September 5, 2018

10 Reflections from Founding a SaaS Startup

It's been 9 months since co-founding Whimsical. I wrote down a few reflections on starting our bootstrapped SaaS startup:

https://whimsical.co/business/ten-reflections-from-founding-a-saas-startup/

Steve Schoeffel

21 replies

  1. 2

    Awesome article Steve!

    PS: I freaking love Whimsical, it's the perfect wireframing tool for my consulting calls :)

    pedrocortes
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    a month ago
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      Thanks so much Pedro!

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  2. 2

    I love #7. Also baller landing page for Whimsical. So clean!

    nickchuckwalter
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    a month ago
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    1. 1

      Thanks Nick!

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  3. 1

    Just seeing all these responses to the post. Thanks for all the kind words everyone!

    Steve Schoeffel
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    a month ago
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  4. 1

    This was such a well written article. I shared it with my co-founder because we spend so much time talking about these insights.

    We certainly feel this each time we speak with our customers:

    Chatting with people all across the world is amazing. You realize that many people have the same issues, the same hopes and desires. There’s a lot that’s shared by people in general but especially those working in the digital and tech space.

    Onwards and upwards!

    Cheers,

    Jonathan

    jianinglai
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    a month ago
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    1. 1

      Much appreciated Jonathan! I think having such a close connection with users/customers is one of the biggest gifts of early stage startups. Very cool to experience :)

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  5. 1

    Great post! Thanks for sharing :)

    fsdp
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    a month ago
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      Thanks Federico! 🙂

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  6. 1

    Cool. Really good to hear your experiences and advice. Indie.vc looks great.

    poodllguy
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    a month ago
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  7. 1

    Thanks for sharing. I love Whimsical - its a pleasure to use!

    danbruder
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    a month ago
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    1. 1

      Thanks Dan! Glad you're enjoying Whimsical 🙌

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  8. 1

    Nice write-up. :) And Whimsical looks great!

    ptrei
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    a month ago
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    1. 2

      Thanks Peter – appreciate it!

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  9. 1

    nice! thanks

    we8mast3r
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    a month ago
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  10. 1

    Great post Steve! 👌

    itsdavemartin
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    a month ago
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    1. 1

      Thanks Dave!

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  11. 1

    Hadn't heard of indie.vc before... definitely a fan of their mission, and that burning unicorn!

    triangle
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    a month ago
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    1. 1

      Ha, that unicorn! I honestly think we'll be hearing about Indie.vc and firms like it a whole lot more in the coming years. Just makes so much sense and has better founder/funder alignment.

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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  12. 1

    This is a great product. serious. congrats!

    i think you can take market from lucidchart which is in my backyard and already way too bloated of a product.

    openside
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    a month ago
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    1. 1

      Thanks Dan, appreciate that! Re: Lucidchart, our belief is that many startups/SMBs don't need super technical flowcharts and would actually prefer a simplified and streamlined product for visual communication. Time will tell – we've been encouraged by some of the early response we've been getting. Just need to keep building and getting the word out! :)

      Steve Schoeffel
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      a month ago
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