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Risk in developing a simple SaaS solution

2 points by j_z_reeves ↗ HN
Has anyone developed a simple SaaS solution and had it cloned before gaining market traction?

The app that I developed is extremely simple and took about 5-7 hours of development time. It solves a very specific problem for B2B companies.

My worry is that, since its highly simple right now in its MVP form, I feel like either the customers will defer to "I can build it in house" or worse, an incumbent could easily add it as a feature to an existing app. I also remember the famous dropbox comment, where a user mentioned that they could easily replicate the product with rsync.

Do you just press on and begin finding product-market fit or would you add some more features to deter copycats at this stage?

2 comments

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sharemywin
Options:

1. make it a plug in to another platform and charge.

2. give it away for a sign up and email so you can get feedback on new features and add a pay tier with more features.

3. try selling it to a set of potential users in person and/or skype to get some feedback.

z3t4
You don't want to sell it to people that can easily build it them-self. You want to sell to people that has the specific problem and in need of a solution.

There is always the possibility that your idea will get stolen. But again, those that can easily build it them-self will have a hard time seeing the business value, and will think your idea is stupid.