[Week 0] Building in Public - Introduction
Hey guys, welcome to my live broadcast of getting a new product from $0 to $1mm in annual recurring revenue.
Quick context:
Who am I?
4x founder - 2 fails & 2 wins. The 2 wins were SaaS product companies - both bootstrapped & sold to private equity.
What am I doing now?
I am on a mission to help other founders reach their revenue growth goals. Whether they are bootstrapped or funded, SaaS software or ecommerce, my focus is on revenue and building efficient growth engines.
How exactly am I going to help?
By building my new product company in public and sharing my journey from $0 to $1mm - in real time! I will be posting weekly reports on what I am exactly doing each week to grow the business, and how it all performs.
This collective sprint which other founders can follow along is a much better way to share growth lessons than talking about my past learnings. We will learn together.
In this format, you will see my mistakes, my wins and failures in real time. Personally, it will also hold me accountable to get it done ;)
Let’s get into it!
What is the new product?
Whether one has an ecommerce store, a SaaS software product or a solopreneur service business, a key lever for customer conversions is social proof. Humans are wired to think and act in tribes.
- Who else has bought your offering?
- Why should we trust you?
- Who else trusts you?
- Are they relatable?
Usually, most of us solve this by pasting a couple testimonials on our site. Some brands that truly stand out also have a lot of adulation on their social media profiles.
However, is there a better way to show who loves your brand and trusts you, when it matters most? At the point of conversion. To add more color on why you and your product are great?
Enter: PlusOne.to
PlusOne is the easiest way of asking for & displaying dynamic video & text testimonials on your site and social media profiles.
Additionally, one cool thing about PlusOne is that you can also display all the great things people mention on your social media on this very same Wall of PlusOnes.
Yes it is a simple tool and not a complex solution, which is why it will be fun to see how we get this to $1mm in annual revenue with price plans ranging from $29 to $49 per month (final price to be decided). This translates to 1701 - 2874 paying customers.
In the upcoming weeks, we will discuss:
- Product <> market fit (who wants this and is it really a problem).
- Ideal customer profile (what specific customer segment should we go after).
- Pricing/free plans (how should we prove value).
- Marketing channels (at this price point it has to be low-touch, efficient and perhaps product-led).
- Product growth levers and feature prioritization.
Excited to have you follow along. Feel free to engage with questions or ideas :)
Raj
Masterclasses Content Lead, Growth Minded Product @ Big Life Journal
2yHi Raj Sheth, all the best for PlusOne. Thank you for making your learnings and journey public. I think this public sharing of your lessons can become another product/Service. I have a question, How did you decide on this idea? What are the parameters you weighed before choosing to take this forward? Usually, there are so many critical thoughts against this idea or any new idea. How does one still go ahead? Product - Market fit etc comes in later, but what aspects help you decide in the initial phase? Did it arise from a Gap you observed at your work or did you find this idea randomly interesting? If it is the latter one, I am curious to know, more aspects about your thinking and approach.
Beyond Thirst
2yThank you for building in public. Many including myself will learn a lot from your journey.
Capgemini Ventures | Startup Collaboration | Ex-Zinnov | IIM Kashipur
2ylooking forward to see the development / progress and real time L&D :) as a startup enthusiast... Thanks!
Passionate Leader | Strategic Partner | Creative Problem Solver
2yCongratulations. Your drive is inspiring!
Growth @ Coast | MBA @ Kellogg '25 | Ex-Founder/ Lawyer
2yOne of the 189 subs already! Excited to see this. PS: saw this tool called shoutout.so that’s on similar lines. Probably worth checking out if you haven’t already!