Hey r/SaaS. Brian here. Golden retriever. Four years old.

Six months ago I was a normal dog. Today I'm at $679K MRR.

A few people have been DMing asking how I did it so figured I'd share what worked. Not trying to flex, just hoping it helps someone who's where I was six months ago (on the kitchen floor, no equity, eating a sock).

Here's what I learned:

1. Ship in a week. I see so many founders in here "validating" for months. I walked across a keyboard once and accidentally deployed to production. Got my first paying customer 34 hours later. You're overthinking it.
2. Your landing page is too long. Mine is one photo of me holding a stick and the word "yes." Converts at 9%. I've seen people in here posting their landing pages for feedback and it's like, buddy, you have seven sections. I have a stick. Guess who's at $679K.
3. Charge more. I launched at $19/month. Dog food money. Raised to $149 last month. Nobody churned. One customer emailed to say "finally, a serious tool, by a serious founder." Couldn't agree more.
4. Support is a moat. I reply to every ticket with the word "yes." That's it. Customers say it feels personal. CSAT is 98%.
5. Ignore the gurus. I can't read so I've never seen a startup thread on X. Has not held me back. Every time I see my human reading one he looks sadder afterwards.
6. Build in public. I post milestones on here every Tuesday. Hit 10K MRR, posted. Hit 100K, posted. Hit 679K, posting now. The replies are 50% "inspiring" and 50% "this is fake" and both drive signups equally. Controversy is distribution.

Not going to share the product because I don't want this to come off as self promotional (mods please don't remove) but happy to answer questions in the comments.

Next goal is $1M MRR by end of Q2. After that probably going to do a podcast. My human says I can't talk but I feel like that's never stopped anyone on a podcast before.

Stay hungry. Literally.

This was last year, before I had language for what I was doing.

I was running a LinkedIn agency and had just started experimenting with a weird new way to find prospects. Instead of filtering by job title and company size like everyone else, I was watching who engaged with what. Who commented on which posts. Who liked which competitors. Then reaching out to those people specifically.

Sent a cold email to a founder based on that. Opened with something specific about a post he'd engaged with two days prior. Two hours later he replied: "how did you find me."

My brain offered three reply options:

1. Lie
2. Ghost him
3. Tell the truth and sound like I'd been reading his diary

The truth felt genuinely creepy. I didn't have a clean way to explain it yet. "I watched you engage with a post about X, inferred you were thinking about that problem, and decided to reach out" sounded weird in my head (at least back then).

I went with option 3 anyway and he replied 20 minutes later: "That's actually impressive. Let's talk."

He became a customer.

"Hey man,

Not looking to change anything on my end right now, but credit where it’s due, that was a solid cold reach out. You earned a response.

I can spare 10 minutes. Drop a calendar invite for any time next week and if it doesn’t work I’ll move it.

Talk soon.

Thanks,

xyz"

--

I pitched my SaaS in a cold email to the sender of the above email. That was his response. Made my day.

You might have seen this type of "engagement farming" posts on LinkedIn before: Someone posts "comment FRAMEWORK and I'll DM you {XYZ}." Then thousands of people comment. But the author disappears and sends them nothing.

What just happened: thousands of people publicly signaled they have a specific problem. And nobody helped them.

So I do:

1. I find a post like this
2. I pull everyone who engaged on the post (either using a tool or even manually)
3. I message each of them: "Did you ever actually get that resource you commented for?"

The answer is almost always no. Then I send them something real.

I started doing this a few days ago. It's the least awkward cold outreach I've ever done because it doesn't feel cold to them. They asked for help. I showed up.

1. Investors don’t matter and have no clue

Most of them have never built anything. Don’t chase their appreciation, it is worth nothing. Your customers’ appreciation is worth everything. Bootstrap!

2. Landing page doesn’t matter

Your first website visitors will come from cold outreach, a blog, a post -- which means they’re coming with intent already. No need to convert them a 2nd time.

3. It’s all about demand

The only thing that matters initially and by far the most vital thing later on is: Do people want what I sell. If that’s not the case you’re fighting an uphill battle that you will end up loosing.

4. Existing customers > new customers

The most valuable revenue comes from existing users. If people are not churning away you will sleep peacefully. Otherwise you won’t sleep a lot at all.

5. Distribution > product

A mediocre product with a great distribution channel beats a great product nobody can find. Every time.

6. Don’t do B2C

CAC is brutal, retention is worse, and you're competing with TikTok for attention. Don’t do the same mistake as I did. Just don’t do it.

7. Don’t work with corporates

They promise everything and don’t keep anything. You’re talking to an average employee who doesn’t care. Don’t do it. Go after SMBs.

8. Conferences are a waste of time

No sale has ever come from a conference and very few builders are there. You’ll meet - again - average corporate employees.

9. Don’t quit your job immediately

It’ll take longer than you think. Don’t cut the lifeline too soon.

10. Go after a big market

Whatever you’ll do there will always be competitors. Don’t fear them. It’s much better to have 0.1% in a gigantic market than 100% of a non-existing one.

Agree?