Pivoting from SaaS to Chrome Extension

When I initially launched my SaaS https://24hourcharts.com back in the fall, as a way for users to quickly and easily create charts, I ran into a fundamental problem.

Getting users to leave the application their data was already in and importing the data into the 24hourcharts SaaS was a major roadblock. It wasn't a seamless user experience in fact it was quite a disruptive one.

Just to get users to create a user account to try the product was an uphill battle.

That's when a friend mentioned that the startup he worked for (that's making serious bank) started as a Chrome Extension before moving to a SaaS platform. After doing some research there are numerous companies that have started in this way.

So I converted 24hourcharts to a Chrome extension and launched it yesterday!

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/24hourchartscom/hkjacjdckmhpgjhcjodbaomlgegigakp

While building the chrome extension was a fantastic learning experience, from the user experience it's really interesting. Because 24hourcharts' goal is to allow you to create charts from data from any application, you can customize the users' experience depending on the site they are on.

For example: If someone is on Notion, I can automatically grab all the databases on their page, so with a couple of clicks they can turn a Notion database into a chart that can be added to their Notion page.

Not having to visit your website or create a user account really make it easy for users to try out your products.

I would love to hear about anyone else who has turned a SaaS into a Chrome extension or turned a Chrome extension into a SaaS.