How To Launch A SaaS From Scratch (4 Essential Steps)

If I had to build a new SaaS from scratch, without followers, without my network, and without cash - this is how I would do it.
This is a path consisting of 4 critical steps from idea, to product, to a future-proof business 🚀
#saas #startup #validation #ideas #productmarketfit
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Learn how to validate your SaaS idea
Watch next → • How I Use AI + No Code...
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[@SimonHoiberg]

Building a SaaS is hard. There’s no manual, no ultimately “right” or “wrong” path. The 4 steps I present in this video is meant to be repeated as many times as it takes to hit home 👌 That’s how I did it. And that’s how most founders I know did it. Next up ➝ Learn how to validate your SaaS idea Watch it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4SwqZd4i7mWgsk Be sure to hit the like button on the video if you got value from it! Talk to you in the comments 👇

[@faaltubutimportantaccount4254]

Bro please fix your audio. Whenever the sound 'S' or 'Sha' comes, it hurts my ear. It becomes difficult to continue using headphones. Thanks

[@antunes1787]

@@faaltubutimportantaccount4254 i think u might have bought ur headphones from a gipsy

[@henriettebckman2620]

Simon jeg tror du er norsk så jeg skriver på begge sprøk. Går det an å lage en SsaS når du er 10? Can you make a SsaS when. Your 10?

[@fasaipuengudom5412]

Small SaaS factory. Simon, you have no idea how much this video means to my SaaS journey 🙏

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thank you, Fasai! I'm truly happy to hear that 🙌

[@maxstyne]

What‘s your SaaS?

[@wolverineforce2068]

Hey im new and just now finding out about Saas. Im 24 and develop the skills in digital markting and web dev. Are you looking for potential collabs at this time?

[@RagingBOT_]

​@@wolverineforce2068hello are you still here?

[@wolverineforce2068]

@@RagingBOT_ yes

[@baobaobiz]

I haven't watched tons of business/startup mentoring videos but this is by far the best! Well done for such gold content.

[@SimonHoiberg]

I'm happy to hear that 😊

[@davidhatley]

00:00 Simon shares his four essential steps for launching a SaaS from scratch. 01:10 Importance of "problem-founder fit" - being the ideal customer profile and passionate about the problem. 03:03 Utilize unfair advantages - expertise, unique insights, connections - as they give an edge. 04:53 List problems, passion, and unfair advantages to find the ideal problem to solve. 06:17 Create an organic distribution channel - focus on one platform, engage with the community, create valuable content. 08:25 Build the product in public - involve the community, get feedback, build a loyal user base. 09:23 Use no-code and AI tools to quickly develop the first version of the product. 10:04 Expect failure and turn the process into reusable building blocks for future projects. 11:42 Aim to create a "SaaS Factory" by continuously generating and validating new ideas.

[@laviray5447]

Thanks!

[@Simon.Freund]

One of the most valuable videos I've ever caught on KZbin! Subscribed and saved!! Great job Simon

[@shammahbarnabas]

Simon, I wanted to express my gratitude for this video. It's wonderfully explained and presented in a way that even a 5-year-old could easily grasp. Your effort in making complex topics accessible is truly appreciated.

[@SimonHoiberg]

That's amazing 🙌 Thank you!

[@hsarp1990]

One of the best videos! Have saved to regularly come back to it

[@Utopy34]

Wow this was actually extremely valuable in the sense that it's immediately actionable, thank you for putting it out there! Subscribed ;) I love the idea of creating a mini SaaS factory and seeing a failure as an experiment that gives you more experience for the next attempt. I truly believe that if we stick to it and try it over and over again in a methodical and strategic way, things will end up working out no matter what. I'm a developer, always struggled with everything you mentioned and AI is a game changer for me!

[@fabiojonathanarifin1]

Always with the high quality substantial content! Thankyou so much. I always prepare my pen and notebooks when I watch your video 🤓

[@SimonHoiberg]

That's awesome 🤩🙏

[@robertkottelin4970]

You're the best Simon, currently building, thank you so much

[@SimonHoiberg]

That's awesome Robert 🙌

[@SayuriFumico]

A lot of value here! Thanks Simon

[@struan_mclean]

Been waiting for this video 👍

[@SimonHoiberg]

Awesome 🔥

[@leonorabogus1486]

This was so helpful!! Thank you so so much!!!

