How developers buy software tends to eventually become how everyone else buys software. Just look at the current buzzwords of SaaS: product-led growth, consumption-based pricing, the (re)birth of freemium products, the push towards building user communities. Gone are the days of the traditional SaaS funnel of prospect, MQL, SQL, opportunity, and all that jazz. It has been replaced by a journey that reflects how people actually want to adopt software.
When a product’s onboarding is neglected, it’s like throwing a massive party with balloons, fireworks, and a bouncy castle in your backyard, yet no one can get past the front door. It’s a waste of time and resources for everyone involved. The irony in all of this is that the user onboarding is usually the only aspect of a product that every single user will experience, including those who decide it isn’t right for them.
Usage-based pricing is having a moment. It coincides with achieving faster revenue growth at scale, building a truly customer-centric culture, and enabling a land-and-expand business model. Still, ditching subscription-based pricing is easier said than done. Usage-based pricing isn’t one-size-fits-all, either. With all this potential risk and complexity, is the juice really worth the squeeze?
When the first day of trading ended, Snowflake had sold 28 million shares and raised nearly $3.4B. While it may seem like luck or good timing, like all overnight successes, Snowflake’s growth was a long time in the making. 1.4M annual organic visits; 177K monthly visitors; 140K live backlinks. The secret to create a dominant online presence in the data cloud niche: Positioning.
Buy-in is the lifeblood of Product Management. I learned this the hard way. As a new PM, I walked into my first roadmap planning meeting confident and excited. I was about to recommend that we build a new search feature, and I knew it was a slam-dunk idea. After, I left the meeting defeated and stressed. This is a common problem, and one you can learn how to fix: Buy-in is the result of showing your team why your idea achieves their goals.
Simply put: the content landscape is competitive. Hiring an expert content marketer can help you stand out. The vast majority of new content rehashes the content that already exists. It’s cheaper and faster to put up lackluster blog posts than to invest in a smart, original content marketing strategy. But without a strategy designed to cut through the noise and push prospects down the funnel — and a strategy for measuring the outcomes you want — you won’t see much payoff from all your effort.
Anytime you see a founder (or a product) who’s really killing it remember: there are tons of layers (under the surface) that contributed to their success. Here are the factors that lead to a SaaS gaining traction in a given market. The product you build should be a response to genuine demand. It’s even better when you notice demand is growing, or is currently unmet. As a founder, you’ll need some “unfair advantages” in your market. Most success is about stacking your skills, network, passion together.