2 Years, 100+ Experiments... and What I Missed
I’ve been building Saga Coach full-time for over 2 years, and have found myself in a cycle that could either lead to slow and steady growth, or the slow death of the business.
When pursuing a broad mission, there’s no shortage of ideas that could help your users. And with development cycles being quicker than ever, it’s tempting to repeat this process:
Pick 3–5 seemingly high-value tasks to build as A/B tests
Release an update and run the experiments
Keep the winners that maximize my KPI
It sounds like this should eventually lead to a successful business, right?
My experience so far has felt to the contrary. Despite many experiments producing statistically significant winners, growth has stagnated and I feel for the first time that my business has plateau'd.
With negative cash flow, a growing queue of experiments to run, and AI coding assistants at my disposal, I naturally tried to push through as many experiments as I physically could. The result: burnout, without meaningful progress.
This is when the business-minded advisors in my life told me to start working "on" the business instead of "in" the business. This probably sounds like a cliche for people who regularly consume business advice. However, I've found it to be a worthwhile axiom to operate with day-to-day, at least so I am aware of which mode I am in and can adjust if I can't justify my current mode to myself.
Initially, working “on” the business meant pursuing capital, looking for a co-founder, or applying to incubators. Each path ended at the same brick wall: my commitment to building a bootstrapped business.
But applying this axiom differently made me realize I’ve neglected another cliche: talking to real customers.
So, if you’re interested in AI personal training, I’d love your feedback on Saga Coach. I want to uncover unmet needs and find out what feels missing or lacking.
In exchange, I’m offering 1 free month of the premium subscription to anyone who shares actionable feedback. This could be:
Points of friction in the app
Features that feel missing or lacking
Suggestions for improvements to the app listing
You can reach me at neel@saga.coach to share feedback and receive your free month!
In the meantime, I’ll be focusing on new ways to acquire customers, learn what my users truly want, and improve cash flow through means other than building out product.
