I've been building SaaS products for 5 years. Made every mistake possible. Lost money, users, and sleep.
If you're building a SaaS in 2025, here's the advice I wish someone had beaten into my head earlier.
No fluff. No theory. Just what actually works.
1. Just add Google login already
I lost 60% of signups because I was too stubborn to add Google OAuth.
"But I want to own the relationship!"
"But what about data privacy!"
"But it's more work!"
Here's the reality: Most users see a registration form and bounce. They've got password fatigue. They don't trust you yet. They just want to see if your product works.
Google login removes all friction. One click and they're in.
You can ask for more information later — after they see value. But if they never sign up, you get nothing.
Stop overthinking it. Add Google login. Watch your conversion rate double overnight.
2. Free trials are killing your startup
Everyone defaults to 14-day free trials because "that's what SaaS does."
It's wrong.
Free trials attract tire kickers. People who sign up for everything. People who were never going to pay. You'll spend weeks supporting users who disappear the moment the trial ends.
Instead: Charge from day one. Even $1.
Paid users are serious users. They've got skin in the game. They'll actually use your product, give real feedback, and stick around.
"But won't that hurt conversions?"
Yes. Good. You want fewer, better users. 100 paying customers beats 10,000 free trial ghosts every time.
3. Your users want to be heard (so let them)
Set up a public feedback board on day one. Not day 100. Day one.
Users expect transparency now. They want to see you're listening. They want to know their ideas matter.
A simple feedback board does three things:
- Shows users you care about their input
- Helps you prioritize what to build next
- Creates social proof when others see you shipping
I use UserJot because I built it for exactly this. But use anything, Canny, Nolt, even a public Trello board. The tool doesn't matter. The transparency does.
The best feature ideas come from users anyway. Why guess when they'll tell you exactly what they'll pay for?
4. Your product is done. Your marketing just started.
Most founders think the split is:
- 80% building
- 20% marketing
Reality check:
- 20% building
- 80% marketing
Your product launch isn't the finish line. It's the starting gun.
Every day post-launch should include:
- Writing content
- Reaching out to potential users
- Posting in communities
- Improving SEO
- Building relationships
Code doesn't sell itself. Beautiful products die in obscurity every day. Average products with great marketing print money.
Stop hiding in your IDE. Your users aren't there.
5. Market everywhere (especially where it feels weird)
"I don't want to be that person who's always promoting their product."
Get over it.
You know who thinks about your product as much as you do? Nobody. You mentioning it once a week isn't spam — it's a reminder you exist.
Post about it on:
- LinkedIn (even if you're not a "LinkedIn person")
- Reddit (in comments, not just posts)
- Twitter/X (repeatedly, with different angles)
- Facebook groups (yes, they still work)
- Discord communities
- Slack communities
- Your personal Instagram
The worst that happens? Someone unfollows you. So what?
The best that happens? Your ideal customer finally discovers you exist.
Market shamelessly. The internet is noisy. Be noisier.
6. Unsubscribes are gifts in disguise
Someone unsubscribed from your emails? Good.
They just told you they're not your customer. They saved you from wasting time marketing to someone who was never going to buy.
Even better: Ask them why they left.
"Hey, noticed you unsubscribed. No worries at all — just wondering if there was something specific that wasn't working for you? Always trying to improve."
Half won't respond. But the ones who do will give you gold:
- "Too many emails" → Adjust frequency
- "Not relevant" → Segment better
- "Found an alternative" → Learn what you're missing
Stop fearing unsubscribes. Start learning from them.
7. Dogfood daily or die slowly
"Eating your own dogfood" sounds obvious. It's not.
I once went 3 months without properly using my own product. When I finally did, I found:
- Onboarding was broken on mobile
- Search returned irrelevant results
- The main feature was 4 clicks deep
Your team uses admin panels. Your users don't.
Your team knows workarounds. Your users don't.
Your team forgives bugs. Your users don't.
Use your product like a real user:
- Sign up fresh once a month
- Do common tasks weekly
- Try to break things daily
If you're not embarrassed by what you find, you're not looking hard enough.
8. Your existing users are your goldmine
Everyone's obsessed with growth. New users. Hockey sticks. Going viral.
Meanwhile, they're ignoring the goldmine in their database.
Reality: 70-80% of SaaS revenue comes from existing customers through:
- Renewals
- Upgrades
- Expansions
- Referrals
A 5% improvement in retention can 2x your business. A 5% improvement in acquisition might get you 10% growth.
