Where do the best SaaS ideas actually come from?

In this episode, Rob reads a chapter from his new book, Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants in the Age of AI. He walks through the five places problems tend to show up, eight strategic approaches for finding and shaping a product idea (with real examples), and when it makes sense to replicate an existing idea.

Pre-order the hardback before November 10th to get bonus PDFs, a seat in a live Q&A to ask your early stage questions, and a free copy of the ebook or audiobook ideatotractionbook.com.

• (1:41) – Why Rob wrote Idea to Traction
• (3:29) – What the new book covers
• (6:03) – Pre-order bonuses and live Q&A
• (7:32) – Chapter three: how to find startup ideas
• (9:09) – Solve a problem, not a moonshot
• (10:34) – Five places problems come from
• (12:52) – Approach 1: Translate an idea to a new niche
• (13:50) – Approach 2: Find a hated competitor
• (14:57) – Approach 3: Build on your audience
• (16:04) – Approach 4: Build on your network
• (16:50) – Approach 5: Undercut a clunky enterprise competitor
• (17:49) – Approach 6: Enter a fast-growing ecosystem
• (19:15) – Approach 7: Build on an existing product
• (20:13) – Approach 8: Audit your day job spending
• (21:20) – Can you replicate an existing idea?

• Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants in the Age of AI
• Start Small, Stay Small
• The SaaS Playbook
• MicroConf
• State of Independent SaaS Report
• TinySeed
• The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping
• Derek Sivers
• Jason Cohen
• Basecamp
• WP Engine
• Builder Prime
• Bidsketch
• SignWell
• SparkToro
• ScrapingBee
• ScatterSpoke
• Clarity.fm
• DealForma
• ScoutDNS
• Baremetrics
• StaticKit
• SavvyCal
• Seriously Simple Podcasting / Castos
• CartHook

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: