials or demonstrating how
to use specific features in your product. With Snagit you
can also annotate your images and videos with text and
arrows and other graphics.
Prezi
Powerpoint
Keynote
Snagit
Here are some of the TOP TOOLS you can use to deliver great product demos:

15. Product Gap Analysis
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A PRODUCT GAP analysis is the
process of identifying features that are missing
in the market, and defining their value
proposition to the customers. It helps you find
out what is lacking in your competitors'
products and how you can differentiate
yourself from them. The end result is a list of
features that will make your product better
than existing solutions and help you win over
more customers - especially when it comes to
building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
A product gap analysis helps you determine
whether there is a market for your product or
not. It also helps you understand who the
potential buyers of your product are, what they
want from the product, why they need it and
how much they are willing to pay for it.
There are two methods of
conducting a product gap
analysis:
The top-down approach starts with
identifying the needs of an ideal customer (the
buyer) and then looking at how these needs
can be met by products and services on offer
in the market place. This approach is useful
when trying to find gaps in existing markets
where there may be room for new products or
services that do not currently exist but which
could be developed if there was demand for
them.
The bottom-up approach starts with
identifying a particular problem that exists
within a specific sector of society (such as
healthcare), then finding out what solutions
people have found themselves to solve this
problem and whether these solutions could be
improved by using existing products or
services available in the marketplace. This
approach is useful when there is a particular
problem that needs to be solved and there
does not seem to be any solutions available
on offer within the sector itself.
PRODUCT GAP
ANALYSIS

16. Define the primary goals
of your analysis.
A product gap analysis is a useful and
important step in the development of a new
product. The process is aimed at determining
and defining the needs and wants of
consumers regarding the product's category.
This information can be used to create,
enhance, or re-evaluate existing products to
bring them closer in line with what consumers
are looking for.
Since a product gap analysis is used to
determine the current state of your product
and any potential areas for improvement, it's
important to have clear goals in mind before
you begin. Set S.M.A.R.T goals. S.M.A.R.T. goals
are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant
and time-sensitive.
A goal that is specific can be helpful in
meeting it because it is defined and clear. It
also guides people to make choices that move
them toward the goal. A goal that is
measurable gives you a way to track progress
toward the goal and helps you recognize when
you have reached your objective. A goal that is
achievable means it is possible to reach. If the
goal is too difficult, people may give up before
they get close to success. A goal that is
relevant has meaning for people or
organizations involved in achieving it, so they
will support its attainment and pay attention to
progress toward it. Finally, a time-sensitive
goal has a deadline so that there's urgency in
reaching it as soon as possible.
Based on the concept of S.M.A.R.T goals
determine the goals of a product gap analysis,
you must first understand why you're doing
one. Is it simply to identify gaps in your product
line? Is it to re-evaluate your current products
and decide which ones are worth carrying on
your shelves? Or is it to use the data from the
analysis to leverage a change in strategy, such
as changing the focus of your product line or
making a new move into another category?
Take time upfront to consider these questions
and have an idea of what you're hoping to
achieve from your product gap analysis before
you start collecting data.
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Tips on
conducting a
successful Product
Gap Analysis
Product Gap Analysis

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Assess your current
offering in the marketplace.
A successful product gap analysis requires you
to assess your current offering in the
marketplace. The only way to stay ahead of
the competition is by gathering data and
insights from the market place. An assessment
will help you do this. Here are some questions
you should ask yourself:
What are my competitors doing well?
How does my product compare with theirs?
What is my audience looking for in this
category?
How can I improve upon my existing product?
To answer these questions, you should focus
on a few key areas such as design,
performance, usage and value.
Design: How does my product look
compared to others in this category? What
kind of visual impact is it making on
customers? Does it have a unique design or
aesthetic?
Performance: How well does my product
perform compared with other offerings in its
category? Is it easy to use and understand or
does it require training for users to get started?
Usage: How often does my product get used
and how much value does it provide to
customers?
Value: How much value does my product
offer compared with other products in its
category? Is there any way I can improve upon
the features that are already in place or add
new ones? If I were to create a similar product,
how would it compare? How do my customers
rate the usefulness of my product?
Identify your competitors'
offerings.
If you're starting a new company, or are in the
process of reorienting an existing one, you're
probably going to need to do some research.
It's important to understand what your market
wants, and what they think they're getting from
your competitors. Unfortunately, if you don't
have your own product yet, doing this sort of
market research can be difficult. You'll need to
look at your competitors' offerings and see if
there are any gaps in their product lines or
services that your company can fill.
Develop a plan to close the
existing gaps.
Once you've identified the gaps, you need to
consider how best to leverage them. One
possibility is that you can come out with a new
product or service that directly fills that gap in
the market. However, it's just as likely—if not
more likely—that the gap itself doesn't exist
yet: if people aren't looking for what you think
they are, then it's not really possible for
someone to fill that gap. The best way to deal
with this might be to try and change what
people think they want: by coming out with a
new product or service that doesn't actually fill
a gap but instead introduces something new
into the market, you can cause people who
wouldn't have been interested before to
become interested now.
This is what happened with the iPhone:
Apple didn't invent the smartphone, but they
were able to introduce a product that
changed how people thought about
smartphones and what they could do; this
made it possible for them to fill the gap in the
market that no one else had seen before.
Product Gap Analysis

