Building software-as-a-service sounds simple on paper: write some code, spin up a database, slap a price tag on a login page, and call it recurring revenue. Reality check: ninety-plus percent of fledgling SaaS products stall long before Product Hunt launch day—usually because founders commit the exact same, painfully avoidable mistakes. This guide digs into those blunders so you can side-step them, save cash, and keep your runway long enough to reach ramen profitability. We’ll weave the phrase Top 10 Things NOT to Do When Building a SaaS into the narrative a couple of times to keep both humans and search bots happy.
Top 10 Things NOT to Do When Building a SaaS: The Big Picture
Before we dissect each mistake, remember that a SaaS startup is half code, half business, and half psychology—yes, that’s 150 %. You need to balance shipping features with talking to users, booking demos, and staying sane when the AWS bill arrives. Keep that 150 % framework in mind as we tear through the Top 10 Things NOT to Do When Building a SaaS.
1. Start Coding Before You Talk to Real Humans
Enthusiasm makes devs dive straight into VS Code, but code without context is just a hobby. Interview at least ten target users first. Ask open-ended questions about their workflow pains. If you can’t summarize a problem in one tweet, you’re not ready to open your IDE.
2. Assume “If You Build It, They Will Come”
The internet is a noisy carnival. Even the slickest UX dies in obscurity without distribution. Block time every week for marketing experiments—cold email, content, partnerships—long before launch.
3. Solve a Tiny Annoyance, Not a Bleeding Neck
People pay subscriptions to stop real pain: lost revenue, legal risk, or soul-crushing manual tasks. Offering a slight convenience won’t survive budget cuts. Pressure-test your idea: if a prospect shrugs at a price-increase scenario, re-scope.
4. Over-Engineer an MVP
Early customers don’t care about micro-services, Terraform modules, or 5-nines SLAs. A single-repo monolith with sensible tests is fine until you hit product-market fit. Complexity before traction wastes runway and slows iteration.
5. Ignore Onboarding and Activation
If users can’t add data, invite teammates, or experience an “aha!” moment inside five minutes, they’ll churn before you get feedback. Instrument product tours, checklists, and empty-state examples from day one.
6. Price for Validation Instead of Value
Founders often slap a $9 plan on their home page “just to get people in.” Cheap prices attract hobby users who open support tickets but never upgrade. Anchor your price to measurable value—time saved, revenue boosted—and don’t be afraid to charge >$50 / month if ROI supports it.
7. Treat Support as a Cost Center
Early support chats are gold: they reveal bugs, killer features, and phrasing for marketing copy. Answer every email personally. Log themes. Ship fixes fast. Your first fifty customers will turn into cheerleaders.
8. Neglect Data Privacy and Compliance
GDPR, CCPA, and Australia’s Privacy Act fines hurt more than scaling costs. Even a lean MVP needs encrypted storage, proper access logs, and a clear data-retention policy. These basics build trust and prevent PR nightmares.
9. Skip Usage Analytics
Flying blind on metrics lets churn fester unseen. Integrate a privacy-friendly analytics tool (PostHog, Plausible) from day one. Track activation, feature adoption, and monthly active users so decisions stay data-driven.
10. Scale Too Late—or Way Too Soon
Some founders ignore performance until the site crashes on a Hacker News spike; others over-architect for millions of users while paying customers are still in single digits. Aim for the middle: write code that scales “one order of magnitude” beyond current load, then refactor as real usage climbs.
Top 10 Things NOT to Do When Building a SaaS: The Details
Over-Engineering Debunked
Fancy tech feels productive, but every abstraction hides bugs and drains focus. Use boring tools you know: a relational DB, server-side rendering, and Stripe for payments. Refactor only when paying customers complain about speed.
Pricing Pitfalls
Cheap pricing can be harder to raise later than you think. Grandfather initial users on legacy plans, but launch public tiers that reflect actual value. Provide annual billing for cash flow and churn reduction.
Compliance Quick-Start
Follow “privacy by design.” Store as little personally identifiable information as possible. Use managed services with built-in encryption. Publish a public status page to show transparency.
Analytics Must-Have Events
signupproject_createdteam_invitedfeature_used_{key}subscription_upgraded
Basic, yet enough for cohort analysis.
Scaling Rule of Thumb
Each time your monthly active users 10×, re-evaluate architecture:
100 → 1 000 → 10 000. Plan one sprint for infra updates after each milestone.
Closing Thoughts
Avoiding these traps doesn’t guarantee unicorn status, but it keeps you alive long enough to iterate toward it. Stay close to users, charge real money, and build boring but reliable tech—that’s the SaaS founder’s cheat code.
FAQ
How many user interviews before writing code?
Aim for at least ten high-quality interviews. Patterns emerge fast, and you’ll write less throwaway code.
What tech stack is best for an MVP?
The one you know well. Speed of iteration beats fancy stacks 100 % of the time.
Should I launch on Product Hunt early?
Only if onboarding is smooth. A half-baked launch wastes your spike of attention.
How do I set my first price?
Calculate the value you create per month and charge 10–20 % of that. Run price-sensitivity emails if unsure.
Is freemium a bad idea?
Freemium works when network effects exist. For B2B productivity tools, a free trial plus credit card wall usually converts better.
