Rob Walling - Stop Building Stuff Nobody Wants

Software entrepreneur, author, and investor Rob Walling joined me on Ditching Hourly to explain why faster software development does not remove the need to validate a software product idea before building it. We talked about the future of SaaS in the age of AI, the 2-20-200 validation framework, customer conversations, finding ideas, turning client work into a product, starting marketing early, choosing an ideal customer profile, competitive research, and the advantages of vertical vs orthogonal vs horizontal product positioning. 00:00 - Meet Rob Walling 01:28 - Idea to Traction 02:45 - Who Builds SaaS Now? 05:18 - SaaS in the Age of AI 09:23 - Validate Before You Build 16:29 - Better Customer Conversations 17:47 - Finding and Choosing Ideas 20:46 - Turning Client Work into SaaS 26:24 - Market from Day One 28:53 - Find and Refine Your ICP 32:09 - Competitive Research and Positioning 35:48 - The DNA of a Great SaaS Business 38:26 - Vertical, Horizontal, and Orthogonal SaaS Rob Walling is a software entrepreneur, author, and investor. He hosts Startups for the Rest of Us, a podcast he said has run for 16 years, and co-founded TinySeed, where he invests in SaaS bootstrappers. He started Drip in 2012 and sold it in 2016. Idea to Traction is his sixth book and revisits the early stages of software entrepreneurship. Learn more and pre-order the book at Idea to Traction. ---- Sales Conversations That Don’t Feel Sleazy — live Oct 20 at noon ET Learn how to structure sales conversations so the buyer tells you what the outcome is worth without feeling sleazy or trying to manipulate them. The live 90-minute Zoom workshop is $450 and includes the recording, transcript, summary notes, and a practical worksheet. Learn more and register » https://jonathanstark.com/sgs