Some advice that Saas startup founders would give to their younger selves.

On doing it again

• genuinely create value for society, it's more sustainable and rewarding in long run
• you don't have to go "nuclear big" to be successful
• read and apply "The Mom test", learn how to scale following a customer-based approach

On pitching and selling

• start by providing professional services before a product - generate early revenue, validate idea, build early relationships
• Hone writing skills - good writing (influence) is an invaluable marketing tool
• sell before building - generating hype is an artform to master (Product Hunt, Itch, etc.)
• allocate time towards expanding network - attend networking events, within company, etc.

On MVP

• focus on distriboution & discvery - rely less on tech, unless it's revolutionary
• distinguish whether goal is to be "rich" or "king" - rich = raising outside capital at risk of reduced equity and control, king = bootstrapping and maintaining control
• be careful of VCs - can lose control and focus on business
• right amount for seed - building and validating business plan doesn't require that much money
• set aggressive ARR for first year - 500k ARR, path towards raising Series A
• only hire non-founder until PMF - prevents premature scaling and pressure of managing a team

On picking partners/co-founders

• keep in touch with old friendships - already built trust
• find co-founder with B2B sales background - can help you close deals
• hand over marketing to specialists - someone who can diagnose and prescribe the best solution, instead of presenting marketing strategies
• hire part-time bookkeeper within $0-1m ARR - then hireh Director of Finance ($1-5m) to manage AR/AP, audits, ASC 606, financial modelling, key revenue benchmark. After >$5m, hire CFO.
• it takes 7 months to fully recruit someone - 1 month for interview, 3 months to leave old job, 3 months to ramp up to speed
• create strategy for recruiting people + evaluate performance - hiring legal, financial is easier due to industry guardrails, hiring sales and marketing is harder
• get product off ground != scaling business - most are only needed for a certain phase of time

On looking for what's working

• time and money is usually better spent on ads - hn draw organic traffic, but they just want freebies, ads can help you target and have more reach, increasing conversion rate
• keep on trying - problem often lies in skill gap or tweak in strategy, don't compare to employed friends, it's not freedom