18. Integations- The Holy Grail!
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18
INTEGATIONS-
THE HOLY GRAIL!
INTEGRATIONS are the process of
linking different pieces of software together in
order to enable two or more apps to work to-
gether. This can be extremely beneficial for
product startups, as it allows them to easily
link data from one application and provide
users with a better user experience.
For example, if you have an e-commerce
store, you could integrate it with a payment
gateway, allowing customers to make pur-
chases directly from your store. This would be
much more convenient for customers than
having to visit another site or find the right
form of payment.
Integrating with the right partners can enable
you to reach a wider audience, increase pro-
ductivity and streamline processes. As such,
it’s important that you learn how to choose the
best integration partners for your product
startup. Integrations will bring you closer to
your customers, streamline business process-
es and help increase the value of your product.
Building successful integrations requires un-
derstanding customer needs and technical
capability so make sure to involve both sales
teams and engineers in the process.
It's important that you learn how to choose the
best integration partners for your product
startup. Here are some tips on how to evaluate
potential integration providers:
Tips to evaluate
potential
integration
providers
Research their API options. Look at
what sort of API options they have available
and make sure they support the data format
your product needs. This will ensure a smooth
transition when integrating with them.
Additionally, look into any restrictions or limits
associated with their API usage so you know
exactly what you’re getting into.
Examine their customer service.
If you ever need help with setup or
troubleshooting, the customer service team
should be able to assist. Make sure they have a
good track record of providing timely and
effective support.
Test out their product. Before
committing to any integration partner you
should make sure that their product works as
advertised. Take some time to test out different
aspects of the platform and see how it
measures up against your criteria for success.
Calculate total cost of ownership
(TCO). Integrating with a new system can
be expensive. Make sure you consider the
long-term costs associated with integrating
with a particular provider and compare them
to those from other providers before making a
final decision.
By following these tips you can make sure that
you choose the best integration partner for
your product startup. With the right integration
partner, you’ll be able to take advantage of a
wealth of new opportunities and get your
business up and running in no time!

19. Integations- The Holy Grail!
EXAMPLES OF
INTEGRATION
TOOLS:
Zapier: This tool enables users to connect
different applications and automate tasks.
With Zapier, you can easily link your product
startup up with other popular software
products like Salesforce, MailChimp, Asana
and more.
ZOHO Flow: This integration platform
makes it easy to connect your product startup
with over 500 popular applications. The simple
drag-and-drop interface allows you to create
automated workflows that can save you time
and effort.
IFTTT (If This Then That): This is a
powerful automation tool that lets users
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connect different services together in order to
create custom automated workflows. With
IFTTT, you can create triggers that will cause
certain actions to happen when specific
conditions are met.
Tray: Integration platform that enables users
to quickly and easily connect different
applications. It includes powerful pre-built
workflows and drag-and-drop tools for
building custom integrations.
Workato: Workato is an AI-powered
integration and automation platform that
helps users streamline processes across
multiple applications. It has powerful data
mapping capabilities and allows users to
create workflow automations in minutes.
These are just a few of the many integration
tools available for product startups. By taking
the time to evaluate potential providers, you
can ensure that you’re integrating with the
best partner for your business needs.

20. www.american-technology.net
20
Integrations - the Holy Grail!
 Online Payments (e.g. PayPal, Stripe,
Square)
 Shopping Cart & Ecommerce Solutions (e.g
Shopify, WooCommerce)
 Email Marketing Automation Platforms (e.g
MailChimp, Constant Contact)
 Customer Relationship Management
Software (CRM) (e.g Salesforce, Hubspot)
 Content Delivery Networks (CDN) (e.g
Cloudflare, Amazon Cloudfront)
 Analytics and Tracking Services (Google
Analytics, Hotjar)
 Advertising Platforms such as Facebook Ads
and Google Adwords
 Cloud Storage Providers such as Dropbox or
Google Drive
 Cloud Computing Platforms such as
Amazon Web Services
 Project Management Software (e.g Trello,
Asana)
 Live Chat Solutions (e.g Zendesk, Intercom)
 Security Providers (e.g Sucuri, Cloudflare)
 Data Visualization Tools (Tableau, Chartio)
 Video Conferencing and Streaming Services
(Zoom, Skype)
 Social Media Integration Platforms
(Hootsuite, Buffer)
 Scheduling and Appointment Booking
Software (Calendly, Acuity Scheduling).
A table of commonly
used SaaS integrations
that should ideally be
handled by third
parties includes:

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PRODUCT
ROADMAP
What is a
Product Roadmap?
A product roadmap is a high-level view of the
development timeline for your product. It
should include all of the major milestones that
need to be achieved and can be used to track
progress and ensure that everyone on your
team is aware of your product's goals.
Why create a
Product Roadmap?
There are several reasons why you might want
to create a product roadmap:
 To help you plan and track the development
of your product.
 To ensure that everyone on your team is
aware of your product's goals.
 To provide a clear overview of your product's
development timeline to stakeholders.
 To help you communicate your vision for the
product to Investors, Board Members, or other
decision-makers.
When should you create a
Product Roadmap?
Ideally, you should create a product roadmap
before you start development on your MVP. This
will give you a clear overview of the milestones
that need to be achieved, and will help you
track progress as you go.
If you're already working on your product, it's
not too late to create a roadmap. You can use
your existing roadmap as a starting point, and
add in any additional milestones that need to
be achieved.
How to create a
Product Roadmap
There are no hard and fast rules for creating a
product roadmap. However, there are some
general guidelines that you can follow:
 Start by creating a list of all the major
milestones that need to be achieved for your
product. These could be things like launching
your MVP, shipping your first product, or
reaching a certain number of users.
 When creating a product roadmap, it is
important to take advantage of existing
products and services that can provide the
same functionality without the need to build it
from scratch. Common examples include Login
providers (such as Auth0 or Okta), Payment
processors (such as Stripe or Chargebee), and
E-commerce catalog management platforms
(such as Shopify). By using existing products
and services, you can avoid spending valuable
time and resources on developing these
components yourself, and focus on building the
unique features that will make your product
stand out.
 Once you have a list of milestones, start
mapping out when you expect to achieve each
one. This doesn't need to be an exhaustive
timeline, but it should give you a general idea
of the order in which things need to happen.
 As you map out your milestones, think about
which ones are dependent on others. For
example, you might need to launch your MVP
before you can start working on your V1.
 Once you have a rough timeline in place,
start filling in the details. This could include
things like what features need to be included in
each release, or what needs to be done in order
to achieve each milestone.
 As your product roadmap evolves, make
sure to keep it up to date. This will help you
track progress and ensure that everyone on
your team is aware of your product's goals.
Product Roadmap
BUILD a High-Level Product Roadmap for
your MVP, V1, and V2, and plan out the next two
years.

