After 2 years of building SaaS I've quit my full-time job... Need an advice on crowdfunding!
I'm Kirill founder at MetaSurvey and a tech guy. Together with my co-founder, we are building the service of swipe surveys for 2 years already. We've been working full-time on desk jobs and working on MetaSurvey in our free time.
Since March I left my job to spend more time on MetaSurvey, add more features that users ask for, and achieve my dream of becoming an entrepreneur and not working for the boss anymore!
Why funding?
Our project is growing, updated more often, and users have become more active (MRR is $100/mo). So I need to find funds to continue work on the project and pay my bills too 😄 Since before we were a bootstrapped company.
Pros & cons
I began to explore possible channels for funding for indie startups. We dumped the idea of finding a VC because we want to have freedom of action. I am considering crowdfunding and accelerators.
The first one seems to be the most attractive because, for those who donate now for our growth, we will be able to provide lifetime access to our product, allow them to have a big voice in feature requests, and invite them to our private chat.
The second one also looks attractive, because, in addition to investments, we will be able to join a community of like-minded people, gain new knowledge, and develop together with other founders (this motivates).
Learned resources
Crowdfunding
Mirror - I found this service in one of the articles here on IH, I like that it was made on a blockchain system.
Accelerators
Thanks @csallen for a cool article on this
I like 2 accelerators from this article:
Calmfund - for indies, but they accept startups with MRR starting from $2k (I'll try anyway 💪).
TinySeed - nice, but their application program is closed until August.
I also intend to consider YCombinator.
I will be extremely happy if you share your experience of experiencing in crowdfunding, an accelerator, or know other alternatives that are attractive for indies, or any advise 🤝
Thank you 💙
P.S. if you have any investment proposals please DM me
Hey Kirill. Have you thought about having your customers as your source of funding?
If you will be able to work on a full-time basis, perhaps you will be able to grow that MRR enough.
Just my 2¢.
Thanks Alex 🤝
This is what I dream of. My mrr is not enough to cover my bills. Therefore I decided to look for investments to continue working fulltime on my product, and forget about desk job or freelance work forever.
I don't need fundings for the new BMW 😅 I just want to stay free and grow my saas!
Good luck!
I'm currently freelancing so that there's at least some income coming in, but I'm also on the hunt for money to support the business (until we have enough users), and I'm in a similar situation/mindset as you are, regarding VC.
https://www.fairmint.co/ is another one I've come across and been intrigued by. I love the idea of our users effectively being part-owners of the business. I understand that this is something that's well-suited to web3, but I struggle to totally understand web3 😅 so Fairmint has appeal. It's expensive, though, and I don't like that.
Thanks Liz!
I got that I needed to focus on the features for my customers. As a result I've deep into non-stop coding for 2-days 😅
I also decided to start crowdfunding, no VC, no accelerators (they need more MRR).
I love the idea of Fairmint, but yeah, it is too much for early-stages.
Maybe you can consider AppSumo and relevant lifetime deals websites to gain some new clientbase and authority?
I tried to list my product on AppSumo but didn't complete it. I learned the audience are strange behaviour: buy subscription, use a product, then refund it later.
Do you have an experience with AppSumo?
First I just want to say congratulations. Rest, I am sure you will figure it out, and if not on the first try, it will be a hell of a learning experience that will just make you stronger.
For the advice, as the alternative to crowdfunding and accelerators, I would say just get used to living with bare minimums, and try for your savings to last as long as possible. In the end, your cash burn rate will decide if you are gonna make it or break it. Does not matter if your revenue is 100 bucks or 100 million a month, you should not be spending more than earning.
Thanks Dusan!
I'm climbing this rock for too long to stop. Quit a job, lose stability, but start to go forward with my dream. I'll continue to survive as much as I can and grow with my product 🤝
I don't have a lot of experience in the VC/Accelerator path but if you are looking for extra support growing as a bootstrapper have a look into our community for indie makers WBE Space
Thanks Tiago!
Do you have a trial period?
Dm me on Twitter please so that we can find a solution :)
Hey @tereshchenko_kn, I am working on a project to provide alternative financial solutions to entrepreneurs. We're hoping to help the DO-ers that have been ignored or rejected from traditional funding or VC.
Feel free to send me a note, maybe we can collaborate and help you out!
Thanks James!
Please send me on inbox