I have a $19k decision to make, and I'm terrified I'm wrong

I'm sitting here with a quote from a dev agency for $19,000 to build my MVP. It's not life-changing money, but it's real money. The kind that makes you wake up at 3am wondering if you're about to make a massive mistake.

So I'm doing what every rational founder should do: validate the hell out of this idea before I write that check.

The problem I'm trying to solve

Most indie hackers and bootstrapped SaaS founders are incredible builders. You have great ideas, you ship fast, you iterate. But when it comes to actually marketing your product? That's where things fall apart.

And here's the thing: AI could solve this. But only if you actually know how to market in the first place.

I'm building HeySuna - an AI marketing team specifically for bootstrapped SaaS founders. Think of it like handing off tasks to a marketing VA, except it's powered by AI and has my 10+ years of SaaS marketing knowledge baked into every workflow.

My background (and why I care about this)

I used to be the CMO of a software company with a team of 10 marketers. Eventually became CEO. Then I stepped back when I was pregnant with my first baby because honestly? I didn't want two babies - the company baby and the real baby.

But here's the twist: the company wasn't mine. I wasn't a founder. And I promised myself that if I ever poured that much energy into a company again, it would be my own.

Fast forward to watching AI completely transform marketing over the past couple years. I realized two things:

1. If I wanted any future in this space, I needed to master AI + marketing
2. This technology could be a massive force multiplier for solo founders and small teams

So I started experimenting. Built systems for companies. Ran training sessions. And kept thinking: this needs to be accessible to everyone, not just people who can afford to hire me.

My first real validation: MicroConf

I applied to speak at MicroConf (a conference for bootstrapped SaaS founders) about AI marketing. Got accepted. Gave the talk.

But here's where it got interesting: I didn't pitch HeySuna in my talk. I focused on providing value. Teaching people how to think about AI in their marketing.

On day two, I started casually mentioning what I was building in conversations. By the end of the conference, 10 people asked me to let them know when it was ready.

The common thread in every conversation? Two pain points:

1. "I never have enough time for marketing"
2. "I'm overwhelmed and don't know what to do first"

And then came the question that shaped my entire product direction: "Will your SaaS help with strategy, or just implementation? Because I need help figuring out WHAT to do, not just HOW to do it."

That's when I knew I was onto something.

What HeySuna actually does

Here's a concrete example: When you first log in, HeySuna does a full analysis of your SaaS, your current marketing, and where your gaps are.

It determines that partnerships would be your highest ROI channel right now (not content, not ads, not SEO - partnerships).

So HeySuna:

• Creates a list of potential partners for your specific product
• You review and approve the list
• HeySuna finds contact details for those people
• Drafts personalized outreach messages
• You send them (keeping it authentic and human)

You just went from "I should probably do partnerships" to actually executing on it, without spending 10 hours on research and copywriting.

Another example: You ship a new feature. Instead of it dying in your changelog, you paste it into HeySuna. It creates:

• Social media posts (benefit-driven, not feature-focused)
• Newsletter content
• Blog post that's actually written to convert

All written like a marketer would write it, not like ChatGPT would write it.

The difference from just using ChatGPT? HeySuna knows SaaS marketing. It helps with strategy first, then execution. It tells you what to prioritize based on where you are, not just what's easiest or what you think should come next.

Why I'm going with an agency (and not building it myself or finding a co-founder)

I'm not technical. So building it myself isn't an option.

Could I find a technical co-founder? Sure. But here's my thinking: I've worked with this agency for 7 years. I trust them completely.

Yes, $19k is a bigger financial risk upfront. But co-founder conflicts? A technical partner who doesn't follow through? That's a different kind of risk. And potentially a more expensive one.

Maybe I'm rationalizing. I honestly don't know yet. This is one of those decisions I'll only know was right or wrong in hindsight.

Where I'm at now: Pre-sales validation

The MicroConf conversations gave me signals, but no commitments. People say they want things all the time. I need to know if they'll actually pay for it.

So I'm doing founding member pre-sales now. Here's the offer:

• Full year of access for ~$1,000 (normally $499/month, so basically 2 months' price)
• You get a product shaped specifically for your SaaS - I personally analyze your product and help decide what gets built
• Direct input into the roadmap - you're literally helping me build this thing

I'm positioning HeySuna at $499/month because it's a marketing agency replacement, not just a software tool. You couldn't even hire a decent VA for that price, let alone someone with strategic marketing experience.

What I'm most afraid of

That I'm wrong. That people won't actually pay.

But that's exactly why I'm validating before spending $19k and months of my life building something nobody wants.

What success looks like to me

I need 5 founding members to commit.

Not 100. Not 50. Just 5 people who are willing to bet on this with me.

If I can get 5 people to pay upfront and work closely with me to make this product genuinely valuable for them, I'll know I'm not crazy. I'll write that check to the dev agency. And I'll build this thing.

My ask

If you're a bootstrapped SaaS founder who struggles with marketing, I'd love to talk to you. Even if you're not interested in becoming a founding member, your feedback would be invaluable.

I'm specifically looking to understand:

• What's your biggest marketing bottleneck right now?
• Have you tried using AI for marketing? What worked/didn't work?
• Would something like HeySuna actually solve a real problem for you?

You can send me a DM or drop a comment below.

And if anyone has been through a similar validation process - especially around the agency vs. co-founder decision - I'm all ears. This founder thing is equal parts exciting and terrifying, and I'm learning as I go.

TL;DR: Building an AI marketing team for bootstrapped SaaS founders. Got signals at MicroConf. Now doing pre-sales to validate before spending $19k on MVP development. Need 5 founding members. Scared I'm wrong, but doing the work to find out.