Nikki Gardner, Esq.’s Post

The SAAS Product Launch / Marketing Dilemma. As a SAAS Founder, it always becomes a confusion in the GTM. What should be launched at the start and how to market it or should the business wait to complete the product and then launch the full fledged one for customers. There has to be a curated Marketing strategy at each stage of the product launch. Some noteworthy points while we created a strategy for Pluto AI - - Defining the Right Target audience 🎯 - Utilising the current features to market to the specific related pain points of the defined TG ✅ - Media plan for spending on the right platforms to gain that initial traction. 💰 - Deriving strategic advantage from established category competitors 🏢 - Deciding on quarterly market share targets and aligning the activities. 🕒

Although creating a SaaS firm is a thrilling experience, achieving quick growth is a strategic goal, not merely a pipe dream. Focused tactics establish the route to rapid development, from starting with your first five customers to growing beyond 1,000. The following road map can help you at each step of your user acquisition process: Phase One: Acquiring Your Initial Five Users Approach: Proactive outreach (outgoing) Channel: Direct correspondence (e.g., DMs, email) Cost: $0 (outreach done by hand) Action Plan: Begin by contacting your network, which includes friends, family, and coworkers. Share your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) with them and ask for feedback in return for free lifetime access. Establish a community where these users may interact and exchange ideas. Make them advocates to help get the message out. Phase Two: Reaching 100 Users Approach: Suggestions Channel: Links for referrals Cost: Minimal or nonexistent (optional bonuses) Action Plan: Motivate your early adopters to provide their networks with referral links. Provide rewards for effective recommendations. This increases growth by leveraging the power of word-of-mouth and generating a network effect. Phase Three: Growing the User Base from 100 to 1,000+ Incoming method (content marketing) Channel: videos, blogs, and social media Cost: Purchasing high-quality material Action Plan: Produce high-quality material, such as lengthy essays, videos, and social media posts, to establish your authority. Post updates on your progress, accomplishments, and lessons learned on sites like Indie Hackers and LinkedIn. Be consistent, track engagement, and optimize for conversions since content marketing is a long-term endeavor. Phase Four: Quickening Growth Past 1,000 Users Method: Affiliate Programs & Ads Channel: affiliate sign-ups, social media advertisements, and Google advertisements Cost varies according on ROI objectives. Action Plan: Test innovative approaches and turn successful material into advertisements. Your budget should be scaled according to the average revenue per user. Launch an affiliate program to enable users to serve as ambassadors and provide incentives such as commissions to encourage expansion. Key Takeaway: Quick expansion isn't a fortunate coincidence. It's a methodical approach that begins with human, bootstrapped labor and grows into robust, automated processes. Engage your first consumers, pay attention to their input, and make them your product's largest supporters since they are the cornerstone of a successful product. Which of these phases is the most difficult for you? Or, if you've employed any of these tactics, what was the most important lesson you took away?

The biggest  mistake that a SAAS founder can ever make, Avoiding it can help you save millions. Mistake - “Launching the product after all the features are developed.” Hexanovate prepares and executes marketing strategies for SAAS companies, so I have spoken with many SAAS founders. Most of the time, founders and their teams are so confident in their product that they don’t feel the need to discuss and validate the product in the market. They spend millions on developing the product completely and then launch it. This strategy proves counterproductive 99% of the time. In the process, they spend a lot of Time, Energy and Money. And if the audience does not like the product, it is an end if the founder is working with limited resources. If they have resources, then they have wasted a lot of it. Instead, here is an excellent strategy that team PlutoAI and Vijay Malhotra are following: They had an idea that could improve the productivity of every individual using the internet to get some work done. Team PlutoAI validated the idea by discussing it and soliciting feedback. Then, they started developing the product. They have already launched the product for use in the market, even though they want to add various features. Anyone can use the tool to increase their productivity for free. Now, they are collecting feedback from these initial users, which is helping them build a product that will solve people's problems in real-time. This way, they have saved millions by establishing a feedback loop. It is undoubtedly one of the best Go To Market Strategies for a SAAS business. Hexanovate has been in discussions with them, and we have brainstormed various ideas. One of our founders, Pankaj Dhamane, has prepared a marketing strategy as well. But, what is PlutoAI: 1. PlutoAI automatically organises your saved content using tags and categories, making it easy to find them later. 2. PlutoAI automatically generates summaries and snippets for quick learning. 3. Get insights about your reading habits, favourite topics, time spent on content, valuable listening hours, and more. 4. Easily share your favourite content collections with family, friends, and colleagues. We believe that PlutoAI can help you increase your productivity, and you should give it a try; it is completely free. Don’t forget to give detailed and critical feedback. We are listening POV: The various meetings that we have had with Team PlutoAI.

