[MattRogish]

For a B2B SaaS company, the easiest/most likely[1] algorithm to succeed[2]:

1) Be embedded in the industry for a while

2) Make lots of connections, build credibility

3) Build SaaS app to solve key pain point you experienced in #1

4) Sell to the folks you know from #2

5) For bonus points/de-risking: find 25 potential customers (from #2) and reach out to them and validate this idea (Jobs-to-be-Done). Get a handful of them to commit, even verbally, to buy this when you've got an MVP built.

[1] Clearly this is not the only way to be successful, but "I have a random idea lemme build it" is a great way to be not successful

[2] Succeed = your business that makes enough revenue to support you and a reasonable lifestyle, equating (and/or eventually surpassing) what you would typically make at a W2 gig, from a diversity of customers and not trading your personal time for money.

[ggg9990]

This is exactly the recipe I used and sold a company for $10m. Also, I am a absolutely terrible programmer and v1 of the product, with which this recipe was executed, was full of copy pasted code, unhashed passwords, all of the hallmarks of terrible programming. I got to $100,000 revenue before a friend of mine joined who actually knew how to program and rewrote the whole thing (literally zero lines of my original code were preserved).

[hoodoof]

Can I ask a little more please?

How much of the company did you own when you sold it?

How did the sale happen - did someone just turn up and offer you money, or did you go find a buyer?

Was there negotiation from a higher price down to $10M?

Did they buy the entire company from you or just buy the software assets?

How long did the sale take from when the buyer turned up till money in your account?

How much money did you end up with after paying tax on the sale?

What did you do to celebrate?

What did you do next - another business, get a job, sit at home watching TV?

Would you have handled the sale process differently if you could do it again?

[csallen]

If you're at all interested in adding your story to this list or future lists, let me know! Sounds like something we could all learn from. I'm [e-mail]

[davidjnelson]

That’s a wild and wonderful story. Thanks for sharing inspiration.

[csomar]

Care to share what the company was?

[michaelbuckbee]

Agreed, but there is a slight twist to that I have seen be even more effective.

1) Consult in the industry as a contract developer at X/hour rate.

2) When you find a problem that they're facing that you might be able to turn into a business, offer them 0.75X/hour while you work on it in exchange for the right to commercialize it.

Obviously this doesn't work for everything, but it's a non-obvious way to get paid while fixing a real problem and build a business.

[ryanmarsh]

2.b Be independent contractor. Carefully work on side-biz on your own time. Have good documentation and git-log in case someone at the client ends up caring when you worked on it (zero risk if it's not core biz for them and they aren't assholes). Don't tell anyone what you're working. Don't use proprietary data in your product. Profit

[goatherders]

Good advice. I have a B2B lead gen system that I offer - built on 19 years of experience - for 75% of the price of someone who has 2 years experience.

[thelastidiot]

" but "I have a random idea lemme build it" is a great way to be not successful"

I should print this and frame it in my home office. You rock!

[quickthrower2]

I think they call it an Entrepreneurial Seizure.

[goatherders]

1 through 3 is 100% correct in my experience. I left my job recently and after a short break I called 3 friends from the industry side and 3 friends from the customers-of-that-industry side and said "if I do this will you pay me?"

[sametmax]

This has nothing to do with comming up with idea like the title suggests. And it's because having ideas is overated. You find good ideas everywhere, all the time. the execution matters the most, which is part of what you describe.

[aeden]

Nice and succinct. This is exactly what I did for DNSimple.

[davidjnelson]

Extremely well stated. Thanks for taking the time to write this.