[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: 

1. Product <> market fit (who wants this and is it really a problem).
2. Ideal customer profile (what specific customer segment should we go after). 
3. Pricing/free plans (how should we prove value). 
4. Marketing channels (at this price point it has to be low-touch, efficient and perhaps product-led).
5. Product growth levers and feature prioritization. 

Excited to have you follow along. Feel free to engage with questions or ideas :) 

Raj