Go Build The Thing

I’m not going to name names, but there is some pretty bad software out there. The thing is, this software is making its founder millions of dollars. I don’t know if this is because the market for SaaS products is a bubble. Perhaps there is a correction coming. Maybe user expectations are super low. Whatever the reason, there really is no good reason right now for you not to go build the thing.

The thing is, the cost of building the thing is so low that it’s practically a riskless endeavor as long as you stick to some basic rules.

1. If you can’t prototype it in two weeks, it’s not worth your time.

2. Expose it to potential users as fast as possible.

3. Be willing to throw out all your assumptions in the face of reality.

4. Be ready to pivot on a dime in response to the market.

5. Be your #1 customer. If it’s a commercial failure, you still have a thing that you can use.

6. Set shutdown conditions. When you break the hard deck, call knock it off and shut it down.

One of the first things I learned as a member of the Indie Hacker Community is it doesn’t matter if someone else has already done it. All you need to do is capture a small percentage of the 1 trillion dollars of business that flies around the Internet every day.

When I decided to build Simple Support, I didn’t do any market research. As a matter of fact, I didn’t do any of the things you’re supposed to do when starting a business. I have so many ideas that I view Simple Support as a training ground — an opportunity to learn and make mistakes in a relatively risk-free environment.

Is Simple Support going to be a smashing success? Maybe. I’m not really concerned about it. I’m going to support what customers I have to the absolute best of my ability. At a minimum, I’ve built an internal tool that solves a problem that I have. There really is no scenario where I will consider this project a failure.