[@FlorinPop]

As always, looking forward to watching your videos 😃

[@SimonHoiberg]

Hope you liked it 😄

[@TheGeekHide]

Thankyou man! I needed this! I was literally lost and depressed after failing 2-3 projects in a row!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Back at it 💪 I know many who fail +10 projects before they hit home with one. It's very common 😁 Build small and fail fast! And keep iterating.

[@Jakobowsky]

Thanks for sharing this Simon!

[@HenryChavezV]

No sabes como me acabas de cambiar la vida, gracias por compartir estos videos 👍

[@ecommerce9926]

Another inspiring video, great job Simon!!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Glad you enjoyed it 🙌

[@jonathanlugg2718]

Thank you Simon! Massive help

[@SimonHoiberg]

I'm happy to hear that 🙌

[@Tristanyway]

I especially loved the expectation to fail. Instead of having fear, better to manage our expectations accordingly!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Yes, most definitely. It changes everything.

[@shuaiber]

Awesome stuff Simon. I do think that an unfair advantage in marketing is better compared to other unfair advantages

[@SimonHoiberg]

Absolutely! Especially if most of your competitors are very technical founders primarily.

[@jordanbaker7066]

Yeah man this is on point. I can really get behind this "Build for Yourself" viewpoint. Thank You for sharing and keep up the awesome. -j

[@awusacollins]

Great video, Simon. I was amazed with your point of retargeting plans )

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thank you!

[@lanero9]

Killer quality on all levels, Simon!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thanks a lot 💪

[@GotUpLateWithMoon]

only realize the value of your content after wasting my time making mistakes, thank you so much Simon!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Oh yes! I think we've all been there. Thanks a lot.

[@ojonyeagwu1532]

Love your content man! One thing I wanted to ask you about is the limitations of no-code. Like how can you tell when your idea is too complex to build with no code? It’s a bit difficult to get a comprehensive idea of tasks that are too complicated to make with no-code. From what I’ve seen, the most common limitations are scalability, lack of flexibility on the front end, migration and security (the one I’m most concerned about). Clearly you have a strong technical background with web dev so I believe you would be the best person to speak on this.

[@SimonHoiberg]

"What are the common limitations of No Code" Perfect idea for a new video 📝

[@eddiejaoude]

Amazing video Simon!!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thank you, Eddie 🔥 Glad you liked it!

[@user-dw1gi8qs8y]

I love your outfit broski

[@allenbradley2592]

Awesome Simon! Very interesting about the lifetime deal before the product was built. I know this wouldn't quite be "on brand" but, I would love to see a video of the setup you use to record/edit your videos. They are bar-none absolutely awesome!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Hehe, you're not the first to ask 😄 I might create a video about it, even though it's a bit off-topic.

[@allenbradley2592]

@@SimonHoiberg Then again maybe this is part of your "competitive advantage" 😉so keeping it close to the vest I understand. Either way - I love watching and more importantly - implementing the videos!

[@SimonHoiberg]

@@allenbradley2592 Hehe that's a good point 😉 Thanks again! Happy to hear that.

[@dotpenji]

Your focus on "problem-founder fit" is brilliant. How have your past SaaS ventures influenced your approach to new ones, and can you share a quick example of how this learning has shaped your recent projects?

[@markanthonymanayan2136]

Great breakdown of the key steps to launch a SaaS product since this really simplifies the process for newcomers.

[@Necrocidal]

This video was a lot better than I was expecting. Subscribed.

[@SimonHoiberg]

Awesome! Welcome to the channel 😄

[@Necrocidal]

@@SimonHoiberg Seriously, I was 90% expecting junk clickbait or someone flogging their limited and unscalable "website builder" lock-in scam. You actually delivered instead!

[@oTalesTen]

Very good ideas! Thanks for the video!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Glad you enjoyed it 🙌

[@LilKezinOficial]

Hi Simon, I'm Brazilian, I found your channel searching in English, I really liked your channel's proposal, and unfortunately Brazil is always the last to know about new trends, That's why I had to venture into KZbin searching in other languages, in English, Chinese, Spanish, and filtered by view count, got important information and organized everything, Now I'm earning 500 thousand reais a month, that's incredible

[@victorian_trevis]

That incredible content, so much value from it ! Thank you, I am going to test right now ! "Instead of crating a SAAS, create small SAAS factory ! "

[@SimonHoiberg]

I'm glad you got value from this 😄

[@user-ot3nn4ub3j]

Simon, I love your content, and the way you present it is awesome. You always demonstrate complex stuff in an easy and engaging way... Have you ever thought about creating a SaaS Course for non-technical founders?

