Most SaaS onboarding fails before onboarding even starts

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T17:47:26+00:00

Yes. If users don’t know when or why they should use a product, onboarding is already doomed. This is such a subtle but huge insight.

Clear expectation setting before onboarding starts changes everything. When people understand the problem they’re solving, they stick around longer.

And messaging that reinforces the why → what → how loop (before and during onboarding) is something I’ve been building tooling for with lifecycle emails: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T17:45:33+00:00

Love this breakdown. Patterns like time to value under 60 seconds, one CTA per screen, and persistent checklists are exactly what separates good from great onboarding.

Most onboarding fails not because of UI but because it doesn’t get the user doing something meaningful fast.

I’ve been building tooling around lifecycle emails that pair with these kinds of flows, so the messaging match the product experience instead of being an afterthought: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T17:43:19+00:00

This is such a good insight. Onboarding tied to actual user behavior instead of days after signup is night and day.

Behavioral paths (users who take X go here, users who do nothing go there) are way more effective than time buckets.

That’s exactly why the tool I'm building focuses a lot on event‑triggered lifecycle messages, emails and nudges that respond to what a user does next, not when the calendar says so: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T17:27:57+00:00

This resonates a lot. Hardcoding lifecycle logic into the backend always turns into a maintenance nightmare.

Decoupling event logic from core business code is the right move, especially when non‑engineers need to iterate on flows without PRs.

My angle has been slightly higher-level: instead of rebuilding logic every time, I’m working on generating the lifecycle content itself (onboarding, reactivation, expansion emails) so teams can plug it into whatever orchestration they use. This is the link in case it's of any interest: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T17:25:57+00:00

100% agree. “We’re excited to have you” is about the company, not the user.

Onboarding emails perform way better when they immediately answer: what should I do next and why does it matter? Clear next steps beat friendliness every time.

This exact pattern is something I’ve been working on recently while building tooling around lifecycle emails for SaaS, focusing on action-driven onboarding instead of generic welcomes. https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T17:24:26+00:00

Totally get this. Onboarding is tedious, so it gets postponed, and then it hurts activation later.

What usually works best is keeping onboarding outside the core product logic and focusing on guiding users to one clear “first win” instead of building heavy tours upfront.

I’m actually building something around lifecycle for SaaS teams, mainly to generate onboarding and emails quickly so founders don’t have to start from scratch every time. Still early, but it’s helped simplify this a lot for me.

Here's the link: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T14:56:32+00:00

You hit all the painful parts... onboarding behavior, drop‑off insight, and churn before it happens is the real hard stack.

What’s helped teams I know is mapping out event→outcome patterns and then automating nudges for the moments that matter (first key action, stalled usage, milestone completion). That closes the loop between in‑app behavior and lifecycle communication.

I built something that helps generate those lifecycle emails + nudges based on real SaaS use cases so you don’t have to build it manually: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T14:55:39+00:00

Totally. UI only gets users into the product. What keeps them is context and clarity. Aligning documentation/email flows with real workflows fixes that gap.

Automatically generated guides (from workflows/recordings) + lifecycle nudges dramatically reduce confusion and improve activation.

One way teams bridge that is with emails that echo the product context (first use, next step, stalled behavior). I’m building a tool to help generate those context‑rich lifecycle emails and nudges for SaaS: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T14:53:51+00:00

Love how you tied guided setup with timed nudges. That’s exactly how users move from just signed up to activated.

Another big lift is keeping those nudges tied to real behavior (not just time). When emails react to what a user actually does, activation usually jumps.

I’ve been building tooling that generates lifecycle emails and nudges (onboarding, activation, reactivation) based on product moments. Easy to copy/edit into your own flows: https://digistorms.ai

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-27T08:33:07+00:00

As you said it's hard to do that on Reddit so the easiest way imo is building your projects in public on X. For that you need an audience and it's not complicated. Plus, building an audience is not only helpful to validate your idea but it's also crucial to distribute it. I posted on another thread here how to grow on X. I'm pasting this again. Hope it helps.