22. www.american-technology.net
22
Tips for
creating a
Product
Roadmap
Keep it simple.
The purpose of a product roadmap is to
provide a high-level overview of your product's
development timeline. It doesn't need to be an
exhaustive list of every single task that needs
to be completed.
Be realistic.
When setting timelines for your milestones, it's
important to be realistic. There's nothing worse
than missing a deadline, so make sure you
give yourself some wiggle room.
Make it flexible.
Your product roadmap should be flexible
enough to accommodate changes. As your
product evolves, you might need to add or
remove milestones. That's perfectly normal, so
don't hesitate to make changes as needed.
Get input from your team.
Before you finalize your product roadmap,
make sure to get input from your team. They
might have insights that you didn't consider,
and their feedback can help you refine your
roadmap.
Communicate with
stakeholders.
If you have stakeholders who are invested in
your product's success, make sure to keep
them in the loop. Your roadmap is a great way
to communicate your vision for the product,
and to keep them updated on your progress.
Building a
Product
Roadmap for
Your SaaS
Product
Define product goals
and strategy.
Having a clear product strategy that is aligned
with the company’s vision and goals will help
ensure your roadmap is in line with the overall
objectives of your business. Establishing both
short-term and long-term goals will also
provide you with an idea of what features or
changes need to be included in order to reach
those targets.
Gather inputs from various
stakeholders.
Once you have defined your product strategy,
the next step is to gather inputs from various
departments and stakeholders. This could
include customer feedback, market trends,
competitor analysis, product insights and so
on. By gathering information from different
sources you can get a better understanding of
how to create a roadmap that meets the
needs of all parties.
Prioritize features and
functionality.
When creating a product roadmap you will
need to prioritize features and functionality.
This can be done by weighing up customer
needs, market trends and competitive analysis.
It is also important to focus on core features
while leaving the others for future releases.

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GITHUB’S
PRODUCT ROADMAP
GitHub is an open-source software
development platform that enables users to
collaborate on coding projects. It provides a
web-based hosting service for version control
using Git, as well as tools for project
management, bug tracking, and code review.
GitHub also includes powerful features such as
diffs, pull requests, and wikis. Additionally,
GitHub provides users with the ability to
collaborate within teams, share ideas, and work
together from anywhere in the world. It is a
powerful tool for software developers of all
levels and backgrounds. It's used by millions of
people around the world. With its open-source
nature and user-friendly platform, GitHub
makes it easy for anyone to create projects
and collaborate with others.
GitHub is also known for its product
roadmap, which provides clarity and
transparency around what features they are
working on and the timeline for their release.
This helps build trust with users who can see
exactly when new changes will be
implemented, as well as get an idea of what
kind of improvements are being made. GitHub's
product roadmap is a
great example for any company developing
products and services, and it provides valuable
insight into how to effectively communicate
product development with users.
To view a user story in detail and follow
progress, one can simply click on any of the
user stories.
GitHub'sproduct roadmap is an excellent
example of a well-structured, comprehensive
plan that focuses on customer needs and
keeps the team organized. The product
roadmap outlines the major milestones or
objectives to be achieved in order to create
successful products, while also providing a
timeline for when those milestones will be met.
It helps keep the project team focused on the
big picture, while also allowing for some
flexibility in order to take advantage of new
opportunities or technologies that may
become available.
GitHub's product roadmap is data-driven
and customer-focused. It includes information
such as key milestones, dependencies, release
dates and feedback from customers. This type
of planning allows teams to quickly identify
and prioritize tasks to accomplish their goals.
Additionally, the product roadmap is updated
regularly so that changes or challenges can be
addressed in a timely manner. Finally, GitHub’s
product roadmap is transparent and allows for
collaboration between teams and customers.
This helps ensure that everyone is on the same
page when it comes to achieving success.
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Product Roadmap
What is GitHub?

24. www.american-technology.net
24
Minimum Viable Product
A MINIMUM viable product (MVP) is a
product with just enough features to satisfy
early customers, and to provide feedback for
future development. The main benefit of an
MVP is that it allows entrepreneurs to test their
idea and get feedback from potential users
before spending too much time and money on
the final product.
Before launching a new product, it's important
to validate that people actually want it. Often
times entrepreneurs are so excited about their
idea they don't take the time to really find out if
other people actually like it or not.
An MVP helps you answer
these questions:
Is there really a market for this? Is there interest
in my idea? Have I identified the right customer
segment? How many customers might buy my
product/service? What price point is most ap-
pealing? How much should I charge for this?
It is simply to validate a hypothesis. In simple
terms, while you validate the problem and size
of it, there is no guarantee your product is ac-
tually solution to that problem.
The MVP also helps entrepreneurs learn more
about their customers and how they think. It
gives them a chance to interact with real
people who are interested in what they have to
offer. This can be invaluable in helping you
refine your product or service so that it is ex-
actly what customers want. The MVP is not a
final product. It is a prototype that helps you
learn what your customers need and want,
and helps you refine your idea so that it be-
comes something people will actually buy.
WHAT IS A
MINIMUM
VIABLE
PRODUCT?