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thank you! And yes! In fact, it's coming later this year 😄

[@user-ot3nn4ub3j]

@@SimonHoiberg Really! That's Awesome... can't wait to be one of the Early Adopters ❤ Keep up the great work ✌

[@sun-ship]

Great info... Ty.

[@opinionsandmemes]

Don't forget guys. If they start talking on the internet about how to do it, it means is not as it used to be.

[@ianbrown4471]

Well that's just my nightmare 😢😢

[@aqleemasajid]

Thank you for this video. Because of you, I am working on my subscription-based platform where I will be converting Figma designs to real web pages (React, angular, html, css, bootstrap). Users will be able to request unlimited designs with one subscription. I will be launching it this week. So excited :-)

[@jaredtyler5463]

Never disappoints!

[@SimonHoiberg]

I'm happy to hear that 🙏

[@brahimsliti156]

Thank you for this video, great content as usual! Simon do you think you can do more content on marketing and launching a product? Like acquiring leads, etc? Thank youuu

[@SimonHoiberg]

That's a great idea, thanks 🙌

[@vickywitvicky]

Thank you very much Simon

[@SimonHoiberg]

You're most welcome 🙏

[@catalinmpit]

Bookmarking this for when I start my SaaS!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Awesome, Catalin! Can't wait to try it out 😄

[@TheAmanShows]

I was really watching this how much this video is informative🧐

[@louisadibe3189]

Great video

[@techeagle1406]

Hey Simon - Great video and do you know what the biggest pain point is for SaaS brands?

[@zakaabdi]

Sir , the title sounds practical but the information in video is just theoretical. Can you see the difference? Just feeding me with info and not practical way of doing so . Was looking forward to this video prior but didn’t fill my cup yet . Thanks anyway .

[@wiulax58]

That’s most YT content.

[@KylePrinsloo]

Solid practical advice as always! Love the end nuggets - too much glamourising going on these days, but you give a balanced realistic approach 👏

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thanks a ton, Kyle 🙌 As you know, I'm a big fan of small and achievable 👌

[@TapRefer-com]

Valuable❤

[@vusalnovruzov5412]

Hi Simon, awesome video, I have a question. I am a full-stack developer, I know node, react, mongodb, express and bunch of other web technologies. I am wondering if I can build my saas with all these tools?

[@maxstyne]

Starting 1:15 the music matches the vibe of the video perfectly!!!!!!

[@SimonHoiberg]

Haha thanks 😄

[@maxstyne]

@@SimonHoibergwhat is the song called?

[@horuken]

awesome video❤

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thank you 🙌

[@mamanracing4737]

bro, you just gave me purpose❤

[@SimonHoiberg]

Great 🙌 Go for it!

[@claytonmmbehi]

Im a new developer and venturing into saas.

[@user-rh5od9lj4k]

You are the best KZbinr on earth

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thank you, Victor 🧡

[@willia_mbrown]

Hey Simon. Did you build your saas yourself? Or hire developers? I'm at the start of my saas journey and have no idea what to do. Do you offer consulting? Or have a program I can buy? Please let me know buddy as i'd love your help and guidance. Thanks, Will

[@gator701]

Simon, I struggle to get traffic, and my SaaS is one year after GTM. I'm too cautious about buying ads. I need my first 100 customers. I did get 26 customers from Reddit. Product to market fit is not an issue and the product is a solution others are successful selling. Traffic is my problem.

[@tahafernanamusicchannel7880]

Before AI, I authored 9 books on African Intellectual Heritage. Guess what?! am still very poor 😂 You just inspired me, with your other videos, to redesign and convert some of my books into E.Books. Thank you Sir, lets do it the Viking Way😇

[@JoystickLab]

Amazing content Simon. I saw you mentioning about the lifetime deal of linkdrip before you started developing. How did that work? I mean did you charge the users before publishing the product, like a presale? or handed them out the beta when they paid for it.

