1,000 SaaS ideas studied. One founder starting again.
AnnouncementI failed at SaaS. So I studied 1,000 ideas before building again.
Over the past two years, I built several micro-SaaS products that went nowhere. I then analyzed more than 1,000 SaaS ideas to understand the patterns behind product-market fit, distribution, pricing, retention, and failure. The SaaS Game is where I share what I found—and what happens when I put it into practice.
The story
Why The SaaS Game exists
My earlier SaaS attempts did not fail from a lack of effort. They failed from weak assumptions, unclear distribution, crowded markets, poor timing, and problems people did not care enough to pay for.
After studying more than 1,000 ideas, I started seeing the same patterns repeat. Some ideas looked exciting but had no realistic path to customers. Others looked boring but had strong demand, clear buyers, and simple distribution.
The SaaS Game is my attempt to turn those lessons into a practical way of thinking—and to document what happens when I use that thinking on my next products.
The newsletter
What I will share
SaaS idea breakdowns
Why certain ideas have stronger foundations than others.
Failure analysis
What went wrong in my previous products and what I would do differently.
Build-in-public notes
Real decisions, mistakes, experiments, and tradeoffs from the next SaaS products.
The evaluation framework
The signals I use to judge demand, distribution, pricing, competition, retention, and execution risk.
Principles
The rules I am building by this time
- 01
Distribution matters before the product is finished.
- 02
A painful problem matters more than an interesting idea.
- 03
Existing spending is stronger than polite interest.
- 04
Retention deserves attention before acquisition.
- 05
Small markets are fine when the buyers are clear.
- 06
Founder advantage matters.
- 07
Fast validation is not the same as careless execution.
- 08
Failure should produce reusable knowledge.
Live from X
Building in public, in real time
Follow @thesaasgame on X for shorter notes between newsletter chapters — idea teardowns, research snippets, and decisions as they happen.
The journey
Where the game stands
- Past01
Built several micro-SaaS products over two years. Most failed to find lasting traction.
- Research02
Studied more than 1,000 SaaS ideas and looked for repeated patterns across markets, products, pricing, growth, and failure.
- Next03
Apply the framework to real products and document the decisions publicly.
Watch the next SaaS get built from the first decision.
Join the list for founder notes, idea analysis, product decisions, mistakes, and lessons from the journey.