From Building Products to Delivering Services: The Essential SaaS Mindset Shift

Hey Reader,

Are you building a SaaS company, or just a product with a subscription? If you can't clearly see how you'll deliver increasing value to your customers over time, you're stuck in a product mindset, no matter what your pricing page says. (𝕏)

The hardest leap a founder will make is the mindset switch from product to service, from transactional to accretive. The shift in mindset from "What can I build?" to "How can I serve?" (𝕏)

TL;DR Sustainable growth doesn't come from subscription pricing on a stagnant product. It's the relentless pursuit of delivering accretive value to your customers, every single day. Value that compounds. (Workbook)

LAST WEEKS FRAMEWORK:

3.3 Create Problems: Let Users Break Everything

LETS GET INTO IT:

You're doing the hardest job: building a product that solves a real problem that people are willing to pay for. You've hustled into the market. Don't stop now. Stay focused, be product-led, fix what's broken and make your customers happy. Nail product-market fit and don't let me distract you.

But.

If you're just renting out a tool, at some point, your customers will outgrow it or find a shinier one. (churn) And that's when the real challenge begins.

Your product is a living, breathing entity. The moment you release, you're playing catch-up. Features, bugs, onboarding, retention, support, uptime. Everything matters, and it never relents. Start building the muscle of customer obsession and continuous value creation now. Shift towards sustainable, predictable revenue growth.

Customer success from day one. Real feedback loops to constantly iterate and improve. Be proactive, not reactive in solving user challenges and fight to find new opportunities to add value. Convert customers to partners, more than just a revenue line.

Move beyond being a feature factory. Become obsessed with your customers success. ONE question: "How can I help my customers achieve their goals faster, better and more efficiently?"

Measure success not just in revenue or user growth, but by the tangible, measurable impact on your customers. Metrics that reflect the depth and durability of your relationship. Prioritize retention and advocacy over acquisition. Sustainable growth comes from depth, not just breadth.

In the end what matters is durability. The relentless, unwavering commitment to delivering value to your customers - every. single. day. As you add more value, they add more revenue, ARPU rises, people stay so NRR rises. Everything gets better.

Product To Service : From Features To Value

If you're still here, one last thing:

If you make the commitment, if you embrace the service mindset with every ounce of your being, then you will see durability as the metric that changes everything. It's not as fun, it's twice as hard, it requires foundation, but f*ck does it produce results.

I know it sounds crazy to focus on serving when you MUST focus on growth - NEW CUSTOMER LOGOS!!! But.. the best way to grow is to serve your existing customers exceptionally well. They'll stick around, buy more, and tell their everyone. An army of die hard fans.

Full circle to the reason you started this journey in the first place - to make a real difference in your customers lives - so go do that - and measure the difference.

If you need help thinking about thinking, feel free to grab time with me.

Now go be of service.....

-- James