25. Minimum Viable Product
25
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MINIMUM VIABLE
PRODUCT EXAMPLES
Facebook
The first version of
Facebook was so
simple that it would
be hard to
understand why it
became so popular in
such a short time.
Facebook's founder
Mark Zuckerberg
wanted people to
connect with each
other online using
their real identities,
rather than just
creating avatars on
social media sites like
MySpace or Xanga.
So he developed an
MVP which allowed
users to create
profiles and connect
with friends. The first
version of Facebook
was only available at
Harvard University,
but after gaining
popularity there,
Zuckerberg decided
to expand it
internationally.
Dropbox
The first MVP for
Dropbox was just a
video of how it would
work when people
opened up their
browser to access
files from their
computer. The video
showed how easy it
would be to drag and
drop files into the
Dropbox folder on
your computer
screen and from
there into your online
storage space. As
soon as you did this,
an icon would appear
in the corner of your
screen showing how
many files were being
stored in your
Dropbox account
(this number
changed depending
on how many times
people dragged files
into their dropbox
folder). This video
was enough to
convince people that
this was something
worth paying for and
since then has grown
into one of the largest
cloud storage
companies in the
world!
Amazon
Amazon started as an
online bookstore, but
has since grown into
a massive
eCommerce
platform. The
company didn't know
what products would
be the most popular
when it started out, so
it simply sold books
and built up its
customer base. As
the business grew
and more people
shopped on Amazon,
it became clear
which products were
selling well and which
weren't. Once
Amazon had learned
this information, it
was able to refine its
product offering so
that every item was a
best seller or one that
customers would be
willing to purchase if
they saw it on sale.
Amazon didn't have
to invest in building
warehouses or hiring
staff or marketing
costs until it knew
exactly what its
customers wanted to
buy from them.
The main benefit of an MVP is that it allows entrepreneurs to test their idea
and get feedback from potential users before spending too much.

26. www.american-technology.net
26
What is the
process of
developing
an MVP?
Understand the problem.
Define your target customer and their problem
in detail. What are their pain points? What do
they struggle with most? What solutions exist
(if any) — and what do customers think of
them? Are there competitors already serving
this market? Who are they? What is their
pricing strategy? How does the competition
compare against your vision for how your
product should work?
Map your users' journey.
Map out the customer's journey from start to
finish. What are the most important
touchpoints along this journey? How can you
use these touchpoints to gather feedback and
learn where your product should go next — or
whether it should exist at all? Test your
assumptions: Ask yourself how many
assumptions you're making about what
customers want, what they'll pay for and how
they'll use your product. Get into their heads by
asking them directly (user interviews) or
observing them in their natural habitat (user
testing).
Minimum Viable Product
Create a pain and gain map.
Identify your different user personas, and
create a pain and gain map for each one.
What problems are they trying to solve? How
can you help them do that better than anyone
else? What's in it for them if they choose your
product over a competitor's?
Decide what features to offer.
Start by listing all of the features you can think
of that might be useful to your customers.
Then, rank them in order of importance. Next,
take a step back and look at how they fit into
your users' pain points and goals. Can you
combine some features into one? Can any be
eliminated altogether?
Create a product roadmap.
Once you've brainstormed some ideas for
features, identify which ones are most
important. Then create a roadmap that shows
how they fit together into a cohesive whole.
This roadmap will help you prioritize features
and stay focused on your product vision. It's
also a great way to get buy-in from
stakeholders, who can use the roadmap to see
how their contributions fit into the big picture.
It's a good idea to plan out the next two years
of your product's life. You want to be able to
execute on that plan and make sure you are
always improving your product and listening
to your customers.
Plan out V1 (Version 1). Plan out what version
one will look like, including all the features you'll
need in order to grow quickly and get traction
with customers. Focus on getting these
features right before moving onto other
projects or releasing new versions of your
product.
Plan out V2 (Version 2). Plan out version two
by reviewing what worked well in version one
and what didn't work well at all. Then sketch
out how you can improve upon those
in-demand features and add new ones that
will help you grow even faster.

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Minimum Viable Product
Use languages for fast
prototyping: When creating a SaaS MVP,
you should use languages that are designed
for fast prototyping. For example, languages
like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS are ideal
because they allow developers to test out
features and get feedback from users quickly.
Additionally, these languages provide
scalability options as your product grows.
Employ open-source tools:
Open-source tools are essential when building
a SaaS MVP. These tools provide access to
pre-built components and allow developers to
reuse existing code instead of reinventing the
wheel. Plus, open-source software is often
more secure than proprietary solutions, as it
can be tested by thousands of users in the
community before going live.
Use plug-n-play solutions:
Plug-n-play solutions allow developers to
quickly add features to their SaaS MVP without
having to write any code. This is especially
useful for companies that don’t have a
dedicated development team, as it allows
them to bring new features and updates to
their customers faster.
Enable free databases: Free
databases are a great way to reduce costs
when building a SaaS MVP. Major cloud
providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS),
Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud provide free
database solutions which can be used to store
and analyze user data.
Conduct load testing: Load testing
your SaaS MVP is essential to ensure it can
handle high traffic and still perform optimally.
By running load tests, you can identify
potential issues before they arise and make
necessary changes to prevent them from
becoming problems in the future.
Building the Perfect MVP
for Your SaaS Product
An MVP is an essential tool in terms of launching a successful SaaS company. It should provide enough
features and functionality to satisfy early customers, while also allowing further development that can be
supported by customer feedback. It must also demonstrate the longer-term value of the product. A
well-thought out MVP provides an opportunity to create a strong base with which to grow a successful
business and build trust with customers before expanding into more complicated products or services.
Additionally, it allows for granular measurement of user reactions to individual aspects of the product, so
that developers have valuable insight for understanding what should be changed or updated as the
product evolves over time. Ultimately, a defined MVP fosters a much stronger user experience over time
and is integral for any SaaS organization looking to build upon its success.
1 2 3 4 5
USE
LANGUAGES
FOR FAST
PROTOTYPING
EMPLOY
OPEN-SOURCE
TOOLS
USE
PLUG-N-PLAY
SOLUTIONS
ENABLE
FREE
DATABASES
CONDUCT
LOAD
TESTING
Technical nuances to consider
while developing your SaaS MVP

