The SaaS Validation Playbook
Stop optimizing for vanity metrics. Start optimizing for revenue.
Most SaaS founders fail because they validated interest, not payment. This playbook is built from real shutdowns and failure patterns, not generic advice.
Created by
Bishwas
3
Chapters
1
Students
2
Discussions
What You'll Learn
Filter tire-kickers before they waste your time
Stop drowning in support tickets from users who will never pay
Know if your problem is 'nice-to-have' before building
Avoid the 2-year validation trap where everyone nods but nobody pays
Charge early, convert better
Learn why adding friction increased one founder's conversion from 3% to 41%
Build for payers, not for feedback
Stop letting non-paying users poison your roadmap
Launch to buyers, not builders
Avoid the Product Hunt trap of 600 upvotes from makers who'll never use it
Chapters
The $1 Filter: How to ask for money without overbuilding. The exact playbook.
Chapter 3: The Pain Hierarchy
What Others Say
""The issue isn't getting feedback. It's that feedback from free users is almost worthless because they're not your real customers."
""Charge something, anything, from day one. Even $9/month for an incomplete product got us 7 paying users in week one."
""More users equals more money but it doesn't work like that apparently."
""They are so sophisticated that they can handle heavy API request loads, no question about that! But who cares when there's nobody to use?"
""Everybody says they would pay when it's hypothetical. Until they have to pay. Then suddenly everyone has an excuse."
""The free trial was a vanity metric factory. Big signup numbers that meant nothing. Killed it, revenue went UP 40%."
""Trial-to-paid conversion jumped from 3% to 41% after adding a $1 paywall. The friction filtered for serious buyers."
Questions & Answers
Is this just generic startup advice repackaged?
No. Every claim is backed by real numbers from real shutdowns. 2,600 signups to 0 customers. 200 users to $0 revenue. 2 years building to zero sales. These aren't hypotheticals. They're post-mortems.
Should I really charge before my product is ready?
Yes. One founder charged $9/month for an incomplete product and got 7 paying users in week one. Another killed their free trial and saw 70% fewer signups but 40% more revenue. Payment before product is the only validation that matters.
Won't removing free trials hurt my growth?
Your signup count will drop. Your revenue will go up. One founder saw 70% fewer signups but 41% trial-to-paid conversion (up from 3%). Fewer users, more money. That's the point.
How do I know if my problem is 'nice-to-have'?
Check for existing workarounds. If people aren't already spending time or money trying to solve this problem, they won't pay you to solve it either. No workaround means no urgency. No urgency means nice-to-have.
What's wrong with building an audience first?
Nothing, if it's an audience of buyers. Most 'build in public' audiences are other founders who will cheer you on but never buy. Chapter 4 shows you how to build an audience of people who actually have the problem and budget to solve it.
I have a dev-heavy SaaS. How do I charge early when the MVP takes months?
Sell the outcome, not the product. If your SaaS automates X, sell X as a service first. Do it manually. Charge consulting rates. Then build the automation after you've been paid to learn the workflow. Chapter 2 covers this in detail.
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