What is your biggest problem as a founder?
Share the most significant problem you face as a founder. Indicate what stage your startup is currently in.
I will try to share my view on possible solutions + give you a link to potentially helpful resources.
I will start with the problem description (I will add the solution later).
Project Name: KnowledgeHunt
Stage: Newly launched
One-sentence description: Curated Knowledge directory that will help you elevate your Startup and avert avoidable mistakes
Biggest problem: Constant growth
Trending on Indie Hackers
Hands down, Marketing.
Can you tell what part of it more specifically?
and what stage/industry your startup is?
This comment was deleted a year ago.
I found this article really helpful in my early-stages.
How early-stage startups can get users
For sure
If you're trying to get the word out, in addition to marketing, paid adds, posting on pages. Talk to people using Vibehut.io
Prospecting Hours: https://vibehut.io/rooms/63077a5600550400164284a0
IH Networking: https://vibehut.io/rooms/6304c25f8ac27200164bd65f
This comment was deleted a year ago.
Hey there, actually I think the most significant problem for me is my emotions are in rollercoaster 🎢 mode.
I'm at a very early stage (2 paying customers). Hope you have a solution for that haha!
I've heard very good things about The Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Shit Together! This is a very common problem: know that you're not alone.
I was literally searching for my next reading — perfect timing!
Well, can't tell much here.
Have you thought about why you have those emotions? My guess is that because you are not sure your startup is worth the time; thus you have doubts. Can you eliminate that? Not really, but I guess you can reduce your doubts by setting better expectations.
Is your startup SaaS?
Absolutely, in one single day I can go from "I'm a piece of crap 💩, this is never going to work" to "I'm a genius 🧠".
I know the truth is between those two feelings lol, but I feel like everything is x10 in terms of emotions. And yes, it's a saas ;)
I think the biggest problem is acquiring those early paying customers and retain them.
Hey! What type of startup do you have?
Its a Serverless Cloud Observability platform to help developers identify and resolve errors quickly.
There is definitely no short answer to that. I assume you are SaaS so here are few resources I think can help you:
How to Measure and Increase Product Engagement
Guide to Product-Led Growth
Your first 10 customers
Product Promotion Stack
There are a lot more, but as I don't know the specificity of your startup and problems, I won't overwhelm you.
Those are very helpful. Thanks.
Thanks. This will help. Yes, we are a Developer focussed SAAS Startup and primarily working in the cloud tech. Here is our website: https://www.kloudmate.com Would be happy if you could share your feedback.
The website is looking pretty good. I am not familiar with the service/space, though.
Have you tried Twitter targeted ads? - https://twitter.com/sanlavdenizcan/status/1579743766550048770
No yet but yes this is something I am going to do shortly. How about Linkedin Ads?
The best playbook I have red so far about LinkedIn
LinkedIn Organic
Thanks for sharing.
Try mini weekend or yearly conferences and be a vendor. When I first started it was the easiest way to get clients.
I hate that this is my answer, but I get stuck in analysis paralysis. I've been trying to just heavily favor action, and I'm getting better, but so much time spent thinking / strategizing when I need to just GO lol
Thanks for sharing.
Maybe that is because you think that validation (creating simplest MVP) of the idea will cost too much/take too much time?
Once you realize that it can be done quickly and cost-efficiently, you will just GO
Prioritization. There's so much to do, but not enough time/people/budget/etc.
Oof, this is me as well -- both trying to prioritize between different work tasks, but also between work vs. the rest of life.
So so true. There's never enough time to do it all.
I try to compartmentalize activities to certain days of the week.
Example:
So relatable. Have you found any proper ways how to prioritize correctly?
Not a perfect system, but by writing everything down that I want to do it helps me see the big picture and focus on what's most important
Marketing
Single Word - Money
Making things balanced. Marketing and development should be in sync.
Project Name: Enform.io
Stage: Pre-Revenue
One-sentence description: For Product Leaders to quantify the business impact of product iterations, align teams, and keep stakeholders informed (in half the time).
Biggest Problem: Closing sales - getting plenty of calls and interest, but struggling to get people past trial and to commit to paid plans.
Thanks for sharing!
My guess is that 1. either your product does not solve problems for your users that is why they won't commit or 2. You don't educate your users enough on your product and they can't see the benefits.
Here are a few resources that can give you food for thought (those are regarding customer feedback loop, reverse trial method, and onboarding) :
SaaS onboarding
Guide to SaaS Product Education
guide to reverse trials
customer feedback loop
Amazing - thanks for sharing! I'll check them out. I have been working a bit on the initial product experience and onboarding flows so this is timely.
Focusing more on the benefits that are relevant to the prospect is definitely something I need to get better at on calls too, rather than the standard demo.
Aside from onboarding pointing to a product problem, I still think my own sales ability is something of a challenge as well. As a product person by day, a lot of customer calls are problem discovery related, and driving some level of commitment at the end of a call just feels a bit unnatural.
Do you have any tips for a reluctant salesperson? 😂
Sales, especially through the calls, is hard to master. It has a huge learning curve,so you will get better by time.
In case if you are using cold e-mails, here is a good piece - Guide to writing cold e-mails
"Outreach to get noticed and acquire 1st paying customer".
You need to have a solid plan for reaching out to your prospects.
Commenting based on experience from my early-stage startup, Data visualization product www.grafieks.com
The outreach program differs product by product and also by target segment/buyer personas. Just focus on it apart from optimizing your product or adding new features.
Thank you for sharing this information and your experience!
My project name is timegram.io
One sentence description: A smart, privacy-first time tracking tool for remote and hybrid teams to help managers map employee work time with tasks/outcomes.
Biggest hurdle: Launch/go-to market strategy and acquiring the first 100 customers. we are pre-rev right now but our product is in final stages of being market-ready.
Interesting project!
My personal attitude towards time-tracking tools is not great, but it is highly necessary in some cases.
If I were you, I would have started with an outreach strategy in your case (finding your primary target companies via LinkedIn, job boards > finding key HR people there > cold e-mail, cold DM.
Here is 2 resources I suggest taking a quick look at (especially good ones if you have no marketing budget):
47 tactics to get early traction
Your first 10 customers
Could you tell me what you don't like about such tools? I am asking because we address one thing that most people hate about it, which is privacy invasion and harsh surveillance & monitoring. If that's what you don't like about time tracking, I am sure you'll like timegram. :)
Coincidently, this is what we have recently started working on (drafting messages, finding the right people matching our personas, etc.)
Great. I'll check these resources out.
Thank you for your comment, TonikeKH!!
That is just one part of it. The other part is that it sends the wrong message to me from the management.
It feels like they don't trust me or my results. If I put results, why do I need time tracking? I assume time tracking is primarily helpful for the repetitive jobs (calls, outreach, data entry, etc) that needs to be measured.
you are right from your (probably employee's POV), but from a manager's perspective managing, let's say, 10 or 20 people or more, such tools make things transparent and gauge productivity, while also getting solid numbers that quantify your efforts and complement the results you have achieved. Like connecting the dots and everything. In addition, every team has slackers and below-average Joe's who either need guidance or boot if they aren't cut out for the job.
Most people have the perception that data from these tools is only used when managers need evidence to fire someone, but that's not true at all. Of course, that's one use case, but a very small one.
I might've sounded a bit defensive here, but this is a good reasoning to resort to using these tools.
I hope I was able to answer your concern mate :)
Sales and marketing
For me it is scaling as a solo entrepreneur. You know what to do but need to duplicate yourself to get it right.
For an early-stage startup, getting users is the hardest part. If you have no outside funding, and you're not a marketer, then it's even harder.
There is definitely no short answer to that. I assume you are SaaS so here are few resources I think can help you.
Resources I mentioned to the below comment could be relevant for you as well, so check them out!
biggest: Don't have a great product idea.
Well, You don't need a brilliant idea; good-enough ideas work well.
Check this out, may help: How to generate Startup Ideas?
I used to do big projects so doing smaller projects is kind of new for me. But building a small sustainable business seems even harder.
Project Name: git18n.com
Stage: Newly launched
One-sentence description: Translation management service (TMS) that pushes translations directly to Github.
Biggest problem: I don't have a killer feature. Pondering if AI generated suggestions for copywriting and translation is a killer feature? Haven't seen a TMS offer both and well as so simple setup and integration with Github.
I think you are asking a bit wrong question: what is a killer feature?
That is called a feature-driven strategy, while having a problem-driven strategy is more effective. Ask yourself what the existing problem that people have with TMS platforms is. Identify the problem first, the solution will come after.