Distribution will make or break your start-up: Proof that the product doesn't matter
Original content:
TL;DR version:
Distribution is king. Rest is details.
"Aye, I don't care about your thread bro" version:
No worries, I got you covered! 🫡
Heya!
Probably pretty obvious for lots of people, but I thought it might help some.
I spent the last few weeks reading a shitload of resources + case studies related to bootstrapping SaaS, since I'm coming from another industry. Here is what I noticed:
👉 The product almost doesn't matter.
I know, I know, it hurts 🤕
There is one thing that differentiated those with good MRR and the others:
An amazing domain name
No, I'm kidding, it does not matter, stop collecting them 🙃
What truly matters: Distribution channels mastery.
Every day, people create apps like tasks list, screenshot apps, tweet scheduler etc. I probably saw 5-6 exact copies of each in the span of two weeks 😩
But the ones who were successful had distribution channel from day 1:
Whether they had just an idea to validate or a full product, the successful ones distributed from day 1 in whatever channel they could use:
- Cold outreach the dirty but effective one to get validation, Tally started by sending DMs on Twitter
- Using their own audience Levels.io got lots of users for his AI app from his Twitter audience
- Ads, SEO, etc etc.
In many traditional industries, the "distributor" also has the most leverage:
- 🛵 Food delivery: Uber get the leverage and make the most profit, not restaurants.
- 🍎 Groceries: Supermarkets get the leverage and make the most profit, not small producers.
- 🚽 Advertising: Medias (FB, Google) have the leverage and make the most profit, not (most of) the companies advertising there.
Some examples:
One thing that prove it further is Elon Musk.
Dude literally just sold a perfume named "Burnt Hair" with the worst landing page ever:
Still, he made $1M from it because he had the distribution: His audience
Another good example is the Pet Rock
The product is just a rock. But it went viral so the guy who created it made millions.
There are some counterexamples tho:
Google Stadia. They probably had the best distribution channel EVER, and yet failed miserably and are closing the project.
The problem here in my opinion is expectations. They overhyped the thing but were unfortunately not able to deliver, which created a shitshow in the medias.
Based on that, we could make an hypothesis that having a proper way to reach out to people consistently is the #1 factor to starting something.
Here is a process that could be applied when starting a new project:
- I get an idea
- I directly think of how to reach the people who it could bring value to
- I make a test and see if I can reach out to them, by asking research questions and see if they reply.
- If it works, great, it means it's a potential channel
Some resources that I found helpful:
- https://www.indiehackers.com/zerotousers
- https://gettheaudience.com/e26-audience-by-cold-outreach-marie-martens/
- https://medium.com/@yegg/the-bullseye-framework-for-getting-traction-ef49d05bfd7e
- https://www.indiehackers.com/post/build-multiple-products-and-use-them-as-acquisition-channels-722d8c829b
it's like the battle between direct response & branding. they're basically just the same but with a different time horizon.
yet, in both cases having an audience is what truly matters.
Aah, looks like you also are a copywriting amateur 😄
Yes, having an audience makes whatever you want possible, levels.io showed it recently with his new product
Distribution is the king. Without distribution, no one knows your product. Since no one knows your product, it doesn't exist for them. Since it doesn't exist to them, no one buys your product. Since no one buys your products, you're not really in a business. To make people know or buy or be aware you're in a business, you must agree that distribution is the king and master the act of distribution.
Yup, exactly!
A just average product that sells is better than an amazing product that doesn't
Starting to really drill this into my brain. Distribution isn't everything (of course) but it drives growth and in some cases is the accelerator to PMF.
Great post, it makes total sense. Distribution is king. One thing I've learned is that as creators we worry about competitors - but most of our target audience does not, thus is unaware 95%+ of our competition even exists! So we're worried about competing with something that we'll never be held up against.
My current focus is on a habit tracker (well, actually it's a super advanced goal tracker, but I'm sure it will initially be perceived as a habit tracker, and that's what it is in its simples tform). Probably one of the most saturated markets to ever exist. But one of the reasons I picked to focus on it is because it's saturated, competitive, I know there's a market, it's realistic to finish an MVP, and I want to start mastering distribution. If you can start mastering distribution on competitive channels, then you can be sure you have good techniques if you ever want to go after a niche that's less competitive. Of course very niche is different but you get the idea :)
Thanks!
And yes, I 100% agree, there are probably hundred of people out there that can code better and faster than us, but if they are that good, they likely sucks at marketing & distribution
Just did the process mentioned in the article with a side idea and I received a very good answer.
The person I talked to is ok to make some tests with me. I have absolutely nothing ready yet, I don't know how to do the thing technically speaking, but I already have positive feedback from a channel