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thanks! And yes, that's exactly what I did 😊 Check out this article where I break down the whole process: www.indiehackers.com/post/i-made-75-000-pre-selling-a-saas-i-havent-built-yet-89d28bb772 (The reported revenue here is a little lower since I wrote this before we ended the final sales).

[@anasouardini]

This roadmap needs years, especially the content creation part.

[@SimonHoiberg]

It could be years, yes. That's why step 4 is so important.

[@Necrocidal]

Shared this with a Java dev friend, he created an AbstractProxySingletonSaasFactory

[@SimonHoiberg]

😂

[@tonypantaleone]

I'm restarting from 0 zero , in short term vacation rental in Italy , despite +20 years of experience, i have no money avaibility, what can i do to create a saas mvp like video live -stream booking option to connect direct host &guest? thanks, Tony

[@eleken.agency]

love the 'small SaaS factory' concept

[@rameezmahmood6569]

I want to know how this actually works, talking about SaaS in general and where do you sell your products and if you can start this with 0 investment money and you cant buy AI tools

[@MrJony-fv3ev]

Thank you for the video, really helpful. Need some advice :) I'm working as a software engineer, have a bachelor's in corporate management. I found a really cool problem to solve and currently developing MVP of my app. I can't finish all the app as I'm a backend developer, for instance I need mobile developer. But currently I can't pay salary and it's a little bit hard to find investors in my country. WHat would you advice me in this situation? Give some percentage to them? If so, how much percentage is ideal? I know it's up to me but as I'm beginner in start-up field, I need some advice, thanks beforehand, may you all be unicorns )

[@tiagogalvaogomesdesouza4113]

Your videos are great, I'm from brazil, I would like to know what program you use to create this dynamic in the videos with these images behind you talking

[@SimonHoiberg]

Thank you, Tiago 😊 I'm using Adobe Premiere + After Effects.

[@YusufSahin-se2lq]

What if u have a problem solving software but there is another big software with same concept

[@bruceclark406]

How are you judging a successful response versus a non-successful response to your sass idea? What do you do when there seems to be a gray area?

[@SimonHoiberg]

To be frank, it's super difficult. "Validation" is actually a poor word to describe what's really going on. In reality, it's a lot of intepreting diffirent signals and indicators. There isn't a simply answer to it, unfortunately.

[@egretfx]

Just built mine, launching in next two weeks: Secret: I code.

[@SimonHoiberg]

That's awesome 💪 Share it with us when you're live!

[@FALCONopYT]

where and how to find the problems

[@RafaelMarquesOficial]

“Scratch you own itch” is harder that I thought (at least for me)

[@EmmanuelOdii80]

Simeon, i started to build a customer feedback software in public today, i needed to share some features, but i didn't have s good tool to crrate the video. Please, what do you suggest?

[@SimonHoiberg]

Have you checked out this one? www.screen.studio Really cool and easy software for professional-looking screen recordings.

[@TheMISBlog]

Love your videos SImon, Learned a lot from it, you motivated me to start my own SaaS, Thanks man

[@SimonHoiberg]

That's amazing! Super happy to hear that 🙌

[@devatrii]

I’m building no code web to app converter :)

[@AbdulRehman-bl5zj]

Where can I learn Saas from scratch?

[@kigazon-development]

@SimonHoiberg: Is it a real problem that if you start to build a following on social media and promote your idea, copycats will take that idea and develop it themselves?

[@kuerschner]

Can you create a video on how to find problems to solve?

[@SimonHoiberg]

It's in this video 😄 Almost the first half of the video is about just that.

[@AdrianTwarog]

The intro was awesome :)

[@SimonHoiberg]

I hope you won't ever actually block me 😁

[@node666]

First!

[@mikoo1991]

u dont need to make sure there is a market. most of the time people dont know what they want. you must instill a pain in people that your product will remove. kinda dark psychology but its extremely effective.

[@theluckydragon2346]

do you mean when “build in public” to open source the code?

[@SimonHoiberg]

Not necessarily open sourcing the code. But sharing your wins and challenges, updates and details from your journey.

[@theluckydragon2346]

@@SimonHoiberg currently doing that with a possible startup on linkedin

[@phhant0m1]

Simon i’m fourteen and I came across your videos, I’m wondering if you have any tips for younger viewers.