28. BUILD vs BUY
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28
increases awareness of your product in the
market and increases engagement with
existing users as well as creating new ones
through conversion rates from email signups
into active users (if done properly).
Buying: You can outsource the entire
process of creating an automated marketing
campaign or hire an agency that already
knows how to create such campaigns; they'll
send the emails on your behalf and manage
the entire process. You can also hire a sales
team to manually send your emails, but this is
less effective than using an automated tool
like MailChimp, SendInblue, GetResponse,
MailerLite, etc. which allow you to create
campaigns with email drip sequences based
on customer behaviors and interests.
As much as possible, avoid building something
that already exists unless it's a foundational
component in your product. If you can't find
the tools or resources to do the job, then build
it yourself. But if there's a tool for it, don’t rein-
vent the wheel!
"BUILD vs BUY" is a framework for
evaluating whether to build or buy a product,
service, or solution. It's typically used by
startups that are exploring different ways to
solve a problem.
Many startups will have the choice of building
their own product or buying one from
someone else. Our company has used this
framework many times to evaluate our
options.
The first step is to frame the problem you're
trying to solve. For example, at our company
we make software that helps companies
manage their sales teams and keep track of
customer information. The problem we were
trying to solve was how do we get more
salespeople using our software?
Next, let's examine how each option solves that
problem:
Building: You can bring on new developers
who will build an automated marketing
campaign for your product that sends emails
directly to your customers and prospects; this
BUILDVS
BUY

29. BUILD vs BUY
29
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The decision of whether SaaS companies
should build or buy should be based on a
number of factors:
First, it is important for SaaS startups to
consider their specific needs, goals, and
capabilities in order to determine which route
is most appropriate. If a SaaS startup needs
highly tailored customization options or has
the resources to build custom software from
scratch, then building their own solution may
be the best option. However, if the startup
needs something simpler and more generic
such as an existing CRM system or a contact
management tool, then buying a pre-built
solution might be the most expedient option.
In addition to considering their specific needs,
SaaS startups should think about the
long-term implications of buying or building.
When it comes to scalability, for example,
building a custom solution could give SaaS
startups more control in terms of future
development and modification. This can be
beneficial when it comes to adding features
and making changes as the company grows.
When it comes to buying a pre-built solution,
however, scalability can be an issue since
most off-the-shelf solutions do not have the
same flexibility or customization options.
Ultimately, whether a SaaS startup should
build or buy should depend on their particular
needs and long-term goals. While both options
have pros and cons, the decision should
ultimatelly come down to what best suits the
company’s needs in order to achieve success.
The Build vs Buy
debate for SaaS startups

30. Product Demos, Feature Comparison & Product Gap Analysis
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30
Wireframes
WIRE
FRAMES
A WIREFRAME is basically a mockup
of what the final product will look like when it's
finished. It’s a rough sketch of how the different
screens will look like in order for users to
navigate through them easily. How does this
help us? It helps us because we get an idea of
how our product will work before actually
building it out into code or building anything at
all! This is a great way to save time and
money. If you were to start building out code
right away, then you would have to go back
and change things if you don't like the way it
looks or functions. This can be very time
consuming and expensive. Wireframing helps
you make sure that your product functions in
the way that you want it to before you have to
build it out into code.
Tips to create a
wireframes for
your SaaS
applications
Simplicity: SaaS products are often
complex and feature-rich, but you don’t need
to include every detail in the wireframe. Focus
on identifying the core user flows and tasks
without getting bogged down in minutia.
Navigation: Make sure your navigation is
intuitive, so users can easily find the
information and functions they need without
getting lost.
Functionality: Clearly articulate what
each element does, and how it works with
other elements or within a larger system.
Include relevant labels, buttons, and menu
items to remind users of the available
functionality.
Adaptability: SaaS products often require
the ability to switch from desktop to mobile
seamlessly— so make sure your wireframes
are designed with this in mind.
Testing: Before launching your SaaS
product, it’s important to test out the
wireframes and functionality on real users. This
will help you identify any usability issues and
ensure a successful launch.
By following these guidelines, you can create
wireframes that are both functional and
visually appealing. Remember to keep it
simple, provide clear navigation, focus on
functionality, be mindful of adaptability, and
test before launch— and your SaaS product
will be ready for success!

31. Wireframes
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Types of
product
wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes are the most
basic, and they're usually used during the
brainstorming phase of a project. They're very
rough and help you quickly get your ideas
down on paper.
Medium-fidelity wireframes are a
bit more refined, and they're used during the
early stages of design. They help you start to
visualize how the final product might look.
High-fidelity wireframes are the
most detailed, and they're used near the end of
the design process. They look a lot like the
finished product, which makes them a great
tool for testing out different layouts and
designs.
So when should you use each type of
wireframe? Here's a quick guide:
Low-fidelity wireframes:
brainstorming, early stage design
Medium-fidelity wireframes:
early stage design, testing layouts and designs
High-fidelity wireframes:
late stage design, testing layouts and designs
Tools to build
product
wireframes
When it comes to wireframing, there are a ton
of different tools and techniques at your
disposal. Let's take a look at some of the most
common ones:
Paper wireframes: This is the most
basic type of wireframe, and it's exactly what it
sounds like—drawing out your ideas on paper.
This is a great option for brainstorming,
because you can quickly and easily change
your mind about something without having to
worry about messing up your computer files.
Wireframing software: If you want to
create more sophisticated wireframes, you'll
need some software specifically designed for
that purpose. This can range from simple tools
like Balsamiq, which lets you create low-fi
wireframes very quickly, to more complex
programs like Omnigraffle or Sketch, which
give you more flexibility and control over the
final product.
Prototyping tools: A prototype is more
than just a wireframe; it's a working model of
your product that allows you to test out
different features and see how they interact
with each other. Prototyping tools like InVision,
Adobe XD, UXPin let you create interactive
prototypes that look and feel like the real thing,
so you can get a better idea of how your
product will work before you even start coding.
HTML/CSS: If you're comfortable coding,
you can also create wireframes using HTML
and CSS. This gives you a lot of control over the
final look and feel of your wireframes, but it's
also more time-consuming than other
methods.
The important thing to remember is that
there is no one "right" way to wireframe a
product. It all depends on your individual
needs and preferences. So experiment with
different methods and find the one that
works best for you.

