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Mistakes*
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Ian Landsman
April 26, 2014
Business
2
740
Mistakes*
A look back at some of UserScape's more noteworthy mistakes and some lessons learned.
Ian Landsman
April 26, 2014
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Transcript
Mistakes* * and silver linings
ian landsman
http://bootstrapped.fm http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm
UserScape
Support Tools
None
• product mistakes • business mistakes • Personal issues
* Never do two different talks eight days apart
Product mistakes
* ᓣܴ Α͏ͦ͜ ยินดีต้อนรับ
support utf8!
$x00,000 lost ☹
$x0,000 to fix ☹
Market Focus ☺
code within our means ☺
* Saas vs On-premise
None
userscape zendesk Profits to date: low millions losses to date:
-$64,000,000
never be a billion dollar business ☹
less consistent revenues ☹
☹
Profitability! ☺
code within our means ☺
lets us be niche ☺
Should you Saas?
Business mistakes
* I ❤️ Profits
None
Revenue 2005 2006 2007 2008 $488K $264K $123K $15K
* 2008 - 2012 The lost years
don’t miss the big transition
you’ll work too hard ☹
growth will slow ☹
product stagnation ☹
happy it didn’t sink the ship ☺
* we didn’t hire early enough
Full time vs freelancers
you’ll work too hard ☹
growth will slow ☹
* I forgot to raise prices
$x00,000 lost ☹
You’re not charging enough @patio11
* the right order matters
None
None
lost time ☹
$x0,000 lost ☹
perseverance ☺
* risk aversion
“You can't lose what you don't put in the middle.
! But you can't win much either.”
None
None
None
none of these are “profitable” ☹
Snappy • reclaim small teams • diversification • Saas experience
☺
☺ Laravel • give back to open source • hiring
advantage • fun!
☺ podcast • forces reflection • personal branding • fun
+ Guerrilla marketing
make yourself uncomfortable
* we forgot to do marketing
product + support
? ☹
! ? ☺
None
Personal issues
* doubt in myself
None
None
None
perseverance
engage your community ☺
* the horrors of Working on the internet
sitting all day ☹
alone ☹
your poor eyes ☹
I’m home so I see my family more ☹
* overworking
None
physical problems ☹
family problems ☹
• make time for exercise • limit weekend work •
summer hours ☺
* working in product
the customers never stop ☹
saas is even worse! ☹
stress ☹
make sure product is for you
None
None
None
Thanks!
Ian Landsman ianlandsman.com/talks @ianlandsman