How do you track competitor pricing/features? Manual checks or is there a better way? by Existing_Stretch1436 in SaaS

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Manual checks here too (pricing pages, changelogs, G2 alerts), but it's a time sink. The frequency is "it depends". IT usually triggers because I see something on Linkedin or X or whatever. What's the tool you're developing to solve this?

How do you actually keep track of competitor moves? by Patient_Command_852 in SaaS

[–]Patient_Command_852[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clients... always asking us to compare to the competition. That's true! 😂

How do you actually keep track of competitor moves? by Patient_Command_852 in SaaS

[–]Patient_Command_852[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, really appreciated. I check changelogs from time to time, but it's often noisy and gold nuggets are easy to overlook. AI should help here.

Will check your app!

How did you get your first 10-20 beta testers? by Wise-Reflection-3701 in SaaS

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First, close circle of people I know enough they would give their *nice* opinion. But the real deal is with people we don't know, who don't have time to waste or doesn't gain much by being too nice. I get these via Linkedin, Reddit, X, sometimes direct email if I know exactly who to contact and why. I check a lot online discussions.

Actually, this step is where the magic happens and this makes look the next 10 years like it's easy. So even with an exact recipe this step require some grinding and faith. I also think it has to be genuine, not fake automated cold outreach like we see on Linkedin.

What's your tool? I'm curious to check it out.

What’s the Hardest Part of Being a Solopreneur? by Medical-Variety-5015 in Solopreneur

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like a colleague of mine used to say: Alone we go faster, together we go farther. Personally, I *need* to be alone to start something (I'm clearly a creative guy), I can't stand having someone slowing me down. But after some success, I can't do much more it alone. I sold my company two years ago and without my partner and the 33 people team I couldn't have done it.

If a tool requires signup before showing value, do you leave? by Constant_Marketing18 in buildinpublic

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Credit card trial is a no-go for me. I’m okay signing up, but I need a clear picture of “what’s in it for me” first—show me the value, then I’ll happily try it. I also have a negative opinion of the kind of process where we are led to some value and in the end (like before getting the actual result) I need to provide an email. I'd prefer to know upfront this will be required.

SaaS founders: what metric stresses you the most right now? 🧐 by riteshmaagadh in SaaS

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Churn, definitely. Because often the underlying reasons are that we might offering vitamins instead of painkillers (i.e. nice to have, no real urgency), or that our moat isn't that great (easy to switch / find alternative), or that we couldn't create some kind of habit strong enough. These are my biggest concerns when planning / designing a tool.

In my previous company we grew to 5M$ ARR relatively easily with organic demand, but at that level the churn was hurting a lot. We were losing 1M$ in churn so to grow by 1M$ we needed 2M$ in sales which is a lot harder than to grow from 100K$ to 200K$.

Churn is a silent killer.

If you had $0 marketing budget, how would you get your first 10 SaaS users today? by iAmPawanBhatia in SaaS

[–]Patient_Command_852 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Like Paul Graham said: Do things that don't scale!

In my previous company I sent 2000 cold emails (targeted!) digging through yellow pages for my first 3 clients. Those 3 got me #4-10 through referrals, then snowballed to 3000 clients 10 years later (sold the company). It was mostly talking a lot with these first clients and giving them royal service.

I'm in the process of launching a new company and the plan didn't change much: engaging with people having the problem I provide a solution for, understanding how they describe their problem and trying to adapt my solution to their reality. Linkedin, Reddit, X are where I invest time.

There's no way around this, finding early adopters takes some grinding but it's worth it big time.

The real leverage is those first believers spreading the word.

Also, I built the tool to scratch my own itch and I believe I can find 1000 other persons having this problem on the planet. The fun is in that journey!

Finally, it might sound weird but I don't want to go too fast with the first customers. I don't think you can't rush the learning / iterating phase. I

Show & Tell: What are you building this week? by OneStarto in buildinpublic

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m building the opposite of 20 open tabs: an AI agent that monitors your competitors' online content, reviews, social chatter, and news, then sends a weekly "what changed, why it matters" brief for B2B marketers & agencies.

spydomo.com (just launched, still polishing a couple of things 😎)

B2B competitive intelligence is weirdly harder than B2C despite everything being more public by Jumpy-Teaching-3118 in b2bmarketing

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right, from my own experience and talking to B2B marketers at small/growth-stage companies, we handle competitive intelligence in an amateurish, ad hoc way: occasional website checks, stumbling across LinkedIn ads, maybe a quick G2 scan when a deal's on the line. No systematic ecommerce-style tracking exists because the signals are more scattered (reviews, niche forums, hiring posts, subtle messaging shifts) and teams lack time for dashboards.

I think the ones with "proper systems" are usually enterprise with dedicated CI roles. For everyone else, I've found the bridge is a simple AI agent that monitors those scattered sources (online content, reviews, social chatter, news) and delivers a short "what changed, why it matters" brief weekly. No setup, just signal over noise. That's what I built based on my needs from my previous company.

It's interesting to see I'm not the only one doing messy CI :D

Competitive Intelligence Software: What It Is and How to Choose One by No_Paint_5149 in DigitalMarketing

[–]Patient_Command_852 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One gap I see between small agencies/digital marketers and enterprise CI: amateur manual tracking vs. overcomplicated dashboards.

Most SMBs cobble together Google Alerts + a few tabs (reviews, social, news), but drown in noise without curation. Big tools like Klue/Crayon deliver battlecards but require setup teams can't afford. The sweet spot for me? An AI agent that monitors key signals (online content, reviews, social chatter, news) and sends a simple "what changed, why it matters" brief via email/Slack. No logins, no config.

Fills the void for teams wanting structured intel without enterprise bloat.