Habits My Co-Founder and I Follow as SaaS Founders
What has indirectly helped us grow Simplified into 10M+ users.
Hello and happy Friday! :)
In the ever unstable tech environment, building a successful remote SaaS company requires more than just a great idea. Especially from founders, it warrants discipline and consistency.
Over the years, despite turbulences, my co-founder KD and I have stuck to a set of dead simple habits that have been crucial to our growth and success. I came across a related LinkedIn post recently, and wanted to do Simplified’s take on it:
1. Weekly Stand-Ups + Exploiting Slack
How does a team working different zones coordinate?
Easy, we meet once a week, plan out the week’s priorities and extensively make use of Slack to cover gaps and check progress.
I don’t believe in everyday standups, I find them a waste of time. Not everything needs to be a meeting, and as a practice we keep ourselves active and healthy on Slack channels. Our team knows they have to drop their work updates at the end of the week, and we meet again Monday to align priorities accordingly.
2. Doing Customer Support Ourselves
I’ve said this before, as a SaaS there’s no voice more important than your customers’.
I know too many founders who have no idea what’s going on, what feedback to cater to. So apart from our part-time customer support rep, the entire team including us founders does customer support once a week/two weeks. It’s probably the most crucial and hardest one to stick to, but we continue to strive!
3. Using Our Own Product
What’s worse than a founder who doesn’t know their customer?
A founder who doesn’t know their own product.
I kid you not guys, it may seem like a given, but the number of founders I know who don’t use their own products is astounding. Understanding what your product does in and out, especially when you’re scaling, is the foundation of not becoming outdated.
4. Team Interaction Beyond Work
There’s nothing without our team. And especially because we’re remote, it becomes all the more important to maintain a relationship with each team member beyond work.
It's so easy to get wrapped up in the daily grind of shipping projects, hitting OKRs, and driving revenue: I'm there everyday.
But it is the casual conversations not only help us bond but often lead to some of our best ideas and coolest projects. And our offsites are so incredible because we’re almost like friends who come together after being geographically apart.
5. Practice and Encourage Side-Hustling
Anyone who knows me knows how strongly I support side hustle culture. Side hustles has helped us drive creativity and innovation, improve productivity, boost team morale and, of course, mitigate unforeseeable risk.
It can help both founders and their teams pick up new skills, leading to personal and professional growth, and diversifying the company.
Conclusion
Sticking to discipline is one of the hardest battles for an early-stage startup. But without these practices, I don’t think Simplified would be where it is today.
Which is your favourite takeaway? Let me know in the comments below!