Every Developer Should Start Building SaaS This Week
You are working as a full-time software engineer in a startup. But in 12 months, you can own a SaaS making $10k+ MRR.
You have a software engineering job. You can buy food and pay rent. You probably don't have to worry about money.
But wouldn't it still make sense to start building a SaaS as a solo developer?
It will separate your time from your income. Of course, you'll need to spend time on your SaaS too, but your MRR wouldn't depend on the number of hours you spend each month.
It will give you freedom. Maybe you like your job. Great! But owning a SaaS will give you freedom. Freedom to quit your job. Freedom to take time off. Freedom to downgrade to a part-time role that you enjoy more.
It will be a valuable asset. SaaS startups built by solo developers sell for ~5x ARR. This means that your little SaaS making $10k MRR is $500,000 in your bank. Maybe you want to sell it one day and buy a house.
It will give you more meaning. Jobs in tech companies are different, but often the engineer is quite far from the people who use the product. There are product managers, sprints, and backlogs. But as a solo SaaS founder, you'll be very close to the real people using your product. You talk to them, listen to their feedback, and keep spending time improving your product.
But it takes time! Maybe even a few years!
So what? You have a job that pays for your life expenses. You don't have to worry about food or rent.
It's fine if it takes a year, two years, or even three years! So what? What's the hurry?
How do I know that I can succeed?
I would argue that you not only can succeed with your solo startup but your success is inevitable if you want it.
Success is not luck. Success is a decision. If you decide that you want to build a profitable microstartup as a solo developer to pay the bills and live life on your own terms, then you can do it.
Because hey, others are doing it! Jesse is building signature.email and making $10k MRR. Damon makes $20k MRR with Testimonial. Marie $24k MRR with Tally. Julien $12k MRR with NotionForms.
187 solo developers here on MicroFounder are making collectively $1.4 million per month.
They are not better than you.They are not smarter than you.They do not have any special skills.
They are developers like you. The only difference is that they started working on their microstartup a year (or two, or three) ago, and today they are making $10k+ per month and owning an asset worth $500,000+.
Most startups fail!
It's true that most VC-funded startups fail. But they are playing a different game. Everything or nothing. Growth at all costs.
They're not interested in $10K MRR, they're interested in raising the next round so that investors could 100x their money.
But you will make a decision to build this little SaaS. You have an unlimited runway – a full-time job. You can try with many different products.
No investors demanding unrealistic growth. No need to hire and maintain a team. It's only you, your computer, and your customers.
How could you fail when you make a decision to succeed and are also willing to try with many different products? Maybe some of your individual startups will not start making money, but they still contribute to "building you as a solo founder."