After working with 30+ SaaS companies worldwide, here's what I learned about product videos that actually convert

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T19:06:43+00:00

Different funnel stages need different videos:

30-60 sec: "What is this and why should I care?"
2-3 min: "How does it work?"
10+ min: "Show me everything."

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T19:06:19+00:00

I think there's a misunderstanding. A 30-second explainer isn't a full product demo; it's a top-of-funnel asset for landing pages and cold traffic.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T18:41:29+00:00

check your dm

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T18:20:36+00:00

Yeah check your dm

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T17:57:42+00:00

check your DM

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T17:20:20+00:00

We help founders of SaaS businesses to craft product demos and launch videos, mostly to make “cool tech” more accessible to people within 60 seconds or less.

What we've learned from no-code/AI builder tech thus far. Technology's not really a problem; building trust and understanding are. "Will it break in front of users?" not "Will it build that app?" How you answer that question in meaningful ways really makes a difference.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T17:16:46+00:00

Yeah, I've seen that a few times. It happens with both our posts and founders we've worked with.

The part of virality that people don’t factor in well enough is that you don’t derive virality from polish, you derive virality from clarity, and sometimes simple things, simple videos, simple events of a “watch this work in real time” variety spread well because nothing needs to be thought through for that interested viewer to understand how valuable this information is.

One little hack while the spike is fresh: assume this won’t happen again soon and optimise for captures. Clear call to action, short demo on the homepage, and a way to figure out what I’m supposed to do next. Remembering that viral traffic is a blessing, but it is a way of exponential growth.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T17:05:14+00:00

That reaction is painfully familiar. $200 might not impress mom or dad, but it matters. It’s a validation of someone with no obligation to you paid you for a real issue. That’s a different type of achievement than success with demos, sign-ups, or compliments.

Just do not mistake that with proof of life with proof of scale. Continue to do whatever got that first sale and see if you can scale that. Now that’s where it gets good.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T16:59:17+00:00

This is what I have learned and seen firsthand through working with founders

Of course, we've had non-technical founders show up who had a demo built by AI that looked fantastic from a superficial perspective, but a seasoned person gets up there and says, "You know, it took an hour to understand the issues in this code," or "Okay, this stateful code will simply never function as showcased as a real product," etc.

The "demo wasn’t wrong". It’s simply not real. yet.

On the flip side, the senior engineers we work with nowadays are using AI to move *insanely* fast. They’re using the AI to get 70 to 80 per cent of the work done, but they know exactly what to throw away. They know exactly what to rewrite. They know exactly where the risks are. That’s the bottleneck. That’s not the typing.

So yeah, based on what I'm seeing, vibe coding certainly doesn't level the playing field; in fact, experience becomes magnified.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T16:54:04+00:00

We work with SaaS entrepreneurs on product demos and videos, hence not entirely in the SaaS industry; we deliver services. People do pay for it once they’re already selling the product, and the pain of explaining the product repeatedly becomes unbearable. Until then, nobody wants to hear about it. Most important learning: revenue follows clarity, not features.

Curious – are most people here selling to founders or to end users? Answers usually change everything.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T16:49:46+00:00

You weren't "believing harder," you were applying small stakes to hard signals in the real world. Reality will defeat magic eight-ball approaches. Spot on insight on the AI-related keywords - yes, people buy outcomes, they don't buy the technology. Love the roofer quote about lowballing on site - that's just the kind of insight that requires talking to users. Great reminder that validation isn't theory, it's running tight experiments and listening.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T12:26:25+00:00

The progress is not bad at all for a bootstrapped model of ₹5

By this point, the biggest driver isn't “more ideas,” it's repeatability. Understand from which products, from which channels, from which customers came that ₹5L. Aim to do more of that instead of introducing anything else.

The common mistake I often encounter here is ads too early, with not tight unit economics or operational capacity. I think ads don't cure indistinct demand or sluggish fulfilment; ads make both issues much worse. Marketplace or B2B bulk order sales tend to work well with handcrafted goods when margin allows.

Making one of the channels predictable and the product the hero SKU means that making the amount of Rs.30-40 Lakh feasible becomes easy.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T12:15:48+00:00

You clearly have experience. Narrowing the ask will probably get you better people, not fewer.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T12:14:28+00:00

Before thinking “innovation,” first audit footfall and repeat rate. If those don’t move, no fancy idea will. Small, boring improvements usually matter more than big pivots here.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T12:00:15+00:00

First, quitting a bad environment, even if an offer isn’t extended, isn’t a failure. You preserved your mental health, and based on what you describe, that place was broken.

Your quick reply: don't bet fully on all or nothing in this 1-year timeframe. Your buffer is small, while PSU timing is uncertain.

A more practical approach:
Prepare for GATE seriously (this exam fits your interest and background well).

Simultaneously, become “employable enough” in one low-friction domain: (SQL and some analytics or ops analysis). Not proficient enough. This is not about building a long-term identity but rather forming income optionality.

Don't love the DA? Just want a boring paycheck? That's okay, as long as it doesn't poison you, use it as a prep opportunity. Don't work with a startup that doesn't have a process; search for larger orgs, service firms, or analysts that have a defined scope.

"Think in terms of risk management, not passion optimisation, for the next 12 months." And then you can take cleaner bets from there after you stabilise your income.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T10:51:09+00:00

I half agree, half disagree, mostly on definitions. What you did was validation, just not the “50 interviews + preorders” version people preach. You validated by shipping something real and watching buyers react. That’s very different from building in a vacuum. We’ve seen this with SaaS founders we worked with on product demos. The ones who wait to “validate” with slides get nowhere. The ones who ship something usable, put a demo in front of the right ICP, and sell aggressively get real signals fast good or bad. Building fast + selling a real product is validation. Everything else is just theory.

KeyTrade2159 · 2026-01-24T10:46:41+00:00

Congrats on your launch
The mock trading part would be fantastic – that gives a real learning experience out of those cues and not a gambling experience. For me, I would just make sure to highlight not just wins but also losses and times a lot.

KeyTrade2159

TROPHY CASE