32. Users can use the basic
features of your product for
free, without any time limit.
However, those users who
want higher-level features
such as increased storage
space or higher processing
power have to pay for
premium packages.
This model is perfect for
companies that want to
increase their user base with
minimal overhead costs.
Dropbox's Freemium
pricing strategy
revolutionized the cloud
storage market, giving
customers a risk-free way to
experience their product.
By incentivizing users
through extended storage
capacity for referrals and
shares, this creative
approach played an integral
part in Dropbox's success -
as evidenced by its huge 97%
share of paying zero fees in
2011!
CEO Drew Houston proudly
declared that not only was
the business already
profitable but would remain
so on into the future.
This model is also known as
one-time pricing. It's when
you charge a fixed price for
access to your product.
This is ideal for companies
that offer products that don't
need to be updated or
maintained, such as digital
downloads. By charging a
one-time fee, you're giving
users access to the product
without needing to worry
about recurring payments.
Basecamp has
revolutionized the project
management industry with
its novel flat pricing model.
Instead of burdening
businesses with complex and
time-intensive calculations
that could quickly become
costly, the fixed fee of $99 per
month allows companies to
have unlimited access for an
unlimited number of users.
The flat rate makes
budgeting much easier, and
the straightforward nature of
it ensures that everyone on
the team is on the same
page when it comes to
money matters. This model
provides transparency in
pricing which helps potential
customers understand
exactly what they are getting
before they commit.
When you charge based on
how much of your product
customers use.
This is perfect for
companies that offer services
such as cloud storage, web
hosting, or streaming
services. By charging based
on usage, you're giving
customers the flexibility to
pay only for what they
need, while still making a
profit.
TextMagic offers
customers a unique and
attractive usage-based
pricing model that offers
convenience, flexibility, and
scalability.
Sign up and use all their
features free of charge, then
simply pay based on how
many outbound text
messages you send. Best
part? Inbound texts are
completely free so at the end
of each billing period,
customers only have to worry
about what they actually
used. No hidden fees or
surprises here!
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32
Top Business Models
TOP BUSINESS MODELS
YOU CAN ADOPT FOR YOUR
SaaS COMPANY
Freemium Flat Pricing Usage-Based Pricing

33. Enables providers to price
their services based on the
number of users.
Ideal for companies that
offer products or services
that need to be used by
multiple users or devices,
such as team collaboration
tools, enterprise software,
and security solutions. By
charging per user or device,
you're able to scale your
pricing as the number of
users or devices increases.
Zendesk uses an Active
User-Based pricing model
that charges per active user
on a monthly or annual basis.
The company gives
customers the freedom to
pick between different plans
and features that fit their
needs.
For those looking for just
the basics, there's the
Essential plan - billing $5 per
agent each month with
access to customer
messaging through emails
an social media plus saved
conversation histories,
personalized client cards and
embedded widgets.
Meanwhile the Team plan,
at a monthly rate of
$19/agent, introduces
dashboards into the mix as
well as added app
integration capabilities for
every active user.
When you offer multiple levels
of access to your product.
Ideal for companies that
offer products or services that
require customers to upgrade
as their needs evolve, such as
software-as-a-service
(SaaS) products. By offering
different tiers of access,
you're giving customers the
flexibility to upgrade as their
needs change while still
controlling how much they
pay.
Zapier is an ingenious
online tool that revolutionizes
the way people complete
everyday tasks. This platform
gives customers flexibility and
convenience by offering
different tiers (Starters,
Professionals, Teams,
Companies), as well as
feature-based pricing plans
and usage-based options in
addition to a free version for
those wanting to try it out!
Zapier's tiered pricing
strategy enables them to
offer flexible options that
appeal to their customers'
diverse needs. They are able
to tap into an immense
variety of potential
customers, from individuals
up to whole enterprises.
When you combine multiple
pricing models to create a
unique and flexible solution.
Ideal for companies that
offer products or services
that require customers to use
multiple pricing models, such
as subscription-based
products with usage-based
pricing. By combining
different models, you're able
to create a pricing scheme
that's tailored to your
customers' needs while still
making a profit.
Slack is a great example of
how hybrid pricing can be an
effective and advantageous
model. Through offering both
practical per-user pricing
structures, as well as profits
from tiered features and
services, companies are able
to customize their solutions to
meet the clinical demands of
their organization without
breaking the bank.
The ability to easily
customize options based on
individual needs allows
organizations of all sizes and
budgets enjoy the full benefit
of Slack's services.
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User-Based Pricing Tiered Pricing Hybrid Pricing
Top Business Models

34. Examples of SaaS companies that
have successfully used buyer
personas in their marketing
strategy include:
“The Tech Enthusiast”
Dropbox identified a need in the market for a
tool that would make tech-savvy users’ lives
easier. They created a very specific buyer
persona called “The Tech Enthusiast”, which is
someone who values functionality and
convenience above all else. This target
audience was then used to inform the
development of their product and marketing
strategy.
“The Working Professional”
Slack focused its attention on the modern
working professional who needs to quickly
communicate with colleagues, schedule
meetings and collaborate with ease. The
company created an ideal customer avatar
they named “the Working Professional”, which
allowed them to laser-focus their marketing
efforts and create content that resonated with
the target user.
TIMELESS SaaS
MARKETING
STRATEGIES THAT
GUARANTEE
MASSIVE ROI
Saas Marketing Strategies
www.american-technology.net
34
What is SaaS
Marketing?
SaaS marketing refers to the strategies and
tactics that are employed by software services
and solution providers to increase awareness
of their products, promote customer
acquisition and retention, and drive revenue.
Strategy #1
Conduct thorough
customer research
and re-examine your
buyer personas.
This will help you gain a deeper understanding
of your target audience, including their pain
points, goals, and decision-making processes.
By doing so, you will be able to create more
effective marketing campaigns, content, and
products that speak directly to the needs of
your target market.