[@SimonHoiberg]

Just concentrate on building! Learn no code, learn a bit of coding, and just put great stuff out there. If you can have your first 10 products on the internet (no matter if they're making good money or not) by the time you're 18, you are going to *kill it* as a Tech Entrepreneur 💪

[@digitnomad]

build a SaaS product is a pretty much a 30 days task from concept to content, however, build a successful SaaS product that sells is a huge deal.

[@SimonHoiberg]

Totally agreed!

[@karthi24252]

Nice advises for bootstrapers 😅

[@SimonHoiberg]

Definitely meant for bootstrappers, indeed 😁 most of my videos are.

[@vanshbhansali2598]

Hello i want to create a Ai chatbot which can generate instagram captions so can you help me

[@MarcAndrewII]

Is that a real background? If not I need to know how to make one.

[@SimonHoiberg]

It's a real background 😁 That's how my office looks.

[@vigneshaithal]

Great content sir. Than you for posting sir. I will definitely use this in my SaaS and will deploy it within 30 days.

[@SimonHoiberg]

That's awesome 💪 Let us know how it goes!

[@incrediblemhi]

Let's go

[@SimonHoiberg]

🚀

[@Takeonm]

This is GOLDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[@webflowbangla]

Building in Public is a great idea.

[@SimonHoiberg]

I would definitely recommend it!

[@David_tommy]

Hi Simon i want to build my community on tiktok how long would u think it would take me, before i roll a presell

[@SimonHoiberg]

I would build the audience until +10K or so followers, but more importantly, you should have lots of comments and interactions/conversations in each video - otherwise, the size of the audience just becomes a vanity metric.

[@David_tommy]

@@SimonHoiberg thank you sir for your reply, please one more thing, you did a presell on linkdrip, which was a web app application, but what am building a mobile application, ( using flutterflow to be specific) would user pay for a discounted presell without seeing the app live, and if there will how will do that, thanks for your reply in advance

[@RND_IN_Tech]

software as services

[@moon_shot_alts]

I have found a problem that can be fixed. It is a problem that me and all the forex traders are facing day to day. I have the money to invest on a saas project to solve this problem. But I don't have any management skills or what so ever, never worked with anyone in the past. I am struggling with that....

[@simonel8581]

How much money I need to start?

[@SimonHoiberg]

It highly depends. For some SaaS, close to none. For others, you won't get far without a lot of cash.

[@simonel8581]

@@SimonHoiberg and about marketing, how much money needs?

[@mloneusk8269]

Word of mouth - But how to do it? I think Saas is a distribution and marketing problem rather than a software problem

[@anasouardini]

The following statements do not invalidate the quality of this content. Given the scenario you've proposed, you have no unfair advantage. Plus, with the criteria you've mentioned, you wouldn't have the knowledge you're measuring whatever needs to be measured with. So the only thing you'd do if you're not you: when you're very new to this, you only have the power of consuming knowledge about such area in business. That is the only starting point you'd be thinking about, and then whatever you get from it will guide you to the next step which might be in any direction as opposed to being inlined with your goals. You only have uncertainty, when you're unexperienced, not rich, unconnected, etc etc.

[@thegaiye12]

Make a KZbin channel on BUILDING saas is more profitable then MAKING saas.

[@JagjitBrawler]

Yeah I’m sure the founders of Salesforce and HubSpot agree with you

[@explorewealth6515]

Bro if its possible teach us complete process or leave it don't play with feelings using fancy thumbnails

[@SimonHoiberg]

It's hard to get it all into a 12-minute video - especially since building a SaaS is highly contextual. Though, I will have a video course later this year. Here I will go into much more details 👌

[@viniciusthadeubrilhantelea1630]

I need a partner to start a business

[@Menonfleek]

I respect your effort on this video Simon but I just feel like I have lost 12 min of my life. Not to be a hater, but the content is quite plane, no in-depth on marketing strategies to promote the SaaS, no tips on developing… although it’s true that every business not just SaaS starts by solving a problem or covering a need the fact that it has to be your “dogfood” is very mind limited… Sorry I won’t subscribe, not for me.

[@notlatif6214]

not using your own application is a good way to make a shit application, maybe you don’t need to be your most active user, but generally speaking, the more alienated you are from it the more it your users will hate it

[@soccerfanatics7691]

Whole lotta yapping