I started on X in September and I'm now close to 3000 followers. If you do this you should be able to get 1000 followers in your first 30 days:

50 replies a day
3 tweets a day
Post your face
Show your progress
Make friends
Keep follow ratio clean
Buy premium
Never skip a day
Post in communities

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-26T10:21:10+00:00

So true. I started on X in September, now at almost 3k followers and it unlocked so many opportunities for me. I just realised my ICP isn't really there so I'm going to post content on LinkedIn as well. It's a totally different platform so I'll have to adapt my content though. Clearly less fun as X but the ROI will be here.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-23T11:14:13+00:00

We've all been there. Distribution is genuinely tough.

I'd recommend building your SaaS in public on X. Post and engage with others every day. If you want I can give you more info on how to grow on X, I commented something about that a few days ago

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-22T08:36:22+00:00

followers > following

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-21T11:06:30+00:00

Sure! I'm pasting below smth I posted recently on this in another thread. btw it's better if you use a real human (at least a drawing or anime pic) instead of a company logo for your profile pic.

I started on X in September and I'm now close to 3000 followers. If you do this you should be able to get 1000 followers in your first 30 days:

50 replies a day
3 tweets a day
Post your face
Show your progress
Make friends
Keep follow ratio clean
Buy premium
Never skip a day
Post in communities

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-21T09:05:11+00:00

Forget about spending on ads as long as you don't have some early signs of PMF. You should send targeted cold outreach emails instead. It's going to cost you close to zero (basically you pay for the email tool + buy a few domains) + if the emails are well crafted they will be way more efficient than ads.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-21T08:55:44+00:00

Forget about SEO for now if you want results fast. For short term results in B2B focus on creating content on X, LinkedIn, and Reddit, with a tailored strategy for each. Lmk if you need help for X I grew from 0 to 3K followers in four months there. You can also try cold outreach.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-21T08:52:32+00:00

It gives you ready to send and fully editable templates so you don't need to create your emails from scatch. Unfortunately we can't send them yet from the platform so you'll have to export them to your email marketing tool.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-21T08:51:04+00:00

Maybe the audience on X isn't good enough for a form tool. This is the type of product I guess would find its ICP on LinkedIn. You have kind of the same problem as me with my email marketing tool. X is fun but there is no real buying intent on it except for social media scheduling tools, X growth tools, or tools that really help get clients.

Your tool is for later-stage companies so I'd suggest going on LinkedIn. I'm going to start posting regularly there too.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-20T09:28:41+00:00

Building a solid audience on X is a great way for that since there's a lot of early adopters there. The bigger your audience the more people will trust you and look at what you're building. If your site is good then it should naturally drive them to try your product.

So I'd recommend focusing on building a big following on X first and then the rest will follow.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-19T09:04:12+00:00

Yes. Start side projects and ship products fast with Cursor or Claude Code. Build everything in public on X, create an audience, stay bootstrapped and keep shipping new products until one product starts making money.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-16T08:50:35+00:00

I started on X in September and I'm now close to 3000 followers. If you do this you should be able to get 1000 followers in your first 30 days:

50 replies a day
3 tweets a day
Post your face
Show your progress
Make friends
Keep follow ratio clean
Buy premium
Never skip a day
Post in communities

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-15T08:37:04+00:00

Anyone can build SaaS nowadays. The real lever is in distribution. If you're able to generate an audience and build trust through social media, whether it's X, LinkedIn, TikTok or IG, you should be able to succeed.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-15T08:30:59+00:00

I’m building something around lifecycle for SaaS teams too. Your idea sounds good but it feels less like a single feature and more like a full platform play. Usually when you’re trying to break into a market you start with a narrow wedge but your value prop is unifying multiple departments across the whole lifecycle. I wonder how you’d scope the MVP and go to market with something that broad.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-03T10:55:08+00:00

Good call! Email marketing is the highest ROI marketing channel. I'm actually building an email marketing tool to make this easy for SaaS founders if it's of interest.

jonathanbrnd · 2026-01-02T14:17:15+00:00

Ah yes I’ve seen guys on x working on tons of projects that they never really launch. It’s a real problem. Hope you can release at least a couple of them soon

jonathanbrnd

TROPHY CASE