Stop chasing new users while your current ones are churning. Fix your leaky bucket first.
Call your users. Send them tips. Check in on their success. Make them win with your product.
New users are expensive. Happy users are profitable.
9. Your MVP is too big (cut it in half, then half again)
You think you're building an MVP. You're not. You're building version 3.
Real MVPs are embarrassing. They do one thing. They're ugly. They're limited.
And that's perfect.
Use MoSCoW ruthlessly:
- Must have: Without this, the product doesn't work
- Should have: Nice, but users can live without it
- Could have: Maybe someday
- Won't have: Stop lying to yourself
If you're debating whether something is a "must have," it's not.
My last MVP had one feature. One. Users complained about everything missing. Then they paid for it anyway because that one feature solved their biggest problem.
Ship embarrassingly early. You'll learn what actually matters.
10. Stop playing small ball
"I just want to get to $10k MRR."
Why?
If you're going to grind for 2 years, build support, handle complaints, and lose sleep — why aim for lifestyle business money?
The effort to build a $10k/month business is 90% of the effort to build a $100k/month business.
The difference:
- Slightly better positioning
- Moderately higher prices
- Marginally bigger market
Think bigger:
- Instead of "project management for freelancers" → "project management for agencies"
- Instead of $29/month → $299/month
- Instead of small businesses → mid-market
You're already doing the work. Might as well get paid properly for it.
11. Know when to quit (most don't)
That project you've been "pivoting" for 2 years? Kill it.
Signs it's time to move on:
- 6 months in, still no paying customers
- You dread working on it
- Every customer needs massive customization
- The unit economics will never work
- You're subsidizing it with consulting
Sunk cost fallacy kills more startups than competition.
Here's the test: If you started fresh today, knowing what you know, would you build this? If the answer's no, stop building it now.
Quitting isn't failure. Building something nobody wants for years — that's failure.
12. Your landing page is probably trash
Your landing page needs three things:
- Clear: What you do in 5 seconds
- Fast: Under 2 second load time
- Convincing: Social proof that you're real
That's it.
Not animations. Not fancy gradients. Not a 3-minute video.
The best SaaS landing pages are boring:
- Headline that explains the value
- Subheadline with specifics
- Screenshots of the actual product
- Testimonials from real users
- Pricing that's not hidden
- Big CTA button above the fold
Stop obsessing over design. Start obsessing over clarity.
If your mom can't understand what you do from your landing page, neither can your customers.
13. Your users aren't data points
That support ticket? There's a human on the other side.
That feature request? Someone's trying to do their job better.
That angry email? They trusted you and you let them down.
DM them on Twitter. Email them personally. Hell, call them.
"Hi Sarah, saw you requested X feature. Can you tell me more about what you're trying to accomplish?"
Every conversation teaches you something:
- Why they actually bought
- What nearly made them leave
- Which features they ignore
- What they tell colleagues
Your competitors are sending automated emails. You're building relationships.
Guess who wins long-term?
14. Price for value, not market rate
"But my competitor charges $29/month!"
So what?
Your competitor also has:
- 10x your features
- 5 years head start
- Brand recognition
- Massive tech debt
- Slow support
- Complexity bloat
You're not competing on features. You're competing on focus.
Price based on value delivered:
- Saves 10 hours/month? Charge hourly rate × 5
- Increases revenue 20%? Charge 10% of increase
- Prevents one disaster? Charge half the disaster cost
I tripled prices last year. Lost 10% of customers. Increased revenue 170%.
The customers who stayed were the ones who got real value. The ones who left were price shopping anyway.
The Truth About Building SaaS in 2025
Building SaaS is simple. Not easy, but simple.
Add login methods that work. Charge money from day one. Listen to users obsessively. Market more than you build. Use your own product. Focus on keeping customers happy. Ship the minimum. Think bigger. Cut failing projects. Make your landing page clear. Treat users like humans. Price based on value.
Do these things consistently and you'll be ahead of 90% of SaaS founders.
The hard part isn't knowing what to do.
The hard part is doing it when it's uncomfortable.
Start with one thing from this list. Then another. Then another.
Before you know it, you'll be writing your own list of hard-won advice.
P.S. Seriously, add that feedback board today. Not next sprint. Today. UserJot takes 5 minutes to set up. Your future self will thank you when you're not guessing what to build next.
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