Why is it SO hard to grow an "innovative, new" SaaS idea?
Before you build something TOTALLY new... In 1850, the Haughtwout Dept store installed the first commercial passenger elevator, but customers refused to get in it. The store literally had to post attendants at each floor to re-assure shoppers, sometimes physically escorting them to the elevator because people thought it would fall and kill them. It took 50 years for people to feel safe enough in an elevator to ride it without attendants. And another 30 years before elevators were commonplace. We look at elevators now and don’t even question getting in em. (Unless you’ve seen “Devil” from M. Night. Shyamalan, lol). It took Slack 5-6 years to become a commonplace app - it was a totally new idea for most people. When you create something totally innovative and new, you’re not competing against other products… You’re competing against basic human psychology and survival instincts. When you launch a totally new SaaS idea, you have to overcome the following internal dialogues: 1. “If this fails, I’ll look stupid or lose something” People hate looking stupid. They’ll expend a lot of energy to NOT look stupid. They also risk losing time, data, getting no results, the product not working. 1. “This is too new - new is dangerous”. People sometimes stick with something they don’t like because the risk of trying something totally new causes even more anxiety. 2. “I’m not going to the be the first one to use this” - No social proof means they’re the guinea pigs and pioneers. Most people don’t want to be the first person to try something brand new, even if it’s better, because they don’t want to waste time, energy and effort on something that “might” work. Just to be clear, I’m VERY grateful for the visionaries who had the time, energy and grit to bring us this great technology… The thing is, I don’t want to be BE that person. When we launch SaaS, we pick a market that is already saturated. We choose a job that people are already paying to get done for them. We pick a mature market that is growing.