How to start a SaaS company: three steps before writing code

Executive overview

Most founders waste months building the wrong product because they start with code instead of customers. The fix is to reverse the order: validate the market first, build an audience second, then build the product.

A problem is only worth pursuing if it is both urgent (must be solved) and important (critical to the customer). Without that, you will end up in the "one more feature" trap.

Start with market, not product — then your go-to-market, then build.

Step 1: Define the market first

• Identify the exact ideal customer and the specific market segment.
• Test whether the problem is urgent (they have to solve it) and important (they will struggle without a solution).
• Understand the competitive dynamics and why you are 10x better.
• If you have already started building and are pre-revenue, stop. Validate the market before adding another feature.
• Your market thesis is an opinion until the market confirms it.

Step 2: Build your V0 go-to-market before the product

• Do not hire a fractional CMO, run ads, or rely on a sales hire — none of these work without prior validation.
• Build an audience of target customers through LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or a lead magnet.
• Grow a mailing list of engaged people in your target market.
• Have direct conversations to validate whether the problem is urgent and whether they would actually pay.
• A "sounds great, let me know when it launches" response is a polite no — keep probing for real buying intent.

Step 3: Build the product in iterations

• Only start building once you have a market thesis and an engaged audience to test it with.
• Do not disappear for months to build based on five verbal commitments — those are not real signals.
• Follow the loop: build, show, sell. Iterate until someone pays.
• A credit card swipe — even $99 for a lifetime deal — is the first real validation of your thesis.
• Go back to people who said no and show them the next iteration.

Bonus step: script your demo and pricing early

• Before the product exists, decide what a demo would look like and what you would charge.
• Thinking through the demo forces clarity on what the core product value actually is.
• Pricing shapes everything: a $30/month product is a fundamentally different build than a $100k platform.
• Early pricing thinking feeds back into your market definition, go-to-market, and product decisions.