The Breakdown

The Biggest SaaS Growth Myths

Growing a SaaS is a tricky business.

The internet is flooded with hacks, strategies and tactics making it difficult to know where to start.

So this week I’m busting the biggest myths in SaaS growth.

Let’s get to it!

Myth #1: You have to find PMF

PMF (product-market fit) is where you have a great product that is meeting the needs of its customers.

But in my opinion, it’s one of the most overrated concepts in most SaaS environments.

Almost all small and medium-sized SaaS operations can get by just fine without ever finding PMF.

In my opinion, how a team leads a product towards PMF is a far more interesting and reliable indicator of success than actually ‘finding it’.

Here’s an excellent post from Rand Fishkin, the founder of Moz and SparkToro on why founders should put less emphasis on PMF.

Or if you prefer a podcast, listen to him explaining it in more detail.

Myth #2: You have to use paid ads

I can’t count the number of stories I’ve heard that go something like:

“I’ve finally finished building my SaaS and now I’m finally ready to turn on the ads”.

I get it. It’s a quick win. An automated flywheel that sits there and keeps printing customers.

But in my opinion, this is just simply the wrong way to go about it.

Paid ads should be a tool to use to increase the existing reach of a product that already has a proven revenue model.

In most cases, founders either get a lot of impressions but few sign-ups, or a lot of sign-ups but high churn.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

For example, read how this guy generated over $600k in new sales from Twitter without spending a penny on ads!

Myth #3: More features = more customers

Most SaaS founders, especially technical founders, are born builders.

We thrive off of the idea of creating something new.

So naturally when we think of growth we try to solve the problem by building more ‘stuff’.

But more features doesn’t always mean more growth. In fact, as 80% of features are rarely used, it can easily have the opposite effect.

Every new feature is yet another thing a customer must learn how to use. It’s a new barrier to a full understanding of the value your product offers.

So if it’s not adding significant new value to the customer experience, ask yourself this:

Why are you building it?

A “build it and they will come” mentality simply will not work.

Instead, focus on perfecting customer research and recognising what users really need.