Q14 | Answers for stuck SaaS founders.
My Startup is STUCK! Now What?
A field manual for SaaS founders.
From your first 10 customers to your first 1,000.
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WHY YOU'RE STUCK
Most SaaS advice is written for someone else.
It's written for VC-backed unicorns, or for companies at a completely different stage to yours. Revenue doesn't tell you where you are - customer count does.
- STAGE 1 · PRODUCT READY — The search for 10 real customers.
- STAGE 2 · MARKET READY — The road to 100.
- STAGE 3 · BUSINESS READY — Building the engine to 1,000.
Solve the right problem at the right stage and you get unstuck.
WHAT'S INSIDE
14 problems. The ones that actually stall SaaS startups.
Each problem is a question founders asked me again and again. Each chapter answers it for your stage. Where there's a tool, you can try it now.
Problem 01
Are we building the same business?
The 10 questions to answer before you fall out.
Problem 02
Where should I get advice?
If your engine blows up, don't call a butcher.
Problem 03
To VC or not VC?
What raising really costs you - and when it's worth it.
Problem 04
How much should I charge?
Setting a price that builds a business, not just a customer list.
Problem 05
Can I give it away for free?
When freemium works - and when it's a trap.
Problem 06
How do I find real customers?
From your first 10 to a repeatable engine.
Problem 07
Is my funnel actually working?
See, Try, Buy - and finding the leak that matters.
Problem 08
Why is my plan always wrong?
Bookings aren't revenue. Meet the Rule of 78.
Problem 09
Am I running out of customers?
Your market is a puddle, not an ocean.
Problem 10
What metrics should I track?
The few numbers that matter at your stage - and the ones to ignore.
Problem 11
What features should I build?
Solve the problem, not the request.
Problem 12
Who should I hire?
Can, will - and the four boxes every candidate must pass.
Problem 13
How do I pay people I can't afford?
Equity, flexibility, and a sales comp plan reps understand.
Problem 14
Why don't my team just 'get it'?
One goal, one week - and asking the team what's not working.
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TOOLS FOR SAAS FOUNDERS
Eleven free tools, each matched to a problem in STUCK!. No account needed; some interactive tools ask for your email when you start. Change anything, see it move.
See all 11 tools →
WHY LISTEN TO ME
I've made every mistake so you don't have to.
I co-founded my first SaaS company in 2001. We bootstrapped Clicktools to over 1,500 enterprise customers and exited to SAP. Since then I've sat in the COO, CPO and CEO seats across multiple SaaS businesses and advised dozens of founders.
Every conversation started the same way. Different founder, different product, different market. Same questions.
Why is my business stalling when I'm doing everything right? How do I know if I've found product market fit? Am I pricing this wrong? Who do I hire first?
The answers aren't complicated. But nobody was giving them straight.
After I exited, I kept being asked. I answered them so many times I eventually wrote them down. Then I realised something: it wasn't fourteen different problems. It was one.
Good founders. Solving the right problems. At the wrong stage.
That's why businesses stall. Not because the founder isn't good enough - because the same conviction that starts a business blinds you to what it actually needs next.
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THE BOOK
Get unstuck. Get the book first.
Launch updates, new tools as they're released, and nothing else.
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No spam. Just execution.