I regularly tell you about Micro SaaS products that can be developed as pet projects, while earning $2-5-10K per month with margins up to 90%. Usually, these products don’t require inventing something new or spending heavily on marketing. You just need to copy existing ideas and list them in marketplaces. These solutions are especially good for those starting their first IT business. The risk of failure is not as great as with startups. Yes, it will never become a unicorn, but honestly, many people don’t aim to build unicorns. They want financial freedom. Today, I want to share 13 examples of Micro SaaS products to inspire you. Some of them, I’d say, are closer to Mini SaaS, as they are quite sophisticated to develop. I wish you success in earning with Micro SaaS! https://lnkd.in/d78b2NG9

I regularly tell you about Micro SaaS products that can be developed as pet projects, while earning $2-5-10K per month with margins up to 90%. Usually, these products don’t require inventing something new or spending heavily on marketing. You just need to copy existing ideas and list them in marketplaces. These solutions are especially good for those starting their first IT business. The risk of failure is not as great as with startups. Yes, it will never become a unicorn, but honestly, many people don’t aim to build unicorns. They want financial freedom. Today, I want to share 13 examples of Micro SaaS products to inspire you. Some of them, I’d say, are closer to Mini SaaS, as they are quite sophisticated to develop. I wish you success in earning with Micro SaaS! https://lnkd.in/dfq27MQk

I recently talked with a SaaS founder that reached $300k+ MRR in 10 months. He did something very smart—something every SaaS founder should consider. We already know that paid ads are the fastest way to grow your SaaS. But too many founders get stuck. They run ads, burn cash, and struggle to recover their costs. That’s not how it should be. In fact, my clients are seeing amazing results by using a smarter approach: pairing strategic funnels with the trend of short-form content. (I’ll share more on this later.) Here’s the common issue: If you’re selling a $100/month subscription, and it costs $1k to acquire a customer, you’re looking at a 10-month CAC payback period. For most SaaS founders, that’s unsustainable without deep pockets or VC backing. But this SaaS founder found a better way: - He collected 6 months of subscription payments upfront. - Instead of $100/month, he brought in $600+ right away. - That shift transformed his ads from a money pit to a 3–4x ROAS machine. Here’s how he did it: (1) A targeted funnel—not a generic homepage. (2) Monthly pricing of $70–$120, offered as an upfront plan. (3) 1.9k users in three niche European markets. For SaaS founders scaling beyond $10k MRR, the lessons are clear: - Focus on cash flow: Upfront payments mean faster reinvestment in growth. - Get strategic with ads: Funnels outperform homepage traffic every time. - Master your metrics: Know your CAC and LTV like the back of your hand. Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be. Scaling is an equation. You must fulfill basic requirements in order to scale. If not, you will drain your war chest. If you do it right... well, you might just end up with a 3-4m ARR company in under a year. PS - I run a SaaS founder community with over 300 founders. I pack all that knowledge into an actionable newsletter. If you don't want to miss on what your fellow SaaS founders are doing to get outsized returns, subscribe to my newsletter. Link in the comments.

The right message can determine a startup's success. I wrote this article about how a compelling first sentence can make all the difference. Make every word count! #SaaS #StartupSuccess #UniqueValueProposition #firstSentence

You're missing out on high-quality leads for your SaaS. And many other businesses are - unfortunately many realize it too late. I talk to founders or marketers every single day, hearing the same things over and over again. ❌ Couldn't convert enough free trial users. ❌ Engagement rates were low. ❌ Lacked actionable data for improvement. As always we crave a higher volume of leads, but at what cost? In case you haven't figured it out yet, the "$7-for-7-day trial" tactic can change that Tim Soulo (Ahrefs) 1. Low-Cost Barrier  For a dollar a day, users gain full access to your product for a week. This is affordable but meaningful enough to filter out casual browsers and attract users who are serious about trying your solution. 2. Creates Urgency  It’s interesting how our brains work: with a deadline looming, we’re naturally motivated to take quick action to maximize our investment. The same goes for users—when there’s a time limit, they’re more likely to dive into key features right away, uncovering value they might miss in a longer, free trial. The result? Deeper, more meaningful engagement in less time. 3. Access to higher-quality data They say you should prioritize feedback from paying users, and I couldn’t agree more. In a previous venture, I fell into the ‘one feature away’ trap—listening to every feature request from our ICP, even when they weren’t willing to commit to the product. This left our team stuck and resources drained. That’s why a paid trial can be a game-changer: it filters out unqualified users, leaving you with valuable insights from those truly invested. With paid trials, you’ll see which features resonate, gather meaningful feedback, and refine your product and user journey based on what matters to your users. 4. Brand Positioning  A $7 trial also reinforces your brand as accessible, practical, and user-friendly, setting you apart from competitors with steep entry costs or complex contracts. Sometimes positioning as "the brand for the people" can be seen as a breath of fresh air - I saw this myself in calls 5. Revenue Tactic for Bootstrappers  For startups competing with VC-backed giants, a paid trial approach can save your company from closing down by generating revenue per user accelerating self-sustained growth. Have you ever tried charging a dollar a day for your trials? Check the link in the comments for more non-traditional growth tactics 👇 #growthtactics #growthhacking #saas #b2bmarketing #plg

