Since you’re interested in more opinions I’ll toss mine in as someone full time focused on building a one person software business.
First, I think entrepreneurship is a bit like music genres. There’s a lot of different styles. If you’re trying to start a pop punk band, the guy in the successful jazz quartet probably has a lot of good advice , but also a lot of advice that’s less relevant to your goals. It’s good if you can filter between the two.
I hang out in dvassalos discord which is filled with people trying to do 1 person business, about half SWEs and half creators / influencers. The creators seem to be crushing the SWEs. It’s just way easier to build an info product people will pay for than an app people will pay for. The info products also have the advantage that , content creation is both the product and the marketing work. But in pure SaaS, product development and marketing are completely different.
I’m working on a few different “bets” but the project I’m most optimistic about making money is www.livepokertheory.com . I still want to do SaaS since I’m a SWE at heart and think there’s more long term upside. But this project is a hybrid info product/ SaaS since I’m creating content on how to understand game theory solvers and creating a SaaS to make it easier to study and retain the content.
Poker is a niche I enjoy plus it’s quasi-b2b since there’s an ROI on the content.
If you’re looking for credibility I have very little as I’ve only made a bit. I had an iOS app that made a little more but it was too controversial (very unfairly so, but it was too much controversy to build a business around, it’s in my post history here).
But I’ve made a little plus I’m making money myself with my own content.
I’ve been a little MIA on my blog and twitter but hoping to build in public a bit more once I get ducks in a row.
Anyway, I think there are certain formulas and playbooks that get trotted out because they often work well. But they don’t guarantee success nor do alternative playbooks guarantee failure. I think what’s more important is to look at high level strategic reasons why certain playbooks exist and let the high level strategy guide you rather then rigid adherence to specific tactics (which, incidentally, is also good advice for understanding the articles on my poker blog).
First, I think entrepreneurship is a bit like music genres. There’s a lot of different styles. If you’re trying to start a pop punk band, the guy in the successful jazz quartet probably has a lot of good advice , but also a lot of advice that’s less relevant to your goals. It’s good if you can filter between the two.
I hang out in dvassalos discord which is filled with people trying to do 1 person business, about half SWEs and half creators / influencers. The creators seem to be crushing the SWEs. It’s just way easier to build an info product people will pay for than an app people will pay for. The info products also have the advantage that , content creation is both the product and the marketing work. But in pure SaaS, product development and marketing are completely different.
I’m working on a few different “bets” but the project I’m most optimistic about making money is www.livepokertheory.com . I still want to do SaaS since I’m a SWE at heart and think there’s more long term upside. But this project is a hybrid info product/ SaaS since I’m creating content on how to understand game theory solvers and creating a SaaS to make it easier to study and retain the content.
Poker is a niche I enjoy plus it’s quasi-b2b since there’s an ROI on the content.
If you’re looking for credibility I have very little as I’ve only made a bit. I had an iOS app that made a little more but it was too controversial (very unfairly so, but it was too much controversy to build a business around, it’s in my post history here).
But I’ve made a little plus I’m making money myself with my own content.
I’ve been a little MIA on my blog and twitter but hoping to build in public a bit more once I get ducks in a row.
Anyway, I think there are certain formulas and playbooks that get trotted out because they often work well. But they don’t guarantee success nor do alternative playbooks guarantee failure. I think what’s more important is to look at high level strategic reasons why certain playbooks exist and let the high level strategy guide you rather then rigid adherence to specific tactics (which, incidentally, is also good advice for understanding the articles on my poker blog).