I've scaled 2 SaaS to over $10k/month (here's my playbook)

I’ve scaled 2 SaaS products to > $10k/month.

It took me 10 years to learn.

I’ll teach you in under 60 seconds.

(brutally honest)

it took me a decade of building the wrong stuff

here’s what i would do today if i had to start over from scratch.

10 years boiled down into 7 steps:

step 1: validate before you build

I used to work in stealth for months before showing anything.

dumb.

now I launch in under 24h with just this:

• one clean landing page (framer)
• a lead capture form (beehiiv or tally)
• simple logo made in canva in 5 min

you’re not testing the tech. you’re testing demand.

step 2: launch before you build (again)

before you even write a single line of code…

• drop your landing page in FB groups, reddit, etc
• DM early signups and ask why they signed up
• let their feedback shape your roadmap

if no one bites, pivot the messaging to test different angles

step 3: build the MVP (only after step 2 works)

don’t over-engineer.

you can code it yourself or hire:

• devs from upwork/fiverr (filter by ratings + hourly rate)
• designers from dribbble or twitter

pro tip: don’t go cheap.

a $75/hr dev with strong reviews is worth 10x more than the $25/hr chaos.

step 4: study the competitors like a freak

this is where your edge lives.

• read every 1-star review they’ve ever gotten
• join their user forums and lurk
• find gaps they’ll never fix, and build that

then create comparison pages like “X vs your-product”

let the SEO slow-burn do its thing.

step 5: launch quietly, fail privately

don’t blast your product until you’ve fixed the leaks.

• launch to early users only (beta testers from your list)
• fix what breaks, improve UX, tighten onboarding
• soft launch on FB groups, reddit, etc.

no one remembers a bad private launch.

everyone remembers a messy public one.

pro tip: give away a limited product to early birds for 3 months in exchange for feedback.

product gets better bc of their feedback

they hit limits > upgrade > fund your next product dev stage

That’s how I acquired the first $1k/mrr before we went public.

step 6: target the pissed-off users

your first dollars will come from people already paying for a tool they hate.

• run google ads: “alternative to [competitor]”
• post in threads where people complain about those tools
• DM users who say “this tool sucks” with a kind, real pitch

I once converted 5 paying users this way with one reddit reply.

step 7: BLR (build, launch, repeat!)

this is the real engine.

every feature, every product, every test goes through:

build → launch → repeat

don’t guess but test.

don’t “market” but launch like it’s day 1 every week.

I wrote the whole BLR system as a free resource if you want to steal it:

https://mikestives.com/blr

you don’t need 100 playbooks.

you need one that works with your energy, your time, your budget.

this is mine.

take it, tweak it, run it.

btw, I share free weekly playbooks in my newsletter at

https://mikestrives.com