Bootstrapping a SaaS startup… one user at a time.

One of our marketing emails to 6 Things ebook readers has a subject line that reads, "How do you eat an elephant?" Open the email and you'll find that the header reads, "One bite at a time." The email’s about how to tackle big projects.

Here's the thing: A self-sustaining ($-wise) SaaS product is a biiiiiiig project.

There is no 32-point play here. (Remember that Buffalo Bills vs. Houston Oilers game in ‘93? No? The Bills sweated and toiled and clawed their way back from a 32-point deficit to win in overtime.) There is no one or even two, three, or five big sweeping action(s) marketers can take that will suddenly bring an influx of hordes of faithful users. Forget going viral. That is not how this works.

I am certain about Daycast's viability in the marketplace. There is no doubt in my mind that it can succeed. But here's how it will succeed: ONE. USER. AT. A. TIME.

Not 1k at a time or 500 hundred at a time or even 50 at a time. One. And that, friends, is why I spent the better part of the morning creating and editing a video demo of using (a few) keyboard shortcuts with Daycast for a single trial user who mentioned them. No other user has asked for them. But this guy downloaded our product, tried it, and then went to the trouble to tell us how it’d work better for him. How is that not a giant gift? It doesn’t matter that he’s ‘just one user.’ It doesn’t matter that Daycast doesn’t support all the shortcuts he wants it to right now or that the existing shortcut-state-of-affairs is… less than ideal. It doesn’t matter that neither Daycast nor my demo video embody the sleek, effortless cool that we marketers tend to think is vital to success. It isn’t. Here’s what is: Taking the next bite. Again and again and again.