I have 61,000 SaaS Founders who watch my Youtube channel. Out of that, I coach 300+ Founders directly on scaling their SaaS companies. Over the past 3 days, we had a group of these incredible SaaS Founders fly into Dallas from all over the world for a full SaaS GTM Immersive. Here are my 3 key takeaways from our time together. 1) 🧠 Winning as a Founder is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics The theme of the GTM Immersive was to work "on" our SaaS businesses instead of "in" the business. Day in and day out I'm working with these SaaS Founders in their SaaS businesses on the mechanics across leads, trials, messaging, pricing, and revenue. But in our time together, we spent a significant part of our day digging into managing the psychology of being a Founder. Being a Founder is a lonely job. Being in a room with SaaS Founders all working on their ICP, their Manifesto, and their Broadway Show completely changed the dynamics of how people felt connected and how we worked together to share, identify and break through our biggest challenges and opportunities -- together. 2) 📣 Founder-led GTM is the greatest advantage in SaaS right now One of the most impactful debates we had in our workshop was the power of Founder-led GTM. Does the Founder need to be the face of the company? Should she be the leader of the message? Is this a must to win? It's not a must. But it's the greatest strategic advantage that exists in SaaS today. Founders who step up and own the Founder-led GTM Phase, Founders who step up and craft a strategic narrative and start to share it with all his ideal customers -- These Founders are leveraging one of the most unfair advantages in Marketing today to rise above the noise. 3) 📈 SaaS Compounds, Scalable GTM Machines Doubly So In the room, we had Founders from different stages. Some who were just starting out in their Founder-led GTM Machine. And others who were on Year 2, Year 3 and even Year 4 of leading the teams for their scalable GTM Machine. The biggest source of inspiration was how years of Founder-led GTM allowed the companies to scale but also created a real brand for the SaaS companies. Founder-led GTM led to unfair advantages in marketing, in competing, and in creating real brands for the companies the Founders are building. In Conclusion... It was a whirlwind three days here in Dallas with 72 straight hours of time immersed with all these Unstoppable SaaS Founders. This is truly an honor and a privilege, it's one of the greatest and most rewarding jobs I've ever had. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you to our incredible Unstoppable Founder community for the opportunity to serve you in this way. If you're a SaaS Founder and you'd like to accelerate your path to the next stage of grow by building a scalable Founder-led GTM Machine, start by grabbing a complimentary copy of my 5-Point SaaS Growth Strategy Guide. Just follow the link in the comments below to grab you complimentary copy 👇

10 ways to build a SaaS in public like the best in the game.. Building in public has become one of the biggest GTMs used by founders like Guillaume Moubeche, Adam Robinson, and Marc Lou. They cut through the noise and grow 6 figure ARR faster than anyone (with minimal cash needs). Using the power of being small(er) and lean(er) than the incumbents to be radically transparent, ie. interesting to follow. Easy enough right.. But what do you share? Here are 10 types of content you can share, to start #buildinpublic: 1. F*** ups - people want the raw truth when things go south. Tell how others can avoid ending up in the same situation. 2. Wins - yes, people want to hear the good stuff too. Help them learn and get inspired. 3. Weekly product updates - share transparent updates on what you built this week. Connect to your audience, make them feel involved, and get feedback. 4. User stats and insights - share how users interact with your product. This is exclusive stuff that your audience can’t get anywhere else (see Adam Schoenfeld with PeerSignal.org & Keyplay) 5. Personal learnings - don’t polish, dare to get up close and personal. Productivity hacks, day in the life, or a simple life lesson. Personal means people listen. 6. Polls - let your audience help make product decisions - should you go with design A or B? The next features you aim to build, etc. 7. Sales/growth experiments - things you did to get new users that either worked or didn’t. New software you tried, a creative growth method, or a good onboarding sequence. 8. Interesting people you met - what did you learn, shout people in the industry out, give >> ask. 9. Events you attended - give people that couldn’t attend the top takeaways. Share how they impacted your startup. Tag the speakers. 10. Beef in the industry - by publicly having drama with a villain in your industry, you can (A) leverage their adjacent audience and (B) create a powerful counterweight to boost your story. Adam is the LinkedIn GOAT of this, with the recent RB2B vs 6sense drama. The villain could be another corporation, the status quo, or a thought leader. Building in public let’s you grow an audience of people that love what you do, trust you, and buy from you. Who’s your favourite founder building in public right now? Tag them.