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Ask HN: Should I do a closed beta stage of my SaaS?

7 points by foxpc ↗ HN
Hey guys,

I'm currently in the middle of developing a SaaS and am already wondering if I should do a beta stage with limited users (invite only or something like that).

The product is not something too niche (any non-impulsive buyer who uses e-shops would do) so I suppose I could find people who would benefit from the service that might not be 100% done, a bit buggy and a bit broken. But where should I look first? I suppose, HN would be the first place I look to.

The product would not be free (once it's mostly done) as it would also be costing me (vps, emails, text messages etc). I suppose I should be letting people use the SaaS for free for the beta duration and probably give them discounts if they are willing to use it once it's live?

How should I take their feedback? Currently looking at something like UserVoice. It would take me back $20 every month I'm doing the Beta and if I decide to keep it further on.

Any other advice on how I should handle the birth of a SaaS?

6 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 15.1 ms ] thread
tmaly
I am in the same boat, I plan on just releasing mine out into the wild. I want as many users as soon as possible so I can get feedback and tune features.
davidw
The sooner you get paying users, the better, because then you can figure out what they really want and move in that direction.

Depending on what kind of users you have in mind, HN may or may not be a good place to find them. There are plenty of products, like patio11's stuff, that probably don't convert at all from HN since we're not his target market. Maybe find a niche and concentrate on that?

I'd just use email or the phone for feedback.

foxpc
The problem would probably be driving the users out because of some features not working/working incorrectly.

I should maybe just do very thorough inside beta with a few selected people I know to fix up at least the most annoying things.

davidw
Attracting users is not going to be easy in any case, so I would start trying to pull them in and get them using it, a bit at a time.
jf22
You should allow in as many users as you can handle the support and feature requests for.

One user can take up to 90% of your time, other times ten users come in and happily use the software with no complaints.

Take their feedback with gmail. Don't get too fancy.

Proactively ask for advice and comments. Sometimes people don't complain until they leave.

webstartupper
1. In case you do not currently have a marketing site that lets people signup for an invitation to the beta, stop all development and create the marketing site right away. Having this done before you code lets you gauge whether your value proposition resonates with your target audience.

2. Start sending prospects to the site (post to forums where your customers hand out, run some ads via adwords or facebook etc) and let them sign up for the beta invitation. During the signup, get some additional information in order to segment them for step 4 below. Be very clear that your product will be in a beta stage, so that customers know there may be bugs/unfinished features. Promise to grandfather in the beta customers for a significant lifetime discount once the beta is over (and actually do so when the time comes).

3. Code and get your product ready for beta. This should be the minimum viable product and you can call it beta v1.0. Now segment your list so that you allow only x customers for v1.0, then later y additional customers when you go to beta v2.0 and so on. This will ensure that you do not get overwhelmed with too many customers giving you too much feedback. Depending on your product, segment the customers based on niche, so that you can focus all your energies creating a product solution fit for that specific set. Each beta cycle should be iterative - learn, build, measure.

4. Charge for the beta v1.0. This will go a long way in validating your idea and your product market fit. If you are not sure what to price your offering at, go with your gut instinct. You can always increase or decrease pricing later.

5. Take feedback over skype, phone or email. If you start with a small set of early customers, it should be possible for you to spend enough time with them. Scaling using UserVoice can be done later, since you are limiting the first set of customers.