I have a platform but no product (which idea/direction is better?)
Hi there
Recently, in my spare time, I've completed my little platform for developing and deploying SaaS solutions.
What I have done is basically I wrote and deployed stuff that is required in pretty much any SaaS:
- Authentication: both email/password and Google login. Tech: cognito.
- Database: where user info is stored (e.g. subscriptions). Tech: dynamodb.
- Frontend: standard pages and flows: landing, pricing, account and workflows like login/register, change password, Google login, delete user + translation into several languages (besides English). It is connected to backend. Tech: vue3 js.
- Backend: with auth and stripe integration and some other stuff (e.g. sending emails, domain integration in prod account, counting jobs done to bill the customer etc.). Tech: aws python lambda (with aws powertools) and api gateway.
- Payments: stripe with three plans, all already working with frontend and backend, with functionality to change/cancel etc. (I use stripe customer portal). Tech: stripe.
- CI/CD: with email notification on failure. Push to dev -> rollout to dev account, main -> prod account. Tech: cdk pipeline and sns.
- Some E2E testing. Tech: cypress
Additionally:
- there are 3 AWS accounts with SSO (main, dev, prod). Tech: AWS Organizations/AWS Identity Center.
- IaC. I tried to minimise the manual steps as much as possible. Tech: CDK in python.
- Billing alert: when AWS charges exceed $10 per month.
- Everything is serverless and I pay almost nothing for hosting and developer use (because there is no traffic). I pay $2-5 per month now, and that is mostly for CI/CD (AWS Codepipeline, CodeBuild) as I am actively developing.
What is NOT there is THE PRODUCT ITSELF.
I started researching some problems I could potentially solve with a SaaS, but I am not very good at it.
Eventually I compiled a list of directions:
- LLM with OpenAI api calls (and vector database): since everyone is doing it, I thought this would at least be a good experience.
- Platform: I've posted similar questions before (about 9 months ago) and some people suggested to sell a platform of what I've built. The thing is, it is a code-first platform, and you need to be a developer to extend the platform for your needs. And as far as I know, no-code/low-code tools are what sell.
- Some other stuff: things like document parsing, employee time management, post-quantum encryption.
I could not come up with anything better for now.
Question:
Any ideas on how to go about it? I've read books like "moms test" and "zero to sold", but I'm not quite sure how to start correctly here. As far as I understand the most important thing is to find a painful problem, which I have no idea on how to do.
Current idea:
My current idea is to start with LLM OpenAI MVP, if that fails then go for the platform (I will also use the experience I got from the LLM project to make the platform better). And if that fails too, I will create educational courses on those.
PS:
I am based in Germany, that's why I translated frontend to several languages (i18n library).
Thank you for your input
PS2: this is dev environment, everything is in test and half-baked, prices are also irrelevant (i just put random numbers): https://development.dvh5p0qi5ycsw.amplifyapp.com
Two quick pointers on this.
I have been building Find Good Micro SaaS Ideas and grew to 30K subscribers. Do check this out for some ideas.
You can actually sell your own code as a Boilerplate/Starterkit and start that as your product. I have written a detailed post on this model in my newsletter.
Hey upenv!
Thank you very much
Already subscribed since several months. Could you please share the link to your post?
I just pushed a new paid service public a couple days ago. When I started really working on it a over the last couple weeks, I already knew there were a couple things I didn't want to build myself: user account management and subscription management. I looked around very hard for some kind of all in one solution but never found exactly what I wanted.
But I did find a few different services that did parts of what I wanted. Initially I was looking at Auth0 for user management. But after spending a few hours looking at their docs, I just couldn't for the life of me get through the process. But then I took a break and did some more searching and found Clerk. Turns out their product was really pretty much exactly what I wanted. Easy to integrate, decent documentation, and a robust set of api's to allow a lot of customization.
I also ended up going with Stripe. I haven't worked with them before, but I have to give their teams a lot of credit. Their products are extremely well thought out and documented. But there were still problems. I initially went with their no-code customer portal links and pricing table components. The customer portal links work, but you can't really tie them into your site that well. Same with the pricing tables for subscriptions. They work, but have minor annoyances like if you have a monthly and yearly version of the same subscription product you can't render them side by side. Their component hides yearly under a dropdown. Also, every time a user creates a new subscription through the pricing table, it literally creates a new Stripe customer even if the user was already signed in with them. This started breaking my api key management code right before I thought I was ready to push everything public and I had to come up with a temporary work around.
See, what I really wanted was for Stripe to have a user management system baked in. And I wanted for their no-code products to be further developed so they can seamlessly be integrated in a quick manner but also seamlessly for the potential new customer of my service. But they don't, and I think its kinda sad that doesn't exist yet.
The closest thing I found to what I wanted was Vercel. They have a template site that integrates with Supabase that kinda does what I want. But there's potential cost issues there, and to be honest the templates' integration with Stripe subscriptions is kinda wonky.
So, in the end I ended up spending several more days than I had anticipated essentially rebuilding my site from scratch so that I could more easily integrate Clerk and Stripe together. I got it working well enough, but it isn't the seamless experience I want it to be just yet.
Maybe for you, you could try finding some people that are like me and looking for an easier way to get up and running. Its pretty frustrating when you're new to trying to launch your own product when you don't even know what you need to be searching for to answer questions you don't know how to articulate. You might be able to take what you've built and work closely with a handful of us to educate yourself on what kinds of features and stuff beginners need to get up and running quickly. That might provide some direction for you.
Hello geuis!
That's exactly what I coded in the platform, thanks a lot for the feedback and your time that you took to write it.
It seems there is a niche here.
And all the best with your service!
Thanks Kota. Good luck with yours too.
Congrats on building the base of your SaaS! As for problems to solve, I think you've found one itching your own itch: it's a hassle to get set up when starting a SaaS and your boilerplate code could be useful to a ton of devs out there. Maybe you can try selling it online?
As for LLM MVP, you can try it out but I think your argument of "everyone is doing it is not solid enough". You can try to niche it down maybe? Are you missing a specific LLM in your daily life?
Thank you cjortuzar.
Yes, I can try to sell the platform, just was not sure since it is a code-first platform.
Regarding LLM I was thinking of creating an LLM solution that already exist in one market/country and just do it in EU and its industries for specific needs and regulation, but nothing solid yet.
Wow Kota, I'm so impressed with your hard work in creating a platform for launching and deploying a SaaS! It's amazing how much you can achieve with dedication and passion. It's a lofty goal and I'm excited to see which idea/direction you'll choose next to continue your journey. I'm not able to suggest you. All the best on that! :)
Thank you!