35. Saas Marketing Strategies
35
www.american-technology.net
Strategy #2
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a key component of any
effective SaaS marketing strategy. It involves
creating valuable, informative, and engaging
content that is designed to attract, educate,
and convert your target audience into
customers. Here are a few tips for creating a
successful content marketing strategy for your
SaaS company:
1. Define your target audience.
Start by defining your target audience and creating detailed buyer
personas. This will help you create content that is tailored to the specific
needs and pain points of your target market.
2. Develop a content calendar.
Create a content calendar that outlines the topics, formats, and
distribution channels for your content. This will help you stay organized and
ensure that your content is consistent and relevant.
3. Create a variety of content formats.
Create a variety of content formats, such as blog posts, white papers,
e-books, webinars, and videos. This will help you reach different segments
of your target audience and address their specific needs and preferences.
4. Optimize your content for SEO.
Optimize your content for search engines by including relevant keywords,
meta tags, and alt tags. This will help your content rank higher in search
results and increase visibility to your target audience.
5. Use social media and email marketing.
Use social media and email marketing to distribute your content and
reach a wider audience. This will help you increase engagement and drive
traffic to your website.
6. Repurpose and recycle your content.
Create a process to repurpose and recycle your content, this will help you
get more mileage out of your content and make sure that it is reaching the
right audience at the right time.
7. Track and measure your results.
Track and measure the results of your content marketing efforts by using
analytics and metrics such as website traffic, lead generation, and
conversion rates .

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36
TOP
TOOLS
THAT
CAN HELP
YOU NAIL
YOUR
CONTENT
MARKETING
STRATEGY
There are many
tools available that
can help your SaaS
company create
and execute a
successful content
marketing strategy.
Here are a few of
the top tools
Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is a tool
that allows you to
research and analyze
the performance of
content across
various social media
platforms, giving you
insight into what
types of content are
resonating with your
target audience.
Canva
Canva is a graphic
design tool that
allows you to
create visually
appealing images,
infographics, and
other graphics to
enhance your
content.
Google
Analytics
Google Analytics is a
tool that allows you to
track and analyze
website traffic, visitor
behavior, and
conversion rates to
measure the
performance of your
content marketing
efforts.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social
media
management tool
that allows you to
schedule and
publish content
across various
social media
platforms, track
engagement, and
analyze social
media performance.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a
comprehensive
inbound marketing
and sales platform
that includes tools
for content
creation, SEO,
social media,
email marketing,
and analytics.
CoSchedule
Headline
Analyzer
CoSchedule
Headline Analyzer
is a tool that helps
you optimize your
headlines for SEO
and social media
to increase
visibility and
engagement.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an
email marketing
tool that allows
you to create and
send newsletters,
automated
campaigns, and
targeted email
campaigns to your
subscribers.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a tool
that allows you to
research and
analyze keywords,
competitors, and
backlinks to
optimize your
content for SEO
and increase
visibility in search
results.
Saas Marketing Strategies

37. 37
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Salesforce
Salesforce has created a vibrant content
strategy that includes webinars, whitepapers,
and case studies to showcase their software
solutions and industry expertise. They also use
thought leadership articles and videos to show
off their knowledge in the industry as well as
engage customers with entertaining content.
Dropbox
Dropbox has an array of content ranging from
tutorials to help customers learn how to use
their services to detailed blog posts and
infographics. They also focus on building
relationships with their customers by providing
helpful resources such as cheat sheets and
ebooks.
Slack
Slack has a dedicated team of writers who
create engaging content that is educational,
entertaining, and inspirational. They use their
blog to share company news, customer
stories, and product updates. Additionally, they
have an active social media presence that
allows them to reach out to customers and
prospects in a conversational manner.
Examples of top SaaS
companies that have nailed
their content strategy
Saas Marketing Strategies

38. Product trial best practices
to gain new customers
for your startup
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38
Strategy #3
Product Trials
Product trials enable businesses to showcase
their product and services, build trust with
potential customers, and convert them into
paying customers. Product trials are also a
great way for companies to gather valuable
feedback from customers by allowing them to
try out the product before committing to a
purchase. This helps ensure that the final
product meets customer expectations and is
worth their investment.
Set Clear Goals.
Before launching a product trial, it is important
to set clear goals that you’d like to achieve
from the program. This will help determine
what features and functions should be
included in the trial, as well as guide other
decisions such as the length of the trial period
and the pricing structure.
Offer Good Value.
Your product trial should offer good value to
potential customers. This includes offering
features that are pertinent and valuable to the
customer’s specific needs, as well as pricing
plans that are competitive in the market.
Make Sign-up Simple.
The sign-up process for a SaaS product trial
should be as simple as possible. All the
necessary information should be clearly
outlined on the sign-up page, and customers
should not be required to fill out a lengthy or
complicated form.
Collect Customer Feedback.
It is important to collect customer feedback
during the product trial period in order to
improve the user experience and ensure that
customers are satisfied with the product.
Measure Your Results.
Once the product trial is over, measure your
results. Analyze how many people signed up
and whether they converted to paying
customers. This will give you valuable insights
into what worked and what didn’t work in
order to further optimize your SaaS offering.
Saas Marketing Strategies

39. Strategy #4
Search Engine
Optimization
When it comes to online marketing for startups,
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a key tool
that can help you reach your target customers
and achieve success. SEO is the process of
increasing visibility on search engines like
Google, Bing and Yahoo by optimizing
webpages so they rank higher in organic
(unpaid) search results.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to activities that take place
off-site, such as link building and social media
marketing. Link building is the process of
acquiring links from other websites to your own.
This not only helps build authority, but also
improves search engine visibility. Social media
marketing involves creating content that
engages users and encourages them to share it
across multiple platforms. This helps drive more
traffic to your website, which can lead to higher
rankings in search engine results.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing
individual web pages in order to rank higher
and earn more relevant traffic in search
engines. This includes optimizing title tags, meta
descriptions, headings, internal linking structure
and more. By making sure your site is properly
optimized for search engines, you can ensure
that it ranks higher in organic search results
and has better visibility.
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Saas Marketing Strategies

