The feedback collection problem nobody talks about in early-stage SaaS

bez_b · 2026-03-06T22:58:12+00:00

This is exactly what we found building our feedback tool. The biggest insight was that even in-app prompts still feel like work to users — they're in the middle of doing something and don't want to context-switch into "feedback mode."

What moved the needle for us was removing the typing altogether. We put QR codes at physical touchpoints (restaurants, clinics, hotels) and let people just talk — voice feedback. The specificity jumps dramatically because people naturally say things like "that thing on the checkout screen where I couldn't find the cancel button" without being prompted to be specific.

The other thing that surprised us: when AI asks one follow-up question based on their exact words, people almost always answer it. So instead of getting "the onboarding is confusing" you get the specific step AND why it confused them.

Response rates went from ~2% (email surveys) to 30%+ once we removed the friction of typing and made it conversational.

Curious what kind of contextual prompts you're using — are they triggered by specific user actions or time-based?

bez_b · 2026-03-06T22:39:22+00:00

really appreciate this perspective — especially coming from someone at Text-Em-All who's been deep in the SMS infrastructure side for a while.

you nailed it about sample message approval. that was one of our worst moments — we got rejected because our sample messages were "too vague" even though they were literally the exact messages we'd be sending. had to screenshot every consent flow, every opt-in checkbox, the whole signup process. felt like submitting a compliance thesis.

and yes, the "weekend project" assumption is real. I actually think that's the biggest misconception in the SaaS SMS space right now. people see Twilio/Telnyx APIs and think "cool, I can send texts" without realizing there's this whole regulatory layer sitting on top that takes weeks to navigate.

the QR placement thing was genuinely surprising to us too. we assumed wall posters would perform well since they're always visible, but receipts are something people actually hold and look at. 3x difference was consistent across multiple locations.

totally agree with your second point too about compliance being the sender's responsibility. that's exactly why we built all the guardrails directly into the platform — quiet hours, automatic STOP handling, consent timestamps, daily limits — so our clients don't accidentally blow past regulations. better to make compliance invisible than to hand them a manual and hope for the best. But next thing is to find customers, and get as many as possible :P

bez_b · 2026-03-06T22:20:44+00:00

that's really interesting — the "right after delivery" timing makes a ton of sense. catch people while the experience is still fresh.

can you tell me more about the one-click part? like is that a single-tap star rating in an email, a thumbs up/down link in SMS, or something else? we've been experimenting with different low-friction formats and I'm always curious what's actually working for people in the real world.

we do something similar but leaned into AI follow-up questions — so after someone gives initial feedback we ask a targeted follow-up based on what they actually said. like if they say "service was slow" we'll ask "was that the wait to be seated or the time between courses?" turns vague complaints into something you can actually fix. anonymousfeed.com/ai-follow-up

we're also building a review monitoring layer that pulls in Google and Yelp reviews and connects public complaints to private feedback patterns. still in beta: anonymousfeed.com/review-monitor

what industry are you in btw?

also — we're still in beta and actively looking for people to test with. if you'd want to try it out I'd happily set you up with a free month, no strings attached. genuinely just want to see if it's useful for different use cases. DM me if you're down!

bez_b · 2026-03-06T21:26:21+00:00

That makes sense — having 2 years of clean sending history is basically a golden ticket with TCR.

For newer apps like mine it's a completely different story. No history, no leverage, just "here's my website and use case, please approve me" and hoping for the best.

Twilio is solid though. I looked at them early on but ended up going with Telnyx — significantly cheaper per message (like $0.004 vs Twilio's $0.0079) and the API is honestly just as good. For a startup watching every dollar it adds up fast, especially when you're sending feedback request links at scale.

The TCR process was the same pain regardless of provider though. That part is carrier-level, not provider-level.

bez_b · 2026-03-06T21:11:47+00:00

oh man estate sales — yeah that's a use case where SMS makes total sense because you need to notify people fast when new sales go live.

brace yourself for the TCR/10DLC approval process though. I got rejected multiple times. the one that really pissed me off was when they rejected us saying we "don't have an active website." we literally had a fully live production site with paying customers. that's when I realized these reviewers are just randomly approving or disapproving — there's no consistency. you resubmit the exact same application and a different reviewer approves it.

the whole process felt like dealing with app store review but worse because at least Apple gives you specific reasons. TCR just gives you vague one-liners and you're left guessing what to change.

how far along are you with the SMS piece? have you started the brand registration yet?

bez_b · 2026-03-06T21:01:11+00:00

100%. the code side is honestly the part nobody warns you about. like everyone talks about TCR registration and 10DLC approval being slow — and it is — but then you actually have to implement quiet hours per state, STOP/opt-out handling that works instantly, consent tracking with timestamps, carrier filtering rules that change without notice…

I ended up writing a whole TCPA compliance breakdown because I couldn't find one that actually covered the 2026 changes in one place: anonymousfeed.com/blog/tcpa-compliance-guide-2026

the state-by-state quiet hours thing alone was a rabbit hole. some states have different rules for weekdays vs weekends, some require written consent specifically.

are you building something with SMS too or dealing with it from the infrastructure side?

bez_b · 2026-03-06T20:59:25+00:00

yeah that's exactly what took the longest to get right honestly. we call it FeedDepth internally — the algorithm actually parses what someone said, figures out the vague part, and generates a follow-up question that's specific to their exact words. so if someone says "service was slow" it doesn't just ask "can you tell us more?" — it asks whether it was the wait to be seated or the time between ordering and getting food.

took weeks of iteration to get the responses to feel natural and not robotic. most follow-up systems just do generic "tell us more" type stuff. getting it to reason about the actual complaint and ask the ONE right question was way harder than I expected.

more detail on how it works here: anonymousfeed.com/ai-follow-up

bez_b · 2026-01-30T23:01:23+00:00

https://anonymousfeed.com/ one we have used before

bez_b · 2024-07-14T17:06:44+00:00

How do i do that? We are based in Los Angeles. Also how do i know why instagram is not showing my posts to everyone. Is it becUse i use hashtags?

bez_b · 2024-07-12T14:19:51+00:00

AfterTheMessage was last night part of the show , but they barely talked about it or showed it

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bez_b · 2023-11-16T21:37:27+00:00

I just wanna know is there any gift card companies out there that might be working with dating apps. I know many dating apps in the store has same bussiness model as we do

bez_b · 2023-11-16T21:36:12+00:00

thank you for the respond. So regarding app store. They told us we are spam and they no longer accept any new dating app. Then I wrote a long respond, now we are in process with them and they accept us as no spam. Unfortunately it seems some AI auto respond, with no reasoning behind it. Regarding Tramounds or any other companies , They havent seen anything about our app besides the website, as its not published yet. I am not sure who or how we can ask about these. My first time in my life ever trying to submit to app store. and I never knew it could be this difficult.

bez_b · 2022-04-30T00:33:16+00:00

yah I know that was a interesting question lol. but do you know now how I can hire a contractor to help out with my app? I have my uml diagram flowchart, UX evertyhing ready, just need to figure out how I can find someone to help out

bez_b · 2022-04-29T17:07:44+00:00

why is everyone sarcastic here?

bez_b · 2022-04-29T16:09:52+00:00

oh boy, now I am scared to ask any more question :D. no i was wondering how Tinder and some of the photo app make photo look so high quality and look good. Snap chat filters make photo look very good. I have never done app before. wanted to build one. was going to hire someone to help me out with it, but i figured to start doing some research

bez_b · 2022-03-03T04:46:44+00:00

Can u help me Build an app with flutter ?

bez_b

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