I've built a Fullstack SAAS / WebApp Framework. Now what?
https://app.pipocajs.com
With 3 friends, we planned on starting a Saas business . Eventually, the team fell apart, so did the project.
In the process, I've built a JS framework, including both backend & frontend, aiming to kickstart most Web App within days.
Now I'm wondering what to do: should I open-source it or keep it private for future projects? Let me know what do you guys think!
Here is the demo, including a survey form: https://app.pipocajs.com
This is very compelling. I've been banging on a few ideas like this and think there is a lot of opportunity in the space as @Vokail mentioned. Make code more accessible!
Thanks Travis! I'll have a deeper look into the codeless movement!
Looks great JP. I think you could build a simple marketing site, put a price, promote a bit and see what happens. Maybe @janlosert can share his experiences around selling Dashboard UI Kit (I'm one of the happy customers ;).
Or then Open source it, grow the community and back it up with Patreon, similarly to things like Bulma.
This mean so much @tair :) Seriously, happy to provide any feedback about Dashboards
Thanks for the advice Tair!
I was actually working on a landing page for the project. Will keep you guys updated about it!
This is awesome. I'd totally use this.
Thanks for the encouragements, Jeff!
As a developer I've gotta see some sample code to know what I'm working with. Take a look at bootstrap, tailwinds and Laravel. Their documentation is ridiculous, explanation and code to back it up. If you want to start a framework you should at least be on par with those on your documentation if not better when starting out.
Thanks for your Feedback Anthony!
I agree, documentation and examples are very important for frameworks: that's why I'm doing this survey, so I don't waste weeks writing it if nobody cares about such tool.
Where I disagree though, is the part where you say it has to be as good or better than the famous ones when starting out: that's a false assumption we often make and that stops us from starting anything new. ( Plus that's the point of open source projects: contributors making a project greater every days, right? )
Some basic tech details: ReactJS custom PWA UI + NodeJS serverless API (running on AWS lambda).
I'd be happy to answer any question.
Awesome, this stack combination will reduce server cost :D
Thanks! It will indeed.
Didn't mention it yet, but the Front-end is static, served from AWS S3 + CloudFront.
Build and CI scripts are included within the framework, based on Serverless Framework + GitLab CI.
Basically, there are NO server cost and worries up until a reasonable point: perfect to validate ideas, and focus on the product, not the the tech.
Excellent work from what I can see!
Thanks for the encouragement, Shaun!
Might be interesting to take a look at http://jumpstartrails.com and how Chris has positioned that for guys and gals who want to build products but not endlessly having to deal with the infra and config of registration, teams, payments, etc.
He, of course, has his Rails community to spread it in, but you could probably tap into similar communities and use similar messaging and pricing to put it in the market.
Thanks for taking the time, Ruben!
I had a look at jumpstartrails.com and you're right, it's quite similar but for Rails: I'll definitely look more into the details of this project!
Yes, the language is different; but you might be able to spy a bit on the business positioning and marketing activities. Good luck!
Have you thought about a mix of the two? Make the source code open source, but sell a commercial license for it? I think that would be similar to what @desandro does for Metafizzy. I’ve always thought it was a brilliant business model for projects like yours. Courtland interviewed him on the Indie Hackers podcast and they talk pretty in-depth about the business model.
Good luck! your demo looks great.
I've thought about dual licensing, even though it's tricky to enforce I guess.
I will definitely have a look at Metafizzy and the interview! Thanks for the support, Justin! 🙏
I really like what I see here, but agree that I'd like to see more into the code. That's what really matters to developers.
Thanks for your encouragements Daniel!
I totally agree that documentation and code examples are fundamentals for frameworks: that's why I'm doing this survey, so I don't waste weeks writing it if nobody cares about such tool.
Not sure if contract work is of interest to you, but this seems like the makings of an awesome tech-enabled services business. You know this framework inside and out because you built it, and rather than try to compete with other frameworks for developer share, what if you found non-technical clients who are interested in building their own SaaS product?
Because you'd be able to build it quickly, or within days, it'd be a compelling sales pitch that gives you leverage to compete on price and/or speed with bigger development shops.
Either that, or keep it in your toolbox for other SaaS ideas you have that you want to launch quickly.
Thank you so much for your feedback Yash!
I have definitely thought about this solution, even though I'm not 100% pumped about contract work. Plus there is one concern: who owns the source code of delivered products, if the framework is kept private? It would require a rock solid contract, I guess.
You’d usually grant a perpetual license to the client, but you own the source code IP and of course you charge them accordingly. Pretty common stuff.
I take good note of that, thanks again Shaun!
I suggest to keep an eye on codeless movement.
With right integration your mvp could become a true enabler for codeless movement.
With integration I mean integrate visually with zapier (or similar tool) to get email on your site registration, or start a async job and so on, etc..
Or connect simply a landing page with an istance of your solutions too
Thats an interesting lead! I will look into this movement and brainstorm about it! Thanks a lot!
you're welcome!