40. www.american-technology.net
40
Here are some tips:
Research Keywords.
Knowing what terms potential customers may
be using when searching for relevant products
or services can help you optimize your website
and content accordingly. Researching
commonly used keywords in the industry will
give you an idea of what phrases to target in
order to reach your desired audience.
Optimize Content.
Once you know which keywords will be most
effective, use them strategically in titles and
throughout the content on your website. Be
sure to include the keywords in meta tags,
headings and URLs as well.
Build Quality Inbound Links.
Search engines value websites that are linked
to from trustworthy sources. Creating content
that is interesting, relevant and high-quality
will help you attract links from other websites.
Optimize for Mobile.
More and more people are using their phones
to search the web. It’s important to make sure
your website is optimized for mobile users, as
this will have a positive impact on your SEO.
Saas Marketing Strategies

41. 41
www.american-technology.net
Strategy #5
Referral Marketing
The traditional marketing methods for SaaS
startups can be expensive, time-consuming
and hard to track. That's why referral marketing
is a great option for software companies
looking to grow their customer base quickly
and cost effectively. With referral marketing,
you can leverage the power of your existing
customers to help spread the word about your
product or service.
Referral marketing leverages the relationships
between you and your existing customers to
encourage them to refer their friends,
colleagues, family members or other contacts
to your product. This type of word-of-mouth
marketing works because it relies on trusted
sources. When someone is referred from a
friend or colleague, they are more likely to
consider using the product or service.
When creating a referral program, it is
important to make sure:
 Your rewards are attractive and enticing to
your customers.
 You set realistic goals for the number of
referrals you want to generate.
 You track & measure the success of your
referral program so that you can adjust it as
necessary.
You also want to make sure that your referral
program is visible and easy-to-use for your
customers. Make sure you have clear
instructions and an online process to make it as
easy as possible for them to refer their
contacts.
Dropbox
Dropbox offers a referral program that gives
both the referrer and referee 500 MB of storage
for every successful referral. The referrer also
receives an additional 1 GB of storage for each
referral up to a maximum of 16 GB.
Salesforce
Salesforce has an incredibly generous reward
system, awarding $1000 for each referral that
leads to a successful Salesforce deal. They
also have an ambassador program that
rewards champions who refer multiple deals
with additional benefits, such as early access
to products and discounts on services.
MailChimp
MailChimp’s referral program offers $30 for
each person referred in addition to the ability
to increase your own storage capacity. They
also have a dedicated team that helps users
understand the referral program and provides
resources to make it easier to spread the word.
Slack
Slack offers both a free plan and a paid plan,
but their referral program rewards both
referrers and referees with extra discounts
when they upgrade from the free plan to the
paid plan. As an added bonus, referrers can
also earn additional discounts for each referral
they make beyond the initial one.
Top
SaaS
referral
program
examples
Saas Marketing Strategies

42. Strategy #6
Google Adwords
Google Adwords can be a great tool for
startups to get the word out about their
products. With its easy-to-use interface and
targeting options, it’s no wonder that many
startups are finding success through Google
Adwords.
One of the most important parts of setting up
a successful Google Adwords campaign is
researching keywords. This can be a
time-consuming process, but it’s worth it to
make sure your ad is targeting the right
audience.
Once you’ve chosen the right keywords, you’ll
need to create effective ad copy. This is where
you’ll really sell your product and convince
potential customers to click through to your
website. Your copy should be compelling and
descriptive, while also staying within the
character limits allowed by Google Adwords.
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42
Once your ad is running, you’ll need to keep
track of its performance in order to make any
necessary adjustments. The analytics provided
by Google Adwords can help you determine
which keywords are working best and which
ones need to be tweaked.
By using Google Adwords, startups can get
their products in front of the right people and
start seeing results quickly. With its
easy-to-use interface and powerful targeting
capabilities, it’s no wonder that many startups
are finding success with this tool. If you’re
looking for a cost-effective way to promote
your product startup, Google Adwords is
definitely worth exploring.
Saas Marketing Strategies

43. Strategy #5
43
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Establishing metrics for success is
essential to launching a successful product
startup. How do you track user acquisition,
customer churn, or the usage of features?
Without setting expectations and metrics to
measure those results, it’s impossible to
determine whether the product has been
successful. That is why startups need to
identify all the key performance indicators
(KPIs) from the start and build a system that
provides real-time tracking of their progress.
Furthermore, along with KPIs, incorporating
analytics such as A/B testing can help to
understand users’ interactions with products
and how they can be improved upon in the
future. Establishing proper metrics allows
startups to stay ahead of the competition
while delivering a successful product.
Net Promoter Score
The most important metric to consider is
customer satisfaction or net promoter score
(NPS). Customer satisfaction is a great
indicator of how well your product or service
offering is resonating with the customers.
Tracking this metric over time can help you
identify areas for improvement in your
product, providing valuable insights into what
needs to be addressed in order to increase
customer loyalty and ensure long-term
success.
Customer Churn
Another important metric for SaaS businesses
is customer churn. Customer churn measures
Establish metrics
for success
the percentage of customers who discontinue
using your product or service within a given
period of time. Tracking this metric helps you
determine how successful your customer
retention efforts are and can provide insight
into potential areas of improvement to prevent
users from leaving your platform.
Revenue Growth
Furthermore, it’s important to track revenue
growth over time. Not only does this help you
understand your financial health, but it can
also provide insight into the overall traction of
your business. Tracking this metric over time
will give you a good indication of how
successful your marketing efforts have been
and what strategies need to be adjusted in
order to increase sales.
User Engagement
Finally, another valuable metric for SaaS
startups is user engagement. This metric
measures how often users interact with your
platform, and can provide insight into what
features of your product customers are using
the most. Tracking this metric over time can
help you prioritize feature development and
identify areas for improvement in order to
increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
By establishing metrics for success, you will be
able to measure the progress of your SaaS
startup, identify areas for improvement and
ensure long-term success.
Metrics for Success

44. Thank youfor taking the time to read our product startup rulebook. We
hope that the information contained here will serve as a useful reference for anyone
starting or running a product-based business. Our experts can help you make
informed decisions about your venture, provide direction and advice, and ensure
that your product startup is successful. With their help, you can confidently launch
and manage a successful product-based business.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you succeed. With the right
guidance, you will be well on your way to launching a successful product-based
business.
Best of luck!
FOUNDERS’